This is not Russia’s war with Ukraine — this is Putin’s war with the world.

Discrimination is inevitable. As a Russian, I understand it when I see people on Airbnb post flats with signs “NO RUSSIANS ALLOWED”. I really do. While we are all politically correct and understand that the government does not equal its people, the people usually deserve its government. A part of me agrees that at least some responsibility for this bloody war lies on people holding a Russian passport. (The Germans still feel partially responsible for WWII, generations after.)

But — there’s always a “but” — if we take a larger zoom, we’ll see a slightly different picture. We see that it’s not really Russia’s war.

It’s Putin’s.

A week ago I wrote that modern Russia is a giant prison. With new laws passed over the past few days banning virtually all independent Russian media outlets reminds most people of Orwell’s magnum opus. The Russians have no say in what the government does. Not just because they’re powerless against the corrupt state — that’s only part of the problem and mostly refers to the new generation, like me.

But because they’re constantly lied to.

The current propaganda machine in Russia is at its worst. Those who are keen on history will agree that even during Stalin’s regime the Soviet propaganda was lighter than what we see in modern-day Russia. The news is bent 180 degrees to a point that you start feeling as if either you’re going mad — or you got everything wrong…