This Is Navalny - Benefit concert (NOW CANCELLED)

[Parkol]

Several things can be true - Putin being a massive evil in the world, and you being a jerk towards a misguided and naive forum member. If you're aware that Russia is a dictatorship, then you're surely aware how easy it is to rig polls and elections to prove whatever the hell you want, such as "most Russians support the Ukraine war" and so on. Your privilege of never living in a dictatorship is showing.

This is absolutely true, and it’s precisely the point PSB are making. Russia is not free; if it were, the war would end immediately. Growing up in the 1980s, we were always reminded that ordinary people in the Soviet Union/Russia—children and adults alike—didn’t want a large-scale war. They just wanted to live in peace and friendship, just like us.

The same is true today. Ask anyone off camera and you’ll get the same answer. Many Russians even regard Ukrainians as family, given how closely the two peoples are connected. Who would bomb and kill their own close relatives? This war is utterly insane—driven by Putin and the Russian mafia, in a state where fear reigns and sudden death awaits those who oppose them.

You have a very primitive view of politics, it seems to me.
Many Baltic countries have closed their borders, imposed sanctions and are digging trenches on the border with Russia, putting anti-tank hedges, while kilometres of tankers with oil and other cargoes are standing on the railway between Estonia and Russia. Kilometres of fuel to Estonia.
Can you explain that to me?
How a country that imposed sanctions on Russia buys tonnes and tonnes of products from the same country?
I was in Ivangorod not so long ago (it is the border with the Estonian city of Narva) and there all the railway tracks are full of Russian wagons with goods.
And at speeches in the EU they shout that it is necessary to forbid to buy everything from Russia. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia are very afraid of Russia and want to completely close all borders, but in fact they buy millions of tonnes of products from Russia. I live in St. Petersburg, it is 150 kilometres from Estonia, 170 kilometres from Finland, and it is hard to deceive me, because I see it with my own eyes. I see the trains with cargo going to Estonia.
My friend works in the port in St. Petersburg, hundreds of Panama-flagged dry cargo ships come and load cargo to Lithuania and Poland. And everyone knows it, both Poles and Russians. But to avoid scandals, they carry everything under the flags of other countries.
It's embarrassing.

If Estonia and Lithuania shout the loudest in the European Parliament that the toughest sanctions should be imposed against Russia, why do they themselves buy goods from Russia?

[jasonjohn]

Easy one: Complicated modern supply chains.

A country reliant on RuZZia, but doesn't want to be, will probably be the loudest highlighting the problem. They don't want to be beholden to their enormous, vindictive neighbour.

[Parkol]

In fact, everyone is tired of the war and all that is going on around us, but we are still not the ones making the decisions.

The war in Ukraine was a shock for all of us.
Considering that millions of people have relatives in Ukraine.

[jasonjohn]

Oh really. Well there's a very easy fix. It's completely obvious. Putin to stop spending billions and billions on killing Ukrainians, and his own men at twice the rate.

[jyllinge]

Several things can be true - Putin being a massive evil in the world, and you being a jerk towards a misguided and naive forum member. If you're aware that Russia is a dictatorship, then you're surely aware how easy it is to rig polls and elections to prove whatever the hell you want, such as "most Russians support the Ukraine war" and so on. Your privilege of never living in a dictatorship is showing.

This is absolutely true, and it’s precisely the point PSB are making. Russia is not free; if it were, the war would end immediately. Growing up in the 1980s, we were always reminded that ordinary people in the Soviet Union/Russia—children and adults alike—didn’t want a large-scale war. They just wanted to live in peace and friendship, just like us.

The same is true today. Ask anyone off camera and you’ll get the same answer. Many Russians even regard Ukrainians as family, given how closely the two peoples are connected. Who would bomb and kill their own close relatives? This war is utterly insane—driven by Putin and the Russian mafia, in a state where fear reigns and sudden death awaits those who oppose them.

If Estonia and Lithuania shout the loudest in the European Parliament that the toughest sanctions should be imposed against Russia, why do they themselves buy goods from Russia?

Because its extremely complicated - no one in Europa, except a few cracy ones, wants to start a global conflict or push Russia even further in the hands of "the great leader" and Mr. Xi. - Truly, the only ones who can stop it is the Russian people themselves. I do think this is the message of PSB as well.

[Parkol]

You know what the Chinese are saying about the US threatening them with sanctions and duties?
They say so Chinese civilisation is 5,000 years old and the US is 300 years old. So don't make us laugh.

Regarding China and Russia. China has influence primarily in the Asian region. They have a huge market there. Electric cars, electronics, clothing. Even the Germans are already moving factories to China.

Americans do not want a union between China and Russia, but we are neighbours, we have had conflicts with China, but China understands that if Russia weakens, China will be next.

And Europe has a demographic crisis. There are more and more migrants who don't share European values at all. Russia also has problems with fertility, with migrants, I have already written.

Understand a simple thing - globally, the U.S. does not want Russia to collapse and nobody wants the U.S. to collapse, otherwise there will be chaos there. If China weakens, then that region could start a mess too. That's why there were no such big conflicts when the USSR existed. Everyone was scaring each other. And now they are already religious.

[Future Lover]

I'm getting the ick from your posts, Parkol, the derogatory talk of migrants in particular. Yes, the West is hypocritical, but that doesn't make Putin's war a righteous one. This type of binary thinking is beyond reductive.

[Spittingcat]

That's why there were no such big conflicts when the USSR existed.

The 20th Century. Famous for the lack of conflicts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_w ... viet_Union

[ea39]

Cancelled...

[TallThinMan]

The memorial concert and film screening have been cancelled.

[petshopgrrl]

Well, 2025 is going swimmingly, isn't it.

[zukunft]

The reason for this cancellation would be interesting.

[dylanww73]

That's the 2nd "Due to circumstances beyond our control" in a week.

Suggestion: start taking control a bit more.

[Whosematchesarethose]

I do wonder if this might actually have been due to ticket sales? there were still lots left when I checked last week and even if PSB are performing for free the costs of the venue would be considerable for the organisers to cover?

[greenmile]

That's the 2nd "Due to circumstances beyond our control" in a week.

Suggestion: start taking control a bit more.

I would assume (I'm not a lawyer) that that phrase is just legalese to protect themselves from being sued. It's used by everyone whenever something gets cancelled or there's some change to an event or a product.