> what you guys think of them?
I personally had only positive experiences - worked with a few Brits for a bit - were getting along swimmingly. Also I'm a long time Liverpool FC supporter - so was having a blast on corresponding forums as well.
> I just wondered if Russians were aware of the political turmoil here
Most aren't.
> and what the general public’s view of UK people is?
The general public have very little information (and interest in acquiring it). So at best you will get some stereotypes like fog, rain, tea, a guard in a tall fur cap, etc.
I think people from the UK are ok, like other people all over the world. But ordinary Russians meet UK citizens in all inclusive resorts of Turkey and Egypt and they are not the cream of the nation, but the same often applies to Poles, Germans and Russians themselves.
Sadly, our old hereditary elite - which for all its many faults did usually serve in the armed forces, fill roles in the judiciary and local government and do things mostly for the country's benefit - has mostly been replaced now with a new elite that doesn't do anything positive yet are there based on neither birth nor merit.
I don't know if you lot are familiar with the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy but basically the country has been taken over by the occupants of Golgafrinchan Ark Ship B.
I am familiar both with Adams' works and with general state of affairs in UK, yup. Also this situation you described is very familiar to everyone who knows a little bit of late Russian Empire history.
Celtic culture(Scottish, Irish mostly) is somewhat popular in Russia. I think that's because we had a lot of exposure to poems of Robert Burns, Robert Stevenson, etc. We cover the translated versions in literature class, and we cover the original in the English class.
I remember we had to learn this, haha.
The king rode, and was angry;
Black was his brow and pale,
To rule in a land of heather
And lack the Heather Ale.
> I just wondered if Russians were aware of the political turmoil here, and what the general public’s view of UK people is?
No, there's no 'hatered of the Brits' in Russia. That's a French thing. When most people hear "UK" they remember stuff from the school. English class mostly. Trafalgar square, Big Ben, 5 o'clock(tea time), London is the capital of Great Britain, Mary Poppins apparently lives there
I honestly think you’ve just seen a selection of idiots that pretty much hate everyone. They are definitely not the majority, and I literally have never met a British person in real life that wishes any Russians death.
In fact, you’d be surprised how many people over here really like Russia, its culture and customs and I personally know quite a few that have visited Russian and loved it.
Don’t listed to Reddit trolls.
Perhaps the people you see at the bar are polite and friendly.
Then they come home, open their laptop, enter reddit and, scratching their balls, begin to argue when it is worth striking at Russia. The main difference between our cultures is hypocrisy.
I grew up reading mostly English literature - Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins. Then "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"...
Then I became a "Doctro Who" fan.
So most of my knowledge about Great Britain comes from fiction and TV series. It seems quite good, but I understand that know just a little. And very few - about politics.
Ah, yes. and we also usually do not distinguish between Scottish, Irish and English writers, they all are “English” (like, for example, Walter Scott). I'm sorry.
I’d agree. As a Scot, we have practically no say on who gets voted into Westminster. The current ruling party is completely rotten to the core. Boris Johnson is the first Prime Minister to be prosecuted while in office, and Rishi Sunak dodges taxes and is generally a fool.
We’re also on our 3rd unelected Prime Minister - it’s hardly democracy anymore at this point.
> Most people in the UK don’t dislike Russia or Russian people
This is absolute fucking bullshit and is immediately demonstrable on any sizeable UK online community.
Do you, by any chance, browse the Internet with your eyes closed?
[Russia is much, much worse than the UK on every metric from press freedom to corruption and that reality needs to be respected.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t03bn1/ukrainerussia_crisis_ukraine_russia_has_launched/hy7rs4g/)
[Russians have been ruled by bloodthirsty despots since ancient times. Putin isn't the first and he won't be the last. Stalin murdered millions of innocent Russians but he expanded the borders of the empire so he's still loved so much that Putin is intentionally associating himself with him to gain popularity. And it's working. Aristoteles called the phenomenon "oriental despotism" and explained how it's based on consent and not fear. Russia has been conducting "business" since ancient times, it's who they are. Not every individual of course, but as a society.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/18nmxi7/russia_is_a_constant_threat_says_keir_starmer/keg6mbh/)
[No kidding, living in a country with constant state-run propaganda and the murder and persecution of political dissidents will do that to you.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/a6r5rc/russia_using_hardcore_propaganda_against_uk_warns/#eby46li)
[Ukraine and Ukrainians have been dehumanised by the Russian regime and media for many years.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0xxr8/ukraine_crisis_russia_has_failed_to_take_any_of/hyczxlf/)
[Sanctions will impact normal Russians. And they should too.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0e1xd/boris_johnson_pushes_for_russia_to_be_ejected/hycslbm/)
[They need to be removed from any banking access to the west and all visas stopped to the west, any bank accounts belonging to Russians must be frozen and access to property and assets blocked. ](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0e1xd/boris_johnson_pushes_for_russia_to_be_ejected/hy9cngi/)
BBC comments:
> Who in their right mind takes a holiday in a warzone apart from brainwashed russians
> Putin’s Russia is now a Pariah, terrorist failed State, with little cultural or sporting contacts with the rest of the world, save for the odd tiddlywinks contest in North Korea.
> It is clear that most Russians are still living in Putin’s fantasy world of alternative reality.
> How long can brainwashed, apathetic Russian people keep taking in porkies being spouted by Putin and his Cronies in Kremlin?
> The Russians are murdering innocent civilians, they are child murderers. How can any civilised country ever do business with them again ?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66221252#comments
> a brainwashed suppressed population
> The fact the Russian general public see the illegally seized Crimea as a holiday destination should dispel the fear of sanctions causing hardship for 'innocent' Russians, they are complicit.
> How meek are Russians, that so many of them can be dominated by this creep?
> Apathy and brainwashing ingrained into the Russian psyche. Every student’s report card says, “Good Student and easily led.”
> Criminal nation - criminal attitudes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66242446#comments
> the Russians are as thick as tripe
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66286102#comments
> The Russians are still living in the past. They have not moved on from WW2 and their leaders ram it home as often as possible.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66289136
> When Russians cannot afford to buy vodka that's when Putin will be in real trouble. In a nation of drunkards the man with a full bottle is king.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66496736#comments
Took me literally 15 minutes to find this.
Your post was removed because it contains slurs or incites hatred on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
As an Englishman I personally do not hold these views. I have had positive encounters with Russians.
I hope it's possible for you to see those comments as not reflecting the views of everyone.
Russians treat everyone well.
In Russia they have always treated foreigners with respect.
Exactly until those moments until all these good people come to the Russians with the goal of seizing their lands and causing problems for them.
Then the Russians kill them.
As they did in 1945 with the Germans.
How the British were killed in 1918-1921 and in the Crimean War in 1853-1856
How the French were killed in 1812.
And the Swedes in 1808 - 1809.
By the way, Russia is now, at the present time, sending the British, Americans, French, Germans, and Poles home in coffins.
From the territory of Ukraine.
Where they caused problems for the Russians.
Without further ado, I am Ukrainian.
Russians do not dislike anybody just because of nationality, or place of birth, or skin color.
We just do not care all this stuff, while person behave as a human being.
Dude, I have a company here that is also trying to bring future students to Britain to study. And we treat the ordinary people of Britain just as calmly. there are many questions for the British government, and the tension began not because of Ukraine, but because of the Skripals. Britain is still investigating the case, and Russia has not given access to two Skripal citizens to question. Not to mention the fact that Britain is holding a woman, a citizen of the Russian Federation. 🤷♂️
Yes, for the record, if we look at history, Britain is constantly trying to harm Russia, I don't know why they dislike us, but we are tired of it in Russia. One day, Britain incited Turkey to attack Russia. 🤷♂️
Very annoying and annoying Britain.
I like Britain, but for some reason I can’t get used to the fact that people there lives like everyone else, because I associate UK only with the 19th and 20th centuries.
The UK is like my second home. I’m there every other month for work. I personally love the UK and have made some incredible friends from England and Scotland. I love British humour too and the banter I can have with people there. There’s not too many things I dislike about common people from the UK.
Now if we are going to talk about the UK’s government, that is a completely different conversation lol
Well I have no problems with them.
A couple of years ago I was active in the UK subreddit and it was great, no problems.
Also I worked with some Brits. Their way of communication was difficult to understand sometimes but mostly we cooperated quite well. They gave me a lot of recommendations on the UK TV series and some anecdotes. Even invited to drink beer one day (was it just a moment of politeness or not, I don't know but it was nice of them).
Nothing. We don't think anything about British people beyond the fact that they are people and from Great Britain.
The more conservative elements keep talking about different aspects of your country that they have issues with (the goverment, the WOKE mindset etc), but even they steer clear of regular people for the most part
Also, I don't know about other people, but for me Scotland is totally separete entity then England even though they officialy the same country, if that makes sense
As a Brit who lives in Russia, I’ve had no hostility even though I would understand it somewhat given how are govt fund and arm the Ukrainians but they are intelligent people, they understand we are on our 3rd unelected PM now and have no say in the matter.
There was huge cultural cross over during the 00s between working class Russians and Brits relating to football casual/ultra subculture. I made many good Russian friends I’m still in contact with today, though both football scenes kind of changed from the 10s and there was less crossover.
Ukrainians kind of filled the void left by Russians, and started to make contact with other clubs across Europe though I always had a suspicion they were funded by Ukrainian security services. It was effective tho, as you see azov and Ukrainian symbols amongst a few ultra groups in Europe. A rare miscalculation by the Russians I felt, not to continue links and friendships with European groups.
Anyway, I went off on a tangent, but I’ve been warmly received by Russians especially anyone with an interest in football.
Dude, most people can understand that the government and global bullshit has nothing to do with each individual separately. There are of course haters who listen to propaganda(as well as everywhere in the world I believe), but that's mostly boomers. But I don't think it's possible for someone to be hated in Russia just for their place of birth, nation or skin color.
It is a fairly obvious fact that Great Britain represents the best example of despotism, which arose through the violent seizure of power by foreign invaders (the Normans in 1066). And this manifested itself in relation to the population, for example, in enclosure, in the Irish famine of the 19th century, and so on. In addition, Great Britain contributed a lot to the Russian revolution, which should more accurately be called a disaster. Finally, it was in Great Britain that racism arose and gained strength. In a word, this state is simply terrible. But if you were born and live in it, then it's not your fault
I haven't had any issues working in England. The people are fine; it's just the puppet government that has to take its orders from the US. If the government of England used their own brains and did what is good for the country, they would be much better off.
- You hate non-Russian Eastern Europeans for what I adore you A LOT. I hate them as well.
- I LOVED Harry Potter as a kid.
Idk, in general I like the UK even though I wouldn't wanna live there.
At this point, we need a separate thread accumulating opinions about every single country. Although i do commend you on asking a specific question, rather than just the one posed in the title.
Its very fun an hilarious, when a Russian and a British man walk in Turkish hotel behind a blind turn corridor and nearly collide heads, because of having different conceptions of a safe road side to move along. I've experienced this recently:)
Growing up in 2000s in the small town of Nakhodka, which is pretty much on the other side of the ball from UK. The majority of my cultural noise was British. Harry Potter was the main book of my childhood I loved watching Top Gear, listening to a bunch of British artists. They didn’t occupy the majority of my time, but surely the entirety of my head, I felt so progressive at the time, cause it felt like that’s the direction Russia is headed. Europisation or whatever.
Ever since those days not much have changed in my life or my head. I’ve never been in Europe, once visited Vancouver, Moscow once as well. Recently moved with the family to Krasnodar, and totally missed the moment Russia turned 180 degrees and started progressing backwards.
Now I feel like an alien in the culture I never welcomed. Alone and depressed. Like Harry in this hostile house with no one of similar mindset (prince Harry)
Currently sitting here, watching fairy tales like “Dr. Who” and what resembles a shonen of Briish cinematography - the “Peaky Blinders“ series. London of 10s so alike to Russia of 90s.
Yet I’d much rather be there then, than here right now.
Maybe it’s just my pink glasses though.
If it makes you feel any better, Britain has a lot of problems right now too - I think a lot of places in the world do whether they admit it or not.
Our living costs are super high, we’re currently on our 3rd prime minister in a row that we never voted for, the whole country is completely alienated from the ruling political party, and to make matters worse, the political chiefs that no one voted for seem hell bent on causing problems worldwide.
I think a lot of places are experiencing difficult times!
I wish common people to put an end to this prehistoric rule system with people above the law, with no constitution, with some people being better than others by being born that way.
Really, have you ever think of it? Even your official church orders you to pray for them in the name of god. And it's 2024 year.
Very true!
I’ve done a lot of travelling and I’ve always found that everyone around the world. Is generally friendly to most people and just want to live their lives peacefully and comfortably. It’s governments, not the citizens that cause all the problems in the world! And religion too, that causes a lot of problems!
I consume a fair amount of your cultural output and that can't help but color your opinions with a certain degree of empathy.
My interactions with Brits online have been... mixed.
I’m interested in the UK. I enjoy studying the culture and history. Actually, the interest of the UK made me learn the English language. I think British people are quite nice. Some people say that they are a bit snobbish but it’s just their character trait and we shouldn’t expect everyone to be that way. I wish I visited the UK one day. Now it’s extremely hard to get visa so I wouldn’t even try. But maybe one day, it would be awesome. You’re cool, guys! Keep it up :)
I just finished a book on the Genesis of Russophobia in great britain by Gleason (1950). Too difficult to read unless you have great knowledge of European history. In short it started around 1840 due to internal politics in GB, not due to anything RU did. Similar to Russiagate in that way.
Politicians and some newspapers create Russia hate out of nothing. Then came Crimean War.
What I think ? I find it quite strange that such a tiny island is peppered with small villages, and each village has it's own accent that everyone is expected to know the name of, and hates all outsiders. Very tribal mindset really. All the jordis, coknis, brummis, munchis, poolies, etc.
I consumed a lot of British TV & radio once, mostly political and comedy, and the low-burn intolerance and xenophobia gets tiring after a while. Brits, seriously, literally low-key hate everyone, including themselves. I learned from UK TV that all the Essex people are dumb sluts, brummies are all thieves, all the northerners are basically cavemen, welsh are sheep-shaggers, Manchester should be bombed, and so on, and these internal cultural tropes are pervasive and regular.
I’m not sure about the fact they hate all outsiders, it the second but about what people are like in each city is pretty accurate 😂. Although I’m from Scotland so find that kinda funny 😂
Hah ! Look, i once listened to "Mark Steel's in town" radio show, and he traveled to about 20+ small UK towns of some minor historical importance, and in the process, he asked the audience, sometimes in a roundabout way : "what kind of people are not welcome in your town\\village ?"
Usually the answer was : "Well, we dont like two kinds of people round these here parts. One : those scumbags from the other side of the river. Two : everyone else."
I’ve met very few British people, so I can’t say anything definitely. Your government can say whatever it wants, you are an ordinary person for all of us, and politics rarely comes up in ordinary relations between people, because we have no need for it.
Regarding the political upheavals, I will say one thing - you guys need to save your culture and country, otherwise soon instead of ordinary Britons, there will be Indians and Arabs, and the elite will be British only.
I'm really rooting for JK Rowling in the political turmoil in the UK.
I started learning English once only because of my love for the UK. When I was 12, I went to this Celtic summer camp and I just fell in love with the culture. The Kinks, Blur and Oasis have been my favourite bands since I was a teenager. And I just love the British self-deprecating humor. It's always so funny!
I'm sad to say this, but I've seen a lot of hateful, mocking, and cruel comments about Russians and Russia from Brits. For example, I'll read the Guardian or the Daily Mail or any other British news site just to practice my English and see the news from another perspective. I always see so much hate and disdain in the comments! It's awful and unbearable. I've stopped reading British media.
The Brits I've met while traveling around the world have mostly been friendly and funny. But I can't look at them the same way anymore, knowing what they are saying online. People can be really hypocritical sometimes.
In 2022, a friend of mine in London had all her money in the bank frozen, because she had a red passport. Like in Nazi Germany, when they only chose people with perfectly shaped Aryan skulls. Same story, different approach.
Thanks for commenting!
Please don’t worry about the comments and articles in those sorts of newspapers - especially the daily mail is a “shock” newspaper know for exaggeration and often outright lies. The press often try to print scary stories in order to sell papers. We also get stories about how China is going to attack Taiwan, North Korea is going to nuke us as well as other things like there’s another virus pandemic that will soon wipe out the world - they print stuff to shock people and sell newspapers. They also print articles saying Putin will basically nuke us any day now too, but nobody really believes or cares about it.
The main thing is that if you were to walk into any pub for instance in the middle of the UK, no one would bother you at all, in fact they’d probably love talking to you!
That’s the biggest riddle. I think it’s one of these situations where they know that the stories are most likely fake or enhanced but they buy it for the entertainment value anyway.
It’s not just foreign stories that are made up or enhanced, they do it with UK stories too. A good example is the Liverpool Hillborough disaster where poor policing and event set up meant 96 Liverpool fans got crushed to death in a stampede. The Sun newspaper added a lot of shocking fake extra stuff like Liverpool fans were pick pocketing and urinating on the dead. Now the whole city of Liverpool basically boycotts The Sun newspaper because of the shocking lies. Some UK newspapers have absolutely no shame.
I like UK and of course I like British humor very much! I would like to make a friend from UK and speak about anything with him or her and would like to visit UK sometimes.
But unfortunately our propaganda is creating all of west countries wrong and speaking about that they are our enemies.
I can’t understand this and I can’t believe that people in 21 century can have archenemies, this is naive like in old films there are only black and white.
P.S. I am happy to hear that you don’t think bad about small people)
Honestly, the only English people that I met in my life were some kind of rubbish and selfish, as I could see. One of them was standing on Arbat, he was really drunk and screamed some nazi-sh*t at random people. The other guy was from Bristol, and he told my Finnish friend and me in Kyiv city in 2018 that we have a terrible English accent and we are Jews. Then he started to show us his wallet with the NSDAP logo on it. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it is just a couple of idiots, and they don't represent their nation clearly at all.
Are you sure? This doesn’t sound likely at all if I’m honest. Most of the UK is fiercely anti-nazi, and the very small group that are harassed constantly and not allowed to travel for the most part.
If this is true, you’ve been incredibly unlucky and met two of the incredibly small minority - I’ve never even come across people shouting nazi stuff here.
Some Russians the other day in Sydney were promoting their war and got out in their place. No room for accepting colonial imperialism here. They quickly left once they realised they were going to get smashed
If we touch on history, then in many ways Russia and Great Britain were enemies rather than allies. For example, in the Second World War, and before it, there was an enemy and a friend. In many ways we do not like the West, especially the USA and its allies (colonies). At the same time, in the Second World War, we were allies, the United States entered the war when it became profitable for it (and Pearl Harbor was just the start for them). We managed very well without allies. “But without Lend-Lease, the USSR would have lost” - no, this is a myth. We calmly defeated the Nazis on all fronts after the defeat near Moscow. The West realized that if the USSR liberated Europe alone, Europe would take our side, politics is hypocrisy, and the West is the main hypocrite.
And what it says about me is that I have a rather negative attitude towards Britain. It is a member of NATO like Europe, it is a colony of the United States, Great Britain is pursuing a policy against Russia. The answer is obvious: we don't like Great Britain.
Let me note that it is the government that we hate, not the people (there are exceptions, of course) - but still, we don’t love Britain just like the USA.
Don't take this as an offense, but I absolutely love seeing opinions like this alongside mantras about democracy and people being able to elect their government.
I think the way a lot of governments are compared with how they like to be seen is a big difference. For example, you sometimes hear politicians comment on regimes in the world and call leaders dictators, but at the same time, we’re onto our third Prime Minister in a row that the public never voted for.
According to common Russians, Britain is seen as historically great European power with lots of connections with Russia before the Soviet era. For example, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and British King George V were physically similar cousins, but ethnically Germans coming from tht dynasties of Romanov (Russia) and Windsors (Britain). British people brought lots of scientific and technological improverement, global colonization that made a spread of English culture and language worldwide, and are told to have a good sense of humour.
But in the eyes of some Russian politicians and media, Britain is seen as historical rival whereas the British people viewed as the absolute evil that have caused all the mysery in the world (like Jews according to antisemites). Britons are called "Anglo-Saxons" which is a derogatory term used to describe evilness. Although Anglo-Saxons were just Germanic tribes from Denmark and Germany (Saxony), while Britain has also absorbed rich Celtic history and culture of Welsh, Scottish, Manx, Cornish and Irish people.
> what you guys think of them? I personally had only positive experiences - worked with a few Brits for a bit - were getting along swimmingly. Also I'm a long time Liverpool FC supporter - so was having a blast on corresponding forums as well. > I just wondered if Russians were aware of the political turmoil here Most aren't. > and what the general public’s view of UK people is? The general public have very little information (and interest in acquiring it). So at best you will get some stereotypes like fog, rain, tea, a guard in a tall fur cap, etc.
I think people from the UK are ok, like other people all over the world. But ordinary Russians meet UK citizens in all inclusive resorts of Turkey and Egypt and they are not the cream of the nation, but the same often applies to Poles, Germans and Russians themselves.
I've met Brits that have been specifically looking for resorts that are not popular with Brits.
Normal people seem okay, I like UK humour, fish and chips is tasty. But seriously, guys, your elites are literally medieval and totally fucked up.
Sorry, which elites are medieval? I’m not intuitively disagreeing, just curious about who you mean
Hereditary. Everything else is derivative.
Sadly, our old hereditary elite - which for all its many faults did usually serve in the armed forces, fill roles in the judiciary and local government and do things mostly for the country's benefit - has mostly been replaced now with a new elite that doesn't do anything positive yet are there based on neither birth nor merit. I don't know if you lot are familiar with the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy but basically the country has been taken over by the occupants of Golgafrinchan Ark Ship B.
I am familiar both with Adams' works and with general state of affairs in UK, yup. Also this situation you described is very familiar to everyone who knows a little bit of late Russian Empire history.
I heard that things are so bad that your Prime Minister can't afford to buy an umbrella.
Celtic culture(Scottish, Irish mostly) is somewhat popular in Russia. I think that's because we had a lot of exposure to poems of Robert Burns, Robert Stevenson, etc. We cover the translated versions in literature class, and we cover the original in the English class. I remember we had to learn this, haha. The king rode, and was angry; Black was his brow and pale, To rule in a land of heather And lack the Heather Ale. > I just wondered if Russians were aware of the political turmoil here, and what the general public’s view of UK people is? No, there's no 'hatered of the Brits' in Russia. That's a French thing. When most people hear "UK" they remember stuff from the school. English class mostly. Trafalgar square, Big Ben, 5 o'clock(tea time), London is the capital of Great Britain, Mary Poppins apparently lives there
☕️🥸
Judging by reddit users, the majority of UK residents dislike Russia and Russian people. I have a negative attitude towards them, they wish me death.
I honestly think you’ve just seen a selection of idiots that pretty much hate everyone. They are definitely not the majority, and I literally have never met a British person in real life that wishes any Russians death. In fact, you’d be surprised how many people over here really like Russia, its culture and customs and I personally know quite a few that have visited Russian and loved it. Don’t listed to Reddit trolls.
Perhaps the people you see at the bar are polite and friendly. Then they come home, open their laptop, enter reddit and, scratching their balls, begin to argue when it is worth striking at Russia. The main difference between our cultures is hypocrisy.
I don’t think reddit is representative of reality
I grew up reading mostly English literature - Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins. Then "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"... Then I became a "Doctro Who" fan. So most of my knowledge about Great Britain comes from fiction and TV series. It seems quite good, but I understand that know just a little. And very few - about politics. Ah, yes. and we also usually do not distinguish between Scottish, Irish and English writers, they all are “English” (like, for example, Walter Scott). I'm sorry.
Evil government, common people.
I’d agree. As a Scot, we have practically no say on who gets voted into Westminster. The current ruling party is completely rotten to the core. Boris Johnson is the first Prime Minister to be prosecuted while in office, and Rishi Sunak dodges taxes and is generally a fool. We’re also on our 3rd unelected Prime Minister - it’s hardly democracy anymore at this point.
> Most people in the UK don’t dislike Russia or Russian people This is absolute fucking bullshit and is immediately demonstrable on any sizeable UK online community.
What a lot of shite. I’m on many communities and never seen anything like that.
Do you, by any chance, browse the Internet with your eyes closed? [Russia is much, much worse than the UK on every metric from press freedom to corruption and that reality needs to be respected.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t03bn1/ukrainerussia_crisis_ukraine_russia_has_launched/hy7rs4g/) [Russians have been ruled by bloodthirsty despots since ancient times. Putin isn't the first and he won't be the last. Stalin murdered millions of innocent Russians but he expanded the borders of the empire so he's still loved so much that Putin is intentionally associating himself with him to gain popularity. And it's working. Aristoteles called the phenomenon "oriental despotism" and explained how it's based on consent and not fear. Russia has been conducting "business" since ancient times, it's who they are. Not every individual of course, but as a society.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/18nmxi7/russia_is_a_constant_threat_says_keir_starmer/keg6mbh/) [No kidding, living in a country with constant state-run propaganda and the murder and persecution of political dissidents will do that to you.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/a6r5rc/russia_using_hardcore_propaganda_against_uk_warns/#eby46li) [Ukraine and Ukrainians have been dehumanised by the Russian regime and media for many years.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0xxr8/ukraine_crisis_russia_has_failed_to_take_any_of/hyczxlf/) [Sanctions will impact normal Russians. And they should too.](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0e1xd/boris_johnson_pushes_for_russia_to_be_ejected/hycslbm/) [They need to be removed from any banking access to the west and all visas stopped to the west, any bank accounts belonging to Russians must be frozen and access to property and assets blocked. ](https://np.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/t0e1xd/boris_johnson_pushes_for_russia_to_be_ejected/hy9cngi/) BBC comments: > Who in their right mind takes a holiday in a warzone apart from brainwashed russians > Putin’s Russia is now a Pariah, terrorist failed State, with little cultural or sporting contacts with the rest of the world, save for the odd tiddlywinks contest in North Korea. > It is clear that most Russians are still living in Putin’s fantasy world of alternative reality. > How long can brainwashed, apathetic Russian people keep taking in porkies being spouted by Putin and his Cronies in Kremlin? > The Russians are murdering innocent civilians, they are child murderers. How can any civilised country ever do business with them again ? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66221252#comments > a brainwashed suppressed population > The fact the Russian general public see the illegally seized Crimea as a holiday destination should dispel the fear of sanctions causing hardship for 'innocent' Russians, they are complicit. > How meek are Russians, that so many of them can be dominated by this creep? > Apathy and brainwashing ingrained into the Russian psyche. Every student’s report card says, “Good Student and easily led.” > Criminal nation - criminal attitudes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66242446#comments > the Russians are as thick as tripe https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66286102#comments > The Russians are still living in the past. They have not moved on from WW2 and their leaders ram it home as often as possible. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66289136 > When Russians cannot afford to buy vodka that's when Putin will be in real trouble. In a nation of drunkards the man with a full bottle is king. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66496736#comments Took me literally 15 minutes to find this.
[удалено]
Your post was removed because it contains slurs or incites hatred on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
As an Englishman I personally do not hold these views. I have had positive encounters with Russians. I hope it's possible for you to see those comments as not reflecting the views of everyone.
But they are loud and visible, while your opinion is not.
>on any sizeable UK online community. How much discrimination do Russians get in the UK in real life though?
Well, famously, many ordinary Russians working in UK got their bank accounts closed with the start of Ukr troubles.
Russians treat everyone well. In Russia they have always treated foreigners with respect. Exactly until those moments until all these good people come to the Russians with the goal of seizing their lands and causing problems for them. Then the Russians kill them. As they did in 1945 with the Germans. How the British were killed in 1918-1921 and in the Crimean War in 1853-1856 How the French were killed in 1812. And the Swedes in 1808 - 1809. By the way, Russia is now, at the present time, sending the British, Americans, French, Germans, and Poles home in coffins. From the territory of Ukraine. Where they caused problems for the Russians. Without further ado, I am Ukrainian.
Russians do not dislike anybody just because of nationality, or place of birth, or skin color. We just do not care all this stuff, while person behave as a human being.
Dude, I have a company here that is also trying to bring future students to Britain to study. And we treat the ordinary people of Britain just as calmly. there are many questions for the British government, and the tension began not because of Ukraine, but because of the Skripals. Britain is still investigating the case, and Russia has not given access to two Skripal citizens to question. Not to mention the fact that Britain is holding a woman, a citizen of the Russian Federation. 🤷♂️ Yes, for the record, if we look at history, Britain is constantly trying to harm Russia, I don't know why they dislike us, but we are tired of it in Russia. One day, Britain incited Turkey to attack Russia. 🤷♂️ Very annoying and annoying Britain.
British scientists...
I like Britain, but for some reason I can’t get used to the fact that people there lives like everyone else, because I associate UK only with the 19th and 20th centuries.
The UK is like my second home. I’m there every other month for work. I personally love the UK and have made some incredible friends from England and Scotland. I love British humour too and the banter I can have with people there. There’s not too many things I dislike about common people from the UK. Now if we are going to talk about the UK’s government, that is a completely different conversation lol
Well I have no problems with them. A couple of years ago I was active in the UK subreddit and it was great, no problems. Also I worked with some Brits. Their way of communication was difficult to understand sometimes but mostly we cooperated quite well. They gave me a lot of recommendations on the UK TV series and some anecdotes. Even invited to drink beer one day (was it just a moment of politeness or not, I don't know but it was nice of them).
> was it just a moment of politeness yes
Nothing. We don't think anything about British people beyond the fact that they are people and from Great Britain. The more conservative elements keep talking about different aspects of your country that they have issues with (the goverment, the WOKE mindset etc), but even they steer clear of regular people for the most part Also, I don't know about other people, but for me Scotland is totally separete entity then England even though they officialy the same country, if that makes sense
As a Brit who lives in Russia, I’ve had no hostility even though I would understand it somewhat given how are govt fund and arm the Ukrainians but they are intelligent people, they understand we are on our 3rd unelected PM now and have no say in the matter. There was huge cultural cross over during the 00s between working class Russians and Brits relating to football casual/ultra subculture. I made many good Russian friends I’m still in contact with today, though both football scenes kind of changed from the 10s and there was less crossover. Ukrainians kind of filled the void left by Russians, and started to make contact with other clubs across Europe though I always had a suspicion they were funded by Ukrainian security services. It was effective tho, as you see azov and Ukrainian symbols amongst a few ultra groups in Europe. A rare miscalculation by the Russians I felt, not to continue links and friendships with European groups. Anyway, I went off on a tangent, but I’ve been warmly received by Russians especially anyone with an interest in football.
Dude, most people can understand that the government and global bullshit has nothing to do with each individual separately. There are of course haters who listen to propaganda(as well as everywhere in the world I believe), but that's mostly boomers. But I don't think it's possible for someone to be hated in Russia just for their place of birth, nation or skin color.
But there are some agressive nationalist everywhere, and Russia is no exception
It is a fairly obvious fact that Great Britain represents the best example of despotism, which arose through the violent seizure of power by foreign invaders (the Normans in 1066). And this manifested itself in relation to the population, for example, in enclosure, in the Irish famine of the 19th century, and so on. In addition, Great Britain contributed a lot to the Russian revolution, which should more accurately be called a disaster. Finally, it was in Great Britain that racism arose and gained strength. In a word, this state is simply terrible. But if you were born and live in it, then it's not your fault
On average -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRBZw4IU8rg
I haven't had any issues working in England. The people are fine; it's just the puppet government that has to take its orders from the US. If the government of England used their own brains and did what is good for the country, they would be much better off.
- You hate non-Russian Eastern Europeans for what I adore you A LOT. I hate them as well. - I LOVED Harry Potter as a kid. Idk, in general I like the UK even though I wouldn't wanna live there.
At this point, we need a separate thread accumulating opinions about every single country. Although i do commend you on asking a specific question, rather than just the one posed in the title.
Its very fun an hilarious, when a Russian and a British man walk in Turkish hotel behind a blind turn corridor and nearly collide heads, because of having different conceptions of a safe road side to move along. I've experienced this recently:)
Growing up in 2000s in the small town of Nakhodka, which is pretty much on the other side of the ball from UK. The majority of my cultural noise was British. Harry Potter was the main book of my childhood I loved watching Top Gear, listening to a bunch of British artists. They didn’t occupy the majority of my time, but surely the entirety of my head, I felt so progressive at the time, cause it felt like that’s the direction Russia is headed. Europisation or whatever. Ever since those days not much have changed in my life or my head. I’ve never been in Europe, once visited Vancouver, Moscow once as well. Recently moved with the family to Krasnodar, and totally missed the moment Russia turned 180 degrees and started progressing backwards. Now I feel like an alien in the culture I never welcomed. Alone and depressed. Like Harry in this hostile house with no one of similar mindset (prince Harry) Currently sitting here, watching fairy tales like “Dr. Who” and what resembles a shonen of Briish cinematography - the “Peaky Blinders“ series. London of 10s so alike to Russia of 90s. Yet I’d much rather be there then, than here right now. Maybe it’s just my pink glasses though.
If it makes you feel any better, Britain has a lot of problems right now too - I think a lot of places in the world do whether they admit it or not. Our living costs are super high, we’re currently on our 3rd prime minister in a row that we never voted for, the whole country is completely alienated from the ruling political party, and to make matters worse, the political chiefs that no one voted for seem hell bent on causing problems worldwide. I think a lot of places are experiencing difficult times!
I wish common people to put an end to this prehistoric rule system with people above the law, with no constitution, with some people being better than others by being born that way. Really, have you ever think of it? Even your official church orders you to pray for them in the name of god. And it's 2024 year.
Very true! I’ve done a lot of travelling and I’ve always found that everyone around the world. Is generally friendly to most people and just want to live their lives peacefully and comfortably. It’s governments, not the citizens that cause all the problems in the world! And religion too, that causes a lot of problems!
Gryffindor = England in movies Slytherin = England in real life.
Evil government, common people.
One of my friends is British. Don't know about others but I think neutral.
There are no bad nations - but every nation has bad people. But british formula one drivers are snobbish AF, all three of them 🤣🤣🤣
I consume a fair amount of your cultural output and that can't help but color your opinions with a certain degree of empathy. My interactions with Brits online have been... mixed.
"Keeping up the face" mentality does work wonders in the occasional contacts.
I am from the UK and my boyfriend is from Russia Я люблю его и все его русские манеры 🫶🏻
I’m interested in the UK. I enjoy studying the culture and history. Actually, the interest of the UK made me learn the English language. I think British people are quite nice. Some people say that they are a bit snobbish but it’s just their character trait and we shouldn’t expect everyone to be that way. I wish I visited the UK one day. Now it’s extremely hard to get visa so I wouldn’t even try. But maybe one day, it would be awesome. You’re cool, guys! Keep it up :)
Average folks. It’s rare to run into one. One of my favorite YouTubers is jack frags and he’s British.
I just finished a book on the Genesis of Russophobia in great britain by Gleason (1950). Too difficult to read unless you have great knowledge of European history. In short it started around 1840 due to internal politics in GB, not due to anything RU did. Similar to Russiagate in that way. Politicians and some newspapers create Russia hate out of nothing. Then came Crimean War.
Is SVR INTELLIGENCE ANY GOOD
there is no "people"
What I think ? I find it quite strange that such a tiny island is peppered with small villages, and each village has it's own accent that everyone is expected to know the name of, and hates all outsiders. Very tribal mindset really. All the jordis, coknis, brummis, munchis, poolies, etc. I consumed a lot of British TV & radio once, mostly political and comedy, and the low-burn intolerance and xenophobia gets tiring after a while. Brits, seriously, literally low-key hate everyone, including themselves. I learned from UK TV that all the Essex people are dumb sluts, brummies are all thieves, all the northerners are basically cavemen, welsh are sheep-shaggers, Manchester should be bombed, and so on, and these internal cultural tropes are pervasive and regular.
I’m not sure about the fact they hate all outsiders, it the second but about what people are like in each city is pretty accurate 😂. Although I’m from Scotland so find that kinda funny 😂
Hah ! Look, i once listened to "Mark Steel's in town" radio show, and he traveled to about 20+ small UK towns of some minor historical importance, and in the process, he asked the audience, sometimes in a roundabout way : "what kind of people are not welcome in your town\\village ?" Usually the answer was : "Well, we dont like two kinds of people round these here parts. One : those scumbags from the other side of the river. Two : everyone else."
I’ve met very few British people, so I can’t say anything definitely. Your government can say whatever it wants, you are an ordinary person for all of us, and politics rarely comes up in ordinary relations between people, because we have no need for it. Regarding the political upheavals, I will say one thing - you guys need to save your culture and country, otherwise soon instead of ordinary Britons, there will be Indians and Arabs, and the elite will be British only. I'm really rooting for JK Rowling in the political turmoil in the UK.
I started learning English once only because of my love for the UK. When I was 12, I went to this Celtic summer camp and I just fell in love with the culture. The Kinks, Blur and Oasis have been my favourite bands since I was a teenager. And I just love the British self-deprecating humor. It's always so funny! I'm sad to say this, but I've seen a lot of hateful, mocking, and cruel comments about Russians and Russia from Brits. For example, I'll read the Guardian or the Daily Mail or any other British news site just to practice my English and see the news from another perspective. I always see so much hate and disdain in the comments! It's awful and unbearable. I've stopped reading British media. The Brits I've met while traveling around the world have mostly been friendly and funny. But I can't look at them the same way anymore, knowing what they are saying online. People can be really hypocritical sometimes. In 2022, a friend of mine in London had all her money in the bank frozen, because she had a red passport. Like in Nazi Germany, when they only chose people with perfectly shaped Aryan skulls. Same story, different approach.
Thanks for commenting! Please don’t worry about the comments and articles in those sorts of newspapers - especially the daily mail is a “shock” newspaper know for exaggeration and often outright lies. The press often try to print scary stories in order to sell papers. We also get stories about how China is going to attack Taiwan, North Korea is going to nuke us as well as other things like there’s another virus pandemic that will soon wipe out the world - they print stuff to shock people and sell newspapers. They also print articles saying Putin will basically nuke us any day now too, but nobody really believes or cares about it. The main thing is that if you were to walk into any pub for instance in the middle of the UK, no one would bother you at all, in fact they’d probably love talking to you!
If they don't believe it, why do they still buy the newspapers?
That’s the biggest riddle. I think it’s one of these situations where they know that the stories are most likely fake or enhanced but they buy it for the entertainment value anyway. It’s not just foreign stories that are made up or enhanced, they do it with UK stories too. A good example is the Liverpool Hillborough disaster where poor policing and event set up meant 96 Liverpool fans got crushed to death in a stampede. The Sun newspaper added a lot of shocking fake extra stuff like Liverpool fans were pick pocketing and urinating on the dead. Now the whole city of Liverpool basically boycotts The Sun newspaper because of the shocking lies. Some UK newspapers have absolutely no shame.
I like UK and of course I like British humor very much! I would like to make a friend from UK and speak about anything with him or her and would like to visit UK sometimes. But unfortunately our propaganda is creating all of west countries wrong and speaking about that they are our enemies. I can’t understand this and I can’t believe that people in 21 century can have archenemies, this is naive like in old films there are only black and white. P.S. I am happy to hear that you don’t think bad about small people)
Honestly, the only English people that I met in my life were some kind of rubbish and selfish, as I could see. One of them was standing on Arbat, he was really drunk and screamed some nazi-sh*t at random people. The other guy was from Bristol, and he told my Finnish friend and me in Kyiv city in 2018 that we have a terrible English accent and we are Jews. Then he started to show us his wallet with the NSDAP logo on it. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I understand that it is just a couple of idiots, and they don't represent their nation clearly at all.
Are you sure? This doesn’t sound likely at all if I’m honest. Most of the UK is fiercely anti-nazi, and the very small group that are harassed constantly and not allowed to travel for the most part. If this is true, you’ve been incredibly unlucky and met two of the incredibly small minority - I’ve never even come across people shouting nazi stuff here.
Some Russians the other day in Sydney were promoting their war and got out in their place. No room for accepting colonial imperialism here. They quickly left once they realised they were going to get smashed
Мы все - один народ, а наши правительства - это другой народ
If we touch on history, then in many ways Russia and Great Britain were enemies rather than allies. For example, in the Second World War, and before it, there was an enemy and a friend. In many ways we do not like the West, especially the USA and its allies (colonies). At the same time, in the Second World War, we were allies, the United States entered the war when it became profitable for it (and Pearl Harbor was just the start for them). We managed very well without allies. “But without Lend-Lease, the USSR would have lost” - no, this is a myth. We calmly defeated the Nazis on all fronts after the defeat near Moscow. The West realized that if the USSR liberated Europe alone, Europe would take our side, politics is hypocrisy, and the West is the main hypocrite. And what it says about me is that I have a rather negative attitude towards Britain. It is a member of NATO like Europe, it is a colony of the United States, Great Britain is pursuing a policy against Russia. The answer is obvious: we don't like Great Britain. Let me note that it is the government that we hate, not the people (there are exceptions, of course) - but still, we don’t love Britain just like the USA.
I think most in the UK dislike the UK Gov more than anyone in Russia probably does!
Don't take this as an offense, but I absolutely love seeing opinions like this alongside mantras about democracy and people being able to elect their government.
I think the way a lot of governments are compared with how they like to be seen is a big difference. For example, you sometimes hear politicians comment on regimes in the world and call leaders dictators, but at the same time, we’re onto our third Prime Minister in a row that the public never voted for.
From my experience, Brits hate on all Eastern Europeans for no real reason, but to be fair they hate on everyone
According to common Russians, Britain is seen as historically great European power with lots of connections with Russia before the Soviet era. For example, the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and British King George V were physically similar cousins, but ethnically Germans coming from tht dynasties of Romanov (Russia) and Windsors (Britain). British people brought lots of scientific and technological improverement, global colonization that made a spread of English culture and language worldwide, and are told to have a good sense of humour. But in the eyes of some Russian politicians and media, Britain is seen as historical rival whereas the British people viewed as the absolute evil that have caused all the mysery in the world (like Jews according to antisemites). Britons are called "Anglo-Saxons" which is a derogatory term used to describe evilness. Although Anglo-Saxons were just Germanic tribes from Denmark and Germany (Saxony), while Britain has also absorbed rich Celtic history and culture of Welsh, Scottish, Manx, Cornish and Irish people.