zlacker

Yeah, as someone who's been to Russia pre-war, and has worked and befriended Russians, the beam in the eye is quite strong in many. It's striking because the social contract there is basically that you're left alone as long as you don't become a thorn of the power, social network-mediated or not, and I'm not even talking about Putin and his entourage, but local administration in a remote village too. Zvyagintsev portrays it royally in Leviathan, as it's been portrayed by Dostoyevsky and Tosltoy before.

My most recent case: I went on holiday to a resort in Turkey, numerous Russians, families, retired, etc. I don't pass as a Russian-speaker (but I understand quite well) and once they hear me talking other unrelated language they naturally start to speak more freely in front of me (i.e. more liberal use of swearing, and even slurs if no other Russians are around).

While sunbathing, or at the restaurant, or the pool, they were talking about daily, mundane things, same in the restaurant, etc. But when floating in pairs 20-30m from the shore? Politics.