How Russians See the War in Ukraine

The Daily

The New York Times

News, Daily News

4.5 • 97.8K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Russians and Ukrainians are deeply connected. Millions of Ukrainians have relatives in Russia. Many have lived in the country. But Moscow has taken steps to shield its people from open information about the war, even as its bombing campaign intensifies. When Ukrainians try to explain the dire situation to family members in Russia, they are often met with denial, resistance, and a kind of refusal to believe. Guest: Valerie Hopkins, a correspondent for The New York Times, currently in Ukraine.

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0:00.0	From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernici. This is the Daily.
0:14.0	As Russia steps up its bombing campaign against Ukrainian cities, it's also waging another battle.
0:20.0	Over the truth about the war.
0:23.0	My colleague, Valerie Hopkins, on why so many people in Russia are in denial about what is happening,
0:30.0	even as it wrecks the lives of their own family members in Ukraine.
0:35.0	It's Monday, March 14th.
0:54.0	Valerie, you've been reporting on the war in Ukraine since the beginning.
0:58.0	And you've been hearing stories again and again of this pretty shocking misinformation
1:04.0	campaign coming from Russia. Can you describe what you've been hearing and seeing?
1:09.0	I've been talking to a lot of people here in Ukraine, first when I was in Kiev and then on the road.
1:15.0	And a lot of them have pretty shocking stories about their relatives in Russia.
1:21.0	Ukraine and Russia are really well connected. Millions of Ukrainians have relatives in Russia.
1:27.0	Some of them used to live there.
1:29.0	But now, as some of Ukraine's cities are being bombed, as millions of people are being forced to flee,
1:36.0	people are trying to tell their relatives in Russia what's going on.
1:40.0	And they're being met with denial, resistance, and kind of a refusal to believe what their family members,
1:47.0	their blood relatives are telling them.
1:50.0	And one person whose story really stuck out to me was this guy, Misha Kutsurin.
1:56.0	Hi, yes. Thank you.
2:00.0	Misha is 33 years old. He lives with his wife and kids in Kiev and actually owns a really trendy chain of Asian restaurants.
2:08.0	Right now, of course, I'm all my restaurants closed.
2:11.0	And he said the fourth morning of the war.
	...

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