Belarusians Were Shocked By Their Interactions With Russians

It's as if it's in their blood—they think everyone owes them something.

A Russian nickshcherbakov asked Belarusians how they feel about his compatriots.

“Belarusians, here’s a question for you,” he writes on Threads. “How do you really feel about Russians? Everyone talks about the friendship between our peoples, but what do ordinary people think?”

In response, social media users shared not only their views on Russians but also the reasons behind those views. The website Charter97.org cites some of the comments:

- Ever since I was in school, I’ve noticed that if someone behaves disgustingly and provocatively on vacation, 90% of the time it’s a Russian. I’ve been to many countries and have seen how people from other nations respect the places they visit. But not Russians. Here, it would start with “Is the menu in Russian?” or “Can I pay in Russian rubles?”—and those are just the most common examples of such disrespectful behavior.

- You’re not our friends. And you never were. You Russians despise and hate everyone, even citizens of your own country who are of a different ethnicity.

- In my line of work, I meet people from different countries, but Russians are just always some kind of quiet nightmare. It’s as if it’s in their blood that everyone owes them something. They don’t know the most basic rules of etiquette; it’s hard for them to even say hello, and please, be so kind as to quote prices in their currency. I have the utmost dislike for them because of this.

- Don’t go to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, or anywhere else. You’ve annoyed everyone with your pig-headed imperialism. Don’t go there just for free internet, Coca-Cola, and Mastercard. I can tell you this with certainty as a native of Kazakhstan with a Russian passport who has lived in Belarus for over 27 years.

- When Russians started coming to Belarus in droves, the attitude toward them got even worse. The stories online about rudeness and attempts to pay with their own currency turned out to be completely true, and that’s very sad. And yes, I’ve met some decent Russians, but those were isolated cases, and most often they were people from central Russia. But western Russia—the part closest to us—is a complete nightmare.

- I started working in tourism in 1998. We worked with Russian tour groups. Even back then, I heard people mocking the Belarusian language, outrage over not being able to pay with Russian rubles, scandals over nothing, rudeness... It was endless. I still remember the people who turned out to be kind and pleasant. Because they were few and far between. How do I feel about Russians now? I’ll describe it this way—with caution.

- I spoke with someone from St. Petersburg just recently. He’s a lawyer by training. When the conversation turned to who we are and what we stand for, I heard him say that a country like Belarus has to be “under someone’s control” anyway. The conversation went nowhere.

- My attitude toward our Russian neighbors has always been neutral and friendly—just as it is toward our other neighbors! Belarusians are a very tolerant people—that’s true! But that was the case until my family and I flew down to Anapa for a vacation by the sea. By the way, we’d booked a hotel that wasn’t cheap—in fact, it was one of the best in the region. And we would have enjoyed the vacation, if not for one thing—we flew on the plane and then spent our time at the hotel surrounded almost exclusively by Russians! It was an absolute nightmare, my friends, I tell you!

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