A serious talk about Russia and Finland with @Igor in Russia
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- Опубликовано: 8 мар 2023
- Today I have a guest from Finland in my video. It's Igor. We discussed a few things on what Finns think about Russia and Russians now, whether Finns consider Russia a threat giving that Russia and Finland have a common border.
It was an interesting conversation.
#finland #finns #russia #russians
Check out Igor's channel www.youtube.com/@IGORinRussia...
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Igor is not a finn. This is one form of imperialism as he is speaking behalf of us.
Yes. As a Finnish who has born in the 80's I have to say I have never met a Finnish guy whose name is Igor. I wonder how many Russians there might be with that name 😏
Finland has every right to defend themselves against the Russian dictator, they are most certainly doing the right thing by joining NATO.
Any Finnish vloggers out there who would like to give the Finnish perspective and chat with Ksenia?
It is hard to believe this guy. He says he is a "cultural" commentator and doesn't involve himself politically. However, everything he says is political 🙄. And the substrate is he regrets Finland is not a part of Russia because " there are also good things about the Russian influences in Finland ". My God !
As a Finn, I wonder why discussing Finland with someone who is pro-russian, strange? I have listened to this guy before about Finnish affairs and found that his knowledge of history is at the level of a primary school student 😅.
I remember that man from the start of the war. He was presented there as "what a Finn is thinking". Almost everything that came out from his mouth was... typical for Igor the Russian and no sane Finn would think like that. 🤣
I watched the first 15 minutes this Ksenia's interview and stopped. Why should I consume typical Russian narratives and talking points - I'm an Estonian, I have heard them already enough in my life.
That's really truth. I have heard strange thinks him saying about Finns. And he think to be kind of specialist of knowing what kind we are. Very Russian! But we Finns know what we are, that's it!
@@vaataja exactly, I could not endure this anymore after being 11 minutes in.
Yes, he describes himself as a Finn that is Russian. What does that mean?
@TFactory Yes, he does it in an easy, soft controlled way, but he is just like Russian propaganda, he repeatedly contradicts himself.
It's strange that when the interview is in ENGLISH, you could have chosen any of the Finnish youtubers, you chose the only one of them who was born in the SOVIET UNION to tell the viewers what the FINNS think...
Igor gets around, I think he is probably actively talking to Russian youtubers himself to try to make these happen
@@sluxi He isn't taken seriously by Russian You Tubers as No one ever Returns Konstantine Inside Russia and Dima who fled to Georgia have never returned after seeing what a Zealot Russo phile he is!
@@rchird2010 well I think dima mentioned he is going to be talking with him again, not too thrilled but I like dima a lot and know he does not have similar views
@@sluxi He did two with Dima nothing since then. Again Igor is too much of Russophile for Russian Expats .
Igor has his own views that he is free to express of course but when it comes to the preview image saying "what Finns think about Russians" I would certainly not say you are going to get a very good idea of that from what he has to say, he's very much an outlier in that regard.
except in Russia he is not free to do so if he disagrees. Yet he seems pretty cozy there.
I think that's the key to this whole conversation. Who has free speech and who doesn't.
@@sammykuningas9782 Well, I did not say he is a free thinker, just that he has his views and they are not the views that you would typically find Finnish people to have. Where those come from is another matter.
I haven't heard about Igor before so I browsed his channel. It looks like he is smart enough not to express explicit support for Putin but from what I understood between the lines he follows the Kremlin's narrative in respect to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Sad.
@TFactory This guy and Russel are soft propagandists for Putin and Russia.😝
He is PRO Putin all the way! He is also PRO Russia all the way and he justifies the killing of innocent civilians in Ukraine as a moral equivalence to the “Donbass”. Russians will never live Ukraine down until democracy reins amongst it vastness.
Thank you for this. I was really struggling with what I was hearing but this is what makes it make sense. Very sad.
Igor has the right to his opinions but they are not shared even by the majority of Russians in Finland.
Unfortunately Igor sounds like a Kremlin propagandist or a tankie. The reason people don't like Russia is because of Russia's own actions. The Western media has nothing to do with it. My own brother-in-law is Finnish (native born) and he has a very different perspective than your Latvian guest.
I don’t think Latvia wants to claim him.
Im sorry but there can’t be anything good said about Russia’s influence on ex-soviet states in my opinion. Whatever “good” it did for them was far overshadowed by the bad.
Exactly, they invaded probably all of Eastern European countries at least once, sometimes more often and now they are surprised that they are not popular over there.
Igor,
WHY doesn’t Putin INVADE Brighton Beach in NYC? There are many Russians and they wish to have Russian as the official language.
I liked Tatjanas on the boardwalk.
I'm so disappointed that you chose this guy who is no more Finnish than me and who is actually a Russian propagandist!
Why, did you ever think it was a good idea to get this chap on.
I can tell you what Finns think about russians. It is very clear that we make a clear separation between RUSSIANS and RUSSIAN STATE. People who live close to the border both sides usually have ties to the other country, tourism both sides is busy and business is booming. Pre-war that is. Russian state however has never had Finland's trust more than necessary. And as various video interviews on RUclips show, Russian people tend to separate themselves from the state often too.
Before war in Finland there was propably the first generation of children growing up with maybe no WW2 trauma traces towards russia. Thats is now gone.
It is no wonder Finland has reservations towards their large neighbour who last time took 11% of our land, has been continuing to "accidentally" flying their military planes on Finnish Air space and gives demands how we should govern our country. There are 5.5 million of us and 141 million of russians.
We just want peace.
Igor simplifies things far too much for my taste.
Th Finns have every right to be sceptical towards Russia.
It's not just about the Winter War.
They were surpressed during the times of the Russian Empire too.
And no, they don't have to be grateful towards Lenin either.
Lenin granted Finland their independence because he was busy with the Civil War and the war against Poland then.
Separating culture and politics is also something you cannot do in the current situation.
Culture has always been instrumentalised by dictatorships.
Check the culture of the Soviet Era, the Mao Times in China or Nazi Germany.
Culture has always been a tool of politics. At least mainstream culture has been.
Actually Russian Empire gave the most freedoms and made finnish people as a nation.. and many more things, information that hs been mostly supressed in history revision. Sure there was an era where many thibgs were taken back since late 1800s by Nikolai II. Im pretty aware of the forgotten history (have my own series on my channel exploring this fascibating russian finnish history)
I know how it is when citizens of a country find excuses because the state and/or fellow citizens are or were on a destructive path. It's not meant in a negative way and is probably quite normal for the common man.
His opinions represent a small minority of Finns. Sounds more like a russian apologist. It was hard to watch this.
Closing the border was very much the will of every party and pressure was domestic.
@@pacifist9805 he didn’t sound like that to me, more like a realist. Lots of NATO bases in Finland, militarizing Finland further would only lead to further escalation, wouldn’t it? At least that’s the meaning I took from it. He also said that Ukraine has a different situation compared to Finland, which again is true.
Idk the guy or his content but many things he said ring true, he sounds moderate and pro-peace.
@@minime7375 , the truth is that Finland was already militarized. It won't become more so under NATO. It will only offer the assurance of outside support should Russia threaten its territory.
Igor's opinions are not common opinions in Finland. Igor often sounds pro-Putin, pro-Z-war, pro-Kremlin. The vast majority of Finns oppose the war started by Russia and Putin's dictatorship, and want to help Ukraine. Igor might call it "Russophobia" *lol*
Why does Igor live in Finland when Russia is so great according to him? What a hypocrite! And all this talk about culture is not politics. You can’t ignore politics now when Russia started a war. Any country that had “the pleasure” with Russia in their history are not loving them. I know what I’m talking about, we were occupied by the Russian army for 20 years. But I always thought ordinary (educated) Russian people were different than their government (based on Ksenia, Niki, Roman and others) but listening to this guy I’m not sure anymore.
Mě to nepřekvapuje. Ani jsem nečekala rozhovor s někým, kdo nebude mlít podobný nesmysly. Zdá se, že Igor je buď idiot nebo troll, co si našel šikovný vedlejšák.🤭 Do loňska bych o tom, co říká, možná přemýšlela, ale teď už ani náhodou. Je to stejný jako ti naši Chcimíři, co mávají na náměstí ruskou vlajkou a řvou, že je u nás totalita. 🤮
You obviously don't watch Daniil Orain's channel 1420. There you can see the real faces of russia.
he is full of it
terrible guy
@@unreal4127 oh yes, I do! But you mustn’t forget those are answers of those who are willing to share their opinions with a stranger and on camera. It’s obvious that most of them would be supporters of them regime brainwashed by propaganda.
It's the many benefits and safety nets Finland offers him. Including the freedom to dislike Finland as much as he likes.
This man would ideally like to ignore that Ukraine thing.
Hey Finland, Next time Igor goes to beloved Russia, lock the door!
Xenia, we Finns dream that Russia would transform into a free, democratic, peaceful and prosperous country. We would love to have close relations with a friendly neighbor like that. We have nothing against the Russian culture, many of us know the masterpieces in literature, music and visual art, but we do not approve of the dictatorship and propaganda. For the past ten years Finnish media here has reported worrying signs of declining level of freedom and democracy in Russia, and now we see the terrible consequences of this progress. (I guess this is what Igor refers to negative news from Russia like it was just some irrational anti-Russian sentiments by us Finns. Igor fails to value democracy and low level of corruption.) Before the war in Ukraine 20% of the Finns wanted to join NATO. We embraced our neutral status, but when Russia attacked Ukraine, 80% of Finns wanted to join NATO. In his speech Putin said that Lenin made a huge mistake when he allowed former Russian states to become independent in 1917. This would include Finland. All the best to you and all Russians! ❤
Then why didn't the EU invite Russia to join? You've invited Turkey which has more political prisoners than Russia does. Absolute nonsense, that's all you wrote. Anti-Russian sentiment among Finns is completely irrational. Russia invaded Ukraine under certain circumstances for a certain reason. I'm Canadian, if the US attacks Iraq does that mean Canada might be next? The fact that public opinion turned on a dime like that demonstrates that it's a purely emotional reaction(and therefore irrational), and not the result of considered and measured position. How stupid your country looks. Neutral under Stalin and Brezhnev, but joining NATO in the third decade of the 21st Century. I guess being a democracy doesn't make an informed and independent thinking populace. I doubt there's a single issue that 80% of Russians agree on.
My ancestors came from Finland around 1900. The old timers had nothing good to say about the Russians.
I disagree with the opinion that Russia would ever attack Finland. You are different from your neighbors, Finns have a reputation of being ferocious fighters and tbf I think Russia is afraid of you. I know that sounds funny given the size difference but I doubt Putin will ever try anything against Finland.
That being said I watched a good travel vlog recently and I found out that in the region of your common border there are various languages spoken except Russian and Finnish and that Karelian and Finn is not the same thing. I honestly thought that they are Finnish. I’d love to know more about the ethnicity of the Karelian population.
@@daniellarson3068 Yes, that was the time of a massive russification program here in Finland and probably one of the reasons your ancestors left the country.
@@minime7375 There are many finnic tribes and Karelians are one of them. The languages of finnic tribes are all closely related and originate from the Ural mountain region. Genetically the population of Finland is roughly divided by west and east. In the eastern half people are genetically related to the finnic tribes in Russia, whereas in the western part people have a more mixed and healthy background as they have dna also from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Britain, and many European countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands.
You should do an interview with a someone from Georgia. They fear Russia too, why? Hmm could be because Russia invaded and occupies portions today.
40% of Georgia is occupied
❤to all Georgians from Finland. We saw on television how Georgians bravely demonstrated against this new law on foreign agents and succeeded in defending freedom of speech. Go Georgia!
@@fortuna7469 ❤️🇬🇪❤️🇬🇪❤️🇬🇪
@@alyonapetrova694 And Russia occupies Japan's Kuril Islands.
To be honest, I have my problems with this video too. Here in Germany I have never seen hatred of Russia, especially since we have many people of Russian descent among us and have maintained good relations with Russia since the collapse of the USSR. It is absurd to claim otherwise. The fact that the man in the Kremlin got panicky and went crazy is certainly not due to the West!
Yes it is. The "west" expanded NATO and the EU(which Russia can never join) right up to Russia's border. A massive provocation. And Russia's done nothing that a certain other country in the world has done exponentially more often in recent years.
@@jordanjohnanderson I'm sorry, that's nonsense. It was never intended to harm Russia. And why, because Europe ends at the Urals. As long as Russia was busy in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia or Syria, things continued. Not even Crimea really became a trigger for major tensions. On the other hand, further Russian ambitions no longer work, since we have always fight wars in core Europe and Europe has suffered enough over the last centuries. Now it's over! Do you really think that European countries enjoyed intervening in ex-Yugoslavia? No, we abhor warlike violence like the devil abhors holy water. But we are also ready to tackle exactly these if we have to. That is what NATO is and nothing else. The man in the Kremlin may spread as many demon stories as he likes. In terms of its structure, NATO has never been an offensive power, or why was Ukraine not admitted in 2008, although the USA would have liked it to be? Why is NATO so reluctant to attack and why is there too little ammunition in Europe? Anyone who thinks they want to attack Russia is stupid!
@@jordanjohnanderson Why shouldn't Russia join the EU? The prerequisite is a constitutional system without corruption and a solid democracy. It's not the EU's fault that Russia doesn't meet these simple requirements. I even hope that Russia will go this way and certainly not because I have Russian ancestors. Just like Polish, German, Dutch and French.
@@derduebel If that were true, then that should rule out Turkey being offered membership. But it doesn't. Russia, in the 1990s, was no less democratic or more corrupt than Poland or Hungary. That's all nonsense. Russia can never join because it would severely undercut Germany's influence in the EU. Apportionment in the EU ''Parliament" is based on population. And Russia has the same population and Germany and France combined.
@@derduebel The USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. The Russian Federation has never been there. Chechnya is sovereign Russia; how can you not know what? Georgia attacked South Ossetia and Russia defended them. Russia withdrew to pre-war positions after. Assad asked Russia in intervene. Russia has done nothing like the west has done in Iraq, Libya, etc. Yes, I do think NATO wanted to intervene in the Balkans. Germany has been trying to influence this area for generations( in Ukraine too). WWI started there. Germany was the first country to recognize Slovenia's independence, starting the Yugoslav break up. Quite cruelly to Russia, since they had just agreed to allow Germany's reunification. But Germany was quite cruel to Russia many times that century.
You're now the second Russian I've unsubscribed from for giving this ruscist a platform for his propaganda. Good Russians appear to be few and far between.
That guy is a Russian propagandist.
I live in Hawaii, and our history is longer than Russia.
We arrived by boats, across thousands of miles of ocean, so that tells you just how short Russian history goes back.
I watched this presentation from start to finish and I must say I heard many, many contradictions from the Igor. At times I could relate the way Igor was speaking as being very similar to the way the Russian people answer in street Q&A youtube presentations. Possibly the best way to describe the answers given would be they are a mixture of support and objection to the Special Operation, or as too many repeatedly say, they are positive, neutral and negative to the Special Operation. Well, I'll be frank, the people talk in circles.
I suppose it would be better to address some of what was said by asking Igor why does Finland have possibly the strongest and most modern military defence systems in Europe, and from what country does Finland believe such a strong defence deterrent is necessary? And yes, Ukraine's history with Russia goes back a long way, they have strong geopolitical and cultural ties. It is these ties that Putin claims justifies his repeated 'annexations' of parts of Ukraine. But as Igor stated Finland also has similar strong historical ties with Russia. I'm sure Igor is well aware that there are at least 14 other countries that have similar 'ties' to Russia. Better I do not waste more time on each of Russia's military incursion on its immediate neighbours since 1991. It was the order given by one person on the 24th of Feb'22 that confirmed the suspicions of Finland and others that compels them to apply to join NATO.
Finally, I'd like to make a clear separation of what continues to occur in Ukraine. NATO, Europe and the West do not see the Russian 'culture' as being responsible for the War in Ukraine. There is one person responsible for the death and destruction that is occurring in Ukraine. It is one person that is responsible for the death of, depending on where you source your information, up to 200,000 dead Ukrainians and Russians in Ukraine. It is a deluded little dictator on Moscow that is responsible for this War in Ukraine, this dictator is now willing to sacrifice the lives of millions to save his own.
Well, to your final point I would say it is a little too simplistic to say it is only one person but it is also way too simplistic to just blame all Russians. Putin enjoys popular support still and too many actively participate, too many actually choose to believe what is being told to them by the regime. Then there are those who stay silent. I do understand it is not easy to stand up in such a regime and applaud all those who do speak out.
@@sluxi I would prefer to say Putin enjoys unpopular support. After a lifetime of listening to only what consecutive regimes have told them, it is mainly the elderly that have had their minds conditioned by seemingly endless propaganda. The younger generation with access to information from so many outside sources are not near as influenced by the same propaganda.
Putin has stepped up the use of nonsense propaganda to a new level, he knows how successfully another delusional little dictator utilised historical distrust, suspicion, patriotism and paranoia in his propaganda last century. Putin's propaganda is the only part of his failed invasion that has been and remains successful. Generally speaking, the elderly refer back to their USSR history, the younger generations look forward to Russia's future.
We are all aware of the penalties in speaking out against the Russian dictatorship. For the last 12 months the effects of this War have only minimally adversely affected most Russians. The longer this War continues, I hope their will eventually come a time that the people will protest. My fear is that when all the death and destruction has ended, the Russian people will say, 'we did not know', 'we had no way of stopping it', 'it wasn't us'!
Simplistic? It was 1 delusional little dictator with expansionist ambitions that ordered the failed invasion of Ukraine. It is the same little dictator that knows it is he that is ultimately responsible for the death and destruction that continues in Ukraine.
@@rossevans1774 Well, younger generations may be better informed but polling still seems to say the majority is not informed enough to see through it so seems like popular support is the right term. Of course you can suggest that this is simply because Russians lie in all the polling to avoid any trouble and I'm sure some of them do but I have trouble believing that just explains it away entirely.
That said, I agree that there are many who know what is up and I hate to see the rhetoric some people engage in that tries to paint all Russians as somehow evil. I would just say that Putin is not holding the regime up alone, he has a significant number of collaborators. The brainwashed masses are not entirely blameless either and the attitude of being "apolitical" is also sadly too common in Russia.
I do get it that this regime makes it dangerous to protest and that Russians have also been conditioned to have this attitude for a long time so I would not go as far as blaming the people in general but there are many factors that make change difficult. Hopefully one day.
@@sluxi Polls? I agree, the result ANY poll in ANY Autocracy or Dictatorship can not and will not ever produce a result that is in direct conflict with the propaganda of the regime and its direction or goals. I also agree that 'Putin is not holding the regime up alone', but he is the dictator, he dictates, it is he who calls the shots.
I didn't really appreciate his point of view.
I wanted to make the point not clear from this guy that the consequences of being pro-Russian in Finland are nothing other than social scorn at some low level, as a democracy you can opine and express your opinions without fear from any governmental authority
So true. Igor made it sound like in Russia, like you're going to be imprisoned or worse.

Igor doesn't represent Finnish people. He is a Putlers propagandist
True
I have developed more ties to Finland in 7 years that he is 30 .
Russians should ask themselves why so many nations in their proximity feel threatened? Is it because they attacked their neighbors ? It's because they oppressed people, took their lands, deported them, made their lives miserable? Russia attacked in the past, it currently attacks, threatens and so on. Why do you think instead of being attractive and liked as a country , it's just manages to make itself unwanted? Is it because instead of working on itself to be attractive, prosperous, instead it's using violence, force, sabotage, blackmail etc. ? Why would anyone align with a country where there's no free speech, where they see themselves as superior to others, where they don't respect other people's choices, where they sit with their heads in the sand ignoring reality? It's like forcing someone into a relationship when they don't want to, when they just prefer to stay away from you. But still you try to force them to like you. That's not gonna work.
Russia is the agressor in the Russia/Ukraine war.
Perhaps she brought him on to expose his two faced BS! Cause he’s talking out both sides of his mouth v
I'm happy Finland is joining NATO, we western countries have to be able to defend our liberal, free democracies against that new russian nationalistic imperialism!
Finland is a western european Country, and unfortunately Russia has shown it is not.
Greetings to our finnish friends from germany! We stand united!
As an Anglo American I completely agree that Finland (and Sweden) are welcome addition to NATO. I am so happy that the UK, US and Canada assigned all the Landing/Transit Rights to FinnAir after NO FLY went into effect. FinnAir has already now seeing record earnings and profits. Now can Fly from Finland all the way to Japan via Air Routes over North America. Now expanding flights to Europe and Mid East. Big Demand now for Tours to Finland from US and Canada for the Beautiful Finland.
@@rchird2010 You are very welcome.All friendly people are welcome to our little corner of the world.
Well we wanted to live as before but I guess we can't anymore.So we better team up with our friends.Our old war veterans told us to make sure that we are not alone ever again.This is why I think nato is great for a small country like us.we might have to ask for help one day and we might be asked to help one day.The main thing is to have friends to ask or help.
@@lexluthor6497 Actually you have Not Been Alone since 2015 when you signed Mutual Defense Pact with USA. Good News is Hungary and Turkey have committed to Finland joining NATO.. That's largely from EU pressure on Hungary and US pressure on Turkey.
Once its done Finland and Estonia should move to secure Gulf of Finland from Russia. to make the Baltic Sea the NATO Sea.
You'l find Greater Prosperity with the West as Fin Air has already with all the New Air Routes
Finland is making all the right choices and has Bright Future ahead. Congrats as being the # 1 Happiest People
FYI the Icelandic Airways has great rates between Europe and the American Hemisphere. Iceland is great for Layovers and Nice Place to visit. For warm weather you can't beat the Caribbean islands.
That's a blatant lie. Just an excuse to be anti-Russian. Sadly, some people are so ignorant.
Why dont u talk to a Finn?
This title and video is very low. You are speaking behalf of us in order to support your narrative. Very russian thing to do. Shamefull..
Hi I like you and your channel. But as a Finn this guy does not represent most Finns. There are many points in this interview that I would like to correct but I won’t. One thing I want to say most Finns are afraid of Russian propaganda and imperialism and historically attacking its neighbors. We are friends with the Russian people and I have very good Russian friends. I also love St. Petersburg and Russian hospitality.
As I have heard it said, "Once possessed by Russia, always a Russian possession".
Igor from Kremlin...
And don't get me wrong this eas good clip but from a Finnish point of view this is funny. Btw I did not say yes or no for the Nato earlier, but my thinking changed in one day at 2/2022. As well as super many of my friends too, with this... there is no turning back. We were blind to see what Russia has came :) It's fine if you Russians like of it but you should keep it inside of your own borders. With all respect. The things happening in Ukraine are beyond of my understanding.
This is not good Ksenia.
Definately. I stopped watching both contents.
From social media, I'd say there is some limited support for ruzzia, at least in Sweden. Mainly people supporting nazism / fascism on one side, and so there is people from old school communists. They have created an unholy alliance, believing ruzzia is the answer to their prayers.
But I think there is rather few of them, a one-digit percentage as most. Very loud in their expression though, not many but they write a lot of posts.
Have no experience from Finland in that aspect, but I believe it is about the same as in Sweden.
I'm going to listen a little bit longer but I will probably unsubscribe, 13 minutes was all I could stand
Well, I am not too familiar with this channel and I get the reaction to Igor but Ksenia might have better views than come through in this... Dima for example has also made videos with him but is definitely not an apologist for Russia
@@sluxi He presented himself the same way on Inside Russia by Konstantine and was never invited back. FYI Inside Russia has 200K Subscribers. Igor also embarrassed himself with himself with his Russian Orthodox authoritarianism vs Constantine's Western Christianity. Truly Igor has No Values and is quite Racist against anyone who is not a Russian Slav as he refers to everyone from White Russians to "illegals" from Former Republics as bad.
@@rchird2010 That is good, he is a small youtuber and I hope it stays that way unless he starts to seriously reconsider his views but I don't have much hope for that as it seems like these are long-held beliefs. I've definitely noticed the "illegals" thing too.
@@sluxi Glad to highlight his deviance. As an American don't hesitate to ask for my help and he'll be gone from You Tube permanently! I've done it to many Trolls already. Will smirk when he has to Cry and Whimper in his own Beer!
Do a video on the Georgia protests.
Yeah, like other Finnish folk, I’m just here telling that this is a very Russian viewpoint and pretty strange stances. Usually Finnish-Russian like the idea of being part of something ”great” and ”big” and this is why they like the Imperial Moscovite. Ofc there are also others, but they are usually first generation mixed Russians.
Igor was right about one thing. Pro-Swedish is cool, but Pro-russian is bad. And that is a direct consequence of your previous actions. The russian's victim mentality means a terrible lack of accountability.
Igor is a Russian, not Finnish
WHY don't Russian women call the Ministry of Defence round the clock to bring their sons and husband's home.
A half million young men maimed and worse is to high a price to pay for nothing.
A beautiful country you could gave been vacationing In being destroyed by bombs is pointless.
Women there don't want to loose their men but they are not going to hand their country over to anybody.
Russian woman must take the situation in hand and strike for peace.
About a dozen women gathered outside the HQ of the Western Military District in St Petersburg to urge the Russian military to live up to the governments promise not to send draftees to the combat zone in Ukraine.
Each day for 2 months, they waited 5 hours, but no one opened the doors to meet with the women, or to receive their written appeal.
The women have also been followed and harassed by the Kremlin's goons.
He's a propagandist.
No, he's a Putin propagandist!
So let's get to Igor's talking points.
1. We did get out independence from Lenin, but as you might imagine we consider the wars to be the instances where we "earned" or "actually gained" our independence, and I see no problem with that, since our independence hadn't been tested before that and we did really well considering our enemy's size and resources. I bet if the roles were somehow reversed the Russians would think the exact same.
2. Our press does indeed report mostly the negative things from Russia, but what are the positives then? And considering that Press in general doesn't report on positive developments anywhere, then is it such a surprise that our press coverage is mostly about the worrying and threatening things that happen over there?
3. I wasn't really aware that there was a Lenin statue anywhere in Finland still standing, but if there was, then I would've maybe left it standing, just as a historical landmark. Of course since I don't know about the statue, I don't know the circumstances that it was given in. Was it erected by Finns on our own initiative or was it "a gift" by the USSR? Since the "world peace" statue that got removed from Helsinki was a really unpopular and an unwanted "gift" from the USSR, which was there just because we didn't have the nerve to not accept it back in the day.
Nobody ever liked that statue, it was always just an annoying remainder of "our special relationship" with the USSR, a relationship which was not equal at all and in which we constantly had to be on our toes to not aggravate our big communist neighbour.
4. Yes, we have become more and more critical about Russians in Finland and there is a good reason for that too. Putin regularly uses local minority Russians as his excuse for doing negative things towards Russia's neighbours. Also many Russians do indeed align themselves with Russia more than they do with the country they in fact live in. I guess it makes them feel a bit more powerful when they do that, but who knows.
Also in many instances it has been discovered that the property Russians buy in Finland are for not legal purposes, and are some kinds of military outposts, since they've been bought near military installations, military airfields, near crucial communications lines etc. and they're mostly empty and not for the purpose that was said when the land deals were done.
On one instance they built a military style helicopter field on premises without permission and on another case they build big military style peers on an island and had military grade communications in the building on that island.
So are we critical about Russians on Finland? Yes we are. I still wouldn't go to a Russian and say anything nasty, or anything like that, or automatically assume someone speaking Russian is anti-Finnish or a Kremlin spy.
5. Well I haven't seen many people wearing stuff in support of Ukraine, but most everyone I know do support Ukraine. Of course we do, what's wrong with that?
6. I was a supporter of NATO even before the latest developments in Ukraine, but is it a big surprise that even those who had a very negative opinion of NATO turned 180 degrees to support joining once we saw how brutal the Russian military is in Ukraine and how they are willing to sacrifice tens upon tens of thousands of their own soldiers to achieve the smallest victories.
Our military doctrine was based on the assumption that we were going to be defending against a rational enemy, not one who is hell bent on conquering and insane enough to throw their own men and equipment into the grinder wholesale.
Our military doctrine was based on the idea that we make an attack into Finland so costly that the enemy won't want to attack, but now there is a madman who doesn't care about the cost.
7. I don't know what this man is talking about being blacklisted for pro-Russian opinions, but I've never seen that. There might be the fact that people just might not really want you around if you're pro-Russian, or that you might suffer politically if you take that stance, but I wouldn't call it "blacklisting", I would call it preference.
8. We do consider Russia a threat, and why wouldn't we? How many other neighbours do we have who sometimes try to intervene in our decision making or how many other nations do regular incursions into our national airspace? How many other neighbours do we have who has threatened us? We have 4 neighbours, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Russia. Russia is the only one that does these hostile and negative things towards us. So yes, Russia is a threat, and it will have to prove otherwise before we drop this attitude.
9. Joining NATO doesn't automatically mean that NATO troops will be permanently placed in Finland (I mean outside of joint exercises) or that there will be any kind of military build up in Finland either. This might be a surprise, but not nearly all NATO countries host US/NATO troops or bases and I'm quite sure we will not be asking or demanding those either.
10. I have mixed feelings about the culture vs. politics thing, as to me culture and politics go somewhat together. I don't mean in a way that all things should be handled in a political manner, but in a way that politics is not totally separate from other things. I think it's a very Russian way of thinking that politics is something that is totally separate and should be handled separately, but I also think it's because there isn't a strong tradition of participation or collective handling of common things in Russia. It seems very common that a Russian will say "I'm not at all political". I don't know if they truly are apolitical or is it just to avoid answering a political question, which seems pretty uncomfortable for many Russians.
11. Russians can travel in and out of Finland, but they have to have a personal real reason to do so, like having dual citizenship, going to see their relatives etc. But yes it is correct that you cannot travel freely across, like in a tourist manner or just for the hell of it. There now has to be real ties to these two countries, Finland and Russia, to travel across the border.
In short, Finland probably would never have joined Nato if the Kremlin hadn't started the war against Ukraine AND declared openly its intention to annex/join by force/absorb the bordering countries and expand into the old Sovjetunion borders.
I agree very much with "Fortuna"´s post below!
But Igor feels Russian but he is Latvian ex soviet union, that does not mean he is Russian is different
Which doesn't really matter, because we Europeans usually have roots in several countries. If you take away the respective nationalisms, we are basically a very diverse and nice society.
The fact that he feels Russian and not Latvian makes me think that his parents are Russian. There was plenty of Russians posted to live in the ex soviet countries who never planned on integrating with the local population. I might be completely wrong on this as this is the 1st time I hear about this guy but that would be my 1st guess. Again, if my guess is correct, his opinions are not surprising. The way he was dodging the question about why the Putin supporters in the west won't just move to Russia if it's so great reminds me of watching debates with Muslim apologists, very poor dodge.
@@annar6294 As an American i too am aware of the "Clannish" Nature of many Russians. Fortunately Russian Emigres going as far back as Revolution of 1917 make up less than 1 % of the US population of 332 Million Population. But this is now happening in many countries from Europe to Turkey to Central Asian Countries to Far East like Thailand and Indonesia who are limiting Russian Emigres.
Finland joins NATO this week as both Hungary and Turkish Parliaments both voted overwhelming to approve !
You seem like a decent person, and understand that this invasion is wrong. Igor pretends to be a “culturalist”, but is really a Z propagandist. Don’t understand why you had him on your channel.
Thank you for sharing...
Xenia, you have never been to Finland!? I have problems to understand how someone can talk about culture, politics, Europe, ..., if she/he was never curious enough to travel only 250 km to the nearest neighbour.
Yes, I have never been to Finland. Not because I didn't want to, because I didn't have money for traveling. I had enough money for traveling by 2020. But you know what happened in 2020, right?
Still I didn't get your point. If I never traveled to Finland I don't have the right to ask what Finns think about Russians? What if I'm curious about that and want to know the opinion of people who live in Finland and not only the opinion of state owned media?
Yes, I didn't travel to Finland, but I've been to Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel. And?
@@StPetersburgme I can imagine, with the income disparity, that it would have been very difficult to travel to Finland. I think I remember you talking about how much you wanted to to visit, at least once. Didn't you even drive up that way once before. I think that is the video I am remembering.
@@StPetersburgme
Sorry, my mistake.
I assumed that a young person first visit the nearby neighboring countries, and then thought you had never been outside your country.
Wrong conclusion, I apologize.
@@StPetersburgme Ask from real Finn! Don't ask this kind on person who is something else. I'm not a queen even I say so! He is not FINN! If he say so, he is a lier.
@@helmikuu What should I ask? I see in the comments that Finns really hate Russians. That's enough for me. And I don't care if it's due to propaganda or events back in history.
I only have one question: Did you also hate Russians when thousands of them used to come to Helsinki, Lappeenranta, Turku and Imatra each weekend and spend money on your cheese, salmon, salami, cosmetics and clothes? Or was it ok for Finns?
Out of all of Russia, I would probably prefer Saint Petersburg the most, like the art, architecture, culture, streets, parks, coffee shops, and a lot more. Glad you both got together for a podcast here. Thanks to you both, and am sorry I posted so much on Igor's video, checked it was not here, so guess you did two podcasts, hope so, as content was not appropriate for you page most likely. Oh and with that guy you have on top, Russia may be a threat for everyone. lol
@IGORinRussia This video is a very typical way for Igor to get viewers for his videos by provoking people with untruthful opinions. Nowadays, provocation and presenting untruthful opinions sell in the media because they get commentators and viewers. People's media literacy in this regard is changing, and soon even Igor's videos like these won't sell anymore. What interesting and useful things did the viewers get from this video? Nothing!
Podcasts are a fading trend because the content is generally poorly made. Scriptwriting and content planning take time and effort, which doesn't work for making a podcast, and therefore their content is poor. This leads to the fortunate fact that podcasts will be a passing phenomenon.
Great video and thanks for sharing your opinion on this topic. I love Russian people but I don't agree with Putin regime. Please stay safe my friend
This guy representing the Finns opinion on Russia was relly a low watermark for me. Russia has thrue history always been a threat to their naighbours and the reason for the Finns and Swedes historic neutrality was because of the fear of upsetting the USSR, and before that Russia. At least this Igor can express his opinion living in Finland. If he lived in Russia it might cost him some years in prison to do that. Get a native Finn to interview about Finns feelings about Russia instead, as You anyway do it in English.
What does supporting cultural way means? It's really strange to listen something like this after you just read about Johan bäckman... Hope the killing in Ukraine stops soon
💗✌🙏
Interesting, hope more interviews are to come. Maybe from a different part of the country, France, Holland, USA, etc
Yes, and I would never ask from Australian what kind is USA or the people who have born there. Let's ask Liethuans, what kind of people are Russians. Or ask me.
I see how you traveled because Natasha and a few others had to go through Turkey to get to other locations, not sure if it was price or available to travel too. But it may be harder for men then women not sure. But know many who left Russia so they could speak freely and truthfully. Some went to ex Soviot countries, others all over the world. Actually 12 of 14 have left now that I followed or subbed to here. Others still are in Russia though.
Stars wars let the force be with you 👍🙂
There are clear examples in history of democracies descending into totalitarianism in reaction to widespread disorder arising from some reason or other. Like Russia, we in the USA still feel a vulnerability to letting people into positions of power who then pursue their superannuated fantasies about "the good old days" - Make America Great Again! or Reassemble the CCCP! I think we must, for our survival, must consider the other simians on this planet who walk upright like us as kindred souls with wants and needs and fears very similar to our own.
All i know is russia cant touch NATO :)
I've been giving this some thought, and I think that it is important to see and acknowledge fair and decent minded people raised without Democratic rights may not have the lived experience to immediately get flagged by certain things, as we would. I also think that it's easy to form certain judgements when you are born and raised in Democratic societies and have the lived experience of being free. Having free speech and having free flow of ideas reflected back to you at every level of society.
Living in the US, I understand how precious this is and how close we are now to losing it.
And if I had been born and raised in Russia, and never lived anywhere else or been able to travel broadly-- there are things that might immediately be offensive to people who live in Democracies around the world that would not be immediately obvious to someone who's only lived experience is autocracy, going back for generations.
What was obvious to many of us may only be obvious to us because of our privileged lived experience. Peace.
Hello from Suomi. :) Igor is to my eyes bit... watching this with an Soviet Origin eyes, like my buddy, who is Soviet origin. It's not realistic, since you need to be realistic, in Finland we don't approve that one dead Ukrainian is one dead Ukrainian and the more of then is "just statistics" which was Stalin's thoughts and seem to be now idolized in Russia. And now they have came up with a term "Russophobia" with anyone who disagrees about invading to Ukraine or killing them... For my eyes Russian strategic culture is an cancer, imperialistic one. I am fine to be border and trading closed with Russia forever if that land does not heal of this. You know, you have nice tv shows like where the Solovyov is.. very healthy to tell nuke fantasies and all? But yes ofc: naturally all else is just crazy even the Russia is only one who is killing neighbors on their lands and wondering "why is no-one loving this and us" very healthy attitude 😝 Soft propaganda sells as well as landsteal, but only in Ruski Mir. We did not attack originally to a Soviet Union either as your school books now probably lie. Even Jeltsin admitted this at the 90's but I guess it's now "fixed" as well as honouring agreements which does not match to a Putin's paranoid fantacies 😎 Nothing against of war hating Russians, but pro Russians? I value all life, unlike them.
I think some smart, critical thinking neutral people need to give us a perspective on Russia, and on Finland. As a Finn, who has lived in NA for most of my life, I find that false reporting, and ill- informed opinions are prevalent. Listening to other perspectives, and doing one’s own research is vital. Russians support their leadership, and if I listen to speeches from their leadership, they sound solid, and factual. Ukraine has been flagged as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. All of this needs to be considered.
Finnish Breads are great.
And quality food and products in general! 🇫🇮
@@Igorinrussia Norwegian and Swedish as well although there was greater variety in Finland.
There is only one thing to do with the Russian problem, and that is a Benes solution, through the Benes decrees
I don’t support WAR AT ALL!
Thank you very much Ksenia for showing us Igor's point of view about the current situation between Russia an Finland.
Thank you for your video. It is so necessary to hear other people's points of view! Diversity is informative and educates us all!
Igor is not representing the views of Finns, he is a russian propagandist!
What if Russia offers returning Vyborg to Finland in exchange of not joining NATO, what would Finland's response be?
It's an inconceivable proposition.
Finns would decline this offer and join NATO. Russia has imperialistic aims. Here in Finland during the past five to ten years Russian oligarchs have bought land near strategically important locations and built structures like helicopters landing pads, huge decks, warehouses and buildings that can be used for military purposes. There are over 120 of these military bases across Finland. Also in Russia they changed the law so that Putin can stay in power until 2036, so they have long term plans and the war in Ukraine is just the beginning. Like Putin said in Munich in 2007 he does not believe in the current power relations anymore where the US and the West lead the world and wants Russia with the help of Asia to become the opposing power. So, it is vital that the democratic countries stay strong and united against this corrupted, oppressive regime.
jees's!
People leave USA different mindset...just go my original name Irish EU name
How similar is Helsinki to St. Petersburg?
Historical city center, as also the main chirch are modelled according to St Petersburg by the order of Alexander I. During cold war some movies about st petersburh were filmed even in helsinki (cjeck my russian finland series and video about the center)
@@henris9547 indeed..ps. there are actually a lot cultural similiarities due to esp. Carelian heritage
@@Igorinrussia What is Carelian heritage?
@@Igorinrussia I will thank you.
@@henris9547 What do you mean by freedom or could you exemplify? I haven't been to Russia but Finland is culturally quite distitinct from both Norway and Sweden. The level of extroversion and the level of personal cautiousness which I consider cultural aspects couldn't be more different.
Hello Ksenia and Igor! Sending you some good vibes from Pennsylvania, USA! I'm new to your channels and enjoying the content. I hope to one day visit St. Petersburg❤️. It looks beautiful and everyone I've ever met or talked to from there has been incredibly nice and very interesting. My best wishes to both of you! 🤗
Welcome to SpB!!
@@Igorinrussia Thank you!!!
Thank you for this colab. Love you my friend!
Yeah, not a very good take on Finnish "attitudes". Maybe discuss with an actual Finn who loves his/her country. A not on the Russian "immigrants". Russian "immigrants" seem to be a long standing Russian/Soviet historical policy to dominate other people and lands. The Russian people living in the Crimea and western Oblasts of Ukraine have been the excuse to invade and murder people of another nation, so Finn have a right to be very suspect of large numbers of immigrating Russians that really do not want to assimilate to Finnish society, and this guy does not seem very interested in doing.
Thank you Xenia and Igor I have thoroughly enjoyed this interview and learned such a lot x
🙏🏻
This guy is not a Finn and does not represent the same values of the Finnish people.
@@hockeybros4051 lol who is finn? The one agreeing with one certain opinion, light skin, blue eyes approved by an patriotic commitee? 😂😂😂 lots of finns are not finns then. Or are you talking genetics? What is genetically ”Finn” enough 😂 sorry, had great laughs. Thank you
99% suomalaisista eivät pidä venäläisistä...
Thank you for serious and needed conversation. Thank you.
Wow! Great presentation Ksenyia.....🇫🇮
What was good about it?
Thank you both, both tell what really happend.
An interesting surprise, to get a Finnish perspective (though I do listen a lot, to Alex Stubb).
Lovely, as always to see you Ksenia! Yes, we need peace, understanding and charity, acceptance of one another.
He's not Finnish and never will be
He doesn't identify as Finn. He identifies as Russian living in Finland.
@@mantelikukkapenkki2368 he explained he’s half Finnish on his mother’s side. If he lived in Finland since he was a child why deny him his Finnish heritage, many people are the result of inter-ethnic marriages.
@@minime7375 I don't give a s**t what his family tree is, he's a pro russia and we don't need or want that bs here. Why doesn't he stayed in St Petersburg if it's so fu****g wonderful?
@@mantelikukkapenkki2368 why so intolerant?😳 I’ve never been but St. Petersburg is known to be a beautiful city and I don’t find surprising that someone called “Igor”, even if he’s half Finnish, would be culturally identifying with his Russian side.
Cool. I like Igor! Good guy.
Nice 👍🙂 I am not in either religions the two presidents plus third not against I am middle EU pro.well said 👍
most of land in the world are pro russian but finland is not important comparate of the rest of the world africa india china , middle east , south america are most of them pro russia, and i m french speakink and italian background a lot peple are pro russia even if the propaganta is huge against russia
Hello Xenia, I enjoyed your company,Igor and your thoughts on the war..I am of course for peace and peaceful settlements..I will say ,I thought Russia was trying to settle the problem..I could understand how Ukraine becoming Nato would make Russia nervous..Igor is correct about the Image of Russia in other countries ..I didn't know how beautiful Russia was and how lovely Russian people were until I met you and a couple of other Russian families on UTube..Now, if not for this awful time, I would love to visit Russia..We love you and your family and I am everyday praying for your safety..Many Blessings
Thank you for the comment! 👋
Putin wanted to join NATO around 2000. So NATO isn't the real reason Putin invaded Ukraine.
@@organicwest not only that but to avoid the invasion guarantees were offered to Putin that ukraine would not join, he did not care at all.
@@organicwest NATO would not have accepted Ukraine so quickly either. Russia just wasn't ready at that time. Putin is impatient and when something doesn't work in his time he loses interest and uses violence when he feels it's necessary. Hopefully Russia will find its way back into European society where it belongs, as can be seen in beautiful St Petersburg.
@@derduebel Putin feared a successful Russian speaking Democracy right next door. Putin fears Democracy more then anything else in the world and with the success and Ukraine's movement towards Europe, he had to stop it.
I found this sympathetic, as a 50-year old Finnish woman. I understand the predicament that people of Russian origin are under. I also see that you see our predicament in terms of history.
The only fundamental thing I would say is this: Russian culture is too authoritarian for democracy. You young people need to do something about it.
I know your political activism vis-a-vis Russia is limited, but I would hope you could work for growing the strength of the civic society just in generic sense at least.
Uneducated nafo bot in the comments
Found the Putinbot
@@sluxi 🤡…🤣
Kremlin 🤡
@@gustavofring5362 nafo🤣🤡
@@gustavofring5362 more of like the face of stupid🤣
Hyvä lähetys, ja mukava nähdä että kerrottiin asiat ilman politikointia. Ja mitä kerrotaan, puolin ja toisin rajaa lehdissä. Ei liioiteltu mitään. Hankalaa aikaa elämme.
Russia is so beautiful and so are the people and Russia's rich culture, its a real shame how much the media in the west promote such unwarranted hatred(mainly american) of Russia. I hope to one day move to Russia.
@@henris9547 and how many countries has the USA invaded since WW2?
@@tfactory1058 and how many countries has the USA invaded since WW2?
This guy and Russel are soft propagandists 😀😀😀