Man, every time I see videos like that, my heart breaks. Those are actual human beings with families, loved ones, hopes and dreams... (I know Russia does much worse things to the other side, but that doesn't change the feeling. Most conscripts are just brainwashed cannon fodder :()
I've been watching the YouTube channel 1420 where they interview people on the streets of Moscow. Many of them are held hostage too. You can tell that they don't want to speak freely for fear of criminal punishment. One guy even said something to the effect of, "Why don't 100 Americans come over here and protest the war to see what happens." The Russian government quells any form of rebellious organization. To take Putin out of power, it's gonna have to come from the top or a sporadic mass protest after a Bloody Sunday a la 1917 Russian Revolution.
Internet ≠ Internet. It’s heavily censored and monitored in Russia. They don’t have access to all the information we do. Plus, all other media are brainwashing them with propaganda. Makes it hard to believe if some website tells a completely different story.
However, there are those who stay informed and don’t support the war. They just can’t do it openly.
Oh yeah, absolutely. And I'd feel horrible for the human being on the other side of the scope... I'm talking about the actual human being with a life being killed. Not the politics behind it.
That doesn't mean I'm justifying the atrocities Russia commits or even remotely support their unprovoked attack. Russia is the bad guy, no discussion. But they're still humans and I can still feel bad for the needless loss of human life.
Weirdest part of this (y'know, other than the presence of Russian terrorists in Ukraine) is the birds chirping. Two bangs from an extremely loud rifle, and they just carry on like nothing happened.
...or is the audio replaced for opsec or something?
Possibly. The shooter is pretty far from the targets. Looks like at least a full second of flight time before impact. Most big bore rifles are at least 2400 feet per second, so the target is 800+ yards away. That's a hell of a difficult shot, and the way the cross hair is directly on the target leads me to believe this is a computerized scope which is compensating for bullet-drop and windage.
He almost sounds... unhappy? Frustrated? After he takes the first shot and is reloading. This sounds like a guy who doesn't love what he has to do, but knows it needs to happen. I can respect that on a human level.