How Russians treat Belarusians. Why Belarusians should hate Russians, and why Ukrainians hate Russians

I have lived exactly half of my life in Belarus. The second half, with the exception of travel, was spent on the territory Russian Federation. For a long time I was even a citizen of Russia, and even now I can return citizenship, but I don’t want to yet.

This article reflects only my personal opinion, based on observations of myself during my life in Belarus and practical experience in communicating with the citizens of our country. I want to note that I sincerely love Belarus and Belarusians, I always communicate with compatriots with special enthusiasm both on a trip and in everyday life.

However, I can big share It is highly probable that if I had not lived in Russia for 9 years and, upon reaching a certain age, had not moved to Moscow again, I would hardly have found the strength in myself to radically change my life. There are certain limits in Belarus. Not in the country, no. In the minds of people! These frames will not allow you to jump above your head, because everyone should know their place.

Belarusians don't talk about politics

Many times friends from Russia and Ukraine started talking to me about politics. It is understandable. The current situation does not excite only the most indifferent. However, in Belarus they don’t talk about politics, that’s why I can’t support a conversation about it either. I generally do not consider it necessary to discuss what I can not influence.

Belarusians love to talk about diseases

The other day I was on a train and had the pleasure of listening to a conversation on the phone of a man who for 40 minutes complained to his daughter about his state of health. Think about it! 40 minutes of talking about diseases! There are a lot of people in the country who like to discuss their illnesses in detail for hours.
Belarusians are afraid of everything
In many states, fear is a driving and deterrent force, but in Belarus this is manifested too clearly. People are afraid of illnesses, new decrees, mistakes, trips abroad. Sometimes the fear is based on real threats, but often it is based on imaginary problems and fueled by the media.

I got rid of the “Belarusian fear” only after living in Moscow and several years of traveling, but now, having lived in Minsk for the second month, I again began to experience the influence of general zombification.

Belarusians are envious

May my dear and beloved compatriots forgive me, but nowhere else have I met so much envy as in Belarus. And they can envy anything.

Belarusians prefer renovation

An indicator of a person's success is the presence of a good car, apartment and expensive repairs. On the altar of these life values” put years of work, travel and other joys of life. People would rather buy a new expensive sofa than go to Spain for a month.

Belarusians speak with an accent

Belarusians can be distinguished by a slight accent. Words are spoken softer. If suddenly you happened to hear something like “comfort”, “who”, “leg”, “water”, “calling”, “understood”, it’s definitely a Belarusian in front of you.

Belarusians love potatoes

During the May holidays, most people go to the country or to the village to plant potatoes. It's a kind of ritual.

Belarusians are less corrupt

I would say that in modern realities this is more of a minus than a plus. If in Russia it is possible to pay a fine for some offenses, then in Belarus for a much smaller offense a person will be deprived of his rights if he was guilty on the road, or criminally liable if we are talking about other offenses.

Belarusians are hardworking

This is an indisputable fact. To be convinced of this, it is worth driving through the Belarusian villages, and then comparing what you see with the Russian outback. People in Belarus take care of houses, grow vegetables in gardens. Not all, of course, but in general, people have a desire to create beauty around them.

When I worked as the chief accountant in Belarus, I had to work hard. no days off, holidays and public holidays. With all this, laying out on full program, I constantly felt obliged to do my job even better, even more qualitatively.

Belarusians are honest

The probability of meeting an honest Belarusian is much higher than a Russian or Ukrainian. In Belarus they cheat less often, here it is less cunning people. This is a plus!

Belarusians sincerely believe that somewhere “out there” is much better

Stereotypes that it is easy to make money in Moscow, in Europe people are happy and work little, and in America a revived “ American dream”, are ineradicable from the consciousness of people. However, not every hundredth will dare even to go and see at least one eye on the life of paradise.

Belarusians are more tolerant

When a millionaire from Batumi asked if he would be beaten if he came to Minsk, I was surprised. In Belarus, for the most part, there is no negative attitude towards Caucasians, African Americans, Arabs and other people.

Belarusians love to complain

The weather, the cyclists, the traffic jams that don't exist, the fact that they are too warm or too cold, the job, the lack of work, the bosses, the low wages, and so on. And when you offer people turnkey solution, they dejectedly dismiss and continue to complain about fate. In Russia, they complain less.

Belarusians are reserved

I should learn this trait, because in this matter other roots completely own me. I learned to restrain myself a little, but not completely. I can tell a person in the face everything that I think about him, which has offended my loved ones more than once. But I don’t discuss people behind their backs and I say what I think to their faces. Few Belarusians do this. Behind the eyes is still more familiar and pleasant.

Belarusians do not value their language

Unfortunately, we speak Russian, while Belarusian is perceived as something collective-farm and even shameful. Pleased that in Lately everything appears in my environment more people speaking in mother tongue. Often these are people who have lived abroad or traveled a lot.

Belarusians are polite

Of course, not everyone will be happy to greet you on the streets of Minsk, but mostly people, if you are treated politely and courteously, respond in kind.

Belarusians are simple

If Baba Manya yells at you in the bazaar, she will do it from pure heart and without malice. With Belarusians it is really very simple.

Belarusians are poorer than Russians

Belarus has its own oligarchs, but there are fewer of them, and the general income level of the population is lower than in Russia.

Belarusians are kinder

Here it should be borne in mind that I lived mainly in the capitals and judge by the population of large cities. As you may have noticed, in the capitals people are less open, a little angrier than in the provinces, they are always in a hurry somewhere and are more focused on their problems, but in general, Belarusians are kinder and more sympathetic.

Belarusians are more careful

I went to Moscow for the May holidays and was shocked that after a picnic in the park, piles of garbage were left lying on the grass after the companies resting the night before. This is beyond my understanding. This does not happen in Minsk.

Firstly, in Belarus they clean up more often, and secondly, they litter much less. I am silent about spitting on the pavement. In Moscow, you have to constantly look under your feet so as not to step on someone's snot.

Belarusians are peaceful

Perhaps due to the fact that on the territory of Belarus in different time took place great amount wars, Belarusians are incredibly peaceful. They avoid sharp corners and try not to run into. Not only because of fear, but peace is really a priority here.

Summing up, I can say that for a number of reasons I would prefer Belarus for life. However, it is better to work in Russia, in particular in Moscow. There is a special energy there.

Also, I'm crazy about my Russian friends, who always have a clear position on any issue. A rare Belarusian can boast of such an unshakable firmness of views, which he is able to substantiate at the same time.

According to the survey, only 21% of Poles have sympathy for Belarusians, and 32% of respondents feel antipathy towards us. Another 31% of Poles have a neutral attitude and 16% could not decide on their preferences.

The most warmly Poles are Czechs and Italians (44%), Americans and British (43%), Slovaks and Hungarians (42%), Spaniards (40%) and Norwegians (38%).

Our neighbors have the most negative attitude towards Arabs (62%), Gypsies (59%), Russians (49%), Ukrainians (40%), Germans (36%) and Jews (33%).

With regard to Belarusians, sociologists recorded one of the largest drops in sympathy - by 16% over the year. By the same amount, the sympathy of the Poles decreased only for the Germans.

Why did the attitude towards Belarusians in Poland deteriorate so sharply, and why did the neighbors, with whom the Poles have no serious historical and modern conflicts, ended up at the bottom of the list of preferences? With such a question, Svoboda turned to Polish intellectuals.

Katarzyna Kwiatkowska-Moskalevich, reporter, author of the book Kill the Dragon. Ukrainian revolutions»

“We don’t like Russians for Katyn, Ukrainians for Volyn, Germans and Jews for conspiracy code-named “Polish death camps.” Only the fall in sympathy for the Belarusians cannot be explained by a just insult.

Almost everyone loves Belarusians in our region. A friend from Minsk once told me that while traveling through the conflicting Balkans, she was greeted everywhere with sympathy. In Serbia, for the Serbian-Belarusian-Russian union of Orthodox Slavs, which "Belarusians did not betray, like vile Ukrainians." In Croatia, Belarusians were perceived as oppositionists who suffer from the last dictatorship in Europe.

They were good for everyone. And if we agree that it is impossible not to love Belarusians, then the fall in sympathy indicates that the Poles, unfortunately, do not love anyone. And this serious problem because he who does not love anyone does not really love himself either.

Zemovit Scherek, writer and journalist

“Poles don't know much about Belarusians, except that they are some kind of 'Russians'. The Ukrainians managed to break out of this stereotype, but the Belarusians did not.

But even those Poles who know something about Belarus do not know who a Belarusian is: a hipster from Minsk who insists on speaking Belarusian and wearing a white-red-white flag, or a post-Soviet person who was instilled with Belarusianness already Lukashenka, having made the streets and districts clean, introducing "order", which the Belarusian is proud of, because this distinguishes him from the Ukrainian and Russian.

But the truth is that the heroes of this sad poll are not those who know something, but those who "do not like Belarusians", because in general they "do not like Russians", within the stupid line of power of PiS (the ruling right-wing nationalist -conservative party "Law and Justice" - note BP). Publicly expressing bad assessments of other peoples in Poland is no longer considered in bad taste. This is an element of "rejection of the dictatorship of political correctness" and "getting up from your knees."

But there is also a positive side. From my experience it follows that even if theoretically a Pole "does not like Russians", then when it comes down to it, when Poles get to know them, they not only love, but even boast about them in a friendly circle.

Agnieszka Romaszewska, director of Belsat

“The main reason is that the Poles simply do not know who the Belarusians are. During the elections, Belarus is more or less mentioned, but it's all gone. Today, few people are interested in Belarus in Poland.

The Poles have always said: "Russians trade on the market," but few of us understood whether they were Russians, Belarusians or Ukrainians. The Belarusians were never mentioned. Most people associate Belarus with Lukashenko. The Poles do not like Lukashenka, and someone can translate this dislike into Belarusians.

If in public and political life something reprehensible happens in Poland, they call it “Belarusian standards” or “like in Belarus”. But I do not see any reasons for such a significant change in sympathy. I generally find this unlikely. It's something unreal. The Poles simply do not know anything about Belarus and Belarusians.”

Jakub Maimurek, political commentator

« This poll shows a radical decline in Poles' sympathy for representatives of almost all nationalities. It can be assumed that this follows from the growth of xenophobic and nationalist sentiments that inspire the PiS and the media that support the authorities.

It's hard to say why Belarusians are so low [in the poll]. During recent years we did not have strong anti-Belarusian propaganda. Poland is not waging any "war of memory" with Belarus - one of the few neighbors, there are no disputes on the basis of historical politics.

Unlike Ukrainians, there is no large Belarusian economic emigration, which could potentially be a reason for nationalist agitation. Maybe the reason is that Belarus is often associated with Russia, whose policies are worrisome in Poland.

Belarus also has the image of a poor and backward country ruled by a grotesque dictator. And, perhaps, the fault lies in the weak "soft power" of Belarus in Poland. However, even taking all this into account, I am not only upset by this figure, but also surprised.”

The study was conducted during the first week of February. 1057 people took part in it. It is noteworthy that in the survey, residents more often spoke about sympathy for other nations. big cities, people with higher education and high-income youth, atheists and left-wingers.

The Center for Public Opinion Research draws attention to the fact that last year's survey showed an atypical result, which indicates a very large increase in Poles' sympathy for other peoples. "That's why latest results should be perceived as a certain amendment to last year's ones," the authors of the study write.

Validity of opinion polls in countries with authoritarian regimes often questioned, questions are asked how high the fear factor is in the responses, whether they reflect only the reluctance of respondents to express an opinion that runs counter to the official line.

However, the practice of surveys does not confirm these doubts. In the surveys of the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Research (IISEPS), the results of which I used, even in response to such a sharp question as the attitude towards President Alexander Lukashenko, a positive attitude towards him varies from about 50% to 20%. Assuming that refusing to give approval to the ruler requires genuine civic courage, it is unlikely that the population of Belarus is 50-80% heroes.

As for the answers to questions about Russia’s policy in Ukraine, there is no pressure from the official line in Belarus at all, and the authorities and the official media are spinning like a snake to avoid an unambiguous “yes” or “no”. So there is no need to say that the results of the polls reflect only the fear of Belarusians to express their opinion. And at a superficial glance, this opinion seems simple and unambiguous - Belarusians are for Russia.

closest people

When asked about their attitude to the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, approximately 60% of respondents for a year and a half choose the answer “This is the return of Russian lands to Russia, the restoration of historical justice”, and only 20-30% - “This is an imperialist seizure, occupation”, in response to the question about situation in Donbass relative majority- from 40% to 50% choose the answer "The people of Novorossia have the right to self-determination" (about 25% - "no, I support the territorial integrity of Ukraine" and 10-15% - "there is no Novorossia, there is Russian aggression against Ukraine").

The easiest way to explain this is the powerful information impact of the Belarusian state media and Russian federal electronic media. As already mentioned, the position of the Belarusian official media is noticeably more restrained when covering the conflict in Ukraine than the position of their Russian counterparts, but still it is closer to the Russian one than to the Ukrainian one.

Some rights reserved. Belarusian state media put more emphasis on the merits of Belarusian stability over Ukraine's turmoil than on the substance of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. However, at the same time Russian TV channels are freely accepted in Belarus, including "on the button".

So there is a temptation to explain such opinions of Belarusians by the influence of both domestic and Russian television. The explanation is simple, but, in my opinion, insufficient.

Firstly, even among those who do not trust the Russian media, the balance of assessments is closer to the Russian interpretation, and secondly, it is worth paying attention to a number of other, long-term indicators. To the question “to whom you are closer culturally - to Russians or to Europeans”, about three-quarters of the year choose the first answer. And so it was long before the start of the Euromaidan.

According to the scale of social distance, Russians have always been the closest ethnic group for Belarusians, Ukrainians are also very close, but in 2-3 place with the Poles. The ideological construct about the triune people of Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians has been consistently shared for years (and again, long before the Euromaidan) and is still shared by about two-thirds of the respondents.

And this is in addition to political, economic and military alliances with Russia, close economic ties that are incomparable in tightness and scale with ties with Ukraine. So, in general, the advantage in favor of the Russian interpretation is explained by greater proximity.

Context

But a more in-depth look, if not refuting the superficial impression, then at least testifies to the ambivalence of the attitude of Belarusians towards the conflict.

The numbers of support for the Russian position are still noticeably lower than in Russia itself. In Russia, they are sky-high, in the region of 80-90%, in the public opinion of Belarus - about 60%. In addition, the approval of the Russian position is combined with a categorical and at the same time unanimous unwillingness for Belarus to somehow participate in this conflict.

According to experts, from several dozen to several hundred citizens of Belarus are fighting in the Donbass on both sides of the front. How do their compatriots who stayed at home feel about this? 6% approve of participation in battles on the side of the Ukrainian forces, 8% - on the side of the DPR / LPR, 77% - do not approve of the participation of Belarusians in the battles on either side. There is a similar unanimity in the answers to the question whether, if Russia has such an intention, it should be allowed to send its troops into Ukraine through Belarusian territory. The answer is "no" - 75%.

Should Belarus join Russia's food counter-sanctions against the EU? According to 65% of respondents - "No, this is a conflict between Russia and the EU, it does not concern Belarus."

And why, it would seem? If, as Russian TV reports, “Russian people” in Donbass are fighting a fair fight against Ukrainian “punishers” and “fascists”, and if the majority of Belarusians believe in this, then why not help the “just cause”, why not suffer for it ? Somehow like this. Without us.

It is also interesting to compare the responses of the three peoples to the question asked by sociologists this year - "Is there a war between Russia and Ukraine?". In Russia (survey by the Levada Center), "yes" - 25% ("no" - 65%), in Ukraine (Kiev International Institute of Sociology), "yes" - 63% ("no" -18%), in Belarus (IISEPI), “yes” - 44% (“no” - 46%). On the face fundamental difference Belarusians from both neighbors.

The same and Lukashenka

In this sense, the maneuvering of President Alexander Lukashenko in the conflict corresponds quite exactly to mass perceptions. The level of approval of such a policy is much higher than, say, the electoral rating of the head of state, the opposition criticizes him for a lot of things, but not for his policy regarding Ukraine.

Why is public opinion, which seems to be for Russia in the conflict, not repelled by the authorities' steps towards Kyiv, why is the opposition, which sympathizes with Ukraine, not repelled by maneuvers in favor of Moscow? Because in fact there is a consensus - this is not our war. This consensus is confirmed by the respondents' answers to the question about their attitude to the president's policy towards Ukraine. The level of approval of this policy is noticeably higher than the proportion of those who trust him and are ready to vote for him.

By the way, in April the parliament of Belarus adopted, and in May amendments to the criminal code came into force, providing a legal basis for the criminal prosecution of Belarusians participating in hostilities in Ukraine on both sides of the front. Previously, they were also tried to be held accountable, they put pressure on their families, but the Criminal Code had only an article on mercenarism. It was difficult to prove it, and not all who fought and are fighting in eastern Ukraine are mercenaries. Now the very fact of participating in hostilities is criminalized, regardless of the motive.

Russian actions in Ukraine (and actions supported by Russia) cause many Belarusians to fear - but will they be next?

However, as Minister of Internal Affairs Igor Shunevich said during the discussion of amendments to the Criminal Code, 28 cases were previously opened regarding participation in these actions, in which 130 people are involved. Well, this is such a feature of the Belarusian law enforcement system: there is no article, but there are already cases. However, now there is an article.

On May 5, a fighter from the Right Sector volunteer corps was sentenced to 5 years in prison for illegally importing weapons and explosive devices into Belarus ( terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation, approx. ed.) citizen of Belarus Taras Avatarov.

Will Belarus be next?

It is worth noting that Russian actions in Ukraine (and actions supported by Russia) cause many Belarusians to fear that they will not be next.

Here one can refer both to public discussions and to the words of A. Lukashenko that “if Putin comes here, it is not known on which side the Russians will fight”, and the fact that the new military doctrine of the country, along with other threats, includes And " hybrid wars". The Belarusian authorities, for all their unfriendly attitude towards NATO, never suspected the alliance of a tendency to wage such wars.

Well, the mood of public opinion is appropriate - in polls, about a quarter of Belarusians say that they would resist with weapons in their hands, "if Russia tried to annex the entire territory of Belarus or part of it by force." At the same time, it is not even the number that is curious - not a single one, but also a considerable one, but the fact that it almost exactly coincides with the proportion of those who are ready to give an armed rebuff to a NATO military invasion. For some reason, neither cultural affinity nor the invincible Russian TV work here.

An indirect long-term consequence of these fears can also be considered the negative balance of assessments of plans to deploy a Russian military base in Belarus. Who knows how the Russians will want to use this base?

Soviet Belarus and non-Soviet Russia

Speaking about the mechanisms of fear, two should be singled out. One is classical, from the side of the pro-European part of the Belarusian society. These people may even have a sentiment towards Russian culture, but in general they are against Russia's actions for ideological reasons, because the conflict in Ukraine gave rise to a conflict between Russia and Europe, with the West, and they are for Europe.

But there is another part, another mechanism - the Soviet one. Belarusians generally remain much more Soviet people than the Russians. And the stormy nation-genesis both in Ukraine and in Russia frightens them with its incomprehensibility.

If we talk about the position of the majority, then in his perception, two neighbors, if you like brothers, each went crazy in different ways

Recently in a conversation with one Russian expert I asked how the theses “Ukrainians are the same Russians” and Yarosh, “Right Sector” are combined in the Russian mass consciousness (an organization banned in Russia - ed. note), Savchenko, Maidan, jumping to the slogan "whoever does not jump - that Muscovite." Are these people also Russians for Russians? “No,” the interlocutor explained. - For mass consciousness Ukrainian-Russians are those in the Donbass. And these are Bandera, they used to sit in their west, then they captured Kyiv and went to war against the Ukrainian-Russians in the Donbass. “It’s clear,” I say, “and who are these Bandera people by nationality?” "Yes, I told you - Bandera" - the expert answered with a laugh.

Well, for the Belarusian majority with Soviet thinking, the “Banderites” are Ukrainians and Ukrainians in the Donbass are Ukrainians.

Of course, there are people in Belarus who fully share either the Russian or Ukrainian position, such, in particular, those Belarusians who are fighting in the Donbass on both sides of the front. But if we talk about the position of the majority, then in his perception of two neighbors, if you like brothers, each went crazy in different ways. "Big brother", as closer, to the right in this conflict, but by and large both are wrong.

In addition, the recklessness of this “big brother”, generally speaking, is dangerous, and not only by what he has done, but also by the fact that being on such a drive, he himself does not know, and even more so the Belarusians do not know where this recklessness will take him next. And no matter how she brought him to Belarus. Therefore, it is better to stay away from this conflict. In general, how would they both regain their minds and somehow reconcile - and it will be better for them, and for the Belarusians.

Opening borders within Customs Union showed that national characters Russians and Belarusians have undergone multidirectional mutations. This difference, of course, is not as great as between Eastern and West Germans, but the essence is about the same- writes rosbalt.ru.

Previously, the Russians had much less reasons to ride to their neighbors - at least they did not go as massively as they do today. And now in Belarus there is a total sale: from refrigerators and stew to factories. The Russians began to drive to Belarus for the weekend. It's close. Prices are three to five times lower, no one "squeezes out". Therefore, hitherto outlandish cars with Russian numbers have become commonplace in Belarus. And not to say that the Belarusians really liked it. The shops are indignant at how the Russians are buying up everything. In Vitebsk locals sometimes they cannot buy sausage, canned food or even condensed milk: these products are sorted by boxes by Russians.

“We are here like some blacks in Africa, to whom colonists began to come,” says 47-year-old geography teacher Oleg Vasilyevich. “We have no money, we can’t buy anything at all, they look at us with sympathetic looks. But they continue to grab "You stand behind the sausage, and through the person in front of you, the Russian takes the last ten sticks. Obviously not only for himself, but also for his friends, or maybe even for sale." “In general, they have become insolent. It comes to the point that they begin to demand separate cash desks for Russians in stores, they don’t want to stand in lines. They behave like visiting tsars here,” picks up his friend, a 40-year-old worker in the construction department.

Belarusian drivers don't like Russians either. “They constantly drive, cut, generally behave as if they didn’t care about the rules. And I drive dozens of people,” says the 27-year-old driver fixed-route taxi Vitaly. He himself explains the reasons for the rudeness: “Our fines are penny for them. And if we convert them into foreign currency, they all cost nothing now too. ".

In general, it has become very fashionable to complain about the way Russian drivers drive in Belarus. GAI officers say that they are often drunk, and they do not observe the speed limit at all. A video is circulating on the Internet, which shows how a Russian woman, stunned by drunkenness, swears at police officers who are trying to get her from behind the wheel of a BMW. She yells heart-rendingly, does not want to get out of the car and through the word swears at the country, and the Belarusian police, and Lukashenka.

And Belarusians also hate it when Russians show up in bars. Oleg, a bartender from a trendy Minsk restaurant, says: “They always get drunk like pigs, yell, fight often. Belarusians are calmer, but in our country you can easily go to jail for a fight. They all count. They all count. But that's okay. They behave like cattle, they don't know how to rest." According to the 36-year-old bartender, as soon as Russians began to appear in his tavern, "employees of the diplomatic corps, Italian businessmen immediately disappeared." “The Italians, by the way, are also not quiet. Probably, that’s why they decided to minimize contacts with the Russians. Otherwise, you never know,” he explains.

Stories about how the Russians threatened one of the Belarusians in his hometown, and others crushed cars in the yard in their jeep, being unable to soberly leave the parking lot, are also notoriously popular in Belarus.

Of course, this is also banal envy. For the most part, Belarusians cannot afford expensive jeeps, $1,000 handbags, or $100 restaurant bills. And they are overwhelmed by the same emotions that, for example, a resident of Voronezh experiences in relation to a Muscovite. The only difference is that even a resident of poor Bryansk, as a rule, is much wealthier than the inhabitants of Vitebsk and Orsha.

And the Russians rarely have enough intelligence and tact not to stick out. On the contrary, it seems that they are going there in order to assert themselves at the expense of their neighbor's poverty. Many people openly laugh at the locals. “You, Belarusians, can be distinguished everywhere. Here we are all Slavs, we all have the same face, but it’s still easy to distinguish,” a 30-year-old manager from the Moscow region once slapped me on the shoulder with satisfaction. “You are afraid of everything, it shows. You ask permission forever. You apologize for everything in a row. Like children who were punished for everything in childhood by their parents. "

I don't even remember what I said back then. On the one hand, he is right: in Belarus, people are afraid to break the rules and the law, because for this they are often and sometimes, it seems, inadequately severely punished. On the other hand, is it really so normal that no one in Russia is responsible for anything? Dams are bursting - no one really answers, trains are falling down - too, they are caught stealing billions - and nothing, planes are falling - hello to Malchish. “Punishing is not our way,” is that what Putin seems to have said?

The evolution of the attitude of Russians towards Belarusians is also a direct consequence of Moscow's economic pressure on Minsk during the crisis. Previously, representatives of both nations communicated with each other on an equal footing. Russians in the regions earned about the same amount, while Belarusians did not often travel from their cozy country to work in "nightmare" Russia. Residents of the Russian Federation admired how clean, honest, and safe Belarus is. Now Belarusians are being treated like Tajiks, Uzbeks and other "rabble". The demand to open a separate cash desk in a Belarusian store is another confirmation of this.

All this is far from harmless. The level of tension in the Belarusian society as a whole is growing. Polls show that ordinary Belarusians are increasingly skeptical about the prospect of Belarus joining Russia, and even in the current economic conditions they say: "There is no need to turn us into Pskov or Smolensk." Someone does not want dirt, someone does not want arbitrariness, someone does not want a caste society in which the one who has more rights is always right. And someone is sure that with the advent of the "colonial brothers" life will become worse.

Finally, the Belarusian business is afraid of Russians "with suitcases". The media report on the difficult negotiations on the merger of MAZ with KAMAZ, on the purchase of Belaruskali and Belneftekhim - but this is only the tip of the iceberg of economic expansion. The main events are now quietly taking place at the middle level. Moscow millionaires travel around Belarus and buy up small Belarusian factories, textile enterprises, construction companies. And this greatly irritates Belarusian businessmen.

Those who are waiting for a soft loan for an apartment are already being told that the Russians are driving up housing prices by buying apartments "whole floors." Perhaps this is an exaggeration. But in general, Russia here today is more likely to be feared than respected. Belarusians do not want to become serfs again. And Lukashenka, of course, uses this.

Maxim Shveits

Quite a lot of Belarusians do not like it when abroad they confuse us with Russia and call us Russians. But even more we do not like it when the Russians themselves treat our independence, culture and language with a degree of disdain. The Internet magazine MEL, advocating for world peace, decided to collect evidence of the differences between Belarusians and Russians, ranging from genetics and ethnicity to the size of the penis and the heroes of fairy tales.

Belarusians are Western Balts with an admixture of Slavic blood. Genetic Level Differences

A couple of years ago, research was carried out in Russia under the name "Russian gene pool". The government even allocated a grant to scientists from the laboratory of the center Russian Academy medical sciences. For the first time in the history of Russia, scientists were able to fully concentrate on studying the gene pool of the Russian people for several years. It turned out that the Russians are nothing East Slavs, and the Finns. So, according to the Y-chromosome, the genetic distance between the Russians and the Finns of Finland is only 30 conventional units (close relationship). And the genetic distance between a Russian person and the so-called Finno-Ugric peoples (Mari, Veps, Mordovians, etc.) living on the territory of the Russian Federation is 2-3 units. Simply put, they are genetically identical.

The results of the DNA analysis showed that another closest relative of the Russians, except for the Finns, is the Tatars: the Russians from the Tatars are at the same genetic distance of 30 conventional units that separate them from the Finns.

An analysis of the Belarusian gene pool showed that they are genetically very far from Russians, in fact identical to the northeastern Poles - that is, the inhabitants of the Polish province of Mazov. That is, the study of the gene pool only confirmed the historical realities: Belarusians are western balts(with some admixture of Slavic blood), and Russians are Finns.

In 2005, the results of similar studies were published in Belarus. The publishing house “Technalogia” has published a book by Aleksey Mikulich “Belarusians in the genetic space. Anthropology of ethnos. The author's conclusions are very similar to the opinion of Russian colleagues. Each of the three East Slavic ethnic groups, according to anthropological data, has its own uniqueness. They were formed in different geographic space, on special substrate ancestral foundations. The graphical interpretation of the generalized characteristics of their gene pools included in the book makes it possible to visually see the degree of similarity and differences. “Ethnic clouds” [the ethnic group of each nation was represented by a cloud and, depending on the similarity, was in contact with “other clouds”] of Belarusians and Ukrainians are quite compact and partially overlap on the attached diagram. The Russian "cloud" is very blurry, and only a small part of it overlaps with the first two. While the Ukrainian “ethnic cloud” does not border on the Finno-Ugric ones at all, and the Belarusian one only touches them, the center of the “ethnic cloud” of Russian populations is in the same cluster with Finno-Ugric, not Slavic ethnic groups.

"With whom to be Lithuania - the eternal dispute of the Slavs." Differences between the ethnic group of Belarusians and Russians

According to the encyclopedia "Belarus", the Belarusian ethnos was formed in the 13-16 centuries, having passed the stages from the unification of tribal unions through the nationality to the nation.

That is, it was formed even before the aggressions of the tsars Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich, and by the time of the Russian occupation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795, it was a long-established ethnic group with its long history of national statehood. For in the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania possessed all state attributes: its power (the chancellors of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, not a single zhemoyt - almost all Belarusians, several Poles), its national Belarusian army, its own laws of the country (Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - in the language of Belarusians, have not yet been translated into the language of Samoyts and Aukstaits), its national currency (this is the Belarusian thaler, which was minted for several centuries until 1794, when the last Belarusian thaler was minted by the Grodno mint), etc.
At the same time, speaking today about Belarusian ethnos, one must first understand what in question. Belarusians (as an ethnic group with that name) appeared only in 1840, when they were renamed by tsarism from Litvinians into "Belarusians" after the uprising of 1830-1831. After the uprising of 1863-1864, when the Litvins were already "Belarusians", Governor-General Muravyov banned the "Belarus" invented by the ideologists of tsarism and the Secret Chancellery, introducing instead of it the "Western Russian Territory". Therefore, the term "Belarus" and "Belarusians" is extremely conditional, this is a product of tsarism, and it is forbidden by it. And, for example, all the villagers of the Minsk region continued to call themselves Litvins or Tuteyshy (local) even in the early 1950s, according to polls of ethnographers.

By 1840 followed whole line repressions of tsarism against the captured people, who dared to revolt a second time. The Uniate Church in Belarus was destroyed by the decree of the tsar, worship in the Belarusian language and book publishing were banned, the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was abolished (which, by the way, was in force only in Belarus, not in Zhemoitia - now the Republic of Lietuva), the very word "Lithuania" was banned. Although earlier Pushkin wrote about the Belarusians in his poems about the uprising of 1830-1831. "Slanderers of Russia": "With whom to be Lithuania - the eternal dispute of the Slavs."

That is, from the point of view of science, speaking of Belarusians and Russians, we are no longer talking about peoples and ethnic groups, but about NATIONS of neighbors. This is a completely different category, where thoughts about the “merger of peoples” are already inappropriate, allegedly under the pretext of their some kind of “ ethnic community". NATIONS can never merge with each other, because by definition they are not predisposed to this.

We have always belonged to European culture. Differences in mentality

“Belarusian is not an imperial person at all, the idea of ​​a world revolution or the Third Rome will never enter his head,” says the philosopher, essayist and literary critic Valentin Akudovich. One can easily agree with the words of the well-known Belarusian representative of culture. Vladimir Orlov, by the way, also known Belarusian writer and a historian, in one of the interviews said “Belarusians are historically and mentally Europeans. This is very shocking to anyone who is trying to get to know the country better. People are surprised that Belarusian cities had the Magdeburg Law, that Belarus also had its own Renaissance. We have always belonged to European culture, where the border between Europe and Asia passed. We lived in an empire - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - that stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but it was not an empire. There were completely different principles for building a state, everyone was one people, there was tolerance and tolerance. On the squares of Belarusian cities, Orthodox, Catholic and Uniate churches, a synagogue and a mosque coexisted peacefully. Here we differ from Western Europe, we have never had religious clashes and events like St. Bartholomew's."

“Despite all the efforts of Russian historiographers, the Moscow principality was under the yoke of the Golden Horde for centuries. In fact, then they never freed themselves from this oppression - mentally, of course. Even after the departure of the Horde, everything remained the same: the construction of the state, and the military doctrine, the idea of ​​dominance, if not in the whole world, then in a significant part of it. From there, the Russians retained the idea that "if we do not capture these lands, then our enemies will capture them and from there they will threaten us." The events in Ukraine testify that such a mental situation exists even now,” Valentin Akudovich also believes.

Double hit: more per centimeter and one IQ unit

We decided to compare the two peoples in many respects, and found a table of the length of the male genital organs of the inhabitants different countries. According to the latest data, the average Belarusian penis is 14.63 cm. This is very good indicator(Belarusians are among the 10 largest penises in Europe). At eastern neighbors things are much worse - the average Russian can only boast of a length of 13.3 cm.

Pro external differences it's hard to speak. Although it is also unlikely that anyone will be able to distinguish outwardly a Pole, a Ukrainian and a Belarusian.

At the same time, experts deduce the following pattern: the longer the penis, the lower the level of intelligence. In this regard, Belarusians also have something to boast about: the average IQ of representatives of our nationality is one of the highest in the world: 97. The inhabitants of our eastern neighbor have an IQ that is one point lower - 96.

"Practice pіlna - dy budze Vіlnya!". different fairy tale character

Most ordinary hero Russian fairy tales - Emelya, who sits on the stove and wants to pike command he got it all. Or Ivan the Fool, who has a father-tsar and does not understand what. The hero of the Belarusian fairy tales: “Yanka, the fathers and husbands”, who works all day long and endures the bullying of the “pano dy ulada”. The loafer in Belarusian fairy tales is ridiculed, children are taught that real hero one who works long and hard despite the blows of fate. In general, "Practice pіlna - dy budze Vіlnya!". In Russian fairy tales, everything is absolutely the opposite. There is an interesting study of Belarusian fairy tales, written by a culturologist Yulia Chernyavskaya. There is another trauma in our fairy tales: for example, the fact that we do not have a happy hero who has everything, and nothing bad will happen to him for this. All Belarusian fairy tales- about hard work, and if at the same time you find some kind of treasure, then you will be punished very severely. Our fairy tales are not about laziness, but about work.

Completely different. Belarusian and Russian

Recently, the main difference between Belarusians and Russians is gaining popularity in our country. Belarusian-language sporting events are held, and free courses for studying “native language” are opened. Certainly, Belarusian language quite similar to Russian, but knowing the same Ukrainian or Polish, you can see that language is much more similar to them. To prove that the Belarusian - independent language and certainly not an appendage of Russian, you can analyze a few basic words. "Blago" in Russian means "good". In Belarusian, “good” means “bad”. When the root base words have absolutely different meanings, this also indicates that the languages ​​are completely different.