I read through many of these and felt a little hope, but this one perfectly captured the bleakness I worry is too common in Russia:

Sergei

Moscow

I don’t care anymore. The world has shrunk to the size of my family. Didn’t get hit today — great. We hope it won’t hit us tomorrow. No regret, no compassion, no reflection, not after listening to the insane crap about a “righteous war” from the people around me.

My behavior is like a cockroach’s: survive and keep my family alive. Keep my head down, don’t stick my neck out. Heroism is a sign of desperation, when normal human principles stop working. And right now, heroism — like criticizing the authorities or sabotage — is a road to nowhere.

They killed my emotions, killed my hopes, killed my joy. And it wasn’t only, or even mainly, the authorities that did it. It was also the wretched mindset of Russian citizens, who cling in a frenzy to ideas of being chosen, of being unique, of some God-given historical role. So you live for the handful of people right next to you.

Burn in hell, all of you.

I don’t know if this is actually a representative perspective or just confirms my bias, but I worry too many Russians will just keep their heads down and worry about their own families instead of taking the risk to trust each other to stand together against their government.