Thank you for this heart-wrenching article describing all the suffering that Russians have endured. Demoralization occurs whenever people are downtrodden for generations. Hitler rose to power by appealing directly to the wounded vanity and bitter resentments of the German working classes after their defeat in WW I and the ensuing economic collapse. Ditto for the KKK after the American civil war, the Bolsheviks in Russia, Mussolini in Italy, and more recently, the likes of Bolsonaro, Orban, Putin (of course) and Trump. People whose lives are a meaningless struggle are easy prey for demagogues with toxic charisma, no shame, and a lust for absolute power. I hope a champion of the people arises among them to restore their hope…a Russian version of M L King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Wangari Maathai…