, Columnist
London's Other Russians Seethe Over Putin's 'BlitzCringe'
Expatriates in Britain regret a culture that allowed the Russian president to invade Ukraine.
Fearful silences.
Photographer: MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
In private Telegram groups and on Russian Twitter, Russian-speakers around London share outrage over Vladimir Putin’s war on a neighboring country and brother nation and the wanton destruction it has brought. Sardonically, they refer to the botched battle plan and military snafus in English as a BlitzCringe. They’re done with Russia and yet they can’t be free of it.
“Russia is seen as a failed state with a not-so-modern military and a nuclear arsenal,” says Nikita Dedik, the 38-year-old founder of a London-based tech start-up. “What we are seeing is a shame for all of us.”