as somebody who born in russia you can't represent everybodies in russia knowledge. in case you don't watch them, go watch some of zolkin videos where he asks russian solders questions about history and ukraine. very enlightening

Sure, you can always cherry-pick someone from a remote village so this can't be literally "everybody", but it's absurd to claim that the majority of the population doesn't know about Chernobyl. It was a very hot topic in Russia for a long time, and in the 90s the government lost control over the information space of the country so the information about Chernobyl was spreading freely. The younger generations can learn about the topic from either their parents, or from pop culture things like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and even HBO's miniseries (freely available on Russian torrent trackers that are quite popular).

Sure, you can always cherry-pick someone from major city so this can't be literally "everybody", but it's absurd to claim that the majority of the population knows about Chernobyl.

For christ sakes, as you state, there is a whole new generation that was born after 2000 in russia. 90s are out and there is control of information> it doesn't matter that they can learn about this topic from internet or hbo or stalker (yes, sure, all gamers will assume that game is based on real events). if they are not taught about it, they won't know.

did you see new history books in russia btw that were published a couple of weeks ago ? do you see the new versions of history been on tv ? the laws about spreading "false information about ussr in wwII" ?

Listen, I left Russia last year. I lived there my whole life, and I saw how the government was handling this topic with my own eyes. Putin likes to twist history to his whims, but the topic of Chernobyl specifically wasn't as affected by this as you seem to think. The worst thing I've seen is one conspiracy-loving TV channel pushing theories about the disaster getting caused by aliens or the Americans, but no one tried to pretend that the whole thing never happened. I know about all of these things too well, don't try to school me on this topic.

i never said that topic of Chernobyl was affected in media. and i never said that majority do not know about it. i said that a bunch of russian solders occupying Chernobyl had no idea where they are and that based on Zolkin interviews history is taught in russia not in optimal way (probably at least outside of major population centers, which are not exactly russia anyhow)

Alright, I misunderstood you then, sorry.

> you can always cherry-pick someone from a remote village

Which hilariously enough is what they do when drafting and recruiting new soldiers...

> Sure, you can always cherry-pick someone from a remote village (...)

The bulk of Russia's invasion force is comprised by people from remote villages.

You're talking about people who risked their lives, and many died, to pillage washing machines and indoor toilets.

Do you really think the literacy level and access to information from the average Russian grunt on the floor accommodates this info? Many didn't even knew where in the world they were stationed.

Fair enough, it’s just really mind-boggling to me that someone doesn’t know. I’m not a villager, but I’m not a blue-blooded Muscovite either. Perhaps my experience of Russia is still too elevated compared to that of an army’s grunt.