What Russians Secretly Think About Other Nationalities

Why do Russian kids grow up fearing outsiders? The shocking truth behind ethnic stereotypes.

I grew up in Soviet Russia, in a city literally named "Bitter," and that's exactly how life felt beneath the glittering surface of state propaganda. On posters, we were a family of nations united by unbreakable bonds—but in reality, the cracks ran deep. From Gypsies to Caucasians, Ukrainians to Central Asian migrants, stereotypes shaped our views, fueling tensions that continue today. Join me, Elvira Bary, as I share powerful stories from my childhood, revealing the hidden prejudices that define Russia’s past and present.

Video Chapters:

00:00 What Russians Secretly Think About Other Nationalities
01:01 The Gypsies
05:19 Caucasians
11:53 Ukrainians and Belarusians
14:04 Minority Nations
17:46 Migrants from Central Asia
19:54 A Role Reversal

MY RUSSIAN TREASURES BOOK SERIES

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[wilhelmvonn]

An alien observing our planet would conclude that every human group, whether ethnic, religious, social, or whatever, believes it is better than other groups.

[Noomscape]

Your capacity at interweaving is remarkable. It is no mean feat to hold a viewer's attention for twenty minutes-plus with only a fixed frame, spoken language, and no interlocutor to move things along. Likely these are gifts that you also bring to your novel, which I shall order. Thank you, and all the best.

[thefisherking]

This was very interesting and explains a lot, thank you!

[GerFarrell-tmee]

Brilliant video Elvira, stories are a precious part of any nation, such day to day experiences really give insights into a culture. Your videos should be documented and shown to students to teach them about life ín the Soviet Union and life in general. Your honesty and commitment shines through as you speak, thank you and hello from Ireland.

[seanridge]

Thank you for very informative channel

[kentadams]

Thanks so much for this fascinating presention!
I will be a regular viewer in future.

[APICTH-cn]

What the Russians think about other nations is perfectly illustrated by what they have done in Ukraine, not just in the last 3 years, but for hundreds of years.

[johnriordan]

You are a great storyteller. And beautifully succinct in the telling. It’s quite a gift. I’ve leant more about the Russian mindset in a few short weeks watching this channel than years of listening to incomprehensible and therefore forgettable reporting of politics in Russia

[aldovalkovich]

Very interesting and informative history lesson, like all the previous ones. Thank you

[johnwalsh]

that is true with the white Russians in China, in fact, they were used as soldiers for various Chinese warlord groups and the Japanese army. In the communist era many of them were deported back to the USSR were they were either executed or sent to the gulag.

[AnthonyTurton-jx]

I am glad that you are now using a better microphone. I can hear your message so much clearer. You have good insight.

[tomedom]

Very interesting.
In UK and maybe US English, 'Caucasian' is still used to indicate white and European, i.e. 'West of the Caucasus mountains' (see the English Wikipedia article). So the same term as used in Russia means something different.

[Blackbird_Singing_in_the-Night]

This was enlightening. I couldn’t help but giggle when she talked about speaking with an accent being such an indicator of low intelligence…in what is a very noticeable accent in my language, lol. I think that must be a universal belief of the uneducated: that someone who is speaking with a foreign accent is less intelligent—when in fact they are speaking their second and possibly third language!

[wdizard]

Your novel, "The White Ghosts' Empire (Russian Treasures" arrived in the mail yesterday. Keep up the good work.

[IskrenneVashPablo]

Hi, you're giving truth and knowledge. Keep up the good work. 👍🏼

[geoffguitars]

Wow this is so interesting and I learned some things watching this - Thank you!. Watching this really brings home just what a complex multi-ethnic society you have in Russia. When I was growing up in the 80s we had no idea about that, we thought of Russian's as one people and, clearly, that idea was completely false. The one thing I had no idea about was how the Chinese started to view 'White people' after poor Russians moved in there - fascinating implications there.

What you say about the perception of Gypsies is Universal. They lived in there own secretive communities and people feared them. Even my English mother, who I regarded as a pretty liberal person as far as other cultures were concerned, did not trust them. In 1950s London people made the same association with Gypsies as Russians do. Not sure if that still exists in quite the same way today - in the UK I am not sure to what extent Gypsies are still there. They seem to have been displaced by ragtag "Traveler" communities who like to pretend they are Gypsies I think,

[Mjln]

My grandparents are from Moscow, Odessa, and Moldova. They escaped from the Soviet Union shortly after the Russian Revolution. I have cousins near Odessa. This war is heartbreaking. So many people have died as a result of Putin’s desire to recreate the Russian Empire and be remembered as a modern day czar.

[capslocked]

My girlfriend is from Chernihiv but her father is from St Petersburg, she always told me stories that as a child when her uncle's and aunts from Russia visited they made he say sentences in Ukrainian and then laughed as if she was a circus monkey, speaking a funny useless language.

At the start of the """SMO"""they didnt believe her when she told them that the Russian army is bombing their city. They 100% believed that Ukraine is bombing itself to play the victim. Since then they have cut all contact and blocked her on all social media.

[MilnaAlen]

Yeah, I'm a volunteer at House of Helsinki. We are helping Ukrainian refugees, and most of the workers and other volunteers are Russian. Everyone gets along well. Some people are understandably a bit uncomfortable about communicating in Russian though, and would prefer help in Ukrainian. Unfortunately we don't have many people who speak Ukrainian.

[wickermanauthor]

Thanks for another great video, Elvira. I hope to read one of your books soon. “За здоровье!”
"To health!" from Southern California.