17 March 2022
[Full Video here.]
Hello, everybody.
And thank you for sharing your time with me.
I’m sending this message to various different channels to reach my dear Russian friends, and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.
I’m speaking to you today, because there are things that are going on in the world that have been kept from you – terrible things that you should know about.
But before I talk about the harsh realities, let me just tell you about the Russian who became my hero. In 1961 when I was 14 years old, a very good friend of mine invited me to come to Vienna and to watch the world weightlifting championships.
I was in the audience when Yuri Petrovich Vlasov won the World Championship title, becoming the first human being to lift 200 kilograms over his head. Somehow a friend of mine got me backstage. All of a sudden there was a 14-year-old boy standing in front of the strongest man in the world.
I couldn’t believe it.
He reached out to shake my hand. I mean, I still had a boy’s hand. He had this powerful man’s hand that swallowed mine. But he was kind and he smiled at me. I will never forget that day. Never. I went home and put his photo above my bed to inspire me when I started lifting weights.
My father told me to take down that picture and to find a German or an Austrian hero. He got really angry. And we argued back and forth. He didn’t like Russians, because of his experience in the Second World War.
You see, he was injured in Leningrad with the Nazi army. That he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people. But I did not take the photograph down. No. Because it didn’t matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov carried. My connections to Russia didn’t stop there, by the way. Oh, it actually deepened in the travel there for bodybuilding and for my movies and met all my Russian fans.
And then one of those trips I remember, I made you Yuri Vlasov once again. It was in Moscow during the filming of Red Heat, which was the first American movie allowed to film in Red Square. Now he and I spent the whole day together. He was so thoughtful, so kind, and so smart, and of course, very giving. He gave me this beautiful blue coffee cup. And ever since then, I’ve been drinking my coffee out of it every morning.
Now the reason why I’m telling you all these things is that ever since I was 14 years old, I’ve had nothing but affections and respect for the people of Russia. The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me. That is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in the Ukraine and what is happening there.
No one likes to hear something critical of the government. I understand that. But as a long time friend of the Russian people, I hope that you hear what I have to say. And may I remind you that I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I spoke to the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January 6 last year, when a wild crowd was storming the U.S. Capitol trying to overthrow our government.
You see, there are moments like this that are so wrong, and then we have to speak up. And it’s exactly the same EU government. I know that your Government has told you that this is a war to de-Nazify Ukraine to not suffer Ukraine. This is not true. Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president. A Jewish President I might add was Father’s three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.
Now see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people’s war. No. So matter fact let me tell you, what you should know is that the 141 nations at the U.N. voted that Russia was the aggressor. It called for it to remove its troops immediately. Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact.
See, the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children’s hospital and a maternity hospital. Three million Ukrainian refugees, mainly women, children and elderly, fled their country. And many more trying to seek it out. It is a humanitarian crisis. Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of nations.
You’re also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on Russia itself. I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers that have been killed. They’ve been caught between Ukrainians fighting for their homeland, in the Russian leadership fighting for conquest.
Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that Russia’s bombs are raining down up and innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country.
Those who don’t deserve it on both sides of the war, will suffer.
The Russian government has lied not only to the citizens, but to its soldiers. Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes. And some were told that it was simply going on exercise. They didn’t even know that they were going into war, in some were told, delivered there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
None of this is true.
The fact is that Russian soldiers have faced fierce resistance from the Ukrainians who want to protect their families and their country. When I see babies being pulled out of ruins, I think that I’m watching a documentary about the horrors of the Second World War.
Not the news of the day.
Now let me tell you, when my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. When he left Leningrad, he was broken physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back. Pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of these terrible years.
And pain from the guilt that he felt.
The Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast. You already know much of the truth that I’ve been speaking. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father. This is not the war to defend Russia that your grandfathers or your great grandfather’s fought. This is an illegal war.
Your lives. Your limbs. Your futures have been sacrificed for this senseless war condemned by the entire world.
Those in power in the Kremlin. Let me just ask you: Why would you sacrifice these young men for your own ambitions?
To the soldiers who listen to this, remember that the 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine. So every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or sister. Every bad boy every shell that falls is foreign not on an enemy. But on a school or hospital. Or a home.
I know that the Russian people are not aware of such things that are happening. So I urge the Russian people and the Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand the propaganda and the dis-information that you’re being told.
I ask you to help me spread the truth. Let your fellow Russians know, the human catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine.
And to President Putin, I say: You started this war. You’re leading this war. You can stop this war.
Now, let me close with a message to all of the Russians who have been protesting on the streets against the invasion of Ukraine. The world has seen your bravery. We know that you have suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested, you’ve been jailed and you’ve been beaten.
You are my new heroes. You have the strength of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of Russia.
My dear Russian friends. May God Bless You All.
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https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1504426844199669762
