It is important to remember that these individuals joined the army that invaded an independent country, many of them willingly,
We can only be happy for her [Trofimova] that she was fortunate enough not to witness any war crimes. Unfortunately, thousands of Ukrainians have not been so lucky,
It’s so confusing here, I don’t even know what we’re fighting for,
In Russia, they are these heroes who never die. In the West, they are mostly war criminals,
I think in Western media, that's what Russian soldiers are associated with at this point, because there were no other stories. This is another story. This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people for people,
Since the beginning of the war on 24 February 2022, there have been a lot of bridges destroyed between Russia and the West. I would like this film to be maybe not a bridge, but at least a rope I can throw across and to help us see each other."
I found this perspective amusing because the filmmaker – like putin [sic] and his regime – plays an interesting game with these people. They deny them the simple ability to possess dignity and to think and decide for themselves. To her, these people are merely powerless objects. If those engaged in a war that has lasted over 10 years were not powerless, it would imply that they, in the majority, actually support this war, wouldn’t it?,
To me, the biggest shock was to see how ordinary they were. Absolutely ordinary guys with families, with a sense of humour, with their own understanding of what's happening in this war,
People might not really understand the reasons behind (the war), but they start to fight because they lost someone. And it's maybe a question of revenge,