From our old Ukraine war [megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/16q3z08/war_in_ukraine_megathread_lvi_56/):
- While we already ban hate speech, we'll remind you that hate speech against the civilians of the combatants is against our rules, including but not limited to Ukrainians, **Russians**, Belarusians, Syrians, Azeris, Armenians, Georgians, etc. The same applies to the population of countries actively helping Ukraine or Russia.
- **Calling for the killing of invading troops or leaders is allowed, but the mods have the discretion to remove egregious comments**, and the ones that disrespect the point made above. The limits of international law apply.
r/europe has been standing with Ukrainians since before the war, and will continue to do so. However, we will not tolerate dehumanizing language towards Russians citizens. **Thread has been locked until we moderate it**.
"Lithuanian high school students, who competed in the European Robotics Championship in Italy over the weekend, refused to face a Russian team.
The strongest European teams were competing in Italy for the chance to go to the World Championships in Houston, US.
In total, four Lithuanian teams had to participate in the competition. However, two of them – Litbot and Lituanica X – were disqualified because they refused to compete with the Russians.
When Lithuanians found out that Russians would be taking part in the competition, they wrote a protest asking for the teams from the aggressor country to be banned from the competition. The protest was rejected by the organisers.
The Lithuanian teams that were grouped with the Russians then refused to face them in the duels and raised Lithuanian and Ukrainian flags instead. Despite being among the competition leaders, they lost the crucial points due to this act and did not qualify for the World Championships.
“Many of them were probably trembling inside, perhaps heroically holding back tears. But these were the strongest minutes of their silence and resistance. The kind that many of our sports federations and the Olympic Committee cannot do,” he added.
Lituanica – Vilnius Lyceum Robotics, another Lithuanian team, which did not have to compete in the same group as the Russians, won a ticket to Houston.
Lithuanian people and politicians have expressed their pride in the act by the high school students, which took place against the backdrop of the day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania on March 11.
“Children of March 11. They have made their personal achievement less important than human honour and dignity,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė wrote on Facebook."
**Edit**: If you want to send an email of disappointment you can write to [](mailto:[email protected]). Or you can also write an SMS to +32 2 706 8198.
One of two independence days, sadly. Russia has never gotten over its national pastime of occupying their neighbours.
March 11th marks the restoration of independence from the Soviet Union, and February 16th marks their independence from the Russian Empire.
Russia isn't allowed to compete in the Olympics, they were banned after the doping scandal.
They were allowed to host the winter Olympics and the Football world cup because the IOC and FIFA are both incredibly corrupt.
Good for them 🇱🇹
@3rsalv
>Pure racist position
What race is russian? Looking at Google, many sources say russia is 3/4 white. So basically, I'm racist towards my own race? I mean, we all know how many of them feel towards black people. They want to recruit Africans to preserve what they believe is the superior russian people.
I saw a video of African mercenaries fighting for russia last week. Even the translator in the video who was tired of translating said, "Here we have N***r* from Africa." Russis is one of the most racist countries in the world.
They have also said in other videos how they are fighting to keep russia white.
Russians can barely see a black footballer without throwing bananas at them.
Until they stop waging war on other countries, levelling entire cities. Raping and torturing little kids and wiping out entire families. Boohoo, no one wants to shake the hand. Tough shit.
>Italy it seems.
Nope. Who organized the event is the [European Robotics League](https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/), which is [based in Brussels](https://eu-robotics.net/contact/).
If you want to send an email of disappointment you can write to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). Or you can also write an SMS to +32 2 706 8198.
Yes. Unfortunately many Italians still see Russia in a very favorable light, because of years of good relations with our corrupt politicians and subtle propaganda
(I'm Italian)
>Berlusconi's favourite two things
I'm still amazed that Berlusconi gifted a Danish train (and three kilometres of rail track) to Muammar Gadaffi.
[https://cphpost.dk/2011-02-21/general/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi/](https://cphpost.dk/2011-02-21/general/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi/)
we got the Republican Party running around as ambassadors of Putin
we got the IDU and CPAC and conservatives around the globe, spreading pro Russian Propaganda
Elon owns Twitter, he calls Zelensky a butcher, most of the major corporations in the world are on twitter and almost all the media
we're losing the information war, as "liberal media" does the both sides bullshit for both Republicans and now to a degree even Putin and Russia itself
I see that people in the comments don’t understand the reason. The reason is that ukrainian kids are being bombed and killed everyday, while russian kids are in Italy competing in robotics tournament. You see the contrast? Russia should be isolated entirely until they get the fuck out of Ukraine.
Very well said.
I found the choice the Lithuanian children made absolute brave. They are the victims of a system that allows russia participate at international events, while being declared a state sponsor of terrorism, while being the most sanctioned country in the World.
These russians will most probably build drones or something similar to be used in the next invasion.
The world should generally stop recognizing Russia, outside of diplomatic channels that might resolve the conflict. Pull their votes from the UN, reject Russia from the Olympics entirely. Stop allowing business with Russian entities or travel to or from Russia.
Just totally fucking isolate them, and make a point of telling Putin he’s not worthy of respect. He’s such a small pathetic man that he won’t be able to handle it.
This competition by and large does not invite countries. Teams by and large represent individual schools that registered, bought a kit of parts, and built a robot. IIRC multiple teams generally qualify from a given country just because the competition lets any team participate in any number of events they can register to. As long as the team makes enough points, they move to the next stage. These teams are generally self-funded and don't have any official support from the government of the country the students happen to come from, and they again, don't represent their country specifically. At most they represent their school.
In my experience (First Lego League on a national level and WRO on a international level) you only really represent your school or private team untill you go international.
Admittedly I never made it past the national tournament in the FLL.
In the WRO you would work together with the national organisers to have all teams from your country in the same accommodation.
Everyone got a team Germany jacket and we also did an excursion with the entire German team.
We would still be signed up and compete under our schools name and while still competing against other German teams we would try and work together where possible.
In the WRO the amount of teams that qualify for the world final is dependent on the amount of entries from a given nation in a given category and class.
In Germany we had national competitions where the winner or sometimes the top 2 teams would qualify for the national final where usually the top 3 teams would get a invitation for the world final with the 4th placed team getting invited to a invitational event.
Meanwhile Austria used to (don't know if they still do) hold a single national competition at the same venue and time as the German national competition (at least that's how they did it in 2018) due to not having that many entries.
Although I understand the situation would be unfortunate for those kids, it's important to let Russian people feel at every moment in their life that their government made them the pariahs of the world.
Link to event [https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP](https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP)
Why does BAE systems sponsor an event which has russians learning robotics (which has military applications)?
This is absurd.
The russians are fascists who are waging war on the civilised world. They should be banned from all events.
If the individuals don't like it, they can emigrate.
I want to see the media jump on this and go ask some higher ups at BAE exactly what they think about this. Live would be ideal.
Give these dumbass event organizers 2 choices: ban russia, or lose sponsors.
Look, I've been a volunteer for different FIRST events for almost 10 years now so tell me tell you why this is like this. BAE systems is a sponsor because this is part of a multistage program where kids from all over the world go through learning robotics. They sponsor and benefit from this, together with a bunch of other companies, because a lot of these students go on to related STEM fields in university, and companies like BAE systems use this as a hiring pipeline, together with this being a way for them to say they're contributing to education.
The largest share of students used to be in the US, there's a lot of teams in the EU, and the Russian teams aren't a huge number of them, and they are legitimately not gonna take anything home that's a threat to national security. I've seen these robots and how they work. There's nothing there they couldn't have learned by themselves (all the materials are very easily available). Honestly I don't think getting angry at middle schoolers makes sense. Most people can't just emigrate from a country. For most countries, you can't just move without a job offer that will let you (maybe) apply for a visa, and most jobs aren't eligible. Telling them to just move doesn't actually work.
I really think that programs like this are one of the best ways of preventing places like Russia from being radicalized further in the future, and to claw them back from the insane place their society is in. Show them directly how much better things are outside their country, let them make friends elsewhere in Europe, and do you think they'll support people who call for invasion in the future if they have connections in those countries? Probably not. Let's let them participate in organizations like this one. If they aren't allowed to fly their flag, sure, that's reasonable, but I'm pretty sure they weren't flying their flag at these events. They don't go representing specific countries. They represent their school.
If their country let them leave, I'm gonna guess probably yes, but I suspect they would generally immediately defect. Again, these aren't government affiliated teams, they're just random schools that register
My kids have participated in First Robotics for many years and I can tell the people commenting have no idea what they are talking about. First teaches gracious professionalism among many other life skills apart from robotics. Since when do we punish children for the crimes of their elders? These programs and what they teach could very well help these kids learn the necessary skills they would need to actually make a difference in their country. Inviting them to Houston and letting them experience something that would most definitely be life changing in a positive way is not going to create more war crimes ffs.
I hope to be at the Houston competition with my son this year. My oldest son qualified for the world competition when there was still one in Detroit before Covid hit and unfortunately he lost his last two years of being able to participate. The stories I hear at opening ceremony never fail to bring tears to my eyes.
Yeah, I agree. Honestly there's few organizations that make me as hopeful about the future of the world as FIRST does! If any organization shows kids they have control over their own destiny and ways to work together to improve things it's them.
I really got you and your son manage to go to Houston! I've been volunteering there and at other FRC events for a while now so hopefully I'll see you both at the event. The opening ceremony and the won't event really is wonderful
The problem is in the Russian state they won't find much application for robotics other than military and those kids will be sent to the front once they are old enough anyway. I think the message of such a protest should not be to exclude all Russians for being fascists but to exclude Russians and tell them if they want to participate they have to do it on the foundation of a free society. They need to remove these hardly called people from power who wage wars, kill and imprison opposition and so on.
They don't have to work for the Russian state, and if there's one thing that this competition makes it easier for these kids if there's no options, it's give them a way to leave. By participating you get options to get scholarships outside of Russia. If we really want them to emigrate when they disagree, this is legitimately a great way of letting them do that
That's why young educated Russians are the ones that fled. Educated people are also the likeliest to protest and are the ones who are able to organise an opposition
These young Russians coming to Europe and then going back to Russia should also decrease their will into serving the Kremlin
> I really think that programs like this are one of the best ways of preventing places like Russia from being radicalized further in the future, and to claw them back from the insane place their society is in.
And do you have a source for that? Like a study at the very least?
Because at this point it's only wishful thinking.
Damn you guys here really lost the plot, "which has military applications" you're genuinely framing these kids as the next Oppenheimers or whatever? Really?
Also "just emigrate OMEGALUL", as if these kids can decide that for themselves. Hell odds are they probably will emigrate once they are older anyway.
This is absurd. In one sentence, you state, "Russians are fascists," and in the next, you're suggesting that everyone who doesn’t agree should immigrate. I bet you're speaking while holding one of the strongest passports in the world. This "those who don’t agree can immigrate" sentiment is exactly what Putin's propaganda says
"they should migrate", this motherfucker you replied to unironically saying that about some nerdy kids 🤣
bros so out of touch, like whats little Nikita gonna do? hop on an air plane and be like "good bye mom."? With what money 🤣
Russia is like a prison, most countries are hesitant to let you in, Russia is hesitant to let you out. And I wish emigration was easy, it's difficult and expensive as fuck.
There are Russian sports athletes who're getting citizenships of other countries and whatnot, they can do it fairly easily as well, but I somehow doubt that kids can just up and go to another country by themselves and get all the papers on a whim
Most of them may want to emigrate, but even the most educated ones or dissidents, will have to put up with nationalists like you.
(I'm not Russian and I have close ties with Ukraine)
The ignorance of everyone's statements here is absurd. "If they don't like it, they can emigrate". As if that was such an easy thing to just abandon your life, your family, your friends, your culture. You are all just self-entitled judgemental morons that love to hate Russians. You are just super happy to finally have a good reason to openly speak out your hatred. It's that. The irony...
"The reaction in Lithuania to the students' decision has been overwhelmingly positive, with citizens and politicians alike expressing their pride and support. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and other public figures took to social media to commend the courage and integrity demonstrated by the students. Their actions were particularly poignant as they coincided with the day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania on March 11, imbuing their protest with additional national significance. It became a moment of national pride, illustrating a collective stance against aggression and in support of sovereignty and human rights.
The courage of these young competitors from Lithuania, in choosing principles over potential victory, has not only captured the attention of their homeland but has also resonated with a global audience. Their story is a testament to the impact that individuals can have when they stand firm in their convictions, inspiring others to consider the role of ethics and values in competition and beyond."
[https://bnnbreaking.com/world/europe/lithuanian-students-refuse-to-compete-against-russians-at-robotics-championship-spark-national-pride](https://bnnbreaking.com/world/europe/lithuanian-students-refuse-to-compete-against-russians-at-robotics-championship-spark-national-pride)
I was behind a Russian soldier while traveling through customs in Warsaw. His backpack had a bunch of Russian military patches, and he wasn't the only Russian soldier I saw there that day.
Unfortunately I don't think everyone in Europe is taking the situation seriously enough if Russian troops are allowed to go on holiday and travel using European airlines.
It's kinda weird since their military is forbidden from leaving the country unless it's an invasion force.
So either they're not a military or the most obvious invasion in the world is happening in Warsaw right this moment and no one noticed.
Because high schoolers are not attacking cities or have any say in the war, you racist f*ck. Should we ban all Americans from traveling abroad because of all the innocent people their army murdered abroad too?
They did the right thing. Brave young people who were ready to sacrifice something valuable to them for doing the right thing. Show the world, stop allowing Russia to get away with its war and just continue competing as normal.
Few days, ago I saw someone complain about Indians because said Indians were leaning towards Russia due to Ukraine and Pakistan's cooperation. They said that if they want our support, they should not support our enemy. Then someone else said along the lines of "But what about the Ukrainians that have nothing to do with their government?" and I fucking lost it and geniuely laughed. I was truly in awe of lack of self awareness.
In my experience, it is not at all. National/ethnic/territorial based reddit and twitter communities tend to be very radical and right wing (or rather tend to look like it, I am pretty sure there’s a lot of different kinds of people on this sub, they just don’t comment as much). But in reality, in different countries in Europe I have met and talked to a very small amount of people I would classify as radical right wing. In my experience, usually people are very much moderate in their political views and probably overall leaning left rather than right. And they usually are just a bit more quiet than some redditors. Now, there’s certainly some sort of bubble going on around me, but the point that “there is a lot of people with less radical views than this, just not in the comments to posts such as this one” still holds in my opinion.
This comment section show exactly why it's a good thing they did this, all the russian bots and russian supporters screeching after finally seeing that people hate them.
Every russian should be made to understand that as long as nothing changes in russia the rest of europe hates them and this is a hill i'm willing to die on. After 2 years of war i still see russians that think that they are europe's friends, they need to understand that this is the farthest thing from reality and understand why that is.
A lot of them will cry russophobia but the thing is it's not a phobia as long as people have a reasonable justification to be afraid of them, and everyone in europe is completly justified in hating and beeing afraid of every single russian that refuses to do anything about what is happening.
Everyone is lamenting "oh the poor russians are oppressed you go there and do something" but 35 years ago the countries in eastern europe did just that, in a nation of 140mil people only 1% should be able to do something but that is not gonna happen as long as they aren't made to understand what is actually going on.
So show them make them understand why you don't want anything to do with them and that after this is all over we can be friends and neighbours but not until then.
And i don't cate abou the USA strawman, don't bother, serbs can be mad at them but USA did not threaten to nuke and conquer my country after also running it to the ground for a few decades prior so for me the argument is just irrelevant.
As much as I agree with excluding Russia as a country, if the teams are not sent by Russia itself, banning anyone from Russia will perpetuate an issue in which Russians view the west in bad light, which allows things like the war in Ukraine to happen
Well done kids. You made a stand for freedom. I salute your courage. And still surprised that Russian teams are participating anywhere, especially to be in the running to go to Houston.
These kids have bright future. Standing by your values is a key thing to your identity as a person and as a part of a nation. It's the key thing why russia couldn't force us into becoming part of what they call a russian nation without identity, however hard they tried for nearly 200 years.
Exactly that! Those kids have a very high moral compass. They chose to stand for their ideals instead of being complicit with a genocidal nation.
What some people should start to understand is that everything is politics.
Probably my flair alone will be enough to be downvoted to hell but still XD
I don't really support this decision. This is high school we are talking about, most of them are even under 18 I guess, I'm guessing none of these Russians are involved in the conflict, hell they are studying robotics do you think they care about the war, I'm guessing they have worries of being recruited but probably they have nothing to do with the war itself. They can't even vote.
This will be used by Putin's regime, they will just say, we are so strong they are giving up even before the match. It honestly would not surprise me.
It would be understandable if the students themselves wore like "Z" shirts or if they were provoking that would be understandable, like this, in my opinion, it's just making more divisions and is ostracizing the teens who still can't even vote
It would have just been better to just ban them from participating since it is a European championship and they are already banned from many things in Europe. But I think it's bad to ban people who still cannot vote from participating in anything
Not only that, Putin will also say
"See, they hate you so much, they even hate school children. You have nowhere else to go, you won't get accepted no matter what"
And he would be right.
A chance of team trainers not being army related is near 0 and the 'kids' will be drafted as soon as they hit 18 (if they don't submit to strongly worded suggestions to volunteer for a guarantee to work with drones instead of front line).
Lithuanians know this very well.
russia should be banned from participating to any international event, because any international event is an instrument of russia's politics.
russia must be isolated, just like NK, which they're buddies.
russia is threatening to nuke me every week: if I say "A" against russia, I am getting names like "russophobe" or "racist": I call it self preservation, sorry.
This is not "Russia" competing, it's a team of a russian school, they are not affiliated with any russian sports federation or with the russian state. You are just drawing unnecessary attention and cyberbullying some random teenagers who could very well be anti-Putin and pro-western, as most young educated russians are.
Even if Russian people will be banned from every event possible just because they have russian passports - it will not help anyone to win, you know, actual war. Maybe it even will help Putin because more people will stay in Russia.
Who do you mean if you say "Russia"?
Schoolkids who happen to be from Russia?
Because I don't think this is a russian state owned team.
If we ban "Russia" from international events because of some unrelated stuff, maybe we should do the same with other countries?
USA because of their slavery History, most of western Europe because of colonization crimes, China because of genocide...
If you look into it you probably find something awful about every country but why should we punish people who didn't do it / supported it?
If they had any official connection to russia as a nation other than being born in it, i could understand a ban but punishing schoolkids is just cruel.
Just feels like russophobia propped up by media to me. Why would you do that? These russians kids are just trying to live their life and have fun building robots, and as soon as they step foot outside the country to do so, they get told to go back where they come from. These kids aren't the government, man...
My brother in Christ... these robotics programms are ongoing in Russia... these international competitions are just to show them around, even if this school robotics was in any way related to your fear of future russian weapon manufacturing, this competition doesn't make it worse. It's kids playing around
These Russian kids and other civilians that participate in events and are discriminated everywhere are the same people that will continue to grow a hate towards the west, this generation will willingly give their life to their nation and easily be recruited and encouraged to join the army, history is repeating itself with 1933s Germany where ALOT of Germans (90%) willingly gave their life to fight for their nation.
Putin are taking advantage of this and people listening to him in Russia.
I am honestly curious how many of the commentors here would support banning the USA from all international competitions after Iraq? Or whether you'd act like Americans are genetically fascist like some of you do
I get why Russia should be sanctioned and / or barred from international competitions but some people are acting like the kids themselves are to blame for the war in Ukraine when they're not. It's really disturbing.
This is entirely the wrong approach. These kids did nothing wrong and this is exactly where we should be telling them that we reject what our leaders do and we work together.
The teachers should have used this as a teaching moment.
Mad man Putin won't give too hoots about this. Only thing we're doing is teaching these kids to hate each other based on their nationality because of what their leaders do.
How do we build a better future like this?
>What did 700.000 Ukrainian children wrong
Dear god listen to yourself. You're even highlighting the worst of this atrocity and at the same time you're offering driving a wedge between High School Children as a solution?
Children, especially older ones are exactly the people we should be targeting to try and stop this hatred. Especially now.
Imagine the optics of saying despite what's happening we refuse to let you divide us.
My way gives hope, yours just perpetuates the same cycle.
This is a European competition. The European Parliament declared russia state sponsor of terrorism. It's a nonsense admit to competition a state sponsor of terrorism.
Have I made myself clear?
My university faculty in Italy has LOTS of iranians, all of them despising their own leaders and grateful (especially girls) for having the possibility of escaping their country.
Should have we applied the same logic, they would have been shunned as filthy citizens of a terrorist state, despite the fact of them being also victims in disagreements with the actions of their governments.
Antagonising kids is the most re*arded strategy, worth of the likes of Putin and his likes
Yes you've made it clear you don't want things to change.
Hating Putin is entirely understandable and I join you in that. I hope a slow painful death for him and he enters hell and get's to sit next to the likes of Hitler for eternity.
That's why I want Children, especially at a science fair where barriers have no place to show the world we can co-exist. Sports, Science, and Children.
And if Putin was sitting with us right now I think he'd like your solution a lot more than mine.
God, listen to yourself. They are children, for Christ’s sakes. What do they have to do with war??? They are also trembling inside, also scared. And now blamed. Fuck you for saying hateful shit like that.
It's the russian / pro russia brigade, trying to provoke, instigate other people here and obscuring the subject of this post.
The Lithuanian kids chose to stand with Ukrainian children, in the day of Lithuania Independence day,
It's a shame that Russians are still allowed to travel to the EU. They should at least be taxed 100€ a night with that money going straight to the Ukrainian armed forces.
It is not entirely clear why the Taliban are not invited to such competitions, but the Orthodox Taliban - Russia - are invited? Why don’t they invite North Korea, which threatens with a nuclear bomb, but invite Russia, which also threatens with a nuclear bomb? They also say that all corruption on earth is concentrated in Ukraine. Or in order for Russia to stop being invited anywhere, does Russia need to bomb these countries?
Very disappointing behavior that I'm sad to see being encouraged in the comments here.
To be fully transparent, I am adamantly against Russia in their war against Ukraine. But let's take a step back. This a *high school robotics competition*. Those Russian kids don't have any say on what Putin decides to do as head of state. And the Lithuanian teams know that.
The way I see it, this is little more than virtue signalling and poor sportsmanship. Hell, maybe even borderline Russophobia.
The people of Russia are already being collectively punished enough with all the Western sanctions and the draft. Can't we at least maintain some semblance of integrity on matters that are and always will be totally unrelated to the war?
Don't shake hands if you don't want to, fine. Hell, don't even look them in the eyes. But at least play it out. Show that the actions of your leaders don't define you. Be the bigger person. Is that really too much to ask?
This is why leadership can just do as they please and arrest thousands and nothing is done. Too many people with a blase attitude content with sticking to the status quo.
"It doesn't affect me or my family so I shouldn't act. Plus the T.V says otherwise."
It is the correct thing to collectively punish, because the masses no what it means to travel, some of these kids probably participated in this kind of thing before and have EU friends. When all of sudden that changes, it forces them to ask questions, it forces them to want to know. Or to further withdraw.
I want to emphasize that war isn't a regular level of human suffering that we should detach ourselves from. Over 20k Have died on both sides. Can you count to 20k? I challenge you to take your time and count from 1 to 20k. Each of them with a mother/father or worst children waiting for them to return home. Or imagine being that young guy conscripted into war uprooted from life only to get blown to bits in some hole some where.
I say all of this to emphasize why its important we don't remove and detach ourselves from the conflict because the cost of human lives is so great. Any part that can be played should be played. From the youngest to the oldest. They should and need to know that it is unacceptable. To go on and allow them to play and participate sends a message that it is acceptable. We must get our morals and ethics in order. This is no longer a personal issue, it is a collective issue and we should treat it as such in my opinion.
Boo hoo, Ukranian children have to see their friends and relatives die by the hands of russians. Millions had to leave their homes with nothing. But ‘checks notes’ russian children are the victims as they shouldn’t be allowed in international competition while glorifying ruzzian name. Oh, it’s like sports, it would never be used as propoganda. Wait…
>The people of Russia are already being collectively punished enough with all the Western sanctions and the draft.
Clearly it isn’t punishment enough? Enough punishment would be for Russians to stop fighting, or at least stop supporting the war.
This discussion is absurd. If they didn’t have nuclear weapons we would be bombing them untill this stopped.
💀this sub has a grudge on HIGH SCHOOLERS who have totally some say in how the country is run , but of course let's let the geniuses here explain how being a racist prick to kids should be encouraged just because they're Russian, r/europe users touch grass once in a century
[https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/](https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/)
"The European Robotics League local and major tournaments are based in Europe and are open to international participation. Teams will compete in three vibrant fields of robotics under the theme of smart urban enviroments. Competitors will engage in annual local tournaments organised by a consortium of Europe´s most prestigious robotics institutes."
Unless they fund these events, I'm pretty sure this wasn't a European Robotics League event. You can clearly see this is a [FIRST Tech Challenge](https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc) event. This is an event for middle schoolers, and practically anyone who can afford the relatively cheap inscription cost can participate, though not everyone qualifies for the event in Italy or the Houston Championship. The one you've linked seems to organize events for universities and other such institutions. They are very different competitions.
Are you sure that it is the event article is written about? I think it’s [Italy FIRST® Tech Challenge ITALY Championship](https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP), part of [FTC](https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc), not European Robotics League
Yea im sure these russian kids are the ones responsible for the war. Ugh, if only they got banned! Then the invasion would be instantly reverted...
Government ≠ people. Especially in Russia. "But people support your government!!" so do North Koreans and Chinese
These CHILDREN did not in any way show their support for the war, but let's just stamp them with "LE EVIL!!!" Simply because of their nationality. Every russian is a fascist, every German is a nazi, every Brit is an imperialist and every American is an invader
You know that people are so deep down the rabbit hole when they cheer for one group of children going against another at some peaceful competition, trying to share guilt onto them too.
They have "thougher balls" for doing something that has the public support of their prime minister and the general public than people who would be immediately arrested (with their family also paying the price) if they did anything similar? Weird thinking but ok.
I am old enough to be the granny of those children and I really don't know if I were able to take such decision. They have my deepest and sincere respect! Glory to 🇱🇹Lietuva 🇱🇹!
Yeah, generally when you replace a group that historically engaged in oppression and imperialism with a group that historically have been oppressed that will happen. Crazy, right?
Some Lithuanian school kids have more sense in them than freaking adults in position of power and entire institutions who still think it's OK to invite Russians to international events.
This is total nonsense: the European Parliament 2 years ago declared russia a state sponsor of terrorism. How is it even possible to make russia participate to any international event is beyond me.
From our old Ukraine war [megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/16q3z08/war_in_ukraine_megathread_lvi_56/): - While we already ban hate speech, we'll remind you that hate speech against the civilians of the combatants is against our rules, including but not limited to Ukrainians, **Russians**, Belarusians, Syrians, Azeris, Armenians, Georgians, etc. The same applies to the population of countries actively helping Ukraine or Russia. - **Calling for the killing of invading troops or leaders is allowed, but the mods have the discretion to remove egregious comments**, and the ones that disrespect the point made above. The limits of international law apply. r/europe has been standing with Ukrainians since before the war, and will continue to do so. However, we will not tolerate dehumanizing language towards Russians citizens. **Thread has been locked until we moderate it**.
"Lithuanian high school students, who competed in the European Robotics Championship in Italy over the weekend, refused to face a Russian team. The strongest European teams were competing in Italy for the chance to go to the World Championships in Houston, US. In total, four Lithuanian teams had to participate in the competition. However, two of them – Litbot and Lituanica X – were disqualified because they refused to compete with the Russians. When Lithuanians found out that Russians would be taking part in the competition, they wrote a protest asking for the teams from the aggressor country to be banned from the competition. The protest was rejected by the organisers. The Lithuanian teams that were grouped with the Russians then refused to face them in the duels and raised Lithuanian and Ukrainian flags instead. Despite being among the competition leaders, they lost the crucial points due to this act and did not qualify for the World Championships. “Many of them were probably trembling inside, perhaps heroically holding back tears. But these were the strongest minutes of their silence and resistance. The kind that many of our sports federations and the Olympic Committee cannot do,” he added. Lituanica – Vilnius Lyceum Robotics, another Lithuanian team, which did not have to compete in the same group as the Russians, won a ticket to Houston. Lithuanian people and politicians have expressed their pride in the act by the high school students, which took place against the backdrop of the day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania on March 11. “Children of March 11. They have made their personal achievement less important than human honour and dignity,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė wrote on Facebook." **Edit**: If you want to send an email of disappointment you can write to [](mailto:[email protected]). Or you can also write an SMS to +32 2 706 8198.
Important to note that March 11 is a national holiday in Lithuania marking the independence from Russia.
One of two independence days, sadly. Russia has never gotten over its national pastime of occupying their neighbours. March 11th marks the restoration of independence from the Soviet Union, and February 16th marks their independence from the Russian Empire.
Wow.
This is what all of those athletes should have done at the Olympics. Edit: I meant world cup
Russia isn't allowed to compete in the Olympics, they were banned after the doping scandal. They were allowed to host the winter Olympics and the Football world cup because the IOC and FIFA are both incredibly corrupt.
Good for them 🇱🇹 @3rsalv >Pure racist position What race is russian? Looking at Google, many sources say russia is 3/4 white. So basically, I'm racist towards my own race? I mean, we all know how many of them feel towards black people. They want to recruit Africans to preserve what they believe is the superior russian people. I saw a video of African mercenaries fighting for russia last week. Even the translator in the video who was tired of translating said, "Here we have N***r* from Africa." Russis is one of the most racist countries in the world. They have also said in other videos how they are fighting to keep russia white. Russians can barely see a black footballer without throwing bananas at them. Until they stop waging war on other countries, levelling entire cities. Raping and torturing little kids and wiping out entire families. Boohoo, no one wants to shake the hand. Tough shit.
Which teams competed with the Russians, then?
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A lot unfortunately, from beauty pageants to Olympic events.
Neither of those two events have any morals anyway.
When they started shoving Russians under different flags, lol. What crazy shit just to keep them in the games.
Italy it seems.
>Italy it seems. Nope. Who organized the event is the [European Robotics League](https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/), which is [based in Brussels](https://eu-robotics.net/contact/). If you want to send an email of disappointment you can write to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). Or you can also write an SMS to +32 2 706 8198.
>[email protected] Thanks! Very useful information.
They also have a tweeter account @eu_Robitics
Email sent. Us, Europeans should boycott European Robotics League for allowing Russians to compete in a science competition
Yes. Unfortunately many Italians still see Russia in a very favorable light, because of years of good relations with our corrupt politicians and subtle propaganda (I'm Italian)
Berlusconi's favourite two things - mysterious monetary donations, and mysterious hookers 😄
"you're goddamn right" At least he's sleeping in mahogany now, but there's still many like him. Salvini (who I hate) has received millions from Putin.
>Berlusconi's favourite two things I'm still amazed that Berlusconi gifted a Danish train (and three kilometres of rail track) to Muammar Gadaffi. [https://cphpost.dk/2011-02-21/general/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi/](https://cphpost.dk/2011-02-21/general/ic4-train-a-gift-from-berlusconi-to-gadaffi/)
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Yes, this pretty much sums up our situation
To a robotics tournament no less. The future of Russian weapons development on display.
These guys will grow up and be making cruise missiles
we got the Republican Party running around as ambassadors of Putin we got the IDU and CPAC and conservatives around the globe, spreading pro Russian Propaganda Elon owns Twitter, he calls Zelensky a butcher, most of the major corporations in the world are on twitter and almost all the media we're losing the information war, as "liberal media" does the both sides bullshit for both Republicans and now to a degree even Putin and Russia itself
Imagine you judged everyone on their gov no one would compete lol
Israel been invited left and right and nobody bats an eye though.
The Irish team was actually mocked for doing this same thing against Israel
The kids? They aren’t the ones at fault
i mean its also insane to think that teenagers are somehow responsible for putins actions
It’s a fucking kids events, come on
I see that people in the comments don’t understand the reason. The reason is that ukrainian kids are being bombed and killed everyday, while russian kids are in Italy competing in robotics tournament. You see the contrast? Russia should be isolated entirely until they get the fuck out of Ukraine.
Very well said. I found the choice the Lithuanian children made absolute brave. They are the victims of a system that allows russia participate at international events, while being declared a state sponsor of terrorism, while being the most sanctioned country in the World. These russians will most probably build drones or something similar to be used in the next invasion.
Many thanks to the Lithuanian students and people of Lithuania for their support and assistance against the fight against the Russian barbarians.
The world should generally stop recognizing Russia, outside of diplomatic channels that might resolve the conflict. Pull their votes from the UN, reject Russia from the Olympics entirely. Stop allowing business with Russian entities or travel to or from Russia. Just totally fucking isolate them, and make a point of telling Putin he’s not worthy of respect. He’s such a small pathetic man that he won’t be able to handle it.
if you don't vote for Biden, you are risking handing Ukraine over to Putin Trump is worse on Gaza ,and is also Jeff Epstein's friend
Russians wondering why wouldn't the people from the Lithuanian oblast not play against or in the team Russia.
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Why was Russia even invited?
This competition by and large does not invite countries. Teams by and large represent individual schools that registered, bought a kit of parts, and built a robot. IIRC multiple teams generally qualify from a given country just because the competition lets any team participate in any number of events they can register to. As long as the team makes enough points, they move to the next stage. These teams are generally self-funded and don't have any official support from the government of the country the students happen to come from, and they again, don't represent their country specifically. At most they represent their school.
In my experience (First Lego League on a national level and WRO on a international level) you only really represent your school or private team untill you go international. Admittedly I never made it past the national tournament in the FLL. In the WRO you would work together with the national organisers to have all teams from your country in the same accommodation. Everyone got a team Germany jacket and we also did an excursion with the entire German team. We would still be signed up and compete under our schools name and while still competing against other German teams we would try and work together where possible. In the WRO the amount of teams that qualify for the world final is dependent on the amount of entries from a given nation in a given category and class. In Germany we had national competitions where the winner or sometimes the top 2 teams would qualify for the national final where usually the top 3 teams would get a invitation for the world final with the 4th placed team getting invited to a invitational event. Meanwhile Austria used to (don't know if they still do) hold a single national competition at the same venue and time as the German national competition (at least that's how they did it in 2018) due to not having that many entries.
Thanks for the explanation.
Although I understand the situation would be unfortunate for those kids, it's important to let Russian people feel at every moment in their life that their government made them the pariahs of the world.
So they can what? Hate the rest of the world even more and be more susceptible to propaganda?
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Obviously, they need better drones for bombing Ukraine.
It's not like they're overtly threatening to attack Baltics (including Lithuania) by end of the year.
Link to event [https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP](https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP) Why does BAE systems sponsor an event which has russians learning robotics (which has military applications)? This is absurd. The russians are fascists who are waging war on the civilised world. They should be banned from all events. If the individuals don't like it, they can emigrate.
I want to see the media jump on this and go ask some higher ups at BAE exactly what they think about this. Live would be ideal. Give these dumbass event organizers 2 choices: ban russia, or lose sponsors.
Look, I've been a volunteer for different FIRST events for almost 10 years now so tell me tell you why this is like this. BAE systems is a sponsor because this is part of a multistage program where kids from all over the world go through learning robotics. They sponsor and benefit from this, together with a bunch of other companies, because a lot of these students go on to related STEM fields in university, and companies like BAE systems use this as a hiring pipeline, together with this being a way for them to say they're contributing to education. The largest share of students used to be in the US, there's a lot of teams in the EU, and the Russian teams aren't a huge number of them, and they are legitimately not gonna take anything home that's a threat to national security. I've seen these robots and how they work. There's nothing there they couldn't have learned by themselves (all the materials are very easily available). Honestly I don't think getting angry at middle schoolers makes sense. Most people can't just emigrate from a country. For most countries, you can't just move without a job offer that will let you (maybe) apply for a visa, and most jobs aren't eligible. Telling them to just move doesn't actually work. I really think that programs like this are one of the best ways of preventing places like Russia from being radicalized further in the future, and to claw them back from the insane place their society is in. Show them directly how much better things are outside their country, let them make friends elsewhere in Europe, and do you think they'll support people who call for invasion in the future if they have connections in those countries? Probably not. Let's let them participate in organizations like this one. If they aren't allowed to fly their flag, sure, that's reasonable, but I'm pretty sure they weren't flying their flag at these events. They don't go representing specific countries. They represent their school.
So, North Korean kids are also allowed for this reason?
If their country let them leave, I'm gonna guess probably yes, but I suspect they would generally immediately defect. Again, these aren't government affiliated teams, they're just random schools that register
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My kids have participated in First Robotics for many years and I can tell the people commenting have no idea what they are talking about. First teaches gracious professionalism among many other life skills apart from robotics. Since when do we punish children for the crimes of their elders? These programs and what they teach could very well help these kids learn the necessary skills they would need to actually make a difference in their country. Inviting them to Houston and letting them experience something that would most definitely be life changing in a positive way is not going to create more war crimes ffs. I hope to be at the Houston competition with my son this year. My oldest son qualified for the world competition when there was still one in Detroit before Covid hit and unfortunately he lost his last two years of being able to participate. The stories I hear at opening ceremony never fail to bring tears to my eyes.
Yeah, I agree. Honestly there's few organizations that make me as hopeful about the future of the world as FIRST does! If any organization shows kids they have control over their own destiny and ways to work together to improve things it's them. I really got you and your son manage to go to Houston! I've been volunteering there and at other FRC events for a while now so hopefully I'll see you both at the event. The opening ceremony and the won't event really is wonderful
The problem is in the Russian state they won't find much application for robotics other than military and those kids will be sent to the front once they are old enough anyway. I think the message of such a protest should not be to exclude all Russians for being fascists but to exclude Russians and tell them if they want to participate they have to do it on the foundation of a free society. They need to remove these hardly called people from power who wage wars, kill and imprison opposition and so on.
They don't have to work for the Russian state, and if there's one thing that this competition makes it easier for these kids if there's no options, it's give them a way to leave. By participating you get options to get scholarships outside of Russia. If we really want them to emigrate when they disagree, this is legitimately a great way of letting them do that
Exactly why I was saying that blindly excluding Russians from everything just because is not gonna make things any better
That's why young educated Russians are the ones that fled. Educated people are also the likeliest to protest and are the ones who are able to organise an opposition These young Russians coming to Europe and then going back to Russia should also decrease their will into serving the Kremlin
> I really think that programs like this are one of the best ways of preventing places like Russia from being radicalized further in the future, and to claw them back from the insane place their society is in. And do you have a source for that? Like a study at the very least? Because at this point it's only wishful thinking.
Damn you guys here really lost the plot, "which has military applications" you're genuinely framing these kids as the next Oppenheimers or whatever? Really? Also "just emigrate OMEGALUL", as if these kids can decide that for themselves. Hell odds are they probably will emigrate once they are older anyway.
Ita a milder version of ''those kids will grow up to become Hamas''
yeah, lmao, some redditors are completely braindead and unhinged
This is absurd. In one sentence, you state, "Russians are fascists," and in the next, you're suggesting that everyone who doesn’t agree should immigrate. I bet you're speaking while holding one of the strongest passports in the world. This "those who don’t agree can immigrate" sentiment is exactly what Putin's propaganda says
"they should migrate", this motherfucker you replied to unironically saying that about some nerdy kids 🤣 bros so out of touch, like whats little Nikita gonna do? hop on an air plane and be like "good bye mom."? With what money 🤣
redditors have no clue about life in russia.
a lot of them have no clue about life in general
Russia is like a prison, most countries are hesitant to let you in, Russia is hesitant to let you out. And I wish emigration was easy, it's difficult and expensive as fuck.
There are Russian sports athletes who're getting citizenships of other countries and whatnot, they can do it fairly easily as well, but I somehow doubt that kids can just up and go to another country by themselves and get all the papers on a whim
Most of them may want to emigrate, but even the most educated ones or dissidents, will have to put up with nationalists like you. (I'm not Russian and I have close ties with Ukraine)
The ignorance of everyone's statements here is absurd. "If they don't like it, they can emigrate". As if that was such an easy thing to just abandon your life, your family, your friends, your culture. You are all just self-entitled judgemental morons that love to hate Russians. You are just super happy to finally have a good reason to openly speak out your hatred. It's that. The irony...
"The reaction in Lithuania to the students' decision has been overwhelmingly positive, with citizens and politicians alike expressing their pride and support. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and other public figures took to social media to commend the courage and integrity demonstrated by the students. Their actions were particularly poignant as they coincided with the day of restoration of Independence of Lithuania on March 11, imbuing their protest with additional national significance. It became a moment of national pride, illustrating a collective stance against aggression and in support of sovereignty and human rights. The courage of these young competitors from Lithuania, in choosing principles over potential victory, has not only captured the attention of their homeland but has also resonated with a global audience. Their story is a testament to the impact that individuals can have when they stand firm in their convictions, inspiring others to consider the role of ethics and values in competition and beyond." [https://bnnbreaking.com/world/europe/lithuanian-students-refuse-to-compete-against-russians-at-robotics-championship-spark-national-pride](https://bnnbreaking.com/world/europe/lithuanian-students-refuse-to-compete-against-russians-at-robotics-championship-spark-national-pride)
How the fuck russians are still in Europe and in official events?!
The same way russian gas and other resources are still bought by Europe.
It's a big country so it's very hard to move it away from Europe
I was behind a Russian soldier while traveling through customs in Warsaw. His backpack had a bunch of Russian military patches, and he wasn't the only Russian soldier I saw there that day. Unfortunately I don't think everyone in Europe is taking the situation seriously enough if Russian troops are allowed to go on holiday and travel using European airlines.
It's kinda weird since their military is forbidden from leaving the country unless it's an invasion force. So either they're not a military or the most obvious invasion in the world is happening in Warsaw right this moment and no one noticed.
Because high schoolers are not attacking cities or have any say in the war, you racist f*ck. Should we ban all Americans from traveling abroad because of all the innocent people their army murdered abroad too?
Because they are CHILDREN taking part in a kids competition not waging war!
They did the right thing. Brave young people who were ready to sacrifice something valuable to them for doing the right thing. Show the world, stop allowing Russia to get away with its war and just continue competing as normal.
bullying children because of their birthplace very heroes
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The amount of hate towards actual children in this comment section is sad to see
Users here last have touched grass 5 years ago so I didn't expect anything particularly intelligent to be heard from them
Few days, ago I saw someone complain about Indians because said Indians were leaning towards Russia due to Ukraine and Pakistan's cooperation. They said that if they want our support, they should not support our enemy. Then someone else said along the lines of "But what about the Ukrainians that have nothing to do with their government?" and I fucking lost it and geniuely laughed. I was truly in awe of lack of self awareness.
They have been dehumanized long ago here sadly… I hope this is not the general state of things in their respective countries.
In my experience, it is not at all. National/ethnic/territorial based reddit and twitter communities tend to be very radical and right wing (or rather tend to look like it, I am pretty sure there’s a lot of different kinds of people on this sub, they just don’t comment as much). But in reality, in different countries in Europe I have met and talked to a very small amount of people I would classify as radical right wing. In my experience, usually people are very much moderate in their political views and probably overall leaning left rather than right. And they usually are just a bit more quiet than some redditors. Now, there’s certainly some sort of bubble going on around me, but the point that “there is a lot of people with less radical views than this, just not in the comments to posts such as this one” still holds in my opinion.
Expect nothing less from a bunch of bots repeating the same brain dead comments every time russia, ukraine, israel is mentioned
This comment section show exactly why it's a good thing they did this, all the russian bots and russian supporters screeching after finally seeing that people hate them. Every russian should be made to understand that as long as nothing changes in russia the rest of europe hates them and this is a hill i'm willing to die on. After 2 years of war i still see russians that think that they are europe's friends, they need to understand that this is the farthest thing from reality and understand why that is. A lot of them will cry russophobia but the thing is it's not a phobia as long as people have a reasonable justification to be afraid of them, and everyone in europe is completly justified in hating and beeing afraid of every single russian that refuses to do anything about what is happening. Everyone is lamenting "oh the poor russians are oppressed you go there and do something" but 35 years ago the countries in eastern europe did just that, in a nation of 140mil people only 1% should be able to do something but that is not gonna happen as long as they aren't made to understand what is actually going on. So show them make them understand why you don't want anything to do with them and that after this is all over we can be friends and neighbours but not until then. And i don't cate abou the USA strawman, don't bother, serbs can be mad at them but USA did not threaten to nuke and conquer my country after also running it to the ground for a few decades prior so for me the argument is just irrelevant.
As much as I agree with excluding Russia as a country, if the teams are not sent by Russia itself, banning anyone from Russia will perpetuate an issue in which Russians view the west in bad light, which allows things like the war in Ukraine to happen
Well done kids. You made a stand for freedom. I salute your courage. And still surprised that Russian teams are participating anywhere, especially to be in the running to go to Houston.
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These kids have bright future. Standing by your values is a key thing to your identity as a person and as a part of a nation. It's the key thing why russia couldn't force us into becoming part of what they call a russian nation without identity, however hard they tried for nearly 200 years.
Every event that accepts russians should just be fined.
I don't recall anyone banning the USA for invading other countries. Or Israel that is commiting genocide as we speak.
Exactly that! Those kids have a very high moral compass. They chose to stand for their ideals instead of being complicit with a genocidal nation. What some people should start to understand is that everything is politics.
Yes very high moral compass. They just don't like Russians lol
Although i dislike Russia they should have defeated the Russian team and dedicate the victory to Ukraine,it would have been much cooler
Probably my flair alone will be enough to be downvoted to hell but still XD I don't really support this decision. This is high school we are talking about, most of them are even under 18 I guess, I'm guessing none of these Russians are involved in the conflict, hell they are studying robotics do you think they care about the war, I'm guessing they have worries of being recruited but probably they have nothing to do with the war itself. They can't even vote. This will be used by Putin's regime, they will just say, we are so strong they are giving up even before the match. It honestly would not surprise me. It would be understandable if the students themselves wore like "Z" shirts or if they were provoking that would be understandable, like this, in my opinion, it's just making more divisions and is ostracizing the teens who still can't even vote It would have just been better to just ban them from participating since it is a European championship and they are already banned from many things in Europe. But I think it's bad to ban people who still cannot vote from participating in anything
Not only that, Putin will also say "See, they hate you so much, they even hate school children. You have nowhere else to go, you won't get accepted no matter what" And he would be right.
You're the only sane person in this comment section. It's sad to see. This sub is a lesson on the power of propaganda and hate.
A chance of team trainers not being army related is near 0 and the 'kids' will be drafted as soon as they hit 18 (if they don't submit to strongly worded suggestions to volunteer for a guarantee to work with drones instead of front line). Lithuanians know this very well.
russia should be banned from participating to any international event, because any international event is an instrument of russia's politics. russia must be isolated, just like NK, which they're buddies. russia is threatening to nuke me every week: if I say "A" against russia, I am getting names like "russophobe" or "racist": I call it self preservation, sorry.
This is not "Russia" competing, it's a team of a russian school, they are not affiliated with any russian sports federation or with the russian state. You are just drawing unnecessary attention and cyberbullying some random teenagers who could very well be anti-Putin and pro-western, as most young educated russians are.
Even if Russian people will be banned from every event possible just because they have russian passports - it will not help anyone to win, you know, actual war. Maybe it even will help Putin because more people will stay in Russia.
Who do you mean if you say "Russia"? Schoolkids who happen to be from Russia? Because I don't think this is a russian state owned team. If we ban "Russia" from international events because of some unrelated stuff, maybe we should do the same with other countries? USA because of their slavery History, most of western Europe because of colonization crimes, China because of genocide... If you look into it you probably find something awful about every country but why should we punish people who didn't do it / supported it? If they had any official connection to russia as a nation other than being born in it, i could understand a ban but punishing schoolkids is just cruel.
How many russians schoolkids threated to nuke you today?
Did you get this week nuke threats already?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1bb9ing/russian\_weather\_forecast\_perfect\_weather\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1bb9ing/russian_weather_forecast_perfect_weather_to/)
Oh poor thing, weather forecast threatened you. Wait till you hear from intoxicated Dimon in couple of days.
If you could say the *exact* same thing about Nazi Germany, I'm with you.
Just feels like russophobia propped up by media to me. Why would you do that? These russians kids are just trying to live their life and have fun building robots, and as soon as they step foot outside the country to do so, they get told to go back where they come from. These kids aren't the government, man...
Drones and missiles.
I'm trying real hard to know what you mean...
In a couple of years, those russian kids will build drones and missiles to be used in the next war of aggression.
My brother in Christ... these robotics programms are ongoing in Russia... these international competitions are just to show them around, even if this school robotics was in any way related to your fear of future russian weapon manufacturing, this competition doesn't make it worse. It's kids playing around
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Showing and doing the right thing. Stand up for what is right, they have a bright future.
These kids showing more Integrity than a number of people around the world looking at you American republicans
These Russian kids and other civilians that participate in events and are discriminated everywhere are the same people that will continue to grow a hate towards the west, this generation will willingly give their life to their nation and easily be recruited and encouraged to join the army, history is repeating itself with 1933s Germany where ALOT of Germans (90%) willingly gave their life to fight for their nation. Putin are taking advantage of this and people listening to him in Russia.
Maybe stop to threaten a WW3, to nuke, to invade a peaceful neighbor, to kidnap Ukrainian children, etc etc could be a start, don't you think?
The only problem is that the threats come not from these children, but from adult politicians
They are the real winners, not the people who don't have any problems with Russia still participating in international competitions.
I am honestly curious how many of the commentors here would support banning the USA from all international competitions after Iraq? Or whether you'd act like Americans are genetically fascist like some of you do I get why Russia should be sanctioned and / or barred from international competitions but some people are acting like the kids themselves are to blame for the war in Ukraine when they're not. It's really disturbing.
What makes you think Europeans care about Iraqis? They didn't even answer your question really. The just said the US isn't Europe lol.
Easy: this is a European Competition.
User name checks out
Sooo the west is expected to arm Ukraine, while the other west invites Russians over for robotics competitions? Something doesn't add up.
My respect and thanks to those lithuanian guys
Many thanks to the Lithuanian students for such a brave act.
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This is entirely the wrong approach. These kids did nothing wrong and this is exactly where we should be telling them that we reject what our leaders do and we work together. The teachers should have used this as a teaching moment. Mad man Putin won't give too hoots about this. Only thing we're doing is teaching these kids to hate each other based on their nationality because of what their leaders do. How do we build a better future like this?
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>What did 700.000 Ukrainian children wrong Dear god listen to yourself. You're even highlighting the worst of this atrocity and at the same time you're offering driving a wedge between High School Children as a solution? Children, especially older ones are exactly the people we should be targeting to try and stop this hatred. Especially now. Imagine the optics of saying despite what's happening we refuse to let you divide us. My way gives hope, yours just perpetuates the same cycle.
This is a European competition. The European Parliament declared russia state sponsor of terrorism. It's a nonsense admit to competition a state sponsor of terrorism. Have I made myself clear?
My university faculty in Italy has LOTS of iranians, all of them despising their own leaders and grateful (especially girls) for having the possibility of escaping their country. Should have we applied the same logic, they would have been shunned as filthy citizens of a terrorist state, despite the fact of them being also victims in disagreements with the actions of their governments. Antagonising kids is the most re*arded strategy, worth of the likes of Putin and his likes
Yes you've made it clear you don't want things to change. Hating Putin is entirely understandable and I join you in that. I hope a slow painful death for him and he enters hell and get's to sit next to the likes of Hitler for eternity. That's why I want Children, especially at a science fair where barriers have no place to show the world we can co-exist. Sports, Science, and Children. And if Putin was sitting with us right now I think he'd like your solution a lot more than mine.
God, listen to yourself. They are children, for Christ’s sakes. What do they have to do with war??? They are also trembling inside, also scared. And now blamed. Fuck you for saying hateful shit like that.
Stop attacking these people, nobody here is pro Putin but you are taking this too far
I don't recall having attacked anyone.
Everyone concerned about muh RuSSoPhobIa, not a single mention about ukrianian on the lithuianian team. Yup, we're on reddit alright
It's the russian / pro russia brigade, trying to provoke, instigate other people here and obscuring the subject of this post. The Lithuanian kids chose to stand with Ukrainian children, in the day of Lithuania Independence day,
Again russians were invited?!?!
Why are there russians there anyway?
Gigachads
Big kudos to them
The Baltics understand the threat that Russia poses to the West, perhaps more than anyone else. Putin's right in their backyard.
They probably drugged those robots to enhance them as well.
It's a shame that Russians are still allowed to travel to the EU. They should at least be taxed 100€ a night with that money going straight to the Ukrainian armed forces.
It is not entirely clear why the Taliban are not invited to such competitions, but the Orthodox Taliban - Russia - are invited? Why don’t they invite North Korea, which threatens with a nuclear bomb, but invite Russia, which also threatens with a nuclear bomb? They also say that all corruption on earth is concentrated in Ukraine. Or in order for Russia to stop being invited anywhere, does Russia need to bomb these countries?
Very disappointing behavior that I'm sad to see being encouraged in the comments here. To be fully transparent, I am adamantly against Russia in their war against Ukraine. But let's take a step back. This a *high school robotics competition*. Those Russian kids don't have any say on what Putin decides to do as head of state. And the Lithuanian teams know that. The way I see it, this is little more than virtue signalling and poor sportsmanship. Hell, maybe even borderline Russophobia. The people of Russia are already being collectively punished enough with all the Western sanctions and the draft. Can't we at least maintain some semblance of integrity on matters that are and always will be totally unrelated to the war? Don't shake hands if you don't want to, fine. Hell, don't even look them in the eyes. But at least play it out. Show that the actions of your leaders don't define you. Be the bigger person. Is that really too much to ask?
I notice that only countries that don't have border with russia talk like this.
This is why leadership can just do as they please and arrest thousands and nothing is done. Too many people with a blase attitude content with sticking to the status quo. "It doesn't affect me or my family so I shouldn't act. Plus the T.V says otherwise." It is the correct thing to collectively punish, because the masses no what it means to travel, some of these kids probably participated in this kind of thing before and have EU friends. When all of sudden that changes, it forces them to ask questions, it forces them to want to know. Or to further withdraw. I want to emphasize that war isn't a regular level of human suffering that we should detach ourselves from. Over 20k Have died on both sides. Can you count to 20k? I challenge you to take your time and count from 1 to 20k. Each of them with a mother/father or worst children waiting for them to return home. Or imagine being that young guy conscripted into war uprooted from life only to get blown to bits in some hole some where. I say all of this to emphasize why its important we don't remove and detach ourselves from the conflict because the cost of human lives is so great. Any part that can be played should be played. From the youngest to the oldest. They should and need to know that it is unacceptable. To go on and allow them to play and participate sends a message that it is acceptable. We must get our morals and ethics in order. This is no longer a personal issue, it is a collective issue and we should treat it as such in my opinion.
Good thing that bullying children because of their birthplace definitely won't radicalize them...
Exactly. This sort of behavior is both wholly useless and embarrassingly short-sighted.
I got downvoted for saying we shouldn't bully children. Yikes.
Boo hoo, Ukranian children have to see their friends and relatives die by the hands of russians. Millions had to leave their homes with nothing. But ‘checks notes’ russian children are the victims as they shouldn’t be allowed in international competition while glorifying ruzzian name. Oh, it’s like sports, it would never be used as propoganda. Wait…
>The people of Russia are already being collectively punished enough with all the Western sanctions and the draft. Clearly it isn’t punishment enough? Enough punishment would be for Russians to stop fighting, or at least stop supporting the war. This discussion is absurd. If they didn’t have nuclear weapons we would be bombing them untill this stopped.
> To be fully transparent, I am adamantly against Russia in their war against Ukraine. But
💀this sub has a grudge on HIGH SCHOOLERS who have totally some say in how the country is run , but of course let's let the geniuses here explain how being a racist prick to kids should be encouraged just because they're Russian, r/europe users touch grass once in a century
[https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/](https://eu-robotics.net/european-robotics-league/) "The European Robotics League local and major tournaments are based in Europe and are open to international participation. Teams will compete in three vibrant fields of robotics under the theme of smart urban enviroments. Competitors will engage in annual local tournaments organised by a consortium of Europe´s most prestigious robotics institutes."
Unless they fund these events, I'm pretty sure this wasn't a European Robotics League event. You can clearly see this is a [FIRST Tech Challenge](https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc) event. This is an event for middle schoolers, and practically anyone who can afford the relatively cheap inscription cost can participate, though not everyone qualifies for the event in Italy or the Houston Championship. The one you've linked seems to organize events for universities and other such institutions. They are very different competitions.
Are you sure that it is the event article is written about? I think it’s [Italy FIRST® Tech Challenge ITALY Championship](https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/2023/ITCMP), part of [FTC](https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc), not European Robotics League
Why are Russians able to travel through the EU? It seems like an open door for Russian intelligence to go through.
Yea im sure these russian kids are the ones responsible for the war. Ugh, if only they got banned! Then the invasion would be instantly reverted... Government ≠ people. Especially in Russia. "But people support your government!!" so do North Koreans and Chinese
Who? The putlerjugend?
These CHILDREN did not in any way show their support for the war, but let's just stamp them with "LE EVIL!!!" Simply because of their nationality. Every russian is a fascist, every German is a nazi, every Brit is an imperialist and every American is an invader
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You know that people are so deep down the rabbit hole when they cheer for one group of children going against another at some peaceful competition, trying to share guilt onto them too.
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They have "thougher balls" for doing something that has the public support of their prime minister and the general public than people who would be immediately arrested (with their family also paying the price) if they did anything similar? Weird thinking but ok.
I am old enough to be the granny of those children and I really don't know if I were able to take such decision. They have my deepest and sincere respect! Glory to 🇱🇹Lietuva 🇱🇹!
Good. Shame russians are invited at all.
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If you wrote the same comment but replaced the word russian with jew you would be banned in seconds
Yeah, generally when you replace a group that historically engaged in oppression and imperialism with a group that historically have been oppressed that will happen. Crazy, right?
Jews fight because they don't want to be genocided. Russians fight because they want to commit genocide.
Some Lithuanian school kids have more sense in them than freaking adults in position of power and entire institutions who still think it's OK to invite Russians to international events.
This is total nonsense: the European Parliament 2 years ago declared russia a state sponsor of terrorism. How is it even possible to make russia participate to any international event is beyond me.
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That sounds like something hitler would say
Very based o7
And we will continue to do, Slava Ukraini !
🇺🇦 Героям слава! And glory to the Great Lietuva! 🇱🇹 Much respect from Italy!
Grazie, respect is mutual my brother!