Is it still worth it to learn Russian? I don't want this to be political but it kind of is. I tried learning Russian 10 or so years ago but gave up out of demoralization at the difficulty and low self confidence in my abilities to learn a language, but I've learned a category 1 language and don't have those issues now. I'm not taking sides on the war, but it feels like since that time Russian lost whatever prestige it had left as a world language due to the Ukraine War and Russia is clearly a declining power with massive emigration. Back then Russia was still considered kind of cool and mysterious and you could speak Russian in Eastern Europe or Central Asia outside of Russia and people would not totally hate that like they do today. It seems totally useless and a whole lot of work for zero payoff unless you really have a passion for traditional Russian culture and even then it's just another form of entertainment.