Build: AP Photo/Denis Kaminev
The slightest criticism of the invasion of Ukraine might result in draconian penalties in Russia. Nevertheless, some opponents of the war find ways to raise their voices.
Since the beginning of Russian invasion of Ukraine Anastasia writes down an anti-war message every morning. “Don’t believe the propaganda on TV, read the independent media!” can be read on one of the notes that the 31-year-old teacher hangs up every day at the entrance to her apartment building in the industrial city of Perm.
“Violence and death have been with us for three months – take care of yourselves,” says another. She was looking for a safe and easy way to convey a message, explains the young woman from the Urals, who only wants to give her first name for security reasons.
“I mightn’t do anything big and public,” she told the AP news agency in a telephone interview. “I want people to start thinking. And I think we should influence in every possible way and in every possible environment.”
“It’s my country, why should I leave?”
Anastasia is one of those Russians who, despite the massive government action raise their voice once morest the war once morest any form of protest – even if it is in the simplest way. Some have paid a heavy price for it. In the early winter days of February’s invasion, authorities broke up demonstrations and arrested participants, even if they were just holding up white placards. Critical media were shut down and political opponents were discredited.
Parliament banned the dissemination of “false information” regarding the invasion, which the Kremlin calls a “military special operation”, as well as disparaging the armed forces. These new media laws will be used once morest anyone who speaks out once morest the war or speaks out regarding alleged atrocities by Russian troops.
As the war dragged on into the summer, critics like Anastasia wondered if they mightn’t do more despite the laws. When Russian troops moved into Ukraine on February 24, her first thought was to sell her belongings and move abroad, the 31-year-old says. But she quickly changed her mind: “It’s my country, why should I leave? I realized that I had to stay and help from here.”
Bild: Grigory Sysoyev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
Demonstrators are arrested
The book printer and artist Sergej Besov from Moscow also felt that he was not allowed to remain silent. Even before the invasion, the 45-year-old had put up posters with political messages in the Russian capital. One of them from 2020 had just one word written in red: “Against”. Shortly before, President Vladimir Putin had secured the possibility of two more terms following 2024 by amending the constitution.
During the riots in Belarus two years ago following a disputed presidential election, Bezov printed posters with the word “freedom.” After the start of the Ukraine war, he started his project Partisan Press, producing posters with the slogan “No to war”. A video of the print went viral on Instagram. The demand for copies was then so high that they were given out free of charge.
But then demonstrators in Red Square showed the posters, and some of them were arrested. At that moment, he realized that sooner or later the police would be looking for him, says Besow. The officials did come, however, when the artist was not there.
Charges have been brought once morest two of his employees, the process has dragged on for more than three months. As a result, Besow no longer prints “no-to-war” posters, instead opting for more subtle messages such as “fear is no excuse for inaction”.
“It’s very bad and really difficult”
He continues to believe it is important to resist. “The problem is that we don’t know where the lines are drawn,” he says. “They’ve been known to track people for certain things, but some manage to fly under the radar. It’s very bad and really difficult.”
Sasha Skochilenko failed to stay under the radar. The 31-year-old artist and musician from St. Petersburg faces serious consequences for a protest action that she actually thought was relatively safe: she was arrested because she replaced five price tags in a supermarket with small labels with anti-war slogans.
«The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol. About 400 people had sought shelter there from the attacks,” read one of the stickers, “Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. The lives of our children are the price of this war» on another.
Skochilenko might now be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for being accused of spreading misinformation regarding the Russian army. “It came as a shock to us that they initiated criminal proceedings that might mean an outrageous prison sentence of five to ten years,” says her partner Sophia Subbotina. “In our country, there are shorter sentences for murder.”
Von Associated Press
