On February 23, many Russian families celebrated in their homes the traditional toast that commemorates Fatherland Defense Day -before, Red Army Day-, nothing out of the ordinary if that chin chin It was not accompanied by a phrase that the elders repeated every year on this day following the 2nd World War. After the clash of glasses: “hopefully there will be no war”. Four hours later, Russia invaded Ukraine by force. Paradoxical. Symbolic. Last Saturday, thousands of Ukrainians scattered throughout Europe, as well as a few dozen Russians, shouted “Peace” in the squares in a desperate attempt to reconsider a government, Putin’s, which has been “selling dearly the rejection of a possible war.” . A military invasion that in Russia is forbidden to consider and name it as such.
The Russian media are penalized if they use the word ‘war’ in any publication, television or radio talk show. In 2015, following the first Ukrainian occupation in Donbas, the Russian Ministry of the Interior was decreed by law the lack of obligation on the part of the Russian Ministry of the Interior to account for military casualties in times of peace. In Moscow today is a time of peace. The war in Ukraine is called in Russia as “Special denazification and demilitarization operation”. Just two days ago the Russian government put on the table a draft law in which all those who express opinions regarding the “special operation” contrary to the official dictate will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
psychological abuse
Against this background, Russians abroad are scared. They are afraid. Those who are attached to the Kremlin and those who are not. Alina U. (33), Russian citizen living in Vigo for 10 years, he has it and a lot. Tears want to flow in every answer to questions regarding the suffering of the Ukrainians or regarding the future that awaits her family and friends in Moscow. “Nothing will ever be the same. With our Ukrainian neighbors we had a common language and a common past. We will pay for this madness for years with the impoverishment of our society, ”she points out. But Alina might not keep quiet in the face of what she considers unfair. This Spanish teacher cries with her students at the beginning of each class. And although neither she nor her children have suffered incidents, she does notice “an excessive attention towards her” since the outbreak of the war. “The looks, the seemingly innocuous comments are there despite living in the same place for ten years. We are Russians but not responsible for what our country does. The worst is being experienced by many of my compatriots both in Spain and in the rest of Europe. Their children, who have not even set foot in Russia, they are being bullied for the simple fact of also speaking Russianof belonging to that culture. “They should give talks in schools regarding this because children do not know how to separate propaganda from real information,” she warns.
It also denounces the oppression suffered by Russians residing in other European countries such as Portugal, Romania or Germany, from where they share on social networks the posters of some bars or restaurants in which it is reported that Russians will not be served in these establishments. “It is supposed to be working for peace. That attitude only leads to segregation, to foment hatred among the population towards a collective that is not to blame for this barbarism. Behaviors typical of the last World War are beginning to be repeated. They are being psychologically abused in the places where they now reside and that is not fair or humane”, regrets Alina.
“Russians are not served” signs are already hanging in restaurants in Portugal, Romania and Germany
This war has changed everything. Social networks – where Instagram has a great notoriety in Russia and the other satellite countries – show the imminent consequences of the conflict in Ukraine: the emotional fragmentation among the Slavic citizens who had given a lesson in civility despite the partial occupation of 2014. “A Ukrainian friend posted these days that she will stop speaking Russian. It’s hard for me to describe how I and my colleagues feel here in Vigo. Much pain. We fear the worst, but we want to trust that this will be over soon. I just want to raise my voice and call for empathy. Each one left Russia one day for Europe to find a better future. I insist: we are not responsible, we are not to blame”he concludes.
