Following the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, some citizens took a stand against what they call an “unjust war of aggression,” as a result, they suffered the consequences in a society where state propaganda is ubiquitous; The use of the term “war” is prohibited, and anyone who dares to speak out against the Kremlin’s “special operation” faces long prison sentences. The German Broadcasting Corporation DW spoke to a number of people about their personal dealings with the authorities after being denounced by family, neighbors and colleagues.
“Right now, a lot of people are going crazy”
Kirill, 32, a senior IT systems analyst from Moscow, says that “when the” special operation began “I was horrified and wrote various posts on social media against the war in Ukraine. One of my relatives, who is a big fan of Vladimir Putin, was quick to respond. He even has a portrait of Putin “At home – just like in schools and state institutions in Russia. He sent me spam with all kinds of propaganda videos on WhatsApp. It was just unbearable. At first I ignored it, then I contradicted him, and finally I just deleted everything.”
“One day, the police knocked on my door. They said there was a complaint against me and that I should come with them. At the police station they showed me screenshots of my Instagram account and of my correspondence with this relative. Then the policemen asked, ‘Is this your relative?’ I said yes. “.
“I learned that this is not the first time relatives have complained about people opposed to the war. The police have admitted that they themselves are afraid of being sent to Ukraine. I was eventually released. But now I have changed the settings on my social media accounts so that my posts are accessible only to friends.
He added: “The relative who cheated on me is now blacklisted on my WhatsApp list. But we keep communicating. I’m not someone who holds a grudge. He just has Soviet thinking and he admires a certain kind of leader. I recommend people who experience such a thing to stay human. Right now A lot of people go crazy, but you have to forgive them and not be like that yourself. “
“Even before the war I was thinking of leaving Russia. I was thinking of going to Serbia. But I can not leave my family behind. They definitely do not want to leave. Somewhere deep inside me, I also want to stay in Russia. It is a beautiful country, but just not under this regime.” .
“My father reported me to the police”
Anna, a 21-year-old student in Moscow, says, “I got a phone call from my aunt on April 10. She said the police came to our house and wanted to talk to me. “I called the Russian army and killed Russians. I did write several posts on social media, but none of them called for such an action. The policeman said that my father was drunk, my aunt shouted in the background that he was an alcoholic.”
“When I got to the police station, the investigators were quite upset with my father. The alleged proof was that someone from Thailand allegedly called my father and told him about my posts. While I was at the police station, my father wrote me messages, the station commander eventually released me.”
“Now we have a situation in a country where there is war, terrible things are happening and people do not want to see it because it is difficult for them to accept it. Anyway I have severe depression, I feel even worse. At some point I want to leave, but at the moment I do not have the means “People in Russia need to be more careful when dealing with their own relatives, because they too can report you to the police.”
“I do not want my child to go to school in Russia anymore”
Ksenia, 30, a former teacher from Rostov, says that on February 28, I put two flags on my porch on the 16th floor and painted one in Russian and one in Ukrainian. On March 2, I started pasting leaflets with the caption “No to War” at the entrance to the house and in the elevator. By March 4, the police arrived. They said the neighbors reported these flags and said I was a terrorist, the cops looked at the flags and that’s it. After that, I continued to paste the leaflets, but someone kept tearing them up. “
“On March 20, while I was teaching at the school, the police came to the principal. I had to go with them to the police station. Our doorman sent the police pictures from the security cameras in our apartment building elevator. After a warning, let me go back to school. There, school authorities let me “Paper and pen and I was told to write my resignation. The principal said that if I am so against the state, then I should not work for her, and the school is still a state institution. Since then I have been careful who I talk to about these issues.”
“I do not want to stay in Russia and I am going to do something this summer so that my child will not go to school in Russia anymore. Of course, I explain to my daughter what is really happening in the country and in the world. I used to go to demonstrations in our city to have a better future. I have no savings and I do not know what to do. “
The names of all the people in the article published in the German media were changed for safety reasons.