Article author:
Related press
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Anastasia began the day by creating an anti-war message and posting it on the entrance wall of her apartment in the industrial city of Perm in the Urals.
"Don't believe the promotion you see on TV, read the independent media." Read one. "Violence and death have been going on for three months. Take care of yourself," another person reads.
She was afraid of her own safety and asked her to be identified only by her name, a 31-year-old teacher said, "Safe and easy to convey her message. He said he wanted a way.
"I couldn't do anything huge and public," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I want people to think, and I think we should influence every space in every way we can."
The government's great response to such protests. Despite the scale crackdown, some Russians have continued to speak against the aggression, even in the simplest way.
Some people have paid a lot. On an early winter day of the February invasion, authorities immediately subdued demonstrators and arrested those who marched or had blank signs or diagonal references to other conflicts. Important media was closed as the government tried to rule the story. Political opponents were elected by President Vladimirputin or a commentator on state television.
To those who have outlawed the spread of "false information" about what the Kremlin called "special military operations", despised the military, and expressed dissent. Measures of rubber stamps of lawmakers who use them Attacks or discussions about the atrocities allegedly committed by the Russian army.
When the war was dragged into the gloomy days of Russia's summer, some people like Anastasia no more to oppose the aggression, even within the constraints of the new law. I feel guilty when I can't do anything.
When Russian troops moved to Ukraine on February 24, Anastasia said she first thought of selling all her possessions and moving abroad, but soon changed her mind. rice field.
"It's my country, why should I leave?" She told AP. "I realized I needed to stay here and create something useful from here."
Moscow-based printer and artist Sergei Besov also felt that he could not keep his silence. Prior to the invasion, a 45-year-old woman created a poster that reflected the political situation and pasted it around the capital.
When the Russians voted for constitutional amendment two years ago and Putin allowed him to seek another two terms after 2024, Besov used an old printing press to make a huge wooden piece. Using Cyrillic and vintage red ink, I printed a poster that briefly stated:
During the 2020 presidential election dispute in Belarus and the ensuing turmoil over the crackdown on protesters, he created a poster with the words "freedom" in Belarusian.
After the Ukrainian invasion, his project, Partisan Press, began creating posters, the main anti-war slogan "against war". The video of the poster in print became popular on Instagram and the demand for copies was so high that it was distributed free of charge.
After some of his posters were used in demonstrations on Red Square and some people displaying them were arrested, police "inevitably" Will come to us, "Besov said.
Appearing in the absence of Besov, he printed the poster used and accused the two employees of attending an unauthorized rally. The
case has been going on for more than three months, causing a lot of stress on whether and to what extent they are all punished, he said.
Besov stopped printing the poster "against war" and asked for subtle messages such as "fear is no excuse to do nothing".
He thinks it's important to keep speaking.
"The problem is that you don't know where the line is drawn," Besov said. "They are known to be able to prosecute you for certain things, but somehow they can fly under the radar. Where is this line? Very bad and really difficult."
St. Petersburg's 31-year-old artist and musician Sasha Scotirenko has serious consequences for what she considers to be a relatively safe way to stay under the radar. Facing Disseminate information about the horror of war: She was detained for replacing five supermarket price tags with smaller price tags containing an anti-war slogan.
"Russian troops bombed Mariupol's art school. About 400 people were hiding from the bombardment," one read.
"Russian recruits are being sent to Ukraine. The lives of our children are the price of this war," another said.
Skochilenko was really affected by the war, said her partner Sophia Subbotina.
"She had a friend in Kyiv, she evacuated to the subway and called her, talking about her horror happening there," Subbotina told AP.
In 2020, Scotilenko taught acting and filmmaking at a children's camp in Ukraine, worried about how the conflict would affect her ex-students.
"She was really afraid of these children. Their lives were at stake because of the war, bombs were falling on them, and she kept her silence. I couldn't, "said Subbotina.
Skochilenko faces up to 10 years in prison for disseminating her false information about her Russian army.
"It was a shock to us that they filed a criminal case, which meant a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison," Subbotina said. "In our country, there are short sentences for murder."
—
Contributed by Associated Press writer Francesca Ebel.