Many understood, from the moment the war began, on Thursday 24 February, that there was something inevitable about this decision. Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaia Gazeta and winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, summed up this feeling in a dramatic way: "The future is dead," she told a journalist from the Dojd channel who was crying.
Ever since the attack in Ukraine, Russian public opinion has been deeply divided among those who support the "denazification" operation, as Moscow calls it, those who ignore everything or almost everything about the invasion (only the Dojd channel, which broadcasts exclusively on the Internet, shows images of the invasion and collects testimonies in Kiev or Kharkiv) and those who say outright "no".
Protests against the war are sporadic and disorganized because calling or participating in a march is extremely dangerous and everyone is watched vigilantly by the Russian regime. Since the start of the invasion some 5,700 people have been arrested in protests across Russia.
Most numerous are those who post their views on social media: a black background, a Ukrainian flag and hashtags "No to war" or "I am ashamed". Those who reply "I am not ashamed" and post the Russian flag are equally numerous. Graffiti "No to war" have been written in many Russian cities. They are immediately erased, as was the case with those who supported Alexei Navalny, Putin's opponent, but there are many more than before.
The flowers have also become a way of expression, a strategy that the police cannot stop. Hundreds of bouquets have been placed in front of the Ukrainian embassy building in Moscow in recent days.
"Because protesting can send you to jail, Russians put flowers in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow. "I am not addressing those up there, who live by their own laws, personal laws. I'm doing this for me, so I won't be ashamed that I didn't do anything," the girl says," Le Monde's Moscow correspondent wrote.
"Arrests and terrorism at home, aggression abroad, are two sides of the same coin," explains to Le Monde the opponent of the Putin regime, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who survived two poisonings. He seems optimistic despite the relative passivity of his compatriots: "Thousands of people are taking to the streets, despite the threat of imprisonment. People are going out in front of the threat of the threat of death. And we know how little triumphant wars sometimes come to an end."
The resistance of the Russians to the war also comes through in the form of leaflets, articles and texts. The most important was Lev Schlossberg's, which gathered 700 000 signatures. Open letters signed by people of all professions (doctors, judges, artists, scientists) also circulate, mainly on social media.
These texts are often cautious, some do not even mention Putin's name. Most express a deep despair, calling for an end to the deaths of soldiers and civilians. "I don't know if these kinds of events make any sense. Many people say why take the risk? I understand that our leader has gone far away to the stars and that neither our protests nor sanctions will stop him. But it's horrible to do nothing. We will at least be able to tell our children and grandchildren and especially ourselves that we did not remain silent," says Leonid Gozman, one of the veterans of the opposition in Russia.
Many athletes and show business stars also expressed their opposition to the war. Among them was comedian Ivan Urgan, although the regime immediately closed his theatre.
In the political world, the movement of opposition to Putin is limited. About 300 elected officials (out of tens of thousands) signed a document against the war. Communist Duma deputy Mikhail Matveyev called for an end to the conflict, although he voted for recognition of Donbass. "The goal was to bring peace, not war," he said. A single diplomat also dissociated his position. "I apologize on behalf of all Russians for the fact that we could not stop this invasion," said Oleg Anisimov, head of Russia's climate change delegation to the United Nations.
Source: iefimerida.gr
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