Four Russians reflect on how life has changed in their country since the invasion of Ukraine
He continues: “In our city, the New Year’s Eve fireworks were cancelled, because of the war, as were some corporate parties. Many young people and popular memes now use the expression ‘Russia is for the sad’. It’s a modification of an old far-right slogan that said ‘Russia is for Russians’.“[Expressing] views honestly is very risky here today, in light of recent events and recent laws.
Vasili says he previously had plans to move abroad at some point, but emigrating now would mean “running away from problems” and leaving friends and family in a difficult situation.“Russia is my homeland, a wonderful country with amazing people. We need to build bridges, not walls. I hope that this unnecessary war will end soon. I want peace.”
“The rhetoric of my colleagues and family has become violent. For example, they quote things [the Russian foreign minister, Sergei] Lavrov says, containing mafia expressions and prison slang. Speaking like this is very uncharacteristic of these people.“They often use [expressions and words] such as ‘as a real man would do’, ‘masculine’, ‘duty’ and ‘truth’, and [openly] trash international regulations and so on. Such [discourse] is now widely accepted in society.
“There are much fewer ‘Z’ symbols on streets and cars now compared to February last year. There is nothing currently [displayed] in the city that catches my eye as propaganda, except some billboards about ‘military heroes’ that started appearing recently on bus stops – but without mention of the war in. The soldiers that are depicted on these posters, it’s totally unclear whether they’re dead or alive.
A picture Vladimir took on a walk through the area where he is in hiding from Russian authorities to avoid conscription.“I am never ever going to fight in another war, especially against the Ukrainians. I have no money to leave the country, that’s the only reason I’m still here. So, I will keep moving between my mother’s house and a rental apartment [close to my wife and child], and live in hiding from state officials. Let them search for me in the wrong place.
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