The Russians risking everything to protest Vladimir Putin’s war

There are thousands of Russian citizens defying the Kremlin’s authoritarian laws on freedom of speech
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Police officers detain a woman during a protest against Russian military action in Ukraine, in Manezhnaya Square in central Moscow
AFP via Getty Images
Daniel Keane15 March 2022

Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was lauded for her extraordinary bravery on Monday night after interrupting a state news broadcast to protest against the invasion of Ukraine.

Her act of courage has become the most potent symbol of Russian anti-war sentiment in three weeks of conflict – stoking fears she could meet the same fate as other compatriots who have dared to challenge Vladimir Putin.

Protest of any kind has been rendered virtually impossible in Russia, in which criticism of Mr Putin’s regime results in a lengthy spell behind bars. As such, fostering an anti-war “movement” out of disparate voices has proved difficult despite widely publicised protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Ms Ovsyannikova, an editor at state outlet Channel One, faces up to 15 years in prison for the crime of spreading “fake news” about the Russian armed forces – other activists have already disappeared completely.

The Standard looks at the Russians risking everything to oppose Putin’s bloody war.

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AFP via Getty Images

Marina Litvinovich

Marina Litvinovich, 47, is a political activist based in Moscow who has already called for anti-war protests.

She was detained by Russian Police on February 24 – the same day that Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.

Just hours before her arrest, she had called for Russians to protest in cities across the country.

She said in a statement on Facebook: “I know that many of you right now feel desperate, powerless, and ashamed over the attack by (President) Vladimir Putin on the friendly people of Ukraine.

“But I call on you not to be desperate and come out to the central squares of your cities at 7 p.m. today and clearly and explicitly say that we, the people of Russia, are against the war unleashed by Putin.”

Ms Litvinovich has had a career in Russian politics for many decades and previously worked for opposition politician and chessmaster Garry Kasparov.

The Feminist Anti-War Resistance Group

The Feminist Anti-War Resistance has staged protests across nearly 100 cities in Russia since the beginning of the war.

Their manifesto, which has been translated into 14 languages, condemns Vladimir Putin’s invasion and calls on members to “join peaceful demonstrations and launch offline and online campaigns against the war in Ukraine”.

“There are more of us, our network is getting tighter and tighter. It is only by coming together that we will stop this war,” the group said in a post on its Telegram channel last week.

To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, the group left flowers at Soviet war memorials in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag.

‘We, the women of Russia, refuse to celebrate March 8 this year: don’t give us flowers, it’s better to take to the streets and lay them in memory of the dead civilians of Ukraine,’ read a statement from the collective given to Art Review.

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is pictured in 2020 in Moscow
REUTERS

Alexei Navalny

Alexei Navalny is perhaps the most well-known critic of the Kremlin and is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow.

He was found guilty of parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up to thwart his political ambitions. Russian prosecutors asked a court on Tuesday to sentence him to an additional 13 years on fraud and contempt of court charges.

The activist, who has been a thorn in the side of Mr Putin for a decade, was jailed last year when he returned to Russia after a poisoning attack suspected to have been carried out by Russian authorities.

Last week, he called for anti-war protests in Moscow and other cities in response to the Russian invasion.

“Mad maniac Putin will most quickly be stopped by the people of Russia now if they oppose the war,” a message on Mr Navalny’s Instagram account said.

“You need to go to anti-war rallies every weekend, even if it seems that everyone has either left or got scared...You are the backbone of the movement against war and death,” he added.

Mr Navalny is still able to publish social media posts through his lawyers and allies.

Last week, Russian authorities put his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh on a wanted list and are now seeking jail time for her.

Dmitry Muratov and Novaya Gazeta

Dmitry Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s few independent newspapers.

In an interview with the New Yorker, published earlier this month, Mr Muratov said that “in no way” would the newspaper support the war and pledged it would “respect the sovereignty of Ukraine”.

However, his journalists have been further deterred by a new law introduced by the Kremlin last week outlawing the proliferation of “fake news” about the Russian armed forces.

It is punishable by up to 15 years in jail and can include the use of the word “war” to describe Mr Putin’s invasion rather than the Kremlin’s “special military operation”. Only official statements attributed to the governments can be carried by media outlets.

As such, the newspaper was forced to remove large swathes of its content but pledged to continue to publish.

Its front page on March 9, a day after the law was introduced, carried a stark symbolic message. “A release of Novaya, created in accordance with all the rules of Russia’s amended Criminal Code”, read the headline superimposed onto a mushroom cloud and silhouette of four ballet dancers.

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