Allow me to introduce a patriot.
A Russian patriot, a citizen of the world patriot.
His name is Vitaly Tsitsurov, and he lives in Smolensk, a city in Western Russia that was founded in 863AD.
Vitaly has always been a quiet soft spoken man, but that hasn’t stopped him from constantly speaking truth and keeping it real, in a country where if you do, you will be beaten, detained and jailed, and often.
Which is what Vitaly has been going through, day after day after day, week after week.
For over four months.
He got arrested the very first day he took to the street, the day after the invasion.
He’s been arrested seven times.
He has been physically attacked two dozen times, which nine of those times were very violent, breaking his jaw and his nose.
As we are aware, calling Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine a ‘war’ is a criminal offense.
What’s an anti war protestor to do?
He stands by himself with a small sign that says simply, ‘No *ar’, and quietly engages both supporters which there are many, and detractors, which there are also many.
Trying to convince a populace that is being spoonfed propaganda and with no allowance for a dissenting opinion, that the war is wrong.
And that it indeed is a ‘war’, and not a ‘military operation’.
“I will not accept what Moscow is saying, that there are Nazi’s in Ukraine. It’s obvious to me that it’s not true. No one will force me to believe that we must defend the people of Ukraine from themselves.
A protester should show the people around them that they are not alone in their dissent.
Besides, a protester should motivate dissidents to publicly express their position in a peaceful manner.”
Indeed.
He’s not alone, not by any means.
Though many brave souls choose to risk arrest en masse, and on lone protests.
Whilst Vitaly is alone, every day.
How many are willing to put it all on the line, peacefully but forcefully, with no expectation of legal help or favorable local media coverage and brutal treatment, with impunity, behind closed doors?
Many.
Like Alexandra Skochilenko.
www.amnesty.org/...
Artist Aleksandra Skochilenko was arrested on 11 April and interrogated until 3am the next morning. She is accused of replacing price tags with anti-war information and slogans in a supermarket in Saint Petersburg on 31 March. She was charged with “disseminating knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces” and placed in pre-trial detention until 1 June. Aleksandra Skochilenko has a serious health condition and placing her in pre-trial detention, where she would not be getting the appropriate diet or medical care she needs, puts her health and wellbeing at risk. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Like Aleksei Gorinov.
www.rferl.org/...
A court in Moscow has sentenced an opposition councillor to seven years in jail for criticising Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, the first prison sentence handed out under the new laws that restrict criticism of the war.
Alexei Gorinov, a deputy at Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district council and trained lawyer, was arrested in April on charges of spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian army.
Like Andrei Pivovarov.
www.aljazeera.com/...
Russian opposition activist Andrei Pivovarov was sentenced to four years in prison for leading a banned pro-democracy group, the latest move in the Kremlin’s multi-pronged crackdown on opposition activists, independent media and rights groups in the country.
Pivovarov, 40, is the former head of Open Russia, a now disbanded pro-democracy group established by exiled tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Like Irina Bystrova.
www.rferl.org/...
On February 24, everything changed for Irina Bystrova.
The owner of an art studio in the northern Russian city of Petrozavodsk, Bystrova said she had already caught the attention of authorities by joining street demonstrations such as those in support of jailed anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny. She also vocally opposed the 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
But when she heard President Vladimir Putin announce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bystrova said, she burst into tears. She took her anger out in her work, adding a caption to an image of Putin engulfed in flames that read "Burn in hell!” and posting it to her social media account.
A month later, her account was blocked and officers from the police and the Federal Security Service came knocking. They searched her apartment and confiscated computers, cell phones, and other items.
Bystrova now faces criminal charges of “calling for terrorism,” and “discrediting the Russian armed forces.” Hers is the latest in a growing number of cases across Russia of authorities targeting people who speak out against the war.
She’s now being held in a prison psych ward.
And on and on and on.
Many hundreds.
Many thousands.
According to OVD-Info, a Russian human rights monitoring org, more than 16,000 Russian anti-war activists have been arrested since the February invasion began.
Oh, and let’s please not forget Pussy Riot!
The Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow, whose eleven members have been beaten and arrested literally hundreds of times for well over a decade, many receiving prison sentences, only to take to the streets and the stage once they get out of confinement.
For songs, words and actions of defiance.
My, they hate the tyrant Putin.
“We have a new Hitler in Russia.”
Now, more than ever.
We are with them in mind, body and spirit.
Like our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, never forget we have them in Russia as well.
When we momentarily forget who we are, and just what one person can do…
…. we look to their example for guidance and direction.
As Vitaly answered, when asked if he had something to say to the Ukrainian people….
“Yes. Your victory is our victory.
A victory for a free, honest and dignified Russia.”
Please consider, if and when the time comes, in your own small but powerful way….
…. Get Up! Stand Up!
Don't give up the fight.
Right here.
Right now.
Don’t underestimate your own courage and heart.
You never know what sacrifice you are willing to make until the time comes.
When you have the time, these St Petersburg’s anti-war female protesters want to send a message to those ‘who are still silent’, and is well worth your time.
Their bravery is simply astounding.