Power to the Russian people
They can end this.
All across Russia, people are saying нет войне (no to war) as Putin’s troops commit more war crimes in that country’s illegal, immoral invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
By Sunday, some 4,300 Russian protesters had been arrested (some news reports place the number higher), while Putin signed a harsh law that promises long prison sentences for future protesters. He’s calling news about Russia’s less-than-successful attempts to overtake Ukraine “fake news.”
Sound familiar?
The frustration every day Russians who are getting their news from social media and not state-sponsored news sources mirrors the frustration some of us felt during TFG’s administration. Familiar, too, is the feeling that as global citizens, we need to frequently apologize out loud for the actions of the then-leader of our government. Sorry, world. Trump’s an idiot. Sorry, world. Putin’s a sadist.
The difference here is that protesting in the U.S. is written into our Constitution (with some notable caveats). In Russia, protesters aren’t so protected. (Do they care? In Russia, some of them sing the Ukrainian national anthem as they’re hauled away.) They risk imprisonment and worse when they speak up, and here’s the most moving part of that: Even though they don’t live in a democracy, they are willing to put their bodies on the line to defend a democracy.
The world reacted earlier this month when Russian police arrested activist Yelena Osipova, 77, who’d survived the Nazi siege of what was then St. Petersburg. (If you’re on Twitter, that last link shows you the elderly Osipova being led away. She does not appear to want to let loose of her sign and my GOD I admire her.)
One protester who has also been arrested, Yulia Zhivtsova, told NPR:
From what I've learned at school, when I was a child, we were always taught that Kyiv was the mother of all Russian cities…So it's quite a horrible thing to realize that one day you wake up, and your tanks are going into Kyiv. ... It's just like a very, very bad dream.
We can talk about no-fly zones or more sanctions, but as with our own rotted leadership of just a couple of years ago, the change just might come from within the fort. As Arik Burakovsky, assistant director of the Russia and Eurasia program at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, writes in Time magazine:
Russians will gradually learn the truth about the events in Ukraine, which could snowball the protests into a sustained antiwar movement. The population may feel increasingly disquieted by the economic and human costs of the war. As living standards in Russia deteriorate due to growing capital flight, rising inflation and slowing economic growth, the facade of normalcy may crumble. The Kremlin may have no choice but to continue tightening the screws, arresting more protesters, issuing harsher jail terms and bigger fines, ramping up censorship, and blocking or slowing down more websites with banned content.
For now, the performer Sting has rereleased the haunting 1985 song “Russian” on Instagram. If you have access to Instagram, he includes ways to help in the post.
If you aren’t on Instagram, it is still a beautiful song. Here:
Slava Ukraini. And власть людям/владу народу— Power to the people, in Russian and in Ukrainian.
I pray for the strength and determination of these Russians who are fighting the lies and standing up for truth and Justice. It’s not just “the American way.”
My heart swells every time I see these Russian protesters and dissenters. I have so much admiration for them. It's a true act of courage to speak out in that nation. Meanwhile we have people who are protesting logical public health measures. I can't help but think about the differences.