Russian anti war movement

[Dystopiary]

A 20 year old Russian student faces 10 years in prison for posting anti-war sentiments on instagram. She's currently under house arrest, having been charged with "justifying terrorism and discrediting the Russian armed forces." That's not the only messed up part:

"A friend showed me a post about me in a chat," Olesya [Krivtsova] says, "about how I was against the 'special military operation'. Most of the people in this chat were history students. They were discussing whether to denounce me to the authorities."

. . .

In one comment, Olesya is accused of writing "provocative posts of a defeatist and extremist character. This is out of place for war-time. It must be nipped in the bud".

"First let's try to discredit her. If she doesn't get it, let the security services deal with it."

"Denunciation is the duty of a patriot," someone else writes.

Later, when the list of prosecution witnesses was read out in court, Olesya recognised the names from the student chat.

She seems a brave young woman. She says "They can't put everyone in prison. At some point they'll run out of cells."

Olesya's T-shirt sports a picture of a police van with "School Bus" written on it. A comment on how young Russians are being punished for their criticism of the authorities.

She has an anti-Putin tattoo on her leg, with the words "Big Brother is watching you."



Ukraine war: The Russian student under arrest for an Instagram story

 

[RD2003]

‘It’s a disgrace not to go to war’: muted Russian protest against Ukraine conflict

Families of dead Russian soldiers appear even more supportive of military operation

www.theguardian.com

'The situation is typical. A year into the war, there is muted protest or public agitation against the war, even in Russia’s mid-sized cities where there were demonstrations last February.'

“We can see that in the polling around Russia,” said Zvonovsky. “People don’t have an alternative point of view. How can you look at this world, evaluate the current situation, if everything you considered correct until yesterday is now wrong. What is right, then?” '


'As the other relatives spoke, Alexander’s mother would occasionally tear up as she spoke about her son. Sasha, as his family call him, was killed in an artillery strike. But his sister admitted that “all we know is what we’ve been told”.
“We don’t even really know if it’s him that we buried,” said Natalya. “The casket is closed. They just gave us some of his personal things and that’s it. So how are we supposed to know?” He was buried in the same grave as his father, she said.
The whole family defends Putin’s announcement a year ago that Russian troops would be sent to Ukraine. The west is to blame for the war, they say. “[Putin] had no choice,” said Maria, another relative.
A year after the war has begun, the family of the dead captain are asked whether their opinion on the Russian “special military operation” has changed.
“More for it,” said Maria. “We support it more.”

 

[Dystopiary]

Again, posting here rather than the Belarus thread, since this is about anti-war activities. Hope that's ok.
Lots of text because translated from Belarusian:

According to the Dissidentby initiative, since February 24, 2022, at least 2,300 Belarusians have been detained in various political criminal cases. More than 6,500 people were detained in administrative cases related to politics.

The largest anti-war protest took place on the days of the referendum on February 27-28, 2022. According to "Viasny" human rights activists, as a result of these protests, at least 1,100 people were detained, of which about 600 were arrested.

Among those who were tried or are being tried by the Lukashians, there is a pensioner who left a sign at the bus stop "no war", relatives of Kalinin citizens and those who passed on information about the movement of Russian equipment. They counted how many people were repressed - at least those whose names are known. The real number will probably be many times higher.

There were actions by individual people, as in Navopolatsk, where a woman protested during the school pick-up line.

It is impossible to accurately calculate the scale of repression specifically for supporting Ukraine and condemning the war. "It is often not clear what causes the detention: participation in the anti-war movement, anti-war comments, or something else," says Marina Kasinerova, co-founder of the Dissidentby initiative. Human rights defenders and journalists are not informed about many cases of detention.

It is possible to name more than 90 names of those who are currently in pretrial detention or have already been convicted in criminal cases directly for anti-war activities. According to human rights activists, there are several hundreds of such political prisoners.

It is known that some of those detained after the "days" for the anti-war protest on February 27-28 were not released.

This is what happened to Alexander Komar and Andrey Andreev. They were tortured after being detained, Komar was beaten twice, the second time for the fact that he stained the car of special agents with blood. They were subsequently sentenced to three and two and a half years in prison, respectively.

People are arrested for the most innocent things. In December 2022, 68-year-old pensioner Ludmila Kogan was detained in Brest for writing "no war" on a notice board at a transport stop. Now she is awaiting trial in a criminal case.

It's so ridiculous. This is the regime that desperately tried to portray itself as in no way involved in the war despite being very much making a welcome for the offensive. The late foreign affairs minister Vladimir Makei told delegates at the UN forum only last Autumn that his regime didn't want the war. And yet they allow Russian troops and materiel into Ukraine to fire at Ukrainian civilians. And God help anyone who shows the Ukraine flag colours, certainly the traditional Belarusian (non-regime) flag colours:

In September 2022, five participants of the campaign to hang the flags of Belarus and Ukraine on one of the houses on Lesya Ukrainka Street were detained in August 2022. All of them are currently undergoing criminal proceedings and are being held in Zhodzin prison.

Another six Belarusians were detained for hanging the Belarusian and Ukrainian flags on the poles of the power line on the Moscow Ring Road in October 2022. All of them are also in jail.

And now the "rail guerillas":

At least twelve organized acts of sabotage were carried out on the railway (for example, the action of the Hlebka family is not included - they spontaneously set fire to logs on the rails).

To date, the names of eleven arrested "railway partisans" and one woman who had to help them (Alesya Bunevich) are known. All of them received huge prison sentences — from 11 years in prison for Syarhei Hlebka and Alyaksei Shishkauts to 23 years for Denis Dikun.

People of the year according to "Nasha Niva" are heroes who wanted to stop the war. What is known about them?

People who transmitted information about the movement of military equipment of the Russian Federation

Human rights center "Viasna" knows of more than thirty people who were detained for passing on such information. As "Belarusian Gayun" calculated, several thousand Belarusians who risked their freedom passed on information about the movement of military equipment. Detainees in such cases receive real prison terms, usually about three years in prison.

What is known about the teenager who was sent to prison for filming Russian equipment? The most famous cases are the cases of 20-year-old Danuta Peradny and 19-year-old Ilya Verameyev. They were given 6.5 years in prison each for several posts in the telegram.
In total, according to "Viasna", there are at least twenty such people. Most of them received prison sentences.

After the start of the war, the Belarusian security forces began hunting for "spies". Ukrainian Pavlo Kuprienko and two residents of Gomel Oblast, Dmitriy Solovenchik and Taras Machinsky, will soon be on trial. They face up to fifteen years in prison.

Former military man Dmitry Gulin faces up to 15 years in prison.

In August 2022, it became known about the detention of Belarusian Yaroslav Sakovich. He is allegedly accused of agent activities and participation in the war in Ukraine in 2019. He's been accused of joining voluntary battalion "Arata" (formerly "Right Sector") in 2019. But "Arata" was withdrawn from the combat zone in 2018. According to Dissidentby, he appears to have been tortured.

As of today, it is known about eight people who wanted to go to help Ukraine and were detained. These are 20-year-old orphan Andrei Raptunovich, 30-year-old Anatoly Mikhailov, 19-year-old Andrei Maslav, 50-year-old Mikhail Listopadov, 29-year-old Yevhen Karpav, 37-year-old Siarhei Vaytsiuk, Alexander Ainutdinov and 52-year-old Siarhei Hrybovich. There are certainly more of them, but the names of some are unknown.

This is how people are punished by proxy, f**king ludicrous:

They also persecute the relatives of those who went to fight in Ukraine. So, the [there's a mistake with the age here I think] sister of the volunteer Yan Melnikov, Viktoria Navitskaya, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, and Vadim Kabanchuk's brother, Viktor Franchuk, is awaiting trial - both of them are now in [a] pre-trial detention center.

Belarusians were also detained for donating to Kalinovsky's regiment and Ukraine. For example, a 28-year-old young woman was detained for donating at the end of October 2022. She said she donated because she wanted to help people in Ukraine. Now she faces up to eight years in prison.

The real scale of anti-war resistance in Belarus and its consequences will have to be investigated in the coming years.

Падлічылі колькасць рэпрэсаваных за антываенныя выступы. Яна шакуе (in Belarusian and Russian only)

 

[friedaweed]

Apols if it's been posted but this was worth the watch.

Storyville - Inside Russia: Traitors and Heroes

Two Russian film-makers follow the impact of the invasion of Ukraine in their country.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

Worth a read:

‘Putin has gone mad from power’: Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin speaks out from Russian prison

Sentenced to eight years in jail, Yashin discusses the war in Ukraine, Russian opposition and how the west can help

www.theguardian.com

 

[hitmouse]

New interview with someone from Feminist Anti-War Resistance:

Feminist Anti-War Resistance to the Russian Invasion | The Final Straw Radio Podcast

thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org

 

[moochedit]

(Sorry if already posted)

BBC News - Russian whose daughter drew anti-war picture flees jail term

Russian whose daughter drew anti-war picture flees jail term

Alexei Moskalev was investigated after his daughter drew an anti-war picture at school.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[hitmouse]

Blimey, I don't think I'd seen this person's story before:

Ruslan Zinin Charged with “Terrorism”

Logging truck driver Ruslan Zinin grabbed a sawed-off shotgun when, in the wake of the “partial” mobilization’s annoucement, a summons arrived for his brother. On September 26, Zinin went to the military enlistment office in Ust-Ilimsk (Irkutsk Region). Military commissar Alexander Yeliseyev was...

avtonom.org

Logging truck driver Ruslan Zinin grabbed a sawed-off shotgun when, in the wake of the “partial” mobilization’s annoucement, a summons arrived for his brother. On September 26, Zinin went to the military enlistment office in Ust-Ilimsk (Irkutsk Region). Military commissar Alexander Yeliseyev was giving a speech as he dispatched dozens of people to the slaughter. His disdainful attitude towards the mobilized men, as well as his remarks that they themselves were to blame, that they had “piled up loans” and “had heaps of children,” outraged Zinin to the depths of his soul. At that moment, someone in the room asked, “Where are we going?” “We’re all going home now!” Zinin shouted back and fired twice at the military commissar.


Consequently, Zinin’s brother was not mobilized (and, perhaps, the mobilization was temporarily suspended in the district), and military commissar Yeliseyev spent a month and a half in the hospital.


Zinin himself was remanded in custody and charged with “encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer” (per Article 317 of the Russian Federal Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).


The charge was incommensurate with Zinin’s actions [and the circumstances]: the military commissar is not a law enforcement officer and was not performing tasks to protect public order.


However, police investigators went even further and reclassified the charge to “commission of a terrorist act” (per Article 205.2.b of the Criminal Code).

More information about his situation:

Ruslan Zinin Sent to Solitary Confinement

Ruslan Zinin is a real Russian hero, but you won’t find many Russians talking about his heroism or his current plight for the simple reason that they’ve convinced themselves that there …

therussianreader.com

 

[keybored]

Blimey, I don't think I'd seen this person's story before:

Ruslan Zinin Charged with “Terrorism”

Logging truck driver Ruslan Zinin grabbed a sawed-off shotgun when, in the wake of the “partial” mobilization’s annoucement, a summons arrived for his brother. On September 26, Zinin went to the military enlistment office in Ust-Ilimsk (Irkutsk Region). Military commissar Alexander Yeliseyev was...

avtonom.org

More information about his situation:

Ruslan Zinin Sent to Solitary Confinement

Ruslan Zinin is a real Russian hero, but you won’t find many Russians talking about his heroism or his current plight for the simple reason that they’ve convinced themselves that there …

therussianreader.com

He's the hero Putin deserves, but not the one he wants.

 

[steeplejack]

An excellent summary article here in Dissent magazine on why those fondly hoping for an uprising / overthrow of the Putin apparatus likely to be disappointed. As are those salivating on twitter about a possible Russian colapse, in the event of what seems to be an imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive.

 

[hitmouse]

Wildcat strike at a Russian army-supplying plant and the first mass armed desertion in Donbass

Very interesting incidents take place in Russia towards the end of spring. Let's hope this is just the beginning!

libcom.org

But the hottest things happened near the front line. 39 ex-prisoners escaped from the "Storm Z" training camp in Lisichansk (the so-called "Lugansk People’s Republic"). The law enforcement forces of the Rostov region received an orientation on the deserters:

During the escape, the overseer died. It took place on May 24, writes Baza. The fugitive criminals are reportedly armed with automatic weapons and can travel by two vehicles: a KamAZ truck and Mitsubishi L200. The source from Russian-controlled part of Donbass said to the Rostov news portal:

"Indeed, reports have been sent to internal structures that interact with the internal affairs bodies in the Rostov region. In addition, a number of heads of administrations who neighbor us in the border areas received information. Those who left the territory of military facilities on May 24 are former prisoners who were here under a contract. Only one serviceman of the Ministry of State Security of the LPR was killed. He tried to stop the deserters from escaping."

On May 27, it also became known about the escape of 7 armed ex-prisoners from a Russian military unit near Soledar in the Donetsk region. Soon, three of them were detained very drunken in a cafe in Bryanka, another one was shot dead by them for desire to surrender. The rest are wanted.

 

[Yossarian]

Good article here on anti-war Russians, including a pirate-radio operator now in prison who says "the percentage of support for the ‘special operation’ here is noticeably lower than on the outside"

They graffiti “No to war” on walls. They scrawl slogans on banknotes. They weave green ribbons into their hair, hang them on fences and in the metro (the colour you get when you mix the yellow and blue of Ukraine’s flag being symbolic of resistance). They make figurines out of plasticine, attach an anti-war message to them and leave them in public places. They hang posters in their windows and on their balconies, on bridges and in shop windows.

....They write messages on the price tags of groceries. A pint of milk is plastered with “Putin has been lying to us from our television screens for 20 years”. A tub of sour cream: “The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol, in which 400 people were sheltering”. A box of porridge oats: “My great-grandfather didn’t fight in the Great Patriotic War [second world war] so that Russia could become a fascist state”.

https://archive.is/GZpYg

 

[Dystopiary]

Igor Paskar was accused of throwing a molotov cocktail at the FSB offices in Krasnodar. He called his actions symbolic, saying that his actions would not have caused serious damage. Only a rug was burnt. He then painted his cheeks yellow and blue. He was also accused of burning a banner featuring a "Z" symbol on June 12, "Russia Day," 2022.

On May 31 this year, Paskar was been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for the charges of "vandalism" and "terrorism." His final statement in court was brave and moving.

extract:

Almost a year has gone by since I carried out this action. During that year, I pictured this moment time and again, the moment when I would be given the opportunity to make my final statement. I agonised over the words I would say, and the motives that drove me to act as I did.


During the last sitting, your honour, you asked whether I regret my actions. I understood that the extent of my professed regret would influence the severity of the sentence. But if I renounced my beliefs, I would be acting against my conscience.


On the contrary, during the time I have been in prison, I have seen firsthand the injustices perpetrated against the people who we call our brothers: both prisoners of war who have served in the Ukrainian armed forces and ordinary Ukrainian citizens.


The war – or whatever term we use to label it – came to their homes, destroying their lives as they knew them. No matter what slogans and geopolitical interests we use to varnish this, in my eyes it cannot be justified.

Igor Paskar: “What Did Each of Us Do to Stop This Nightmare?”

 

[hitmouse]

Interesting article on the history of Russian antifa and how it split around the war:

From fights with Nazis to a split due to the war. The story of antifa in Russia

The antifascist movement emerged in Russia in the late 1990s – early 2000s as a response to neo-Nazis’ violence: back then, the far-right was attacking migrants, homeless people, punks and anyone they didn’t like almost daily. Over the past couple of decades, the movement has changed...

avtonom.org

 

[The39thStep]

Interesting article on the history of Russian antifa and how it split around the war:

From fights with Nazis to a split due to the war. The story of antifa in Russia

The antifascist movement emerged in Russia in the late 1990s – early 2000s as a response to neo-Nazis’ violence: back then, the far-right was attacking migrants, homeless people, punks and anyone they didn’t like almost daily. Over the past couple of decades, the movement has changed...

avtonom.org

It's an intersting army and more thorough than I thought it would be. I'm glad that they also looked at the splits in Ukraine anti fascists and anarchists. Angry Workers did at least one article on a Ukraine anarchist group that was against joining the army.

I posted a few weeks ago wondering what became of the Anti Authoritan brigade or what ever they were called that had some publicity last year . I think the bit where the comment says 'Ukrainian nationalism, in its base, has antiimperialist and liberatory tendencies' gives a bit of an unfortunate clue .

 

[hitmouse]

It's an intersting army and more thorough than I thought it would be. I'm glad that they also looked at the splits in Ukraine anti fascists and anarchists. Angry Workers did at least one article on a Ukraine anarchist group that was against joining the army.

I posted a few weeks ago wondering what became of the Anti Authoritan brigade or what ever they were called that had some publicity last year . I think the bit where the comment says 'Ukrainian nationalism, in its base, has antiimperialist and liberatory tendencies' gives a bit of an unfortunate clue .

Well, there's an article about it here, but it seems to be in foreign: «К идейным добровольцам или людям с меркантильной мотивацией на стороне Путина у меня особой жалости нет»

 

[dilute micro]

 

[bluescreen]

What a brave woman.
Some of the posts on that thread are despicable - Putinbots out in force.

 

[Dystopiary]

Very brave, smiling and raising her fist. There's a short article about her sentencing here. Her T-shirt says "Your torture won't kill our ideas."

 

[likesfish]

I don't know why but something about that video really broke my heart. We thought we had learned something about the horrors of war, but here we are again.

I wonder if so much time has passed since the Second World War that we've forgotten what war means already. There are fewer people with living memory of it every year now. I am afraid that Europe might end up learning what it means all over again.

I think politicians and media owners need to spend a few days every year under artillery bombardment just so they understand what they are pushing for.

 

[editor]

Six years of her young life spent in jail because of social media posts. Fuck Russia.

 

[Yossarian]

Seven years in prison for replacing five supermarket price tags with antiwar messages

“How fragile must the prosecutor’s belief in our state and society be, if he thinks that our statehood and public safety can be brought down by five small pieces of paper?” said Skochilenko, 33, in a final statement in court on Thursday.

Russian artist who protested against Ukraine war jailed for seven years

Aleksandra Skochilenko admits replacing supermarket price tags with pieces of paper urging shoppers to stop the war

www.theguardian.com

 

[hitmouse]

There's a current fundraiser to pay for the legal costs of the defendants in the Tyumen case:

Help the defendants of the "Tyumen case" in their fight for freedom

Six anarchists from Russia have been held in pre-trial detention for a year on spurious charges of creating a "terrorist community". According to Russian law, our comrades face a total of 5 to 15 years of imprisonment for the charged articles, and 15 to 30 years of life imprisonment for...

avtonom.org

At the end of August 2022, the police detained K. Brik and D. Aydyn in a forest on the outskirts of Tyumen. During the search, the guys were found homemade explosives. Less than a day later, under the influence of physical and psychological violence (the boys were beaten and threatened with rape), both signed confessions that they were members of a "terrorist community" of anarchists and were planning sabotage in military enlistment offices, police departments and railroads. Within a day after the detention of K. Brik and D. Aydyn, the law enforcers detained N. Oleinik, R. Paklin, Y. Neznamov, and D. Chertykov. During interrogation, all four gave confessions. The interrogation took place several days after the detention and all this time our comrades were tortured, here is what the detainees wrote about it in their lawyer's interviews:


«They took off my shoes and socks, soaked my feet in something, put some wires on the toes of both feet, and electrocuted me. I lost track of time, but it was very long. They said that I was a prisoner and that people like me should be shot. A man spoke to me without introducing himself. He started to give me a version of events, which I had to confirm when the investigator came.»


N. Oleynik


«I was confused and asked why they were mocking me. There was no answer, they switched on the current again, but already stronger. It was very painful, there were strong cramps in my legs and back. Again, the same man asked me if I felt good, but he didn't turn off the current»


R. Paklin


«After each electric shock, I had to shout that I loved Putin. They said that if I didn't die by morning, I would be crusted over. I can't describe what this pain can be compared to»


Y. Neznamov


«I was punched several times in the face, forced to squat, filming everything on a smartphone camera. I squatted about 150 times, while a man in a balaclava was hitting my ankle with a baton. They said, «Be thankful you're sitting down now and not wallowing in your own piss and shit.»


D. Chertykov


«First I was forced to strip naked and squatted. At the same time, they put my shoe on my head and told me that if the shoe fell down, they would use violent actions against me involving the insertion of objects into my rectum.»


D. Aydın

 

[hitmouse]

Another fundraiser for Ruslan Siddiqui, an anarchist accused of sabotage against a train carrying military equipment to the Russian army in Ukraine:

Fund-raiser for the anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui

The anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui is accused of causing an explosion, on a railway used to transport military equipment and fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. The result was the derailment of 19 carriages of a goods train in the Ryazan region. There were no casualties, although the driver’s...

avtonom.org

The anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui is accused of causing an explosion, on a railway used to transport military equipment and fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. The result was the derailment of 19 carriages of a goods train in the Ryazan region. There were no casualties, although the driver’s assistant sustained non-serious injuries. Russian Railways assessed the damage at €300.000. Ruslan has been charged with committing a terrorist act, and possession of explosive material. He is faced with between 12 and 30 years’ imprisonment.

Ruslan’s comrades say: "Ruslan is a proponent of anarchist ideas, and the Russian military aggression against Ukraine distressed him greatly. All the more so because some of his friends and comrades died in that conflict, and people continue to die there".

Ruslan does not deny that he organized an act of sabotage. He drew attention to a stretch of railway along which military equipment and fuel is often transported to the front. Ruslan set out, on purpose, to damage the track under a goods train, to avoid casualties. He monitored progress using a video camera.

Ruslan’s motive was completely opposite to terrorism. Siddiqui has repeatedly stated that his action was, on the contrary, aimed at preventing deaths and injuries. He insists that his objective was to damage the infrastructure for the delivery of goods.

Ruslan states categorically his opposition to damaging civilian infrastructure, and all the more to attacking peaceful civilians.

Legal defence is especially important to those accused of "terrorism": human rights initiative Solidarity zone has learned in practice that, in these cases, the security services often use torture and other methods of intimidation. Moreover, the prison sentences for "terrorist" offences are significantly longer than for others.

Solidarity zone and Ruslan Siddiqui’s comrades are organising a fund-raiser for his lawyer’s fees. Let’s make sure that no-one has to face the system on their own. For six months’ of the lawyer’s work, we need to collect €3450.

PayPal: solidarity_zone@riseup.net (please specify, "for Siddiqui", if possible euros are the preferred currency)

 

[steeplejack]

Navalny is dead, according to the Russian Federal Prison Service.



Write up in Grauniad here

A flawed man but no doubting his recent impact and huge courage in returning when he didn't have to, to meet that end.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Cunts

 

[moochedit]

Novichok in his porridge?

 

[SpookyFrank]

Novichok in his porridge?

'Went for a walk and felt unwell' apparently. Walked out of a fourth floor window perhaps.

More likely they've just been slowly torturing him to death for years.

 

[SpookyFrank]

The man was an arsehole but it's hard to ignore his courage in staying in Russia even though this was the inevitable endpoint.

 

[Yossarian]

US diplomat tweeted this yesterday: