I am sure that Igor will post about today’s event in more detail, but I still want to post a couple of his pictures. He reports that the meeting went really well, and the participants were especially ecstatic seeing Putin jailed.
Anti-Putin Rally
Tag: russia
Come To Anti-Putin Rally On August 20!
Details of the event are here.
Also, i wanted to make a copy of Igor’s Instagram post:
I couldn’t agree more with what Igor is saying. I can’t stress enough how critical it is to continue to oppose the war, to say no to Putin.
I think about it a lot recently – people tend to forget that the war is going on. Too many people reverse to “We should end this war – somehow,” not understanding that nothing had changed – it is still the same war, people are dying, and a big portion of Ukraine is occupied. It can’t be ended because “everybody is tired.” And it can’t be peace “at all cost.”
Today, I finished listening to Mikhail Zygar’s War and Punishment – such an awesome book! I picked it after I heard a short interview with Zygar on NPR. I was immediately taken by the way he spoke: clear, to the point, talking about his guilt in what was happening. And that’s how the whole book goes. I was reading about the events which happened “on my watch,” and I was horrified at how ignorant I was, how I was not following the events, and how I didn’t take the time to analyze the root causes of events.
War And Punishment
Yesterday, I listened to Michail Zygar interview on WEZ, where he talked about his new book War and Punishment. OMG, he is brilliant!!! Unfortunately, they do not have this interview as a separate episode on their website, so I can’t embed it here, but it was so good! So to the point!
And it turned out that although the book is currently unavailable on Kindle and is back ordered as a hardcover, it is available as an audiobook! I am going to start listening right away!
Mom’s Updates
Last Friday, I tried to initiate two processes: issuing Mom’s US passport and updating her Social Security information so that she could receive a new card and apply for benefits. I knew that we needed to present the original of her Citizenship certificate. Still, unfortunately, I completely forgot that when you apply for a US passport for the first time, you must mail the original certificate.
So, although the SS office has the information that mom’s status changed, they can’t update the documentation before her certificate is returned. On the one hand, I regret that I didn’t think about it in advance. On the other hand, last Friday afternoon was the only time I could address some of these urgent things, and I took the last slot for the passport appointment. If I would skip the passport, the next time I could take my mom there would be in mid-August, and her desire to be able to travel is strong, although entirely irrational. So I didn’t have much choice.
Also, I am not sure I would have time to go to the next round of appointments with her if we had the SS information updates. So let’s say that everything happens for a reason.
The Russian bank saga continues. After I yelled at my mom that she had to call the Russian bank (and Boris transferred money to her phone), she pulled herself together and did call (although she called from Skype, thereby, she could not be identified by the phone number). They took down her information, but she didn’t know her secret word, and they told her she needed to come in person (!!!).
Fortunately, a good friend of mine has the authorization to perform everything that can be done with Mom’s accounts and receive her new bank cards. She went to the bank branch today, but the results were mixed. Although it is clear that there were no fraudulent actions, they refused to unblock this card and insisted it has to be reissued. The online access is still blocked even though they said they unblocked it.
My friend is going to the bank branch again tomorrow, so help her God!
Russian Embassy In Tallinn
What’s In The People’s Heads?!
Boris went to Saint Petersburg for a couple of days: one more attempt to fetch his money (unsuccessful), officially closing all relationships with all Russian academic institutions, and some other stuff. When he called me, I asked him sarcastically how it feels to be in the rear of the enemy; he replied very seriously: the worst thing is that they don’t understand that they are enemies!
I think he is getting this kind of shock each time he goes there, and each time I am shocked when I hear these reports from him: for the vast majority of Russian, “nothing is happening; life goes on.”
We both heard it many times, but it still feels too absurd to accept: people are crying about “unprovoked terrorist attacks on peaceful Russian citizens,” and they “do not know” about airstrikes in Kyiv. Because they do not want to know. Because they repeat the same propaganda cap that “Russia only strikes military structures.” They “do not know”; they do not want to know about children dying. Yes, there are no reports about that in the official Russian news, but everybody has VPN to do Instagram ad Facebook, so people choose not to check the alternative sources; they choose not to know… And not just the older generation (Igor sadly reports this state of mind after each conversation with his grandfather), but the younger one. Undergrads. PhD students. We should have accepted that a long time ago, but it still strikes…
Russian dissidents attend the February 24, 2023 Ukrainian rally
The video about the Russian dissidents, most of whom recent arrivals, attending the February 24 rally at Chicago’s iconic Saints Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church. The original version of the video has been up for a while, but writing the English subtitles and getting it uploaded took a while longer.
And, as a bit of a bonus, the subtitled version of the video Chicago dissidents put together about the rallies that took place across the world on February 24-25, including the February 25 Chicago rally.
(Because of some of the Discourse taking place in the dissident groups, I want to point out that when I say “Russian” I mean citizens of the Russian Federation. Russia is a multi-ethnic country, which over a 100 ethnic groups calling the county home – but while Russian language has separate words for Russian citizens and ethnic Russians specifically, that distinction gets lost in English).
What’s Going On In Chicago
That was the counter-protest I blogged about last week.
Unfortunately, this website is not showing in the EU, so I had to go to the VPN to see it. For those who are in the US, here is a link:
https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/chicago-anti-war-groups-rally-20-years-after-iraq-invasion
And copying the whole thing here so that my friends outside the US could see it as well.
Anti-war coalition rallies 20 years after Iraq invasion: ‘Fund the people’s needs, not the war machine’
An anti-war coalition rallies outside of the Wrigley Building in downtown Chicago. The group said the United States should be trying to lead peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia — not sending military aid to Ukraine. Photo credit Brandon Ison
By Brandon Ison
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With temperatures in the teens and an added chill from the breeze, dozens of people from several local anti-war groups gathered in front of the Wrigley Building Saturday.
“They say, ‘More war;’ we say, ‘No war,’” protesters chanted.
The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition was formed in the days after the 9/11 attacks and initiated an anti-war movement in the months leading up to March 18, 2003. Twenty years later, Emil Mitchell was among the speakers representing the ANSWER Coalition in Chicago.
“There’s a war machine out there, and we all know it’s funded with trillions of dollars, but here at the ANSWER Coalition, all of our groups, we are building a peace machine that will end war for good,” he said. “It will take all of us.”
The rally was one of several nationwide demonstrations marking the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War invasion.
Mitchell said the U.S. government claims there’s not enough money for schools, healthcare, housing, wages, or climate change.
“They say, ‘More war;’ we say, ‘No war,’” protesters chanted outside of the Wrigley Building on Saturday. Photo credit Brandon Ison
“Yet they find almost $1 trillion for war every war,” he said. “That’s why we demand that they must fund the people’s needs — not the war machine.”
To Mitchell, and others at the anti-war demonstration, this would include a stop to military aid in Ukraine. A counterpoint on Saturday came from someone who may seem like an unlikely source: Anastasia Voronova, a Russian who came to the United States four years ago to study.
Voronova told WBBM that it’s not safe for her to return to Russia with her firm held belief in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. She was part of a two-person counterprotest to the anti-war rally, Russian-born Igor Studenkov joining her. He said the situation in Ukraine would be much worse without global support.
Igor Studenkov (L) and Anastasia Voronova showed up to counterprotest Saturday’s anti-war rally. Studenkov said lasting peace in Ukraine will be impossible without Russian troops leaving the country, detained Ukrainians being freed and a trial for those accused of war crimes. Photo credit Brandon Ison
“Ukraine is being invaded, and it needs help,” he said. “The sooner they can get help, the sooner this war can be over, the sooner Ukrainian cities can stop being bombed, and the sooner — hopefully — that all the people who had to flee will be able to go home.”
Studenkov said Mitchell’s groups should direct their anger at Russian president Vladimir Putin, and he added that Ukraine should receive all the help it can get.
“We believe that any lasting peace in Ukraine is impossible without Russian troops getting out of Ukraine, without all of the detained Ukrainian civilians being freed, without all the people accused of war crimes being tried before an international tribunal,” Studenkov said.
And About “That” Oscar
Regarding the “Navalny” documentary receiving Oscar – I want to scream! I don’t understand how people can’t understand! And I do not know what to say.
Now, when I am in Europe again, when I hear and feel the worries of the residents of Finland, and when I worry about the situation at the front (and my only hope is that there is something we do not know going on and that something is better than what we see), I understand it even less.
I said it multiple times, and I can repeat it again: knowing enough about Putin, I do not like this Navalny situation at all. Through the years, I learned that the only opposition we see is the opposition Putin allows to be seen. And based on that observation, I do not like this whole Navalny case. I might be paranoid or whatever you say, but I strongly feel that Navalny is a “backup plan.” Even if it is not, having Navalny won’t be any better than having Putin, and one more time, I don’t understand why people don’t understand…
Also, having all this stupid “calls for peace,” and calls for “stop funding the war,” I feel even worse about it.
And One More
Even though I already wrote several blogs in relation to the one-year Russian invasion, there are still a couple of things I wanted to mention.
The first thing is about the dominating mood of the anti-war protests. A year ago, these protests had a distinct mood of endless grief. When I blogged about the rallies a year ago, I mentioned that it was the first time in my life that I participated in the rallies, and they were not energizing. Usually, when you protest, you feel empowered by the people who are protesting with you, and you feel like you make your voice heard. In the wake of the war, the mood was completely different: pain and sorrow dominated, and the sense of eternal loss was in the air.
It was different this year. The mood was: we know what to do, and we’ll raise our voices so that the people in charge will hear us. The was way more offense and way more energy. Which is good. Once again, I hope that we made at least some difference.
And the second thought I had was prompted by the Facebook post of my friend. On February 24, marking this grim anniversary, she blogged about “many things that didn’t happen” because the war started.
As for me, I feel differently. The start of the war was not a volcano eruption that took human lives suddenly and unexpectedly. Although the war, indeed, ended lots of innocent people’s lives, it was not a force of nature. It uncovered the confrontation between Russia and the rest of the world, which many people didn’t want to see. Many people, including myself and Boris, tried to support some positive things we could see here and there and refused to see the uncontrolled destructive power behind the facade. So I’d say – yes, there were many things that didn’t happen because the war started. But it’s in some sense good that they didn’t happen because all of the illusions are gone.
I felt something similar (although of a very different nature) about the pandemic. In some weird way, I didn’t want it not to happen. It ruined all my plans for 2020, but I learned so many things about people, their relationships, about what is important and what is not that I would not ever trade this experience for blissful ignorance.
When the war started, it became impossible to pretend that “things are not that bad.”
Hettie's Reflections 