When the mutiny in Russia started, I had some hopes. The hopes were that they would be busy killing each other or at least weakening each other, and meanwhile, Ukraine would be able to advance more. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, meaning they didn’t destroy each other, at least at first glance.
Boris said that at least Ukraine will return to the front pages of the news. To our deepest regrets, it didn’t happen either. Instead, Russia returned to the front pages. I listen to what Biden had said about not interfering, and I understand, but…
It is difficult to write just about anything related to the war these days when all you think about is, “Please, let it be a success; let it be victory.” The news comes and goes, the situation is changing, and just three days ago, things were different.
I am glad that this rally attracted more people, I am glad it was visible, and I am thankful to everybody who participated. And I am sorry I am not doing enough.
I could not make it to this rally because it was happening precisely at the same time as the West Side Story matinee, and it does not make me happy at all, especially because there was not so many people.
Igor made a lot of pictures, but I think that this short video says it better. We bothregret that despite of explicit request not to mix this event with Navalny meeting, some people still tried.
On the more optimistic note, I share Igor’s joy about a person who came to the rally because they saw Igor’s flyer, and about another person who shared that they were very “Crimea-is-ours/Great Russia/Pro-Putin” but when they started to explore the information on the Tlegram channell, it changed them entirely, and now they when out to support demands to stop atrocities.
I believe in math :), so “one person at a time” works for me.
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…
On Sunday, I talked with my second cousin, who lives in Russia. We lived in the same apartment for the first twenty-two years of my life, so we had our share of hate and love, and I respect him both personally and professionally.
Unlike most of my family, he is not a technical person. He is a historian, and not like an amateur historian, and not like “the history of the USSR” historian. He specialized in the history of Russia in the 19th century, so one can only imagine how far from easy it was to stick with this topic for over forty years of research. In short, he knows it. Seriously.
So, I was talking to him, and we were about to say our goodbyes. Then he said he hoped the time would come when we saw each other again. He immediately corrected himself. He said that he did not see any of the future for Russia at all, and “if we exclude the complete collapse of the state,” the only non-catastrophic outcome he saw was the strengthening of dictatorship. He reiterated that the complete collapse would be the worst and that “he hoped we would never come to that.”
I told him that I saw our only hope in this complete collapse, and I did not see any possibility of rebuilding the nation without destroying everything that exists now. I added that I was thinking about Germany in 1947. He replied: yes, but there is one slight difference: in Gernamy in 1947, they had an external government. I said: yes, that’s what I mean, and then I realized that with all these positive things about him I mentioned at the beginning of the post, he still thinks that 1) nothing can be done, 2) anything is better than a potential collapse of the state.
I joined Igor and other Russians in support of the Ukrainian rally condemning the kidnapping of Ukrainian children. As almost always happens at the Ukrainian rallies, I felt powerless and hopeless and unable to help. In general, I always believe in the power of the voice of the people, but today, possibly because of the continuously uncertain situation at the front, it was not the case. Nothing that our senators can do. Nothing they can vote on.
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
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.
Hettie's Reflections 