Russia | A Russian journalist who fled to Finland believes in Russia’s change: “People are taking the first steps”

Andrei For years, Grišin worked as an independent journalist in the Russian Far East.

In 2019, he was beaten in the stairwell of his house. The attackers were sentenced. During the interrogations, they said that the regional parliamentarian ordered the crime, but retracted their words in court.

Last spring, the situation finally became so difficult that we had to leave Magadan.

“I took a stand against the war and wrote about the war in the media. I was interrogated three times by the police and once by the security service.”

34-year-old Grišin has done military service. He came to Finland after the business launch started in October.

Just A Russian cannot come to Finland further than Magadan.

The city is located on the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, eight time zones east of Moscow. The distance from the capital by road is more than 10,000 kilometers.

There are 90,000 inhabitants in the city of Magadan, less than 140,000 in the entire region. During the Soviet era, better salaries attracted people to the north, but now most of them have moved away.

Many of the remaining ones would also like to leave. About 16,000 are waiting for housing promised by the state in other parts of Russia.

“Last year, 23 got an apartment, so it would take more than 650 years to break the queue at the current rate,” says Grišin, who, despite the tragedy, can also laugh at the reality of Russia.

“

“A large number of men were loaded onto planes and taken away.”

Distant Magadan is like a miniature model of Russia at war.

Mobilization has hit Siberia and the Far East hard. The online newspaper Mediazona estimated the number of those mobilized last month based on marriage statistics. Based on the figures, clearly more men have been mobilized from Russia on the Asian side than from the west.

While the official goal of mobilization is about one percent of reservists, in Magadan the number would be 3.6 percent. Grišin estimates that of the 140,000 inhabitants of the area, 1,200–2,000 have been involved in the war.

“The scale of the mobilization surprised everyone. A large number of men were loaded onto planes and taken away.”

“

“When the boss says, here is your order, go there tomorrow, and 90 percent obey and go.”

Mobilization has affected schools and municipal employees. The regional administration received 126 letters of invitation. At least 15 air traffic controllers received departure passes to Ukraine, which caused a crisis in air traffic control.

According to Grišin’s information, one third of the workers from one gold mining company were mobilized. In another, a director refused to serve enlistment orders on workers, prompting the governor to call for the director’s induction.

Grišin is amazed at how obediently people follow the orders for enlistment, the failure of which only results in a fine.

“People imagine that they will go to jail just because they didn’t go to the draft board. When the boss says here is your order, go there tomorrow, and 90 percent obey and go.”

Some have gone to the draft board on their own initiative to find out why they don’t have to serve. They have been sent to war.

“For example, one man brought a certificate of illness, but he was immediately mobilized. The man had to call his friends and ask them to bring winter clothes. After a couple of hours, he was taken to the airport.”

“

“If the decision-makers see that the war is so unpopular that it threatens them themselves, they will stop it.”

Part goes to war of his own free will. They have adopted the official propaganda that it is a NATO threat against Russia.

Money can also motivate. The mobilized have been promised the same salary as contract soldiers serving in Ukraine, i.e. 195,000 rubles (almost 3,200 euros) per month.

“That’s a lot of money, three times the average salary in Magadan. In addition, the Magadan region will pay everyone a one-time compensation of 150,000 rubles (more than 2,400 euros)”

Mobilized the relatives have founded an association in Magadan, which, with the help of lawyers, has tried to return the men, e.g. citing health, family situation, age or work. According to Grišin’s information, 54 people have made it home.

However, according to him, relatives are often more worried about the poor equipment of the soldiers than about the forced capture itself. Woolen socks and canned goods have been collected for those mobilized in social groups. Public power has involved people in the war by organizing gatherings.

In the republics inhabited by minority peoples in Dagestan, Buryatia and Magadan’s neighbor Yakutia, the move sparked protests, but in Russian regions, demonstrations have hardly been seen.

“People treat the mobilization as a force of nature, as if the state and Putin had not decided on it, but God himself had sent it as a scourge on the Russians,” says Grišin.

According to Grišin, the rulers of Russia rely on the support of the people.

“If they see that the war is so unpopular that it threatens themselves, they will stop it. Instead, if they see that with mobilization they can win, they will continue.”

The mobilization has caused panic among people. Therefore, it has been decided to stop it for the time being.

War and its consequences divide people and families in Russia.

Grishin’s father has announced that if he were younger, he would volunteer to fight against Ukraine.

In the media, you could write about the war at the beginning. After the censorship laws came into force, the materials had to be removed.

Still, for example, it is possible to deal with business initiation and the burden caused by the war on the economy, according to Grišin. He has also written about losses. The most important thing to mention is that Russia denies everything.

“We use the opportunities we still have, even though they seem to be fewer and fewer all the time.”

Recently, Grišin wrote about the incident of the 155th brigade. It was a text that appeared on the Internet on November 6, in which the marines of the Russian Pacific Fleet reported heavy losses in Pavlivka, Donbas, Ukraine.

As a result of the carefully planned operation of the so-called great warlords, we have lost in four days 300 killed, wounded and missingthe text said.

Russian war bloggers considered the information correct.

According to Grišin, many of those mobilized from Magadan have not been in contact with their relatives for weeks.

“The question arises whether there is no connection or whether these people no longer exist.”

“

Grišin estimates that both supporters and opponents of the war are in the minority.

Large some Russians get their information from social media. The importance of Telegram is emphasized when Facebook and Instagram are closed.

According to Grišin, you can see two-fold criticism of those in power on social media. Others are firmly against the war. Others bark Putin for softness, when he has not used a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

“Although people use a VPN connection, few of the TV viewers go to the Dožd, BBC, Meduza and Mediazona sites.”

Grišin estimates that both supporters and opponents of the war are in the minority. Most Russians settle in between, and their souls are fought for.

“I think people are tired of war and don’t understand why it is being fought. I have talked with the volunteers helping the mobilized. You could imagine them supporting a patriotic line, but when I ask about the justification for the war, they refuse to answer.”

“

Many well-known entrepreneurs of Ukrainian background publicly support the war.

of Magadan in the area, history is intertwined with the present in a unique and sad way.

There was one known area along the Kolyma River Stalin’s the most notorious parts of the archipelago of prison camps, where innocent convicts were sent to dig for gold in horrible conditions.

“To send to Kolyma means in Russia to send to death,” describes Grišin.

Many of the convicts were from Ukraine. Even today, many descendants of Ukrainians live in the area. However, their mouths are closed.

The chairman of the association of Ukrainians in the region supports the special operation.

Also many well-known entrepreneurs with a Ukrainian background, such as the owner of gold mines Alexander Basansky publicly support the war.

“They believe they will lose their business if they turn against the war,” says Grišin.

Also a Ukrainian city manager from Magadan Yuri Grišan favors a “special operation”. His son lives in Ukraine, and the father has resigned from his offspring. For Grišin, this reminds him of Soviet times.

“Fear speaks in him, not himself,” he says.

Ratio The Gulag in Magadan is twofold.

The authorities still remember the victims of political persecutions, but in the summer a monument to NKVD workers who tortured prisoners was unveiled in the city.

A commission has been established in the Magadan region to find out how many of the Kolyma prisoners were actually convicted on political grounds. Grišin believes that the purpose is to show that many ended up in Siberia through their own fault.

“

“Power can falter if the standard of living collapses or loved ones start being brought home in coffins.”

of Magadan the region’s economy is still based on gold mines. Now Western countries have banned the import of Russian gold.

“Gold is apparently sold to China and India at such a big discount that digging it is becoming unprofitable,” says Grišin.

The largest gold company in the area was the Canadian Kinross, which has now, however, sold its mines to the Russians at a ridiculous price.

According to Grišin, Russia is at a dead end.

“Power stands on two legs. One is the standard of living, the other is the lack of knowledge. Power can falter if the standard of living collapses or loved ones start being brought home in coffins.”

Grishin says that he has never imagined that he could live outside of Russia. Even in Finland, he uses his time to follow Russian affairs and keep in touch with his family.

“I would like Russia to change. I also want to do everything in my power to end the war. I think people are starting to think about what’s going on and are taking the first steps. You have to keep explaining things to them. The key to change is the truth.”