Russia's suburbs protest against the war

In the Siberian town of Čita on 1 May, a rally promoted by local communists became an opportunity to dust off pacifist slogans of Soviet memory, protesting against today's conflict in Ukraine. And now many local demonstrations on 9 May - Victory Day - are also being banned to avoid protests.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Several cities in Russia took advantage of public demonstrations in honour of May Day, traditionally very much felt both because of the ideological and symbolic value inherited from Soviet times, and because it is the date to which the beginning of the thaw is attributed, with outings and parties in the woods and by the lakes, where the ice is broken to dive into the rebirth of life. In this case, it was also an opportunity to escape the rhetoric of war, shared by the vast majority of the population out of conformity and submission, when in fact many would like to have the opportunity to express feelings of peace.

On the outskirts of the city of Čita in Siberia, a group of protesters gathered with signs Niet Voine, 'No to War', and Miru Mir, 'Peace to the World', after the authorities of the Zabajkal region had denied the request made by the local communists of the Kprf to hold the traditional meeting in the city centre.

Hundreds thus headed for the park in the hamlet of Tekstilščikov, near the textile factories that employ many people. Security forces tried to prevent access to the area, where in the end only a few dozen people managed to gather.

As regional Duma deputy Jurij Gajduk said, members of the trade unions in the area were also organising themselves, who were given strict orders not to show up at the rally. Only one trade union representative showed up, but she was afraid to speak on stage. In addition to avoiding pacifist proclamations, as Gajduk explained, the local authorities also feared protests against Governor Aleksandr Osipov in connection with the worsening social and economic conditions, which are beginning to be felt especially in the peripheral areas of the Russian Federation.

According to the deputy, 'what matters is not so much the small number of people who gathered, but also the total absence of the media, which could have conveyed our message to all the people... There were only a couple of journalists from the state media: they never tell the truth, anyway'.

Moreover, if independent journalists had turned up, they too would not have been able to broadcast anything, because 'they would have been thrown in jail immediately, perhaps with a life sentence'.

The few participants did, however, speak about the war in Ukraine, such as another regional deputy, Vladimir Kurbatov, who said: 'I didn't want to take the microphone, but this morning a woman approached me who had had the electricity cut off at home, and whose husband is fighting in Ukraine.

She does not have the money to pay the bills, and what her husband earns at the front is not known if and when it will come in. She explained this to the electricity officials, saying she was willing to pay by borrowing money... Do you know what those capitalists did? They went away on holiday, leaving her without electricity with three small children. The State promises to help the families of our soldiers, but in reality there are many cases like this; if there is no light, there is even no wood'.

The criticism of those present was therefore not limited to the local authorities, but went as far as questioning the abilities and proclamations of President Putin, who is accused of putting the entire country in crisis because of the mania for war in Ukraine.

Lawyer Aleksandr Ždanov, an exponent of the association 'Civil Solidarity', complains that 'even though the Criminal Code clarifies which formulas are punishable for discrediting the Armed Forces, in reality one is arrested only for writing Niet Voine, which was a slogan of the State itself since Soviet times, while propagandists are allowed to shout unspeakable and criminal things, even inciting to launch atomic bombs'. Ždanov warns that 'even if 90 per cent of the population supports propaganda, with nuclear war 90 per cent of the population disappears forever'.

The effects of the economic crisis are intensifying the feeling of helplessness and defeat even towards war. This is why even demonstrations on 9 May, an even more symbolic date for a Victory, which by now seems to be increasingly improbable and fake, are being banned everywhere.