Prokhor, 44, a reseller with higher education, said he last went out to protest in 1991. “I did not even think about protesting these past 30 years,” he said.
“The economic indicators… as can be seen over the past 10 years, testify to [their] inability to govern the country effectively,” Prokhor continued. “The current status of recruiting, say, managers. The collapse of the national currency over the past ten years is a fiasco, in my opinion.”
Artem, a 36-year-old surveyor with higher education, says: “In the country as a whole, I am not happy with the fact we are following a dead-end path in all sectors, starting from foreign policy, when we have quarreled with almost all countries in 20 years, including the peoples closest to us. Plus, domestic policy, when our economy, education and demographic situation are in ruins.”
“Helplessness has been drilled into them”
Many of my conversations referred to moral indignation against injustice in society and the silence of the Russian authorities.
In addition, people on Pushkin Square were dissatisfied with censorship, lack of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
“I am worried that there are restrictions on freedom of speech and that people are afraid to express their opinion on any issues at all, and you can see this everywhere,” said a young man who had previously participated in Russia’s 2011-2012 fair election protest cycle.
“You can see this especially among the older generation,” he continued. “Helplessness has been drilled into them. They are afraid to talk about these topics. My uncle, for example, generally thinks that he is being bugged everywhere and that he should ‘avoid saying anything out of turn’. I think that if we break through this wall, it will be great.”
Artyom, another protester, also spoke about lack of freedom of speech:
“Finally, the thing that affects me most is censorship, propaganda. This is what puts pressure on your psyche every day, and a person has this kind of cognitive dissonance: he sees one thing, but hears another. It seems to me that this is a road to nowhere, and the further we drive into it, the worse it will be afterwards.”
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Elena Bezrukova | Radio Free (2021-02-10T08:29:29+00:00) Russian protesters on why they’re risking their futures. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/02/10/russian-protesters-on-why-theyre-risking-their-futures/
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