‘Are you a tourist or a spy?’

In Russia’s Bryansk region, locals live in fear of shelling — and of speaking honestly about the war

In mid-April, officials in Russia’s Bryansk region declared a “heightened terrorist threat level” in their jurisdiction. In the months since, the region has repeatedly come under shelling. On June 11, a fire broke out on a military base in Klintsy, a town just 46 kilometers (about 29 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and three days later, multiple shells hit the village of Zaimishche on Klintsy's outskirts. Then, on July 5, three people in masks allegedly fired on the Klintsy base. The Ukrainian government has denied responsibility for at least one of the attacks in the area and has refrained from directly commenting on others. Russian news outlet 7x7 went to the Bryansk region to learn how local residents feel about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its consequences. With the site’s permission, Meduza is publishing an abridged translation of the report.

'Military service is your ticket to the future'

It takes three hours to get from Bryansk to Klintsy by bus. Although it's the weekend, the center of town seems deserted. Even in the summer of 2021, when pandemic restrictions were in place, the streets were less empty.

In the city center, next to a fountain on Lenin Square, an old man sits on a bench and feeds the pigeons. He ignores my request for an interview. Nearby, a young couple is taking a walk. When I ask them what it’s like to live under constant threat of shelling, they politely tell me that they have no idea; they're visitors here themselves. Then a woman carrying a purse walks by. She stops, but after hearing my question about the most recent shelling in the city, she continues on her way without answering.

It looks like I’ll have to keep walking if I want to find locals willing to talk. A child speeds past me on a scooter, a black baseball cap with a Z on his head. Later on, I see a teenager wearing a Z t-shirt. Some of the parked cars around town have Z bumper stickers, along with stickers that say, ‘We don’t abandon our own.’”

There are no soldiers in the streets — only Military Auto Inspection patrol cars.

The biggest reminders that Russia has been waging war across Ukraine for five months are the signs that say “Real men choose military contract service” and “Military contract service is your ticket to the future.” They hang in the windows of the local military surplus stores, where you can buy camouflage clothing and other army paraphernalia. One street in Klintsy has two of these stores across the street from one another.

‘We live in fear of getting pummeled”

“Are you a tourist or a spy? I’ve been watching you for several minutes now,” says a short, gray-haired man. He’s suspicious of the fact that I’m taking pictures of the contract service ads. But when I show him my passport, he agrees to talk.

“What’s the situation like in the city? I mean, it’s tense. How could it not be? We live in anticipation of getting pummeled. Sure, we fine in this area — there’s somewhere to hide. But I have family living in a village right next to the border that’s been shelling multiple times. When people go to bed, pack all of their documents in a bag in case they need to get out of the building and take cover in the forest,” he said.

The man tells me he has a cousin who lives in Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine. On the day before the special operation, his cousin’s wife wished him a happy Defender of the Fatherland Day.

“Because I’m a former soldier myself,” said the man. “And then when they shelled us in June, she wrote, ‘Serves you right!’ But what does this have to do with us? We’re not the ones that started all this. But that’s enough — I don’t want to talk my way into criminal charges.”

At this point, the man isn’t planning on leaving Klintsy, though his daughter lives in the Moscow region and has invited her parents to move there.

“How would I leave this place? It’s home — I’ve lived my whole life here. If everything really goes to hell, of course, then we’ll talk about it, but right now, I don’t even want to think about it,” he said.

The military base attack

There’s a rumor going around Klintsy that militant groups are hunting Russian soldiers. The rumors first arose after the authorities failed to explain the cause of a fire that broke out on a local military base on June 11. It took several teams of firemen to put it out, and even some military equipment burned down. Locals claim to have heard the sounds of blasts before the fire.

The rumors got worse when the news outlet Mash reported that on July 5, at 4:15 am, three people wearing masks and dark clothing allegedly fired on Military Base No. 12721, presumably using machine guns, and then hid. Mash also reported that the soldiers returned fire and hit one of the attackers. The news outlet Bryansk Street published part of the guidance that police allegedly used to search for the suspects.

Government officials and law enforcement officers are yet to officially comment on the rumors that the base was attacked. Local police advised 7x7 to reach out to military investigators for comment. Speaking unofficially, an unofficial said that military investigators have a policy against giving comments to journalists.

'With the salaries here, you can’t afford fines'

Klintsy journalists have steered clear of asking local officials about the fire and the alleged attack on the military base. A reporter from one local outlet, who requested anonymity, said that “none of the local journalists want to argue with the authorities, particularly given the circumstances.”

“Not only could you lose your job — you could run into far more serious issues. It goes without saying that the press has to cover the pro-war rallies and protests in glowing terms. Otherwise we won’t make it — we only really exist thanks to the state budget,” said the reporter.

According to him, in private conversations, many residents disapprove of what’s happening, “but on camera and in voice recordings, everyone will support the special operation and the president,” he said.

“Nobody will tell you anything different. That’s what it's like everywhere right now, not just in Klintsy. The combat has reached our city; people are living with anxiety and fear, but they’ll nonetheless continue to support the Russian army’s actions publicly. The salaries here aren’t high enough for people to afford fines, and nobody wants to end up in prison.”

‘If only we knew’

7x7’s correspondent went from Klintsy to the Zaimishche, a village on the town's southern outskirts. On the morning of June 14, Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz reported on Telegram that the village had been shelled. Later, in an interview with the state news network Rossiya 24, Bogomaz claimed that the strike had been carried out by Ukraine, using a Tochka-U missile.

“The actions taken by the Ukrainian government were intended to combat not the military, but ordinary people. We consider that an attack on civilians,” he wrote.

That same evening, Bogomaz traveled to the village and met with residents. It soon emerged that six people had suffered injuries in the shelling, and that 50 buildings had been damaged. The governor promised all of the victims financial compensation.

One month later, the Zaimishche streets are deserted. At the entrance to the village, an obelisk commemorates residents who died in the Second World War. Nearby, a new government office has opened; residents believe it’s where they’ll eventually receive the promised compensation payments. Across from the office is a grocery store.

“After everything that’s happened, it’s become quiet here. People used to smile, but now they’re sullen, short-spoken, and nervous. It makes you hope it’s temporary. Either way, life goes on. If only we knew when this will all be over,” said one of the store’s employees.

The buildings most badly damaged by the June shelling were ones on Kalinin and Belorusskaya Streets. After a shell landed in a garden outside, pieces of shrapnel hit the buildings, destroying ceilings and sending glass from windows flying. Residents have since repaned the windows in several of the buildings and patched or replaced the damaged roofs themselves. Rather than waiting for the compensation payments they were promised, some people have simply paid for repairs.

In the days that followed the shelling, village residents described the attacks to journalists and showed them the damage. Now, a month later, they’re reluctant to talk to the media at all. A man who lives on a street that was spared by the shelling described the paranoia that’s overtaken villagers.

“A rumor started circulating that Russian intelligence officials might come to figure out which way the population is leaning and identify any alarmists. Are you sure you're not one of those investigators yourself? Actually, never mind — you wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway. So what else can I say? Everything’s already been said. Besides, it’s difficult to remember [what happened]. People were horribly frightened. The main thing is that everyone is still alive. The governor came to our village along with the military commissar and the head of the city,” he said.

“Now people are waiting for the financial compensation they were promised. For people who weren’t injured but had their homes damaged, that’s the main thing on their minds right now. Fall and winter are coming. They need to be able to survive.”

Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale