"Fear has mastered all of Russia." How Pskov pensioners "discredit" the army

In April, VTsIOM said that in Russia the number of citizens supporting the war in Ukraine increased by 10%. Now there are 74% of them instead of the previous 64%. More often the rest of the supporters of the war are people over 50 who regularly watch TV and are used to trusting propaganda. But in this group “everything is not so unambiguous”: only in the last week in the Pskov region the police drew up three protocols for “discrediting the Russian army” for representatives of the older generation. The correspondent of the North. Realia spoke with pensioners who disagree with the war.

Vladimir Sukhorukov is 59 years old. In the Pskov region he is known as an athlete-marathon. He ran 111 marathons - in Australia, the USA, in half of Europe and, of course, in Russia. In addition to running, Vladimir organizes city and district crosses, hiking in the Pechor reserved places, holds regional winter swimming championships.

Since 2017, Vladimir came to all the races in the T -shirt "Alexey Navalny - our president". In it, he appeared at every protest rally - he specially rode for stocks by bus for 50 kilometers. Each time, the police demanded a passport from him and rewrote the data.

-I put on this T-shirt after the arrival of Alexei Navalny in Pskov, I was at that meeting, then at a rally in the crosses, came up to him, a sorry for his hand, they talked about something-I no longer remember. Navalny will be our president, I believe in it! I listen to him a lot, I understand, believe and wait for him to be free again, ”the marathon explains.

For rallies in the memory of Boris Nemtsov, he had a special T -shirt - against the yellow background of eight questions and answers "Who killed Boris Nemtsov? Putin!"

"The whole country jumped, but I did not jump"

Today, on the avatar, Sukhorukov in VKontakte hangs a Ukrainian flag with the inscription: "I am a Russian against war." The status is also bright - "Putin's gang under trial."

- On February 24, I experienced shock. Well, they said, the TV said, even though I don’t listen to him that there would be no attack, but we do what we want on our territory, “we are holding the exercises at the border with Ukraine, and what is impossible?” - These were their arguments. I did not expect, - Sukhorukov admits. - And on the first day of the war, he changed his avatar in VKontakte. He talked with his friends and acquaintances on the topic of war, conducted polls in his social networks. With those who for the war, I break all the relationship. I have nothing to talk about with them. I have many friends in Ukraine, I have been to many Ukrainian cities, mainly thanks to sports. And now they are bombing the Russian army, and if my "friends" (now only in quotation marks) support this, then you know what? Aufiderzein!

Vladimir now works as a janitor on the Russian-Estonian border. On April 18, two in civilian clothes came to work for him and demanded to drive with them. He says that he was not ready and did not even take glasses with him. In the department he was told to turn off the phone, the marathon obeyed.

- They had a whole dossier compiled about my publications on VKontakte, they began with a change in the avatar and all other posts on the list. Ephesians and the district police officer interrogated me, but no one seemed to be, so I don’t know my names. They suggested that I apologize to the Russian military, which I allegedly, from their words, offended my publications on my page. I said that the Russian military does not read my page, and I will not apologize, ”says Sukhorukov. - They proved that Putin and the army are doing everything right, and I am not a patriot of my country. I was not convinced, since their "evidence" is what the TV says.

The police drew up a protocol for discrediting the Russian army, but did not give a copy on their hands.

- They scared that if I engage in "illegal activity", then there will be a criminal. The country has gone crazy! Somewhere I saw such a comment: "Let's go from the roof of a 9-storey house will jump?!" - "Are you a fool?" - "So they still jump, and nothing!" And the impression is that the whole country "jumped" already. And I did not jump. Probably, I have to go through this test to become stronger. I want to go! Will I stand it? After all, all this is indeed, in fact, and I don’t know that they can come up with, ”says Sukhorukov.

"How to talk to children now?"

For the love of Zhiltsova, the police came to school in the village of Slopygino on April 18. She has been working as a mathematics teacher at the Kharlapkovo school of Palkinsky district for 30 years. On February 25, Lyubov Vasilievna published on her VKontakte page her own photo with the poster “No War” at the school board. When the police appeared at school, Zhiltsova first thought that they were looking for authors of anti -war inscriptions, who regularly appear at a local rural stop.

Major Markov refused to show her a report on the discovery of photographs on her page, on the basis of which a case was opened against her for discrediting the Russian army. When asked by Zhiltsova about who exactly compiled him, answered evasively: "Employees." The major promised that she could see all the materials in court.

- Against the backdrop of this situation, in March I thundered to the hospital with a heart attack. The whole world rolled over for me. Every year I am preparing by May 9, I am preparing, I write a script, rehearse ... And how now to talk about this with the children? I could not be silent, it burned, ”she explains the reasons for the appearance of publication in VKontakte. - We always said that the events of 1941-1945 should not be repeated. Grandfathers and great -grandfathers fought for peace around the world, so that the blood never poured again. When the schoolchildren had conflicts, I always said to them: "Comrades are dear, we differ from animals in that we can agree on any issue." And now? People die, the guns shoot, but they tell us that this is not a war. How is that?

She believes that Russia is returning to the "distant Soviet past in its worst manifestation."

- Stalin's times pop up. I didn't find them. But now everything becomes like them. In the direction of freedom of speech now, no one even looks around. But the police understand everything. Everyone understands everything, but pretend that it is necessary. This is not even absurd. Everyone turned upside down and said that it was good. You can’t write "not to kill", Nekrasov cannot be read. It is scary and incomprehensible how it will end, ”says the teacher.

"About the world is scary to stutter"

The 62-year-old pensioner from the village of Krasny Coast in the Velikoluksky district of the Pskov region Ivan Kotkov at the first anti-war picket was released on February 24. Kotkov wrote on a sheet of paper "He is not a god, he is a killer" and stood with him in the center of the great bow.

- I'm for the world, I am against the war. Today's war is even worse, it is between fraternal peoples. Thanks to this power, we Russians moved away from the whole world, ”he explained his position.

On February 26, Kotkov reached the second picket with the poster "No War." He was detained 15 minutes later, a poster was seized in the department and an explanation was taken from the farmer. He was warned that if he reaches the action again, he would be arrested. After that, the pensioner did not go to the pickets, but pasted the “no war in Ukraine” on his personal car.

On March 12, he, together with his wife, grandchildren and car, was detained by police. They stated that Kotkov violates the law with his sticker: according to the authorities, Russia is not conducting any war now, and the army in Ukraine is a special operation. On the same day, the pensioner had a court who ruled that Kotkov “demonstrated the sticker to others and thereby distorted and discredited the tasks of using the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation outside Russia and the armed forces themselves, which are used on the basis of generally recognized norms of international law”.

“A special military operation is aimed at preventing the development of a situation that can lead to a global military confrontation, and aims to suppress a military conflict in the Donbass. Conducting a special operation, unlike the war, is not directed against the civilian population of Ukraine,” Judge Galina Shlapakova emphasized.

Ivan Kotkov did not plead guilty. The appointed fine of 30 thousand rubles is now disputing.

- I am for the world and freedom of every country! I did not discredit the Russian army. This is the first such court in my life, ”the pensioner says.

On April 19, Kotkov began a new trial under the same article on discrediting the Russian army. The reason was the video with the sticker "No War in Ukraine" by car of the pensioner, which he removed and posted in VKontakte with the words: "Who needs this war? What is this war for?" The police explained to him that the second time they accuse him for the same sticker, because then she hung by car and only people saw her, and now, when there is a video on the Internet, more people are looking at her, and this is a completely different audience.

- This is abnormal, the authorities itself made this article for its goals - to intimidate, to punish. They want to make everyone think, as the authorities think, and support them, ”Kotkov explains. - I know how they are fighting with those who do not agree, and I'm afraid, of course. But I want to do something necessary. Now it’s not true around, and I want to express my opinion against her. It is necessary to tell people the truth, to strongly talk about what is really happening. But what words to find for this truth? This is the most important question.

He is surprised that people have not yet reacted to his posts on the Internet and are simply silent. But the police are well aware of what they are doing, Kotkov is sure.

“They understand that they are doing some kind of stupidity.” After the second protocol was issued for me, one of the major said: "Sorry, but we have such a job." The fact is that in Russia everything turned upside down. Previously, the concept was that the world is a world. And now it turns out that it is scary to stutter about the world. Fear has mastered all of Russia. Most are silent, units can say: “We are for peace, we are against war,” Kotkov believes.

“But there are those who support the war?”

- When I went to pickets, I heard support from 12 people while I stood. And four people asked even to stand nearby. And only two were indignant. One woman called the police, the other twisted at the temple. From this we can conclude that the majority are just scary. But I will still tell the truth about what is actually happening now in Ukraine.

According to the data in mid -April, more than 600 administrative cases have already received the Russian courts under article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, RBC reports with reference to the SAS system "Justice". The record holders in the number of protocols were the Kaliningrad region, St. Petersburg and Crimea. In Pskov, administrative fines for the “discrediting of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” were already received by politician Lev Schlosberg and his wife Jeanne Schlosberg, on April 22, a court was appointed a protocol drawing up for the volost deputy Nikolai Kuzmin. In total, nine cases were received in the Pskov courts under Art. 20.3.3 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, of which five cases were considered, “fines from 30,000 rubles were assigned to offenders,” the United press service of the courts of the Pskov region reports.