“What are you doing, old woman?”

“Now we would like someone like Gorbachev…”

I was born in November 1941 in Yekaterinburg, the war was already in full swing. When dad returned from the front, we were sent to Pskov with him. I spent my youth there, and after my studies I was assigned to Sverdlovsk, which became Yekaterinburg in 1991. Since then, I've been stuck here.

All my life I worked in the Uralsky Rabochiy printing house: first as a designer, then as a foreman, and as the head of the stitching shop. We had a large party organization there. When the secretary retired, this position was offered to me, and I no longer dealt with the main work, only party issues. There were about 200 people in our organization, I organized meetings, spoke myself. We were proud of Brezhnev then: although we laughed in recent years, we were still proud.

When Gorbachev came, my eyes were opened. I was 44 years old. The printing house was party-owned, there was less money, but then we began to print [Alexander] Solzhenitsyn, [Mikhail] Bulgakov and other previously banned writers, we read them, discussed them. I left the party organization and returned to work as a foreman in the printing shop, and so I worked until retirement.

I am very grateful to Gorbachev and Gaidar. Freedom was felt, despite the hungry times and queues that had to be defended for hours for everything. Gorbachev turned our understanding of what is happening and how we live, what foundations we have, what rules. I remember, during perestroika, you ride the bus, and the driver turns on the meeting of deputies, how they swear, discuss everything. Now we would like someone like Gorbachev ... I want democracy, I want freedom of speech, I want elections, so that the Federation Council is dispersed.

" *According to my own sociology, 76% are in favor of the war *"

The first time I went out into the street to protest was when people were imprisoned because of the Bolotnaya case and a rally in defense of political prisoners was announced in Yekaterinburg. Prepared a poster - large, well readable. And since then, the sixth has become sacred for us (the clashes on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow took place on May 6, 2012, it was after that day that criminal cases appeared due to protests. - Note "Cold"), every month on the sixth we went out, people 50-60. I myself more than once was the informer of these rallies on the sixth day, that is, I brought notifications to the Ministry of Public Security of the Sverdlovsk Region. Everyone there has known me for a long time, they call me by my first name and patronymic.

Over time, they began to forbid us [to hold rallies]: first due to coronavirus restrictions, now allegedly because of the war. We are now gathering on the sixth day at the local Memorial, signing postcards for political prisoners. We write letters, congratulations on the upcoming holidays. Of course, we don’t know them much, and they don’t know us either, but they still say that such postcards and letters are very supportive of people who are in prison: they feel some kind of support from like-minded people.

When I saw the news on February 24, I was horrified. A few days later I drew a poster “Putin, your war with Ukraine will strangle Russia. We must think ahead. Or is it not working anymore? ”, I went out next to the house to a bus stop. We have a bus station there, a lot of people walk by. They began to pounce on me, they said: “Cattle”, “What are you doing, old woman?” pulled out the poster. One woman asked: "How much did you get paid?" People do not even suspect that this is done from the heart. I stood and counted: that day 26 people approached me with insults and 8 people showed, they say, they are with me. It turns out, according to my own sociology, 76% are "for" the war, 24% are "against".

I have been fined three times since the beginning of the year. The first - on the day of memory of Boris Nemtsov, February 27. Usually on this day we are on duty at the place where flowers are brought, we talk with people, we make sure that the flowers are not stolen. This year, I was the first to be on duty, and the police grabbed me right away in the morning. They drew up a protocol and released me, I immediately returned to the square to see what was happening there. And there, our action is calm: people come, the police are on duty, they smile. Why it was necessary to grab me, it is not clear. That day I was fined 15,000 , which is practically the size of my pension. I live with my daughter and son-in-law, so I know that I won’t be left without food, but it’s still a decent amount for me. Through “ROSfine” ( a telegram channel created to help pay fines under “political” articles. - Approx. “Cold”), they announced a collection of money to pay for my fine, and in half a day I received 20-something thousand - even extra the money had to be redirected to the next person to whom it was collected.

The next time I was fined 70 thousand - these are two penalties for "discrediting" the army. On April 27, I went out with an anti-war poster: everything then calmly passed, stood for a while, returned home. And then on May 8, she printed home-made leaflets, on which she wrote that people should not watch TV, they lie there, and went to distribute them in the park. I managed to hand out only four leaflets, when they detained me, and immediately wrote out two protocols. And the court later fined 40 and 30 thousand , respectively. It spread throughout the city, in the morning they announced a collection for a fine, and in the evening I already had 95 thousand. And again I gave those thousands back so that others would pay [their fines].

There are many kind people, some send 200 rubles, 300, some a thousand. Due to the fact that there are a lot of people, fines are quickly closed.

" *Sitting on the couch is a disgrace *"

[Yevgeny] Roizman also knows me. When he was the mayor of Yekaterinburg, he had visiting days, you could easily come to him. Sometimes, before the actions, I went to him and said: “If you pass by, take your time, stay with us,” he answered that if there was time, he would come. He always greeted us. And now they ran into him - you have to be indignant about what to do. He did so many good deeds for Yekaterinburg, I believe that he raised his status. People learned [thanks to Roizman] that there is such a city.

On August 24, when Roizman was detained, many people in the center came out in support of him. And I also came out with a poster "Roizman's good deeds raise the status of the Urals." Employees of the Ministry of Public Security walked past me, saying: “Hello, Galina Vasilievna. We ask you, please do not get into the thick of things, otherwise anything can happen. And then there were arrests. But they didn’t touch me, I stood a little on the sidelines.

I think that among the police there are normal, good people. Well, they have such a position, what can you do. But there are also real sadists who beat with sticks, grab by the neck. In general, many [policemen] whom I meet are kind people. Even one person told me: “In a year I will retire, I will join your ranks.” Well, I don’t know, maybe he won’t join, but in any case, he also sees a mess and injustice. They work, probably, because they simply cannot find another job or do not know how to do anything.

After I started protesting, I got a lot of like-minded people. Basically, these are people 40-50 years old, recently young people, even 18-year-olds, have begun to appear. Now everyone is intimidated, many have left Russia, but sitting on the couch is a shame. You still have to express your opinion.

My peers are 4-5 people. After the pickets, if everything ends calmly, we go to a French cafe like old European ladies. And under the European chanson we sit there, drink coffee. The main thing is to feel like a person.

I have one problem - this is that my daughter and son-in-law are watching Solovyov, Kiselev, Skabeeva. We don't talk about [politics]. I believe that peace in the family is the most sacred thing. And since propaganda works well, we do not discuss these issues with them. My family does not know about my detentions, trials, fines. I don't report to them, and they only watch TV. They don't show me on TV. Courts are held while they are at work. They probably guess where I go, but we don't talk about it. I am not persuading anyone. How can I do this when Solovyov shouts at them from the TV? I can't scream like that: I'm a calm, benevolent person.