A Muscovite, who was sent to a special detention center after an anti-war picket, left Russia

A resident of the capital, Kateryna Varenik, who was arrested for 12 days after a picket at the monument to Lesya Ukrainka, left Russia. She spoke about this in an interview with SOTA.

The girl left the country on February 17, at the moment she is in Kyrgyzstan.

“I don’t want to get a criminal case while in Russia, and I’m even a little surprised that this hasn’t happened yet,” Varenik comments on his departure from SOTA. - I understand that I'm leaving for an indefinite period. I am not as brave as the political prisoners who remain in the country. But I want to tell them words of support and that I see our future in them. Dictatorships can exist for a long time, they feed on our fear, but they are not eternal. I believe that my husband and I and our future children will definitely return.”

On January 21, Kateryna Varenik went to a solo picket near a spontaneous memorial in memory of those who died in the Dnieper near the monument to Lesya Ukrainka. On her poster, she wrote "Ukraine is not our enemies, but brothers." The girl was detained, the police drew up protocols on disobedience to representatives of the authorities (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and on discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

As a result, Varenik was arrested for 12 days and fined 50,000 rubles. In special detention center No. 2, where she was sent to serve her arrest, the picketer caught a cold. Despite fever and headaches, she was denied medical attention.

“After leaving the special detention center, I was in constant stress, I slept for a maximum of five hours a day,” Varenik tells SOTA. - Coming out from under arrest, I was frightened when I heard the sound of a running engine on the street. I thought that they would pick me up again at the exit, but it turned out that only journalists were standing outside the gate.”

• have left Russia since the start of the war with Ukraine According to various estimates, from 150,000 to 300,000 citizens . For many activists, journalists and public figures, the reason for leaving was fear of possible criminal prosecution. After the start of the “special operation”, the Russian authorities began to open criminal cases more often against those who oppose the war or are simply engaged in opposition activities. On September 21, Vladimir Putin also announced a “partial” mobilization in Russia, which provoked a new outflow of people leaving the country.