Eva (not her real name) lives in constant fear that her boyfriend will be recruited to fight in the war. Her sister's husband had already returned from there seriously wounded. For 7 million rubles, he lost the joy of life and lost himself. – My story is more modest than that of most who have been there. I myself, to my great joy, have not encountered any losses in my family. Even before the start of the war, it consisted almost entirely of women. But I have a boyfriend.

A girl from the Moscow region wrote to us. She is 18 years old. She talks about school after the start of the war, conflict with her family, the death of her brother, and about her boyfriend, who went to serve in the Russian Guard. — I live in the Moscow region. I don’t remember exactly when the war started for me. I remember how in the evenings at the dacha I listened to my parents’ furious discussions in front of the TV.

The author of this letter received a military-patriotic education. Conversations with his Ukrainian grandfather, reading and self-education triggered a revision of his ideas about what was happening. This cost him his mental balance, but he was able to win his family over to his side. - Hello. I want to share my story, which may help support those who are now feeling powerless.

Valery Panyushkin : “Are you my sister or are you my enemy?” Valery Panyushkin is a Russian journalist and writer. Worked for the publications Kommersant, Vedomosti, The New Times, Esquire and Snob. He was the chief editor of Snob, hosted a program on Dozhd, headed Takie Dela and Rusfond. In the spring of 2022, he left Russia. Now he lives with his family in Latvia and works in the investigative department of Radio Liberty Sistema.

Zalina Marshenkulova : “ We need to show that we are not all orcs ” Zalina Marshenkulova is a Russian feminist, journalist, and blogger. She runs the “ Women’s Power ” telegram channel. She emigrated from Russia shortly after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He is on the international wanted list on charges of “justifying terrorism.” “I left without anything, without things, I didn’t even go into my apartment...

Evgeniy Lyubovenko : “ My child will not have conversations about important things ” Evgeniy Lyubovenko is a veterinarian from St. Petersburg. 2 years ago I moved to Batumi. Perhaps he would have left earlier, but the war coincided with his wife’s pregnancy.

Maria Aleph : “ Were we great? No, we were terrible! » Maria Alef is a cultural manager, publisher, co-founder of the Vidim Books publishing house, coordinator of the Enlightener award and book clubs.

Franak Vyachorka : “ I was lucky - they gave me only 20 years, but didn’t shoot me ” Franak Vyachorka, chief adviser to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. In his homeland, Belarus, he was sentenced in absentia to twenty years in prison. “If it weren’t for Lukashenko, perhaps Belarus would not have been drawn into this war. And so in one day we turned from heroes who fight the regime into co-aggressors.

Tata Stepanova : “ A maniac at the head of the state – and everyone is in admiration ” Tata Stepanova is a restaurateur, blogger, and creator. Born in a small town near Odessa, she lived in the Urals, then in St. Petersburg. I spent most of my adult life organizing events. Tata talks about how her father “raised his hand against her,” her stepfather beat her, she had difficult relationships with her husbands later, and other traumatic events in her life, which Tata talks about in her TikTok .

In our hospital, the majority want “our boys” to win A resuscitator from Russia wrote to us. After the outbreak of a full-scale war, she found herself in the minority among her colleagues and friends, and her anti-war position began to influence her work. She can't leave yet. — Hello, dear “Eyewitnesses”! I’m 45. I’m so old that I was still in the USSR, and I’m young enough to understand that that system was a mistake.

This is a letter from a young sound engineer. Two years ago he was invited to work for a federal television channel in Moscow. And the author of the letter accepted the offer. Excellent salary, incredible professional opportunities, but something itches in my soul. - My name is Kel. I'll start from afar. Somehow it happened that from childhood I was inspired by the culture of Slavic peoples, including Ukrainian. In 2021 I turned 16 years old.

“I can’t live without Ukraine” Ksenia (name changed) wrote to us. She was born in Moscow, but since 2008 she has considered Ukraine her home. A few months before the start of a full-scale war, she worked in Europe and, as a citizen of the Russian Federation without Ukrainian citizenship, cannot return to her husband, friends and her former life. — I was born in Moscow, during the USSR, in 1979. The family is ordinary, even decently wealthy. After school I entered the RUDN University.

Andrey (name changed) is from Kharkov. He received his higher education in Simferopol. At the referendum in 2014, he voted against “annexation,” but remained in Crimea and later received Russian citizenship. In 2022, the front line cut off Andrei from his parents’ home. He interrupted his career in the tourism business - he was unable to communicate with people who tolerated invasion. Now he is 35 years old. He earns money by copywriting and is increasingly thinking about emigrating.

Maria Rose : “ The son knows: “Dad is in Putin’s prison” Maria Rose is a civil activist, the wife of Kirov political prisoner Richard Rose. Together with her husband she is on the Russian list of “terrorists”. By education she is an opera singer. She met her husband, a conservatory graduate with a degree in organ and harpsichord, in a coffee shop where she worked as a waitress and he worked as a security guard. Both were detained in the spring of 2022 for anti-war statements.

I was ready to go to prison, the main thing is not to fight Sergey was born in Udmurtia , he says that he spent a long time looking for himself in life, and found it in the field of car valuation. Everything was fine until there was deception on the part of the client, and a large sum of money was pinned on Sergei. There was nothing left to give, and he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to work as an auto mechanic. According to him, it was a difficult moral choice.