Aurora (not her real name) is a student and aspiring writer. She told how she preserves her psyche and pacifist views in a country where one’s own values ​​are punished. – I am writing to you, hoping for safety and anonymity. I consider it necessary to speak out against aggression at least in this way. I am already an adult girl, studying at the university. During the holidays and on free evenings I study with psychologists in a private center.

Evgenia Taganovich : “ Father said: I’ll put a machine gun on the roof ” “Russia bombed my childhood and took away my joy,” says Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter Evgenia Taganovich , recalling seeing footage of her hometown Vinnitsa after massive shelling. When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops began, she worked live, telling viewers about the war that had come into her own life. Behind the scenes there was pain and fear for my parents and old grandmother.

Rita Loginova: “I screamed when I found out that my brother had gone to war” Rita Loginova is a journalist and activist. She was born and worked for a long time in Novosibirsk, collaborated with independent Russian media: Taiga.info, Vorstka, Meduza . Among the main topics of her work are HIV, drug addiction, Russian prisons and xenophobia. After emigrating, he lives in Prague. Now she is the editor-in-chief of Glasnaya magazine and the author of the podcast “ Only Pluses ” .

Igor Sadreyev: “The death of a dictator does not mean the end of the regime” Why does the death of a dictator not mean the end of the regime , and how long can such a regime survive without its creator? Who might end up in power in Russia after Putin? And why do changes often not come from where they are expected?

“I just wanted to quit, live, find love and raise my son.” Artyom (name changed) wrote to us. He is 31 years old. He signed a contract for military service even before the start of a full-scale war. After a business trip to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, I decided not to return to the unit. Now he is being tried under the article of unauthorized abandonment of his unit. - I am a contract soldier, and soon I will be in prison.

Olesya (not her real name) works as a legal assistant in Krasnoyarsk and enjoys punk rock and bird watching. She compares herself to a bird in a cage, deprived of basic freedoms, at 24. Tearing down militaristic posters, writing anti-war slogans with a marker at bus stops and remaining faithful to principles - this is what resistance looks like in Russia in the fifth year of the war. - Hello. I also want to speak out because I feel like a bird in a cage that is not given freedom.

Asya (not her real name) is in her early forties. She and her husband are among those who did not leave Russia, although there was an impulse. Asya spoke about how those who remained were saved in her letter. - Hello! I stay in Moscow for reasons that actually bubble and rework inside me almost every day. First of all, elderly relatives who do not want to move anywhere.

Rita (name changed) is 35 years old. Originally from the Urals. She lived there, working as an illustrator, until the end of 2022. Now she and her husband are in Kazakhstan, and her dad, alone in his opposition to the war, remains in Russia with a pension of 15 thousand rubles. This story is about a lost dream and unbearable separation from a loved one. - Hello! Thank you for the opportunity to share my feelings.

Ruslan (name changed) is a native St. Petersburger. He is 26. His letter is about the survival of thinking young people who did not choose the current Russian government. There is no way to leave, everyone around me hates me, all my energy is spent on litigation with the military registration and enlistment office. And tomorrow it will only get worse. - Good afternoon. I really want to also speak out on all these vexed topics, but from a slightly different position.

Mikhail Kazinik: “Putin can do anything: kill everyone and destroy everyone” Mikhail Kazinik is a musician, art critic, writer, poet and educator. Lives in Sweden. We talked to him about the war, how Putin and Trump are similar and different from each other, and whether culture can prevent the apocalypse . Mikhail is convinced that he is already preventing it. In his opinion, humanity has long angered God so much that it deserves Armageddon.

Sasha Kazantseva : “ The boys don’t apologize. And they don’t repent " Sasha Kazantseva is a sex educator, LGBTQ activist , host of the telegram channel “ Washed My Hands, ” and author of the bestseller “Sex Itself.” Born at the height of perestroika. I had the opportunity to observe both the country’s movement towards democracy and its rollback. Now he lives in exile.

Maxim Kondratiev : “ In the camp you are a creature without rights ” Maxim Kondratyev , activist, founder of the human rights project Avtozak LIVE , which covered protests and human rights violations in Russia, helped Russians persecuted because of their political views. Maxim left Russia in 2022, after the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, and requested political asylum in the Netherlands. I lived in a refugee camp for a long time, and then received a residence permit.

Tatyana Frolova : “ Our teeth were knocked out a long time ago ” Tatyana Frolova is a director, born in Komsomolsk-on-Amur , in 1985 she created an independent theater there - the KnAM Theater . In its early years, the theater staged works of Western and modern Russian drama - Sartre, Ionesco, Strindberg, Mrozhek, Dmitry Prigov and other authors. Later, the team moved on to original and documentary productions, often based on interviews, chronicles and personal stories.

Negotiations between the United States and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine have not yet brought any results and each time reach a dead end.

Lev Ghammer : “ Grandfather is stuck, and there is no way out for him ” Lev Gyammer is 25. A native of Kuzbass, a journalist, former activist of the Protest Kuzbass movement, coordinator of Navalny’s Headquarters in Krasnodar and editor-in-chief of Skat Media. Now he is an “ordinary activist” of Viasna . Left Russia in 2021. He has been wanted since 2023, and since 2024 he has been arrested in absentia in the case of “organizing the activities of an extremist community.” Lives in Poland.