No more fanart for now, just some anti-war leaflets. I donβt have a printer and going to a copy center would be dangerous, so I have to make them with my own hands (alas, leaving my fingerprints everywhere). Iβm pretty sure I was followed by two cars while pasting them up π€ͺ
Ukraine / Czechoslovakia and Poland
Under a pretext of protecting
early in the morning when people were sleeping
Patriots, don't stay silent)
(βWe will go to heaven and theyβll just bite the dustβ
Β© Putin V. V. about a nuclear war
Apparently this kind of art makes me a criminal. In Russia, where everyone is pompously lectured since kindergarten about the horrors of war and the sacrifice of our people during the World War II. My great-grandmother survived the siege of Leningrad. She was a doctor who saved many lives while being bombed and literally starving. Luckily, she died two years ago, so she doesnβt have to know about the new Hitler, born in the very same city sheβd helped save.
- Telling any uncomfortable truth about the war might get you 15 years in prison. We canβt even call it a war. They are literally telling us war is peace!
- Providing any help to Ukraine = 12 to 20 years (this is βhigh treasonβ).
- Participating in protests = up to 6 years in prison. To put that into perspective, beating your wife will just get you a fine.
- The government has already threatened to reinstall the death penalty.
- Many people detained for protesting are brutally beaten, girls are threatened by rape.
- Some of the last independent media have been destroyed this week.
- Yesterday cops were visiting homes to carry out searches and/or discourage people from taking part in todayβs protests.
- Reportedly, childrenβs services threatened a family to take away their adopted child for signing an anti-war petition.
- People are expelled from universities and fired from their jobs for protesting or just speaking out against the war.
- Many people are leaving the country. Prices of the tickets have skyrocketed, so you have to be pretty well-off to afford them, and it feels like everyone with any power to do good is abandoning us.
- Personally, I wasnβt cautious and did something worth 20 years of prison. I have no money and nowhere to run.
- The whole country is officially cancelled. Some sanctions will help us bury this regime, but some others are cruel and counterproductive. For example, weβll have no foreign medicines, so basically no decent medicines at all. This will hit people with disabilities, mental disorders and chronic diseases. Many will die. Iβve barely managed to find one pack of my antidepressant and itβs likely the last one in my life. Somethingβs wrong with my joints or probably nerves. Walking hurts. Whatever it is, I wonβt get any help now.
- Why take away pet food? My cat needs special food because of renal insufficiency. Heβll probably die without it.
- Cutting us off from services like Paypal is affecting creators, some of the most free-thinking people out here. Ironically, Paypal was the back-up that allowed many people to protest against the war despite the risk of being fined and/or losing their jobs.
What next? I dunno, anything might happen. By attacking Ukraine Putler has obviously made a fatal mistake and shot himself in the foot. It really feels like his end is close. The question is how long the agony will last and how many people heβll take with him.
Tomorrow we could wake up in a free country or in North Korea. That is, if we wake up at all. All the civilized world apparently expects us to overthrow Putler, which might or might not happen. There are many people poisoned by years upon years of militaristic propaganda. Others are in denial, or too frightened, or burnt out to the point of being dead inside. You could put a stick up their asses and theyβd be like: βThis is fine, Iβll get used to itβ. They are actually proud of their "flexibility" and "survival skills". I donβt know if they will come around when they have nothing to eat. Many of us young(ish) people are screaming ourselves hoarse to get through to our parents and itβs like talking at walls.
I wasnβt prepared for this reality where you have to be a hero to be a decent person, where you have to become a martyr or the whole world will shame and despise you. I just wanted to be an artist. Iβm not asking for pity, though. Iβm just asking you, whoever reads this, not to dehumanize us. I actually cried from gratitude while listening to some of the European politicians who emphasized Putler is not Russia. Heβs not. We are. I want you to know there are people in Russia who care about justice, freedom, human lives and rights. We will never forgive him.
Even if the protests stop, please donβt think weβre done, weβll just find quieter ways of resistance and sabotage. All of our futures have been stolen, all of our dreams are dead and MURDERS are being commited in our names. Thatβs not something we can accept or patch with fandom stuff. Many of us are thinking about killing ourselves if Putlerβs regime survives, but we will not β because we want to see him lose his money, his friends, his freedom and his life. I refuse to die while that botox rat lives. I will keep going. One day I'll sing and dance and piss on his grave.
Peace for Ukraine, freedom for Russia and Belarus, death for Putler.
