Russians Opposed to War in Ukraine have Options as Putin Marks Victory Day, ‘Horizontal Russia’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 8 – As Putin leads his regime in a celebration of Victory Day, which of course is not no much about events 80 years ago than about those taking place now, Russians who oppose the Kremlin leader’s war in Ukraine have some good options, according to the editors of Horizontal Russia.

            The editors of that portal, which reports on developments in Russian regions beyond Moscow’s ring road, say that such Russians can mark the day in ways that will promote their position rather than that of the Kremlin leader and thus transform it into “another May 9^th” (semnasem.org/articles/2024/05/08/drugoe-devyatoe-maya).

            Here is their list:

·       “Tell a friend how to avoid serving in the army.”
·       “Help veterans.”
·       “Speak with your elderly relatives about their lives.”
·       “Visit the graves of your ancestors.”
·       “Fine out more about the life of your family during the war.”
·       “Lay flowers on the Eternal Flame or other memorial.”
·       “Fulfill the dreams of a veteran” possibly by turning to a web page that lists them (мечтаветерана.рф/).
·       “Read honest books about the war to your children” and consider giving copies of such books to small rural libraries (vk.com/knigi.sever).
·       “Volunteer to digitalize the diaries of soldiers” (prozhito.org/page/volunteers/).
·       “Talk about the lives of your relatives during the war on social networks.”

And if you do any of these things, the editors say, tell “Horizontal Russia” about it via the portal’s chat box (https://t.me/sevenbyseven_bot) and thus be reassured that you are not alone in your views about the current war however hard the Kremlin tries to make you feel that way.