Strict instructions had been issued. The location of the meeting, released at the last minute, was not to be divulged; there were to be no tweets; participants were to show ID at the entrance without saying their names out loud; and they were to wait for 48 hours before publishing anything about the event. With these precautions, the Congress of Anti-War Initiatives, held in Brussels on Monday, November 27, supported by the European Union (EU) and the German Foreign Ministry, brought together some 250 Russian citizens actively working against the invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's "dictatorship."
These underground currents of resistance, whether helping deserters, assisting the growing number of political prisoners or helping Ukrainians seeking to flee Russia, operate in secret. These "volunteers," as they describe themselves, have formed informal networks, each aware of the risks.
"There are 10 of us, four abroad and six in Russia, and we only use encrypted communication channels," explained Ania Kurbateva, a 33-year-old artist with hair dyed blue. She has been a refugee in Germany since September, and now devotes all her time to the group, which is called "Defense Zone" and provides legal support to Russians prosecuted for anti-war actions.
"As the peaceful protests have almost all disappeared, other, harsher ones have appeared, such as the burning of recruitment centers, the sabotage of railroads... And their perpetrators are even less well protected," she explained. However, resources are scarce. "We started spontaneously at the beginning of the war, we couldn't have imagined that almost two years later, we would still be here," she sighed. "Today, we support 16 people; we wouldn't be able to manage more."
Grigori Sverdline, a man with a lean, determined look, runs the association Idité Lessom, meaning "Go through the forest," which in Russian can also mean "Get lost." Specializing in helping deserters and "those who don't want to fight," the network was set up after Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization decree in September 2022. "Today, we are 'celebrating' our 2,004th customer," Sverdline said wryly. He is the former head of a homeless association in St Petersburg, and a criminal investigation has just been opened against him in Russia.
The more than 20,000 requests for help from men aged between 18 and 55 who wanted to escape the army were collected on a specially opened Telegram channel. In Russia, "volunteers are responible for helping them cross borders; we work out the routes and give them money if necessary," explained Sverdline. "Of course, it's dangerous, all the more so as a new law, which came into force on October 1, bans conscripts from leaving, but we can still take action as there is no centralized database."
You have 65% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.