The War Through the Eyes of Meduza Readers. Today we are publishing a letter from Eva in Russia
Meduza — LIVE:
War. What is happening on day 1572. Ukrainian drones again attacked regions of Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that 249 Ukrainian drones were shot down over 14 Russian regions, annexed Crimea, and the Sea of Azov. ✹ In Yaroslavl Region, drones struck...
The War Through the Eyes of Meduza Readers. Today we are publishing a letter from Eva in Russia
The war changed something in me and broke something inside me. In the first months after February 24, 2022, I looked at my colleagues, my relatives and friends, and could not understand where so much malice and cruelty had suddenly come from in them. My hopes for a decent future were replaced by despair, shame, bitterness, and helplessness.
There was only one person in my circle who viewed this war in exactly the same way, as an inhuman crime committed by a senile old man: my grandfather, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. We tried not to go into the details of what was happening in front of him. He reacted violently to every piece of news: he wept bitterly, got very angry, and kept repeating: “Why?”
Every day of my life he taught me to know the value of peace, of human life, and never to allow the thought that war could be a blessing. In our city, he was the last person who had lived through World War II. In 2023, his place at the Victory Day parade was given to a returned “hero” who was a convicted criminal. Apparently, he could not bear that, and very soon he was gone.
Every day it was hard, frightening, and painful for me because of everyone whose home has been invaded by the Russian authorities’ arbitrariness. It is unbearable for me to see people who still believe the gang of crooks in the government, rejoice at human death, and do not even know what is happening right now in the neighboring country. There is only one thing I want to say: “People, wake up!!!”
You too can share your thoughts about the war with Meduza through the feedback form.
@meduzalive
The Last Veteran Was Conveniently Replaced
At the parade, the city's veteran was replaced by a returned convict.
Memory mattered until it became inconvenient.