It’s February 24, 2022. The world lets out a collective gasp as Russian troops invade Ukraine. In the days that follow, Putin’s war is almost universally condemned – with millions of people showing their support on the streets and on social media. Many foreign governments impose strict sanctions on both Russian individuals and the importing of Russian products.
But one group of people remains largely silent. Russians living abroad are confronting a unique set of challenges in the face of this war.
I speak with a young woman from Moscow about her experience in Melbourne since the conflict began. Married to an Australian man, she now works in the hospitality sector and interacts with hundreds of people on a daily basis. Too afraid to use her real name, she agreed to share her story on the condition of absolute anonymity.
She speaks softy – cautiously – at first. It is clear she is choosing her words very carefully.
“People ask me a lot where I am from. It used to be a good..a nice way of starting talking with people. Now I’m too scared to say where I am from. I am visiting my home in May and only my employer and friends know this.”
The idea for this story came to me after something unsettling happened in a Melbourne Woolworths. An older man began making friendly small talk with me as I was looking for some veggies. I didn’t even notice as a stranger speaking on the phone in a foreign tongue casually walked by us.
Suddenly, the older man’s face dropped as he leaned in towards me and his smile turned into a snarl. “He’s speaking in Russian! I bet he’s working for Putin!”.
I wondered, how could he tell?
As I recount this story to the Moscovian woman, she smirks in amusement but is not surprised.
“Sometimes I feel lucky because people don’t always know where my accent is from. My father is Swedish so sometimes I say I am from there just in case, I don’t want to have any conflicts. A lot of Australians are very nice, but in the beginning when people knew I was Russian they attacked me for what was happening even though I do not agree with it.”
I reached out to a number of Russian organisations located in Australia and was met with almost the same response every time – no, they wouldn’t go on record but yes, they and their members are unilaterally against Putin’s actions and the war. But in speaking with ordinary Russians, it became clear the situation was more complicated than that.
The Moscovian woman began to share how she really felt about Putin’s position in Russia.
“I know people here hate Putin but, they don’t understand, there is just, in Russia, there is really no one else we can vote for.”
When I pressed her on this issue, bringing up the leader of the Russia of the People Party Alexei Navalny, she fell silent for a few moments and simply replied “no, there is no real option except for Putin”.
I have the opportunity to speak with a man who moved as a child to Melbourne from USSR Crimea. He, like the Moscovian woman, speaks on condition of anonymity and echoes this view, voicing his opinion on the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The Ukrainian President made his first appearance on television as a fool! So, he was butt naked, playing the piano with his genitals. Research that because you will understand how much bullshit is here”.
Australia has followed the world’s lead and imposed a multitude of sanctions against Russia and Putin’s major supporters, but here at home, the toll on ordinary Russians is also being made clear. Local businesses operated by Russian immigrants are being boycotted in support of the Ukrainian people. I spoke to several business owners who confirmed they had suffered financial losses since the outbreak of the war but refused to go on the record for fear of further alienating themselves from the Melbourne people.
The son of a former USSR soldier, who wishes to be known only as ‘Sasha’, has experienced these impacts first-hand. Unwilling to discuss the boycotting of Russian businesses for fear of hurting people he loves, Sasha is unequivocal in his opinion of the Australian media and belief in the Russian war machine.
“I think Russia have been painted as the evil people – yes, they’re the invaders but it’s just been propaganda from the word go. There’s only one side of the media that we see. If you want to see the other side of the media you’ve gotta really hunt for it.”
The notion of Australian media spreading Ukrainian propaganda was one that came up many times in my conversations with Russian nationals. The Moscovian woman stated that much of the footage seen on our screens has been staged and actors paid. The Crimean man also believes this conflict is made up.
“It looks to me like whatever they show on the news is a bunch of extremists who they paid money too, gave ’em drinks, gave ’em a good time and then told them to go stand in front of a tank. Get him to pretend like he’s running him over.”
While it’s clear there is a division of opinion among Russians living in Australia, there are common threads running through the community. Many feel a sense of injustice with how they as ordinary citizens are being portrayed, while others harbour the fear of being discriminated against simply because of where they’ve been born.
Sasha shares the commonly held view about Australia’s involvement in the conflict.
“It’s just ridiculous. Completely crazy, ridiculous. I have no idea why we’re sending anything over and helping these people when they’ve been at war for so long. It’s got nothing to do with us. At all.”
I spent many hours over the course of many weeks with those Russians who agreed to speak with me . Trying to establish where Russian people stand in this conflict has proven far more difficult than I anticipated. I found myself having to peel back layer upon layer of superficial conversation before anyone felt comfortable enough even to begin telling me how they really felt about this war.
As I piece together this story, I feel as though there are so many threads yet to be unraveled. Maybe as an outsider, I’ll never know the whole truth. What I do know is that no matter the outcome of Putin’s war, the Russian people will do whatever is necessary to survive. Their silence stands in stark contrast to their resolve.
