OLIA FREIMUT
MOSCOW Police are trying to force their way into an apartment. Inside is Elmira Khalitov, who has dared to criticise the invasion of Ukraine on social media. Her father arrives on the scene and begins to shout at the officers.
“You need to break that door down immediately,” he yells. He didn’t want to rescue Elmira. Quite the opposite.
He was the one who denounced her to police and demanded they arrest her. Her anti-war comments have infuriated him: “She is calling for Russians to be killed!”
What is it about Russia that makes parents betray their own children?
Russian news is full of stories of people turning in relatives, friends and neighbours. Is it part of a culture? The father knew that spreading “fake news” about the “special military operation” could see Elmira jailed for 15 years. But it goes beyond that. In Moscow a mother informed on her only son for avoiding military service.the 26-year-old shared a flat with her but the war forced his business to close.they began to quarrel. She took her revenge by calling the police.
In the Olympic Reserve school in the city of Penza, pupils denounced their English language teacher, Irina Ghen.
They were upset that they were not going to a competition in the Czech Republic. She told them: “Until Russia starts behaving in a civilised manner, this will go on forever.” A pupil recorded her and passed the audio to police. In
Astrakhan, a maths teacher called Elena Baibekova was sacked because of her “political conversations” during lessons.
Russian teachers are not meant to question the state. Since March they have been expected to control children’s minds, to make them admire Putin’s criminal acts.
I publish my thoughts about Russia’s terrorist acts on my Instagram all the time.yes, they are forthright, and from time to time Instagram will delete them. But I’m happy that at least I can speak about my pain. I am assured my husband or children will not report me to the police.
Since the war in Ukraine, Russians have been denouncing each other. Is history repeating itself? Stalin was famous for encouraging people to blow the whistle on one other.
But back then there was no choice – laws were passed against counterrevolutionaries.those who were not informing were viewed with suspicion.
There is no law forcing contemporary Russians to inform, yet it remains a psychological feature of the nation – an urge to denounce those closest to you.