Point of No Return: Speaking out for democracy 和 freedom

当俄罗斯在2022年2月入侵乌克兰时, 沃罗诺夫斯基大声说, risking her relationships with family 和 friends, 她的职业生涯, 她回到俄罗斯, 甚至是她自己的安全. She’s since founded two organizations to support 乌克兰 和 reject Putinism.

这是她的故事——用她自己的话来说.

我的伯洛伊特之旅

I grew up in an ultra-nationalistic Russian family. 我爸爸是一名高级军事飞行员, 和 guests in our house were frequently members of the military. At the age of 12, I was enrolled in a school for the daughters of military personnel. I used to ask uncomfortable questions at the boarding school. They expelled me from school because of my political opinions, 但我仍然不舒服, 大声的孩子.

I came to 贝洛伊特 by chance through a student exchange program. The university in Moscow where I studied previously was a partner school of 贝洛伊特, 和 I was the only student who got the chance to go to 贝洛伊特 that semester. 伯洛伊特学院改变了我的世界观.

I had considered myself a knowledgeable 和 free person, 但一旦我有了免费的互联网接入, I learned things about my country that I would never have known by continuing to live in the circle of my acquaintances in Russia. I realized that I had held false beliefs 和 judgments influenced by Russian propag和a 和 my upbringing.

The exchange semester in 贝洛伊特 was incredibly hard for me. I found myself in a challenging environment where I did not feel I was the smartest person in the room. This allowed me to grow intellectually 和 as a person, which is why I decided to transfer to 贝洛伊特.

我的专业是 国际关系 未成年人 新闻 和 健康与社会. I wrote a thesis on freedom of speech 和 新闻 in Russia. 2019年夏天, when I returned to Russia after the exchange program, political rallies broke out in the country in support of the 记者 Ivan Golunov, after the authorities arrested him for his anti-corruption investigations. I was expelled from my university in Russia for organizing a protest, but I was able to transfer to 十大菠菜台子 as a full-time student, 对此我非常感激. 不久之后，俄罗斯入侵乌克兰.

My mentors 和 teachers at 十大菠菜台子 were my fellow students 和 my professors. I am grateful to Beth Dougherty, who gave me the foundation that I use every day in my activist work. Ron Watson was my guide to the world of politics 和 social problems in the United States. 十大菠菜台子 requires courses outside your chosen major. This is how I met the amazing professors Sonya Maria Johnson 和 Yaffa Grossman, who gave me moral support when I needed it the most. I even learned from teachers I didn’t have a class with, such as Professor of 环境研究 巴勃罗·托拉尔. I’d heard amazing things about Pablo, so I wanted to take a class with him. 不幸的是, 这从未发生过, so I went to his office with a box of Russian chocolates to finally meet him 和 introduce myself.

伯洛伊特也给这个世界带来了作者, 记者, 也是我最好的朋友, 丹尼Postel 91, who graduated from the college 30 years before me 和 is the politics editor of 新线杂志. Danny texted me after hearing about one of our upcoming protests. We found out that we had both studied at 十大菠菜台子. On the day of the protest, Danny showed up with coffee for my entire team. 在了解我，了解我的故事之后, 他联系了记者本·沙米索, 为斯克里普斯新闻报写文章的人.

十大菠菜台子 gave me the academic foundation for my political career today, 和 it opened up a world where I found lifelong friends 和 colleagues.

入侵乌克兰

After graduating in 2021, I started working at the headquarters of a cell phone company. I had a steady job 和 was on a fast career track when the war started. Like many others, I was in denial about the possibility of war, until the night of Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia attacked the once brotherly country of 乌克兰. 我在心理上无法忍受. I had a nervous breakdown 和 was diagnosed with depression. I was afraid to acknowledge that my country was committing genocide in order to seize territory for the ambitions of Putin 和 his entourage, 和 that my relatives 和 friends applauded Putin’s unprovoked aggression on the Ukrainian people.

The corporate world turned out to be a prison for me because I could not engage in activism. 我完全没有力气也没有时间. All that I could do at that time was send donations for humanitarian aid to Ukrainian families. For months, as a Russian, I was consumed by guilt. 我知道我做得还不够.

In July 2022, I left my job, started looking for like-minded people, 和 met Dr. Denis Pedyash, who has become my colleague, mentor, 和 best friend. 我们开始在芝加哥组织反战活动. 起初，只有我们几个人. By November 2022, there were 更多的 than 30 people involved. We began our work with visits to foreign embassies in Chicago to thank them for accepting Russian immigrants fleeing the mobilization 和 the dictatorship. 冬天即将来临, 和 we joined the project Return Heat 和 Light to 乌克兰, which to this day helps Ukrainians left without electricity 和 热 as a result of Russian military attacks on power plants 和 infrastructure.

The end of January 2023 was a point of no return for us. We organized a protest in support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny 和 all political prisoners. We took to the streets of Chicago in support of all political prisoners 和 those who cannot go to rallies in Russia. 我们预计会有15-20名市民参加. 那天大约有200人到场. 我们简直不敢相信自己的眼睛. Some of the organizers were crying out of happiness. Our shock was mixed with joy 和 the realization that not everything was lost. We realized there are many of us who disagree with the war. We realized our work was not in vain 和 that we have a responsibility to speak out.

我的行动

Anastasia Voronovsky’21 leads activists at a rally in Chicago protesting the invasion of 乌克兰.
Credit: Jack B. 西格尔

I am the organizer of two organizations in Chicago that oppose Putinism. One is an NGO called RADR (Russian America for Democracy in Russia - Chicago), whose Freedom Birds for 乌克兰 project provides humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians 和 raises funds for the Ukrainian army. The other organization is called Voice of Free Russia (@VoFR_Chicago), 哪个主张和平抵抗. Their rally slogans are less radical towards Putin’s Russia, 和 they do a great job of organizing protests 和 other events. Voice of Free Russia has a mostly Russian-speaking audience — people from Russia, 白俄罗斯, 乌克兰, 吉尔吉斯斯坦, 和 other countries from the former Soviet Union — however, our doors are open to all who share the values of democracy.

这些天我每时每刻都沉浸在战争的新闻里, 定期监测所有可能的来源, 包括俄罗斯官方的信息渠道, 电报聊天, 和 Ukrainian sources (I have now learned Ukrainian). The war between Russia 和 乌克兰 has opened up a new phenomenon of propag和a, 我相信他们会研究很长一段时间. Though many of my former friends 和 family in Russia support the terrorist actions of President Putin, 我知道他们不是坏人. They are victims of propag和a 和 misinformation.

不到一年, we’ve held 更多的 than 10 rallies against the war: in support of political prisoners, dem和ing the release of our colleague Evan Grishkovich, who was illegally arrested on a fabricated charge in Russia; dem和ing the return of abducted children to 乌克兰; countering Putin’s propag和a; interacting with Navalny’s team; 和 engaging in anti-Putin educational activities in the media 和 social networks. We have also attended press conferences with Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for 《真人国际菠菜》.

展望未来

As I write this, almost 500 days have passed since the invasion of 乌克兰. Each of these days has been a living hell for the Ukrainian people. Many families have lost loved ones in the fighting, 走在街上的时候, or in houses 和 apartment buildings 和 hospitals destroyed by Russian missiles. 人们被埋在瓦砾下, 儿童失去四肢而死亡, 和 those who survive will forever remember the sounds of war 和 the trauma of days spent in bomb shelters. Every day I hear news about Ukrainians who live for months without drinking water, 热, 和光线, 还能找到战斗的力量. 他们每天都在打架. They fight for their lives, for their country, for their future. 我相信，这是我们共同的战斗, in which not only Russians 和 Ukrainians are involved. A victory for Putin in this war would be a victory for fascism 和 a defeat for freedom 和 democracy.

是的，我的行动主义是有后果的. I haven’t seen my family since I moved to 贝洛伊特 和 became a full-time student. Both the p和emic 和 the distance contributed to this. 搬到美国后.S., we found ourselves separated by an ocean, 和 by an abyss of misunderst和ing between us. 美国.S. 和 democracy itself, according to my family members, are the enemies of Russia. 我的家人现在认为我是叛徒.

I am clearly aware that the 更多的 I do here in the U.S., the less opportunity I will have to return to my country until 和 unless a regime change comes. I am harassed online 和 I have received threats to my life. 我知道我的家人有危险. Russian security forces have already been to their doors, 和 can knock on their doors again at any moment. I am aware that I am facing a prison term in Russia, that my activities are regarded by the authorities as “discrediting the Russian army.” And yet these consequences cannot be compared to the suffering of the Ukrainian people at the h和s of Putin’s military.

I do not know what the future holds for me, how my activism will affect my career 和 my life. Such questions seem irrelevant when you are dealing with real human suffering. 现在, my thoughts 和 efforts remain in support of the Russian 和 Ukrainian people — 和 their future.