# The harms you don't see

*                                            Падшие ангелы рядом с лицами старых солдат*

*                                            Ждут одного лишь приказа: вернуться… Вернуться назад*

                                            *Чтобы собрать все знамёна, стрелы, обломки мечей,*

*                                             Вновь пережить вместе битву ста дней и ночей.* 

                                                                                                  *Катарсис, "Крылья"*  
  
I often see people in the West argue that Ukraine ought to cede some territories to Russia so that peace is achieved and people are kept safe. While perharps well intentioned, I think these suggestions are based on a distorted perception of reality. There are harms that you notice, because they happen in a big, loud fight that draws everyone attention, and there are harms that happen not so visibly, in dark overcrowded cells, in dusty courtrooms, in people's heads. You may not hear about them in the news, but it is still important to know and account for them.

In 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, it started destroying all Crimean Tatar civil society institutions. Mejlis, the executive representative body of Crimean Tatars since 1991, was outlawed as an "extremist organization" in 2016. [Russia banned Crimean Tatar national events](https://ovd.news/express-news/2020/04/10/v-krymu-policeyskie-vruchayut-krymskim-tataram-preduprezhdeniya-o): the rally on the Deportation of Crimean Tatar People Day on May 18th and the Crimean Tatar National Flag day on June 26th. 

Over 340 people are being persecuted for their alleged participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir. Over 230 people [are already sentenced](https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/01/harsh-sentences-alleged-hizb-ut-tahrir-followers-russia), and most of them got prison terms of 10 years or more. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamist political organization that aims to establish Islamic caliphate by recruiting members and advancing them to positions of power. Russia considers them a terrorist organization, which is ridiculous as they never commited or were known to plan any acts of terror. CORRECTION: Despite their legal presence in many European countries and claims to only pursue non-violent methods, they did [advocate for violence](https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-111532%22]}) in Germany, which is why they were banned as a terrorist organization there. The case still [raises questions](https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/10/01/harsh-sentences-alleged-hizb-ut-tahrir-followers-russia) because there were falsified confessions and witness testimonies, and one person claimed they were tortured to extract a confession. 

Russia's problem with Mejlis and Crimean Tatars in general is that they are organized groups.

Ukrainians often wonder why are Russian protests so toothless. Why don't we fight for each other, through Molotov cocktails at the cops et cetera. One reason is that the Russian society is very atomized. You sure can start throwing Molotov cocktails on your own. But if other people don't support you, you are just going to land yourself in prison for nothing. In order to protest effectively, you need to coordinate with others. You need to trust that other people will back you up, and they need to trust that you are not an agent provocateur. If you want to use violent tactics, you need to first build common knowledge that we, as a movement, are done with the whole nonviolent resistance thing, it didn't work, and we are trying other methods now. You need to recruit enough people to execute your idea well and run into no undercover cops in the process. You need leaders who people can trust and who aren't secretly working for Kremlin.

This is why Kremlin sees any independent organizations as a threat. Independent media must be destroyed, popular leaders imprisoned and killed, communities disbanded. You must not be able to talk to people, trust people or organize any collective action. Then you cannot resist the government effectively and are left helpless. This is what Russia is doing to people in Crimea and any other territory it controls.

But what happens to people when they are helpless before the government? I could tell you all day about the human right abuses, the widespread torture in Russian prisons and so on. But maybe the scariest thing is what happens in people's heads. 

When I got into protest activism and started talking to passerbys in Russia, the first thing that shocked me was some people's cruelty. For example, a woman approached me on the Red Square during a picket to tell me "Pussy Riot should have been *impaled*!" Another thing I noticed is that people just seem so *broken*. While protesting against the government is geniunely dangerous, people's fears of it seem out of all proportion to the real risk. An MSU student I met was afraid to sign a petition supporting political prisoners because he thought they'd expell him for that. (I never heard about anyone getting expelled from university for signing petitions.) My granny, too, was convinced that the next time I'm detained at a rally, my university will expell me. Pointing out that it didn't happen 3 previous times, and that my university administration has a history of showing backbone in such situations couldn't reassure her. A girl in the street told me she is afraid to go to rallies because her friend got her ribs broken in one. (Yes, it is possible to get injured at a rally, but it happens rarely, and you can further reduce risk by staying back and playing it safe. You're about as likely to break your arm when skateboarding or catch an infection during sex. Yet most people aren't terrified of having sex!) My dad feared that my brother might get imprisoned because I go to protests. Again, I'm not saying that the regime never targets your family. They imprisoned Navalny's brother, they [tortured the brother of an anarchist](https://ovdinfo.org/stories/2022/10/06/nikakogo-drugogo-yazyka-krome-yazyka-boli) suspected of sabotaging a railway to find out his location. But I don't sabotage railways and I'm not some popular figure. They don't imprison your family just because you've gone to a few rallies. (At least they didn't in 2015, I'm not paying such close attention anymore and the oppression gets worse every year.) When I just joined the opposition, I was going around the city and telling everyone who listened that our state security apparently kidnapped  a man (Leonid Razvozhaev) abroad and forced him under duress to confess to crimes he didn't commit. Most people didn't believe it or supported it, but one old woman just looked at me sadly and said: "We are used to it".

You know what's the end result of adopting such an attitude to life? I've translated an exerpt from a [conversation](https://youtu.be/SSii_OOAcJI) between a Ukrainian video blogger Lugansky and one Russian businessman, which I think illustrates it quite well:

\[...\]  
Businessman: I have a question for you.

Lugansky: Go ahead.

B: Yes, we are on different sides of barricades...

L: Of good and evil.

B: So you think that I'm evil?

L: Of course.

B: Justify it.

L: Easily. Your government is an aggressor...

B: No, stop. Am *I* evil?

L: Of course. Your government is today an aggressor, an occupant. You are the mobilization resource of your country. If your country drafts you to carry diesel to Kherson in buckets, you'll do it. What else would you do? You don't have any other options. So of course you're evil. In the forties, when the whole anti-Hitler coalition was on the side of good, all German citizens, Vermacht, SS, the leadership - were on the side of evil. Some worked to support the economy, switch it to military production. Some stamped shells, some made boxes to store shells, some cut down trees to make the boxes. You may be a lumberjack, cutting down trees, but the wood you produce goes into making boxes to ship shells to the frontlines. So of course, you all contribute to your country's evil acts. In a war, there's always the righteous side and the guilty side. The defenders and the aggressors. You attacked our country, so you're evil. I'm Ukrainian, on the defending side, so I'm on the side of good. You are Russian, so you're on the side of evil.

B: You can't say you're on the side of good.

L: Why not? I'm defending my country. You attacked us, invaded our land. You're the aggressor. Therefore you're evil.

B: Your logic is strange. I am not fighting you.

L: Do you pay taxes?

B: Not this again.

L: Of course you do. What's your occupation?

B: I have a small company.

L: Then you're supposed to provide the list of your employees to the military enlistment office. Did you?

B: Not yet. I have an appointment on Monday.

L: So, you're going to give them the list on Monday. On Wednesday you'll be collecting money to buy them uniforms and food. And you're saying you're not fighting? Maybe you'll be drafted with them. You'll be the first one to go.

B: I'd rather they drafted me than those kids.

L: They'll draft them all and their children too.

B: They're too small. Maybe I'm on the side of evil as you say, but...

L: What other options do you have? How could you avoid that? Tomorrow you'll bring the list to the military, on Friday you'll bury them.

B: I don't know. I think the most important thing in this situation is to start a dialogue. There was no dialogue.

L: Between whom?

B: Between the two countries.

L: You're saying we should find a compromise.

B: We should start talking so we can find a compromise.

L: It's as Golda Meir said, "They want to kill us. We want to live. Where's the place for compromise here?" You want to conquer or destroy us all, we want to live.

B: Are you sure? I can tell you as a Moscovite, we don't need Ukraine at all. We have our own problems. Do you really think each Moscovite wants to conquer Ukraine?

L: Who cares what each Moscovite wants? It matters what your government wants, and whether you obey their orders. No one asks what you want. You're going to be in the military enlistment office on Monday, and you don't see other options. Who cares if you are killing voluntarily or because you're ordered to? Our soldiers don't care why you shoot. They will just kill you all.

Anyway, let us imagine that we are looking for a compromise. What do you want? Do you have any demands?

B: I don't want anything. I don't need this war.

L: Then how can we stop it, if you don't want it, but participate anyway? Who am I supposed to negotiate with?

B: With the government.

L: What does your government want?

B: I don't know.

L: If your government sends you to kill us, we can conclude it wants us dead. Simple conclusion, isn't it?

B: That's their business.

L: But you are the ones doing it! Did Peskov's son go to war?

B: I think not.

L: He didn't. But you'll have to.

B: If I have to, I'll go.

L: What for?

B: I don't know. If the motherland says, I do.

L: I understand. Though, to be honest, not really. So are you ready to die for your motherland in a week or two?

B: Yes.

L: What about your employees who have little children, don't you feel responsible for them?

B: For them, I'd rip your throat out.

L: Why me? I'm not the one sending them to war.

B: I'll do everything I can so they don't go.

L: What are you going to do? Are you bringing the list to the enlistment office?

B: Yes. 

L: Then they will be drafted. Maybe they'll ask you to deliver the order.

B: I know the military commissar personally, I told him he's not going to take my people.

L: How is he going to fullfill his plan then? What, are you going to bribe him?

B: He has a plan. I have a plan too.

L: Why are you so weak-willed? Do you have no other option?

B: What option? Give me some option I understand. Go to Ukraine?

L: Of course not.

B: To Europe?

L: Who needs you there? They spit in your face there. So, out of all these options, you only have the option to go to war.

B: No. I'll just keep doing my job.

L: I see. Do you feel sorry for your soldiers?

B: Very much so.

L: Why?

B: They didn't choose this.

L: They joined the military.

B: Just as your soldiers didn't choose to die. They didn't create this situation.

L: How do you feel about Putin?

B: Positively.

L: Why?

B: Because there's no one else.

L: What's good about Putin?

B: He exists.

L: He's good because he exists? That sounds like unconditional love.

B: Yes, I don't like some things about Putin...

L: But you love him. 

B: Who else would I love?

L: I donno. So, you see no choice. You've been voting for Putin your whole life.

B: Yes. There is no choice.

L: Don't you think you are now getting the future you chose? Tomorrow you're going to the military enlistment office, and after that - death. Of you or your employees. Is this not connected to your voting choice?

B: I understand what you're saying. Though... not really.

L: But you write programs. You always get the outcome you programmed. You voted for Putin, and Putin causes death, so you voted for your death. You're a programmer, you should get it.

B: I don't know how to answer that.

L: Do you not regret your choice?

B: No. You should never regret you choices.

L: I see. How do you see your future in a month or two?

B: No idea.

L: But don't you plan for the future? How long ahead do you plan?

B: For a month ahead. Because the times are hard.

L: Is this not sad?

B: It is.

L: Who's to blame for this, how do you think?

B: You think I'm to blame.

L: No, I'm asking you. I see you're well off, you have your own company, and you plan only for a month ahead. This is a catastrophe. How do you think, who is to blame for this?

B: You're trying to get me to blame Putin.

L: I'm asking you.

B: I think we, people, are to blame for this situation.

L: Who are "we"?

B: Everyone.

L: Everyone? Including New Zealand?

B: Yes. Everyone who allowed this to happen is to blame.

L: Do you feel scared for your future?

B: I do.   
\[...\]

I think the way you end up like this, is you do something cowardly or bad. You rationalize it, perharps by exaggerating the danger you faced out of all proportion and denying you had a choice. Then you keep this up in a vicious circle until you've self-inflicted enough brain damage that you have no idea what your country is fighting for, but you are prepared to kill for it. This is what Russia wants everyone to become. I don't think Russia wants to kill all Ukrainians as Lugansky says. The oil and gas industry does not require many workers, but people can still be valuable as cannon fodder. Yes, ending up as an NPC is not exactly death. But I honestly think it's worse.

When you think about it, it makes sense that people end up like this. When your government commits atrocities every day and you are forced to pay taxes to support it, something has to give. You can either sacrifice your compassion, and end up like the aggressive zombie people who cheer for the suffering of their neighbors. Or you can sacrifice your agency. Delude yourself into thinking that you are powerless and have no choice in anything. Become an NPC "out of politics" zombie. The only way to keep your humanity is to fight back. But usually too few people are willing to do that. So you usually end up imprisoned or killed. That would probably have happened to me, too, if I hadn't come across Eliezer's friendly AI project.

In 2013 I attended many political trials, on Bolotnaya case and others. At one of them, I saw a political prisoner's mother cry. That's not how things are normally. Most day these people hold up so strong. That day she was crying, though, and there was just nothing I could say to make it better. The protests of 2011 were withering out. People were giving up. We were not strong enough to free her son. I realized then that we had a unique opportunity in 2011. We wasted it and lost, and there was no knowing if we would ever in my lifetime stand a chance again. I vowed if a chance ever came I'd rather die than back down. But it never came. There was one time in 2015 that remotely resembled it. Many thousands of people subscribed to go to an unsanctioned rally, and Ukrainians left all kinds of helpful advice in our facebook group. The government decided things are getting too exciting and organized an antimaidan rally at the same place and time. So of course Navalny canceled the rally, but I and about a hundred people showed up anyway. Then police arrested some people and pressed all the antimaidan folks and some protesters into the underground. Around 20 people remained. It didn't look like enough to start a revolution, so we went home. A friend of mine was arrested that day, and then he got imprisoned and tortured.

The moral of the story is, the times when the forces of good can coordinate, get their act together and effectively resist evil are rare and precious. When it happens, you have to make the most of it. Once the war is over, if Crimea is not liberated, Crimean activists will face 15 years in prison. If Putin's regime still stands, Alexandra Skochilenko, a Russian artist arrested for spreading anti-war propaganda, faces up to 10 years in prison. This war has been going on for 8 years, but the civilized world ignored it and other wars before it. Once the war is over, the first world people will go back to discussing their first world problems and forget all about Russia. The oppression will go on, and there will probably be more wars. Any good people stuck on Russia-controlled territories will keep resisting. You won't hear about it on BBC, but ovd-info will write about it. "A man set himself on fire". "A man killed a few cops before killing himself". "A group of anarchists arrested for teaching themselves how to fight." People will go on fighting, wondering if ever in their lives will the forces of good be one hundredth as coordinated and strong as they are today. We have an opportunity to change the future now, and we should use it.

Russia started a partial mobilization 3 weeks ago. This is a great time to support Ukraine. You can donate here (this is a card of Tim Zlatkin, a Ukrainian volunteer who collects money to buy military equipment and who friends of my friends know):

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