‘If I have to, I’ll go to jail’: The Russians who refuse to fight in Putin’s war

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2022

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It’s not the first time Mitya has packed to leave Moscow this year.

He left for Uzbekistan in mid-March when the first rumours around mobilisation and the borders closing caused a mass exodus of Russians.

Putin may have scored ‘strategic own goal’ – latest updates

“I don’t think it’ll feel like a good place anytime soon or just anytime,” he wrote then.

“But there are so many beautiful people trapped.”

In the intervening months, like so many others, he had come back to Russia, not sure what else to do.

“I’m somebody here and elsewhere, I’m just a nobody-ish character, you know,” he said. “I’m not really wanted anywhere else, let’s face it.”

‘Stick to the narrative’

But he has left again. Mobilisation was unlikely, but it was a possibility, if not now then at some point.

Safer for him to leave with no fixed plan, like hundreds of thousands others, than to stay and one day fight.

He is sanguine about Europe’s conundrum on what to do with incoming Russians.

“I think unfortunately that if you stick to the narrative you’ve chosen, that ‘we’re liberals, we are for freedoms and rights’, then you should stick to that narrative. And that means you should allow people in,” he said. “Or if you don’t allow these people in, you’re no longer sticking to the narrative that you’re fighting for – supporting Ukraine.”

Moscow has almost emptied of its intelligentsia, but those fleeing through Russia’s borders now are a cross-section of society from across the country and beyond those liberal parameters.

The ones who know that “partial” mobilisation might just be the beginning and who feel, finally, that the uneasy status quo they have been existing in for these last seven months is no longer sustainable.

‘There’s a fighting spirit’

And then there are those who are ready to fight – in the big cities and beyond, where the patriotic spirit burns more deeply.

We drove just one hour north of Moscow to a small town called Klin to gauge the mood there.

Every bus stop in Klin is adorned with a Z sign, the town hall too.

“A lot of people from Klin are going, really a lot,” says Anya, whose husband wants to enlist voluntarily. “There are long queues at the military enlistment office, but the guys are all in a good mood. Nobody is sad, there’s a fighting spirit.”

Heading to the front – or first to the distribution centre in Moscow region and then, according to officials, to training – happens in the early morning.

At the Klin mobilisation centre, a small group of friends and relatives are taking selfies and waiting for their men to pass the medical checks and then, to say goodbye.

There are tears here though. And beers. Alcohol is part of the send-off.

“I feel patriotism for my motherland, that’s why I enlisted,” says Andrey. “Against fascism and Nazism, for our kids. I hope this is over as soon as possible because there should be peace. We are for peace.”

‘If I have to, I’ll go to jail’

I ask a group of women if they think it was the right thing to mobilise now. “Nyet!” they shout in unison. “No!”

The bus drives away, the wives and girlfriends wipe their tears, a toddler continues to play happily with a paper tube, blissfully unaware her father’s gone to fight.

Back in Klin’s town centre, we’re met with a degree of hostility. One man tells me it was the UK who declared war on Russia, that we should wait till the Russians are guests of ours.

It speaks to a diet of state TV, where the UK, alongside the US, is the arch-villain.

“Sort out your own leadership, and then you can ask us questions,” he says.

But even here, it’s a mixed picture. We ask a younger man if he’d go to fight. As a student, he’s exempt for now, he tells us, “but I won’t go under any circumstances”.

“If I have to I’ll go to jail,” he says. “This shouldn’t have happened. It’s a crime what the government is doing.”

World

Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury to become heavyweight champion of the world

Published

24 mins ago

May 19, 2024

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Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury to become heavyweight champion of the world

Oleksandr Usyk has become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after defeating British boxing star Tyson Fury.

The Ukrainian won on a split decision following the match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Usyk had 115-112 and 114-113 on two cards, while Fury took the other 114-113.

Follow the match as it happened

Fury disputed his loss after the match, saying: “I believe I won that fight. I think he won a few rounds but I won the majority of them.

“His country is at war, so people are siding with the country at war. Make no mistake, I won that fight in my opinion.

In response Usyk said he was “ready for rematch,” but later added: “I don’t think about rematch now, I want to rest.”

Fury came under early pressure, with Usyk taking the centre of the ring with an aggressive offensive from the start.

At one point Fury was pushed against the ropes and started laughing as Usyk applied pressure.

The “Gypsy King” looked relaxed as he moved around the ring in the early rounds and picked his shots.

But after Usyk landed a right hook in the ninth round it looked as if Fury was in serious trouble.

The Ukrainian followed up by unloading freely but somehow the bookmakers’ favourite stayed on his feet and was given a standing 10-second count saved by the bell.

It left Fury struggling through the final three rounds as Usyk chased him around the ring.

The 37-year-old Ukrainian became the first boxer to hold all four major heavyweight belts at the same time and the first undisputed champion in 24 years.

He’s the best fighter of a generation, there’s nothing left

Jacquie Beltrao

Sports presenter

There’s something very special about Oleksandr Usyk and it’s something all brilliant sports people have: the ability to find that extra bit of grit, to dig a bit deeper, when the battle is slipping away.

It’s exactly the character he showed, coming back at Fury in the 7th and 8th rounds, with some impressive shots, to take the sting out of any Fury resurgence and to swing momentum back his way. And enabling him to go for the kill in that brilliant 9th round. Fury looked stung, he looked confused and he was lucky the referee didn’t stop the fight there and then.

It was amazing that Fury made it to the end. That took courage. But it’s hard to see how he’s going to recover from this. It’s going to hurt. He says he wants to invoke the rematch clause and go again, but will he really want to?

Will Usyk want to? He’s the best fighter of a generation, there’s nothing left to prove. No fighter has ever won the undisputed cruiserweight championship of the world and followed that with the undisputed heavyweight crown. He can take four belts back to Kyiv safe in the knowledge that it’s unlikely anyone will be able to match that achievement anytime soon.

Last night, Fury weighed in at 262lbs (18st 10lbs) – nearly three stone heavier than Usyk, who clocked in at a career heaviest of 223lbs (15st 13lbs).

Fury refused to look at his opponent during a news conference on Thursday, but did not back down at the weigh-in last night, where the pair almost came to blows before being separated by their entourages.

Usyk arrived into the ring first, dressed as a Cossack warrior.

Fury entered to songs by Barry White and Bonnie Tyler, with the “Gypsy King” spending several minutes dancing on stage before the song changed to Holding Out For A Hero.

Anthony Joshua watched from the ringside, knowing he could meet the winner early next year.

World

Fury v Usyk: The fight of the century – as it happened

Published

24 mins ago

May 19, 2024

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World

Benny Gantz: Israeli war cabinet member threatens to resign if Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t adopt new plan for Gaza

Published

24 mins ago

May 19, 2024

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Benny Gantz: Israeli war cabinet member threatens to resign if Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't adopt new plan for Gaza

A member of Israel’s three-man war cabinet has threatened to resign from the government if it does not adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza.

The move by Benny Gantz escalates a divide within Israel’s leadership more than seven months into the war.

Israel is yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages abducted during the attack on 7 October.

Mr Gantz, a long-time political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has now set out a six-point plan that includes the return of hostages, ending Hamas’ rule, demilitarising Gaza and establishing an international administration of civilian affairs.

Mr Gantz’s plan also supports efforts to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia.

He said if it is not adopted by 8 June he will quit the government.

His departure would leave Mr Netanyahu even more beholden to far-right allies who have taken a hard line on negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of hostages, and who believe Israel should occupy Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there.

“If you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss – we will be forced to quit the government,” Mr Gantz has said.

The centrist politician joined Mr Netanyahu’s coalition and the war cabinet in the early days of the conflict.

Mr Gantz’s six-point plan comes days after Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the war cabinet, openly said he has repeatedly pleaded with the other two members to decide on a post-war vision for Gaza.

Mr Gallant said this should involve the creation of a new Palestinian civilian leadership.

It comes as Mr Netanyahu is under growing pressure on multiple fronts.

Hardliners in his government want the military offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah to press ahead with the goal of crushing Hamas.

However, Israel’s most important ally, the US, and others have warned against the offensive on a city where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million had sheltered.

Hundreds of thousands have now fled Rafah and Israel’s allies have threatened to scale back support over the humanitarian crisis.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will be in Saudi Arabia and Israel this weekend to discuss the war and is scheduled on Sunday to meet with Mr Netanyahu, who has declared that Israel would “stand alone” if needed.

Meanwhile, many Israelis are accusing Mr Netanyahu of putting political interests ahead of all else. They also want him to agree a deal to free the hostages and stop the fighting.

There was fresh frustration Friday when the military said its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three hostages killed by Hamas in the 7 October attack.

The discovery of the body of a fourth hostage was announced Saturday.

The latest talks in pursuit of a ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, have brought little progression.

A vision for Gaza beyond the war is also uncertain.

The conflict started after Hamas militants carried out an attack on Israel on 7 October – killing 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages.

Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, while hundreds more have been killed in the occupied West Bank.