Russische Krankenschwester wegen Antikriegsposten zu 8 Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt

10+ years into the Russians’ latest attempt to Russify Ukrainians, I have mixed feelings about this, to put it mildly.

On one hand, she’s been against the escalated invasion since February 2022 (although we might debate about how strong her opposition was/is when it comes to her country’s annexation of Crimea and violent carve-out of eastern Donbas at Ukraine’s expense in 2014).

On the other hand, this kind of pinprick for a protest reinforces to me that ordinary Russians have long needed **to go big or go** (stay) **home** to make a meaningful difference while still leaving no doubt that they are against the escalated invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful protest meanwhile amounts to making oneself easy prey for Rosgvardiya without changing one iota her compatriots’ latest effort to exterminate Ukrainians. *It’s high-risk and low-reward.*

Considering the risk and potential punishment for any kind of domestic opposition to the invasion, there’s a strong case that it’s better for any truly anti-war ordinary Russian to be caught for [helping to smuggle out Ukrainians trapped in Russia](https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-antiwar-volunteers-ukraine-aid-threats-escape/32767064.html) or even for [trying to cause a smoking accident](https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/10/02/court-jails-13-men-for-railway-sabotage-aiming-to-destabilise-russian-war-effort-en-news) rather than something ultimately symbolic like what this nurse and other peaceful protesters have done.