On Sunday, June 4, people around the world held an unusual birthday celebration. About a dozen of those people were in Sitka on that sunny evening, participating in an impromptu demonstration at a downtown intersection.
One… two… three… Happy Birthday, Alexei!
Great, thanks!
They were celebrating the birthday of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, and honoring his efforts to fight corruption at home.
Navalny is an activist who is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a maximum security prison east of Moscow, on charges that most believe were fabricated by the Kremlin in order to silence him.
Ukrainian-born Olga Borland grew up in Russia, but lives now in Sitka. She gathered fellow ex-pats and other supporters for the local demonstration.
KCAW’s Galen Paine invited Borland to share her views on Navalny’s imprisonment, and her desire to raise awareness about it.
KCAW – There was a demonstration in Sitka. Why in Sitka?
Borland – That was a worldwide event. It was called for by a fund which supports Navalny. And we decided that our small Russian community needs to be active and proactive. And what we wanted to do is raise awareness that not all Russians think the same, that there is a big part of Russians who do not support government – Putin’s government – who support the war against corruption, and especially we demand the freedom of Navalny and all political prisoners. So we wanted to be a part of the worldwide event.
KCAW – So there are many political prisoners in Russia. How do normal Russians feel about Navalny and political prisoners?
Borland – You know Russians, when we use the word “Russian,” it’s a big blanket. The people under the same blanket can have completely different opinions. We went out on the street to raise awareness that not all Russians think the same. There is a group of Russians which is blinded by government propaganda, they may not even know why Navalny is in jail. But there’s also people who understand what’s happening in the political arena. And that we need to support people who fight for freedom, who fight against political corruption, and many more Russians of that mind, especially the ones which have access to Western media, Western newspapers, Western radio.
KCAW – So many of the Russians don’t have access to any kind of free press or Western radio?
Borlund – Correct. If you think about that, the cost of the smartphone in Russia is prohibitively high. And not everybody can own a smartphone and get access to the internet and free media. A lot of people they watch government channel number one, channel number two, and that’s all they know. So they don’t really know what’s happening.
KCAW – Do many Russians have access to travel to get out of Russia to see other systems and other points of view?
Borland – Not many, especially now. After the beginning of the war, which Russian media still doesn’t recognize as a war, they call it a “special military operation.” But after the beginning of the war and the sanctions imposed on Russia, a lot of Russians lost the ability to get a so-called foreign passport, which is a travel passport to go abroad. A lot of flights canceled, a lot of countries closed their doors and entries to Russian, and therefore the ability to travel really, really went away for majority of Russians.
KCAW – How do Russians regard the war with Ukraine? Do people know about it or how do people find out about the information about that war?
Borland – It’s kind of like trying to hide a sharp object in a sack. You know it’s gonna poke its way through no matter what. The dead bodies coming home – the black sacks, you know body bags – that’s what I mean, they’re coming home. People understand that something is going on if the Russian propaganda tells them that the Russian army is winning and they’re freeing Ukraine from fascism, and they are actually doing the completely opposite thing. And even if the propaganda tells that everything is going according to the plan – Putin’s plan – the truth is starting to come out. It’s hard to hide, even in a society with such a suppressed media as Russia.
Note: Special correspondent Galen Paine is a former attorney who has practiced law all over Alaska. She serves on the KCAW board of directors.
