Watching You

---

By Steve RosenbergRussia Editor, Arkhangelsk

University student Olesya Krivtsova has been missing a lot of classes.

That's because 20-year-old Olesya is under House Arrest . She has an electronic tag on her leg. Police can monitor her every move.

Her alleged crime? Olesya was arrested for anti-war posts on Social Media . One of them concerned last October's explosion on The Bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea.

" I posted an Instagram story about The Bridge , " Olesya tells The Bbc , " reflecting on how Ukrainians were happy with what had happened. "

She had also shared a friend's post about The War .

Then The drama began.

" I was talking on The Phone to My Mother , " Olesya recalls, " when I Heard The Front door opening. Lots of police came in. They took away my phone and shouted at me to lie on The floor. "

Olesya was charged with justifying terrorism and discrediting The Russian armed forces. She faces up to 10 Years in prison.

" I never imagined anyone could get such a long prison sentence for posting something on The Internet , " Olesya says. " I'd seen reports of crazy verdicts in Russia, but I hadn't paid much attention and continued to speak out. "

A student of The Northern Federal University in Arkhangelsk, Olesya has now been added to Russia's official list of terrorists and extremists.

" When I realised I'd been put on The same list as school shooters and The Islamic State group I thought it was crazy, " recalls Olesya.

Under The Rules of her House Arrest she's banned from talking on The Phone and going online.

Olesya has a striking image tattooed on her right leg - Russian President Vladimir Putin depicted as a spider, with an Orwellian inscription: " Big Brother is Watching You . "

It appears that in Olesya's case, it wasn't Big Brother watching her, but her fellow students.

" A friend showed me a post about me in a chat, " Olesya says, " about how I was against The 'special military operation'. Most of The People in this chat were history students. They were discussing whether to denounce me to The Authorities . "

The Bbc has seen extracts from The Group chat.

In one comment, Olesya is accused of writing " provocative posts of a defeatist and extremist character. This is out of place for war-time. It must be nipped in The bud".

" First let's try to discredit her. If she doesn't get it, let The security services deal with it. "

" Denunciation is The duty of a patriot, " Someone Else writes.

Later, when The List of prosecution witnesses was read out In Court , Olesya recognised The Names from The Student chat.

It's One Year since The Kremlin launched its " special military operation" in Ukraine - The term it uses for Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Within weeks of The Assault , President Putin was calling on The Russian public to separate " true patriots from scum and traitors".

Since then, across Russia against critics of The War . They include students informing on teachers and workers denouncing colleagues.

BBC

Public Criticism of The Invasion - and that includes reposting Other People 's Criticism - is dangerous. The Russian authorities expect total, unflinching support for The offensive in Ukraine . If you don't support it, at The very least you're expected to stay silent. If you don't stay silent, there's a string of repressive laws for punishing dissent. That includes laws against spreading " false information" about The military and " discrediting" The army.

In Arkhangelsk, a giant portrait of a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine stares down on The City from The side of a nine-storey apartment block, along with The Words : " Being a warrior means Living Forever . "

The patriotic messaging is persuasive. On The Streets of Arkhangelsk, we find little sympathy for Russians facing prosecution for their anti-war comments.

" People who discredit our army or spread fakes, they're sick in The Head , " Konstantin tells me. " They should be sent to The Front Line as Cannon Fodder . "

" I have a negative attitude to critics of The special operation, " Ekaterina tells me.

But a long prison sentence for posting something online, isn't that harsh? I ask.

" People should use their brains, " Ekaterina replies. " If They Live in This Country , if they enjoy all The benefits This Country has to offer, if they're patriots, they need to abide by The Law . "

Later That Day Olesya is allowed out of her flat. But only to attend a court hearing. Her defence lawyers are trying to persuade a judge to lift The restrictions on her movement.

Olesya's T-shirt sports a picture of a police van with " School Bus" written on it. A comment on how young Russians are being punished for their Criticism of The Authorities .

The Judge rules to keep her under House Arrest .

" The State doesn't have The stomach for debate, for democracy or freedom, " Olesya says. " But they can't put everyone in prison. At some point they'll run out of cells. "

Related Topics

Source of news: bbc.com