Arshak Makichyan fears for activists in Russia (Photo: @ makichyan.arshak / Instagram)
A Russian climate fighter who fled Moscow fearing for his safety spoke of the scale of the repression in his homeland.
Arshak Makichyan thinks it is too dangerous to stay in his own country with his wife Polina Oleynikova, who fears that Vladimir Putin’s forces could be targeted and tortured.
Now, turning his attention to opposing the war in Ukraine, the young activist – best known for his Greta Thunberg-style environmental work – says Putin’s friends want the Russian people to “experience terror.”
But Arshak believes that the majority of Russians oppose the war, with the exception of those who are “stupid” or “brainwashed.”
The 27-year-old also suggests that people in the Western world do not understand how difficult it is to oppose a regime he now describes as a dictatorship – and says many activists fear imprisonment or rape.
Arshak says the war has “canceled” all his environmental work, but is now focusing his campaign on an embargo on Russian fossil fuels in a bid to end the conflict.
After being detained and spied on, he is unsure when he will return to Russia – and admits that he and his wife are wondering if it would be “stupid” to do so.
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Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk in Berlin, he explained: “You can be raped, they can torture you, they can kill you, they can put pressure on your family, they can do anything.
“The worst thing could be that they can arrest my wife… they tortured people in Russia before this war and now it will be worse because now we live in a dictatorship – they want people not to be afraid, they want people (they feel se) terror. ‘
He continued: “Before this war, we knew that if you were arrested, you would probably not be tortured because you were a public figure or whatever.
“It’s not like that now – they can torture you, they can kill you and anything can happen because the situation is completely different.”
Arshak – who is initially considered a climate activist and says his job as a social media manager is “just for food” – likes to play the violin in his spare time.
Arshak protests with Greta Thunberg (Photo: @ makichyan.arshak / Instagram)
But now he worries about his relatives in Russia and says some friends have been arrested and detained for days just for putting up stickers or posting “no to war” hashtags on social media.
He believes that repression in the country is not necessarily widespread, but added: “This is disappointing because you feel that they are stronger than you, because they can do whatever they want with you.”
Arshak recalls being detained “several times” and facing a number of cases against him.
“A month before this war, we went to Tbilisi, Georgia, and they were watching us,” he explained.
“It was very strange to have surveillance… I am not (opposition leader Alexei) Navalny, I am not so popular in Russia, but there is surveillance even on us… we are just activists.”
The activist has had various clashes with the police (Photo: @ makichyan.arshak / Instagram)
He says going to prison is not very useful for the cause, but most of the tools used by pre-war activists, such as social media, are now shutting down.
A native of Armenia, Arshak organized independent climate strikes in Moscow for weeks in 2019.
But after invading Ukraine, he scratched anti-war slogans on climate stickers and was later arrested.
Fearing the worst, he fled to the German capital.
Asked what Westerners can do to help, he suggested donating to independent media (perhaps through cryptocurrency) and sharing knowledge of the resistance with the people of Russia.
Arshak does not believe that many people in the West understand what it is like to resist Vladimir Putin (Photo: @ makichyan.arshak / Instagram)
“It’s not that easy to fight,” he explains.
“People in Europe, they don’t understand what it feels like to live in a dictatorship, they don’t have that experience of fighting an authoritarian regime.
“When you go to court and you haven’t done anything wrong, but they say there’s no reason not to trust the police … You can be arrested for a year or 10 and you don’t have the tools to defend yourself.
“The situation is completely different (in Europe and the United States)… activists in Russia are marginalized… so I think people around the world should not give advice to Russian civil society, they should just support them in every way possible. ‘
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Earlier, Putin called pro-Western Russians “scum and traitors,” an insult to Arshak.
He also fears that it is “possible” for Putin to strike a nuclear strike, but hopes the embargo on all Russian fossil fuels could end the war.
“This is a win-win situation for everything – for the climate, for stopping the war, for Europe,” he said.
“If they stop buying fossil fuels from Russia, the fair transition (to net zero) will be faster and Europe will be more independent of fossil fuels, which is good for everyone.”
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