the reign of denunciation since the start of the war in Ukraine

Since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, whistleblowers have been active in Russia, sometimes for futile reasons, with serious consequences. A woman now lives in Britain, where she is seeking asylum. A year ago, she was denounced by her 10-year-old daughter’s school principal. The child had posted a pro-Ukrainian drawing on his social network. She was questioned at the station. “They asked me, what is your political position? They also asked me to show my phone. What apps do you have in it?“, she reports.

“Professional” whistleblowers

She says she was threatened with having her children taken away. “Now, the school is the eye of the government, which tries to eradicate divergent opinions“, she continues. Online denunciations sometimes include the name of the author. France Télévisions came into contact with one of them, a woman who claims to have more than 1,000 denunciations to her credit. “If someone says something illegal, I write to the police to open criminal or administrative proceedings. And I write to her employer to suggest firing her“, she says.

In Crimea, the time has come for public denunciations. On Telegram, a man tracks comments he considers subversive on social networks.