“The repressive machine that is being put in place destroys you”, denounces a former member of the Russian national guard, opposed to the war

He fled Russia to live in Kazakhstan, leaving his family behind. In the largest Kazakh city, Almaty, franceinfo met Anton*, a former member of Rosgvardia, the Russian national guard. Firmly opposed to the war in Ukraine, he ended up being sacked.

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It was a year ago and Anton, born to a Ukrainian father, is not about to forget this Thursday, February 24, 2022. “You don’t understand what you have to doexplains this ex-soldier who has family in Ukraine. On the one hand, there is a kind of moral responsibility, of duty, of being against this war. On the other side, there is the repressive machine that is being put in place. And it destroys you.”

Very quickly, Anton speaks out against the war, and opens up about it to his superiors. “It was difficult, terrifying. But I had no choice”.

Sacked, the young man risks being mobilized. To escape the war, he thinks of suicide, before fleeing to Kazakhstan. But Anton says he doesn’t blame anyone in Russia who remains silent. “Life in Russia is very difficult, people live in poverty. They go to work in the army, in Rosgvardia, or in other state structures.”

“They don’t support Putin. They just want to live and raise their children.”

In exile for several months, the Russian says he cannot bear this situation. Despite the danger: war or prison, he begins to consider returning home to Russia.

* the name has been changed