- An English teacher in Russia was punished for telling her student that Ukraine was not part of Russia.
- Marina Dubrova told NYT: “It’s as if everyone has gone into some kind of madness.”
- Last month, Putin spoke in favor of “self-cleansing society”, targeting those opposed to the war.
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A teacher in Russia said she was fired and fined after she was turned over to authorities for commenting to students about the Russian war in Ukraine.
Marina Dubrova told The New York Times that she showed her eighth grader a YouTube video with an anti-war message. Then a group of girls asked her about the war.
Dubrova, an English teacher on the Russian island of Sakhalin, told the girls: “Ukraine is a separate country.” One of the girls replied, “Not anymore.”
Russian police arrived at her school days later, The Times reported, and a recording of her comments, apparently taken by a student, was presented to the court.
She was fined $ 400 for “publicly discrediting” Russian forces and fired from the school for “immoral behavior,” she told The Times. Speaking about the Russians in favor of the war, Dubrova said: “It’s as if everyone has gone into some kind of madness.”
There are various reports of Russians passing on to each other to speak out against the war, which Russia calls a “special military operation,” although it is unclear how widespread the phenomenon is.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that Russia must undergo a purge of society to eradicate those who oppose the war or are in line with the West.
“The collective West is trying to divide our society, speculating on military losses, about the socio-economic consequences of sanctions, to provoke a popular uprising in Russia,” Putin said in a video message.
“But every nation, especially the Russians, is able to distinguish true patriots from bastards and traitors and will spit them out,” he said, referring to people who do not support the Kremlin.
“I am convinced that this necessary and natural self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and our readiness to respond to any call for action,” he added.
More than 4,300 anti-war protesters in Russia were detained during protests across the country in early March.
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