Ghosts of Modern Russia. (Photo Report)

Photos from ‘March for Peace’ held in Moscow. Would you risk your freedom for justice?

Homeland Is Not A Series.

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Homeland Is Not a Series.

4 min readApr 14, 2016

Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Russian society is often portrayed as a one solid entity, which agrees with everything that its leader,Vladimir Putin says. But fortunately, it’s not true. Russian society is more diverse than its portrayed. There are people who question authority, and they desire peace much more than Putin-supporters desire war.

This photo report is two years old. It reveals the colours of that ‘different side’ of the Russian society. People who in times when political dissidents are oppressed and even killed are not afraid to take the streets and voice their views.

These are the photos from the “Peace March” in September 29, 2014. Thousands of Russians took the streets of central Moscow to say ‘no’ to Russian military action in East Ukraine. The war that took more than 5000 lives.

The banner above says “No War between Russia and Ukraine”.

BRIEF.

In 2013, Ukraine had to choose one of the two following options. The first was close economic cooperation with Russia and the second option was closer ties with the European Union.

Ukraine’s president favoured closer ties with Russia, which Ukrainian people considered outrageous. After months of protests Ukrainian president was deposed and escaped to Russia.

The political changes or in other words revolution, have sparked protests in Ukraine’s East. The conflict quickly grew into civil war between Eastern parts of Ukraine and the rest of the country. International community blames Russia for creating artificial war there.

The people who went on protest in September 29th 2014 were demanding the end of Russian military action in Ukraine’s East.

The woman on the photo above is holding a Ukrainian flag behind her. Unfortunately in modern Russia, what that woman does can be dangerous. You can be punched in the face for that simple and innocent action such as holding Ukrainian flag. The supporters of current Russian regime consider Ukrainian government to be fascist — therefore waving Ukrainian flag is considered to be a support of a fascist forces.