GDANSK, March 8 . When Russian actor Jean-Michel Shcherbak posted on social media that he was ashamed that his country had started a war in Ukraine, his mother, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, blocked him from the network.
“She texted me on Facebook that I was a traitor and that I had made my choice,” Shcherbak, 30, an actor and director of press relations for the film studio, told Reuters by phone.
He declined to say which European country he was speaking from, but said he was outside of Russia.
Register now and get FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
register
The squabble between mother and son over the war in Ukraine is one of many things that have divided Russian families and friends since fighting broke out on February 24.
Ukraine and its allies are calling Russia’s actions a brutal invasion that has killed hundreds of civilians. Tenements were reduced to rubble, cities were evacuated and almost 2 million Ukrainians fled the country. Kyiv accused Moscow of war crimes.
Putin says Russia has launched a special operation to destroy its neighbor’s military capability and remove from Kyiv what it sees as dangerous nationalists. Russia denies that it has targeted civilians.
Russian and international media covered the conflict in very different ways. Most Russians get their news about Ukraine from pro-Kremlin outlets that present a completely different interpretation to others.
Russian state polling agency VTsIOM said Putin’s approval rating rose 6 percentage points to 70% in the week to Feb. 27. The FOM, which provides the Kremlin with research, said its ratings rose 7 percentage points to 71% over the same period. .
But thousands of Russians also demonstrated against the war. According to the OVD-Info protest monitoring group, since February 24, the police have detained more than 13,000 people at anti-war rallies in Russia.
Russia declared OVD-Info a “foreign agent” in September, in a move critics say is aimed at stifling dissent.
Shcherbak, who shares social media posts and videos showing events in Ukraine, said it was not the first time his mother had tried to influence his political views.
“She was always trying to convince me, to reason with me, because she is a mother, she is smart, and I am stupid,” he said.
“LITTLE VICTORIES”
In conversations with her mother, Daria, a 25-year-old from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg who declined to give her full name, said she avoids the sensitive subject of the war and other issues on which they “do not quite see eye to eye.” .”
“I made it clear to myself that now she is in the worst emotional situation, and she needs help and support,” said Daria.
At the same time, she tries to offer different points of view. According to her, her mother was shocked by the video footage of protesters being detained by police in protective equipment. Daria rejoices in what she calls “small victories.”
Alex, a 28-year-old game tester who lives with his wife in Gdansk, Poland, said his parents, who are in Russia, told him to delete his social media posts about the war in Ukraine, warning that it could be dangerous for him to share his views.
On Friday, the Russian parliament passed a law providing for up to 15 years in prison for spreading knowingly “fake” news about the military, inciting an information war around the conflict in Ukraine.
Alex’s parents have been calling him every day since the conflict started, and every call has resulted in fights and screams between him and his mother.
His father, some of whose relatives are fighting on the warring sides in Ukraine, remained more neutral.
To save their relationship, Alex stopped posting the news. His wife changed the privacy settings of her account and continued to post articles about the Ukrainian conflict.
Register now and get FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
register
Editing by Mike Collette-White
Our Standards: Trust Principles.