It’s time to talk about feelings. After all, it concerns a relationship that has lasted 49 years, admittedly a little off and on, but still. And now it seems that one party no longer wants to. This naturally applies to my relationship with Russia. It has had its ups and downs over the years, like most relationships, but it has always been one of the most important love stories in my life. No middle ground I was only 17 years old when I visited Red Square in the center of Moscow for the first time. It made a tremendous impression. The Kremlin’s towers and walls, the GUM department store, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s mausoleum, the History Museum and the cobblestones all over the square. SHOWING STRENGTH: From a military parade on Red Square in the 1970s. Photo: BORIS YURCHENKO / Ap It is almost impossible not to feel the rush of history in this place. No matter how many times I enter Den rode plass, I always feel that it is special. This city and this country has such an incredibly dramatic history. It moves from one extreme to the other, a golden mean does not seem to be a particularly tempting option for Russia and the Russians. Moreover, something surprising happens all the time, which with my long experience from Russia I should probably have foreseen, but still struggle to explain. EXCITING: news’s photographer Jurij Linkevich during filming in Samarkand in Uzbekistan. Due to the pandemic and war, there weren’t as many such trips as I had hoped. Photo: Jan Espen Kruse / news When I got the job as a correspondent in this country for the second time, I expected that there would be a period of stability under President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule. The plan was to travel around Russia and make as many hopefully interesting reports as possible. In politics, I thought that not much would happen other than that Putin and his regime would sit still and continue to cling to power. So mistakes can be made. The screw is being tightened I had only just got started, before a dramatic power struggle between the authorities and opposition leader Alexei Navalny became even more acute. The police used increasingly brutal violence to quell the opposition’s protest marches. Eventually, tens of thousands of people were arrested, many received shorter prison terms and fines, some received longer sentences. Students we interviewed said they would continue to demand democracy and freedom, no matter what happened. But they too had to give in, and all protests died down. HARD POLICE POWER: Thousands of people were arrested during demonstrations organized by the Russian opposition. Photo: Jan Espen Kruse / news For the past six months, none of the students have responded when we try to contact them. Perhaps they have left the country, as they said they would if it got too bad. Perhaps they no longer dare to speak to a foreign journalist. In August 2019, Navalny was poisoned, later imprisoned and convicted on what he and Western countries say are politically motivated charges. The pandemic also made it very difficult to conduct normal journalism in Russia. But parallel to the ravages of the virus, the suppression of critical voices in politics, the media and community organizations continued. Then it happened anyway. The state’s control over the internet was greatly tightened, the state also labeled more and more people, organizations and media as “foreign agents”. In practice, it made it almost impossible for those who were affected to continue their business, and many left Russia. The propaganda in the state media also became increasingly aggressive in relation to the West. WAS BANNED IN RUSSIA: The regime-critical TV station Dozjd had to move abroad. Photo: Jan Espen Kruse / news It was alleged that NATO and Western countries, led by the USA, were in the process of encircling Russia and that the country’s security was threatened. Russian authorities demanded Western security guarantees that Ukraine would never join NATO. At the same time, the Russian army assembled a force of around 100,000 soldiers in the border area with the neighboring country. From the Russian side, it was said that Russia was not threatening anyone, and that a military attack was completely out of the question. I also thought that the Russians would only emphasize the seriousness of the situation with their force build-up, and that it would be far too damaging for Russia if an attack were launched. I thought so until President Putin started the war on 24 February this year. He probably thought that Kyiv and the rest of the country would be taken within a short time, but that was a gross misjudgment. LITTLE PROGRESS: Russian forces in the eastern part of Ukraine. Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / Reuters Now it has become a war of attrition and the Russians have occupied smaller areas in the east and south of Ukraine. In March, Russia passed a law under which you can get up to 15 years in prison for saying something that the Russian authorities believe is untrue about the country’s armed forces. Then my Russian photographer and I were told by news’s management to get out of the country as soon as possible. After a couple of weeks, it appeared that the law was primarily aimed at Russian citizens, and not foreigners. We went back, but the law is still there. And no one knows how it will be practiced in the future. From Hønefoss to Moscow I ended up in Moscow by chance. As a high school student at Hønefoss, I took part in a style competition where the prize was a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow at New Year’s. With a communist government, the Soviet Union was so wildly different from anything else I had experienced so far in my life, it was just super interesting. I was already a freelance journalist for Ringerikes Blad, and a dream to work as a correspondent in Moscow probably began to take shape already during my first visit there. A LOT TO TELL: A report from Moscow, in the early 1990s. Photo: Anatolij Kuprianov / news After studying, among other things, Russian, I got a job at news, and in 1991 I became a Moscow correspondent for the first time. A week after my arrival, conservative forces in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union staged a coup against the country’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. They did not like his softening of the party’s policies. I remember that the day after the coup it was completely quiet on the metro in Moscow. In recent years, Gorbachev’s reforms had led to lively political discussion among Russians. But a coup was what was needed to bring fear back to the Russians. The coup plotters were removed after three days. WARM: In the 1990s I became the proud owner of a hat with raccoon fur. But there were probably not many people who listened to what I said. Photo: Anatolij Kuprianov / news At New Year 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and the following years in Russia were characterized by a struggle between liberal and conservative forces. The transition from a fully state-controlled communist economy to a kind of capitalism was painful and marked by crime. Those who stole the most became the richest. Some became oligarchs, i.e. super-rich. The rapprochement between Russia and the West was strong, some even talked about Russia becoming a member of NATO. When things started to go wrong At the turn of the millennium Boris Yeltsin gave up as Russian leader, and in came the rather unknown Vladimir Putin. He stood for a much harsher form of governance. He cracked down hard on challengers in politics and made tougher demands on behalf of Russia vis-à-vis Western countries. THEY WERE RUSSIAN: Soldiers without identification moved into the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014. Photo: Baz Ratner / Reuters But the bitter turning point came in 2014 when Russian forces occupied the Crimean peninsula, which then belonged to Ukraine. After a short time, Crimea was annexed, i.e. made part of Russia. The West began to introduce punitive measures against Russia, and relations between East and West gradually became more difficult. And in February this year, Russia went to war against Ukraine. It changed most things in my relationship with Russia and the Russians. I have always admired the Russians’ curiosity, their interest in their own and other countries, and their fondness for good conversation. PLEASANT MEMORIES: My wife Julia and I visited the Bolshoi Theater on one of our last evenings together in Moscow. On my travels around the country, I have heard the following many times: “Are you from Norway? So exciting! Can’t we have a chat, there’s so much I’d like to ask you.” Fear Now there are only a very few of my acquaintances who dare to have a meaningful conversation with a foreigner like me. When we ask ordinary Russians for an interview, most say they don’t want to. They are afraid of getting into trouble at work, young people fear that they could lose their study place if they say something the authorities don’t like. FULL: In the center of Moscow, there are no signs that the country is at war. The pubs are full on a Saturday night. Photo: Jan Espen Kruse / news Several Russian experts with whom we have been in contact in the past say that they no longer speak to Western journalists. They indicate that the Russian authorities are watching, and they will not take any chances. Throughout history, the Russian population has repeatedly experienced periods of brutality, either in connection with war or as a result of internal politics. One example is the reign of terror that the Stalin regime stood for in the 1930s, when millions of Russians were killed and countless numbers were sent to prison camps. Perhaps many Russians are now again afraid of what the future will bring. At least it seems to me that fear has taken over in the Russia I knew. Deep sadness In recent years, it has also become much more difficult to do journalism here in Russia. And I feel that the war has taken away a lot of the Russia that I have loved and been fascinated by since I was 17 years old. SOMETHING IS STILL HAPPENING: Live report from the balcony outside the office in Moscow. Photo: Yuri Linkevich / news Russia and Russians have been part of most of my life, and have become part of me. Therefore, I feel what is happening now as a deep sorrow. But old love, as you know, does not rust. The relationship has been put to a serious test, but I dare to hope that this will not be the last time I am in Russia. It’s not looking so bright right now. But I, and many with me, have been wrong before about this enigmatic country.
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Fear has taken over in the Russia I knew – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
