Published: Less than 10 min ago
Among her classmates, she defended Zelensky and refused to attend “patriotic lessons”. The incidents were reported to the FSB by the teachers.
– They threatened to lock me up and place my daughters in juvenile detention, says the girl’s mother Jelena Zjoliker.
Over 500 children have so far been arrested for their stance on the war in Russia.
Single mother of two Jelena Zjoliker was at her job, a university in Moscow, when she received a call from one of her daughters’ mobile numbers.
– At first I thought that my daughter had been kidnapped – an unknown voice said that I had to come to school immediately, says Jelena to Aftonbladet.
She left the university and went to school. There, her daughter sat in a room with two employees from the Russian security service FSB.
– They picked me up from a math lesson and asked a lot of questions about how we live, who my mother meets, what we think about the war in Ukraine, says Varja, 10.
Had the “wrong” profile picture
Varja, 10, lives in Moscow with his mother and 7-year-old sister. The girls’ grandmother is from Ukraine. To show his support for the Ukrainian people, Varja uploaded a profile picture on social media. The picture showed the Virgin Mary with a rocket in her arms – and the Ukrainian flag with the words “Glory to Ukraine” in the background.
In a chat with classmates of the same age, Varja created a poll about Putin. In addition, she was truant from “patriotic lessons” – something that was introduced in Russian schools last fall.
– Our teacher says that those lessons are important because it is Russian President Putin who introduced them, Varja tells Aftonbladet and laughs.
– We have those lessons on Monday morning. If you go to school, you can sleep an hour longer. That’s what I did.
Russian propaganda equates Ukraine’s flag with a Nazi symbol, and the girl’s behavior and attitude towards the war was noticed by a teacher. That’s when the FSB came to the school.
Interrogated for several hours
– They took us into police custody and took us to the police station. Everyone screamed very loudly, says mother Jelena.
At the police station, FSB officers began an interrogation.
– They asked so many questions, I was so scared that I couldn’t answer. I thought a lot about what I should and shouldn’t say. My biggest fear was that they would take mother away from us, says Varja.
The FSB wondered, among other things, what the family thinks about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russians who criticize the war in Ukraine risk being sentenced for spreading “fake” news about the Russian army. The law can lead to up to 15 years in prison in Russia. So far, more than 200 people in Russia have been prosecuted for spreading “fake” news, and dozens have received long prison terms, according to Russian the human rights organization OVD Info.
– They said straight out that they wanted to find evidence that I had spread “fake” news. Either through something I said or something in my mobile, says Jelena.
FSB followed home
After several hours at the police station, the FSB employees accompanied the family home. They checked the whole apartment.
– They searched our computer, mobile phones. They also drew attention to yellow and blue – we have a lot of that at home. For example, the curtains in the children’s room, says Jelena.
A couple of hours later, the FSB left the residence.
– I told my daughters that “now we’re going out for ice cream!” I really wanted to mitigate the situation, says Jelena.
But the persecutions have continued after the visit.
Police inspectors are gathering information about the family from neighbors in the house, and Jelena is constantly receiving text messages and phone calls from the FSB and the police. They ask her to visit for “preventive” talks.
– Now I can talk calmly about what has happened. But I understand that they can fabricate something against me, place my children in orphanages and put me in prison.
More children are persecuted
In total, around 500 children in Russia have either been fined, arrested, detained or placed in orphanages for their stance on the war in Ukraine, according to Russian the human rights organization OVD Info.