Thread by @tanjamaier17

My Moscow feed went silent. The mommy groups have moved to telegram and are scared to write anything. Soon the only way to get real info out of Moscow will be old fashioned phone calls on fixed lines, and who still has those? I fear Fortress Russia = information black hole.

There is strength in numbers but I don’t see Gen X rallying to protest. I see them leaving if they can. What will the young do? I don’t know. In the regions people are just trying to survive let’s not forget economic crisis. The Soviet shut up mentality does live on for many.

It sounds ridiculous to write this but memories of war and also of gulag are passed down by generations. Everyone in Russia knows the one thing you want to avoid is prison or worse. Can they arrest everyone? No. But no one wants to be the first. Any revolt has to come from elite.

I know Ukrainians look at Russia with exasperation and think what the fuck are the cowards waiting for. I understand that. As an American I completely get that sentiment. But from what I know about Moscow…the revolution won’t start there. Needs a catalyst. A leader + hope.

And now those in Russia are in an info bubble and scared. They are angry too. It’s like Stockholm syndrome but an entire country. The soldiers moms? They will be devastated but they will not alone stand up to Putin. The Russian people need to feel the world doesn’t hate THEM.

Isolated and alone they will only start to ask themselves if maybe Putin is onto something and the world really hates Russia and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy propaganda loop. Just look at Serbia how many years after the wars. Not that it’s an excuse, but it lives on.

Little update: some clever moms have VPNs and are still on Facebook. They are discussing to stay or to go. Everyone has a story. Relatives from abroad calling telling them to leave. Knowing people in Kyiv now in bomb shelters. No one knows what to do.

Someone says: soon we will whisper in kitchens like it’s 1937. Another says: we are already there, they are already calls to “mark” Instagram posts that are not supportive of the government’s…special operation. I must get offline but this is unreal. Of course they are in shock.

Some say the airports are quiet. Others were interrogated before being let through. They are checking money, phones, seems at random. One family had tickets to Dubai. Flight cancelled last minute. They switched bought $$$ tickets to Kazakhstan. Bumped into friends on board!

One Aeroflot flight yesterday took off for Turkey, turned around mid-way, came back to Russia, switched planes, and took off again. They say it was a leased plane and they were afraid it would be seized. Switched to owned plane and took off again. Bonkers.

Also shout out to the person writing this morning "we flew to the Maldives today and no one asked us anything".

Moscow forever.

There is an entire FB group about how to leave Russia. Moms are discussing bus routes to Helsinki. This is completely unprecedented. Yes, totally not comparable to what Ukraine is going through -- let's not forget that. But this news won't be in newspapers so I'm sharing it.