Invisible and powerful: How Russian women are protesting

Ellina is a journalism master’s student from Russia.

In Russia, it has become increasingly impossible to protest without risk of being arrested or put in prison. But people still do it. It just might be harder to see.

In the spring of 2022, Sasha Skochilenko — a 33-year-old artist from St. Petersburg — started replacing the price tags in her local supermarket with information about Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. The act was recognized as the deliberate spreading of false information regarding the Russian army, and she was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison.

In her last speech in court, Skochilenko said: “Wars do not end thanks to warriors, they end on the initiative of pacifists. And when you put pacifists in prison, you further delay the long-awaited day of peace.”

Something as small as altering price tags is a seemingly invisible act to those in power. Unlike open rebellions and demonstrations, it’s quiet and hidden — a type of protest that’s more easily available to people, transforming something as small as accessories or clothes into a statement against war.

That’s how Maria chooses to voice her protest. She and her daughter wear blue and yellow bracelets, pacifist sign earrings, and T-shirts hiding the words “no war” under five asterisks. She’s a member of Soft Power — a women’s sociopolitical movement, created when the war in Ukraine started. Today, the organization’s main goal is to show an alternative to the current Russian leadership’s brutal attitude, demonstrating non-aggressive and friendly policy.

“Our conversations and support, it’s very important. I think it’s also [a part of] our way of protest,” Maria said. “If someone brave writes to go outside and do something in our chat, we support them, and some even join in,” she remarked. “We also help each other pay fines and send [prepare] care packages [for those] in prison.”

“Wars do not end thanks to warriors, they end on the initiative of pacifists. And when you put pacifists in prison, you further delay the long-awaited day of peace.” Alexandra Skochilenko said. | Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

Maria admitted that the group’s talks particularly help when it seems like their work is useless. “I understand that all that we do isn’t enough,” she said, explaining that these interactions help pull her out of the feeling of futility and realize that it’s still necessary to do something — however small. “Then we go further and come up with new ways [to protest],” she added.

Anti-war resistance can take a multitude of forms, it can be of different levels of intensity and exposure. Sometimes, it can even be as simple as bringing flowers to make a statement.

Every Saturday since December 2023, mothers, sisters and wives of mobilized men have been placing flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, and at eternal flames in other cities. They wear white scarves or beanies in tribute to the Argentine mothers whose sons disappeared during the rule of Jorge Rafael Videl.

When they started drawing the attention of law enforcement, they then turned to other methods, like the March of Empty Pots. A protest that saw pained family members opening their windows, going to their balconies and banging on pans in hope of “waking people up.”

Similarly, after the Dnipro strike in January 2023, many began laying flowers at the Lesya Ukrainka monument in Moscow, dedicated to one of Ukraine’s foremost literary names. Many have continued to place flowers there since, whether on war anniversaries or after big strikes. “It’s kind of soothing for us,” Maria shared. “But this year there was a horrible scene. As soon as we put down the flowers and walked away, city workers removed them with a shovel. We were shouting ‘How could you do this? Why?’”

“[The protest] is now in the form of a more invisible struggle,” agreed Ekaterina, another member of Soft Power. “We can’t openly express our position, so we do it in the safest ways. … That’s why we work to reduce resources as much as possible.”

So far, Soft Power has helped people escape mobilization, legally take more sick days as a form of workplace protest and slow down bureaucratic processes, with workers placing paperwork deemed important for the state in further away places. “These steps exhaust the resources of our authorities, make them more vulnerable and show that, well, not everything is so smooth and good as might seem to some average person,” Ekaterina said.

After the Dnipro strike in January 2023, many began laying flowers at the Lesya Ukrainka monument in Moscow, dedicated to one of Ukraine’s foremost literary names. | Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

Soft Power also writes petitions, organizes educational webinars and is preparing to take part in municipal elections. “We work to urge people to go there, to participate, so our agenda will be represented somehow,” she shared.

Meanwhile, many also show their support for political prisoners, attending their trials in protest. For example, along with the political party Yabloko, the group Open Space, which helps activists in trouble, organizes evenings where attendees sign postcards and write letters to those imprisoned on political grounds. “They cheer us up more than we do,” admitted Maria. “These evenings also give us an opportunity to spend time together, talk and support each other.”

Whether through silent flowers, the subtlest acts or the loud clanging of pots and pans, people in Russia are continuing to protest. In different ways, they’re proving that resisting is still possible, that it’s always possible.

“Everyone who feels responsible for [the war] should try to do something,” Maria said. Though it might seem invisible, it’s still powerful. And despite the myriad risks, the spirit of resistance in Russia continues on.

* The author’s last name was withheld at their request.