‘My Mother Says I Am Betraying Russia’: Putin’s Invasion Divides the Generations

THE OBSERVER: Families torn apart as younger Russians opposing war in Ukraine fall out with older relatives reliant on diet of state propaganda

People walk past the letter Z, a symbol of the Russian military, and a hashtag reading ‘We don't abandon our own’ in St Petersburg on 9 March. Photograph: AP
On day three of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Victoria Gogh realised her mother was slipping away from her.

“I noticed on the phone that mum was starting to parrot the government’s narrative about this war – that this was all the fault of Nato, that Russia had no choice but to defend itself,” said Gogh, 28, a fashion consultant originally from a small town in Siberia who moved to Moscow.

“It became my mission to change her mind, to show her what was really going on,” said Gogh, who has strongly opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on her social media channels.

Vladimir Putin’s decision to start a war with Russia’s neighbour has seen many Ukrainian families torn apart, as their adult men are forced to stay behind and fight while other members of the family flee the violence.

But Russia has also been experiencing its own family rifts – between those who back the war and those who oppose it. Often, that divide runs along generational lines. » | Pjotr Sauer | Sunday, March 13, 2022