LETTER FROM MOSCOW
When she took her own life on October 2, 2020, Irina Slavina accepted she would become a symbol. She even claimed it, writing: "I ask that the Russian Federation be held responsible for my death." The 47-year-old freelance journalist from Nizhny Novgorod had been the victim of exhausting police and judicial harassment for years. The day after yet another raid, she doused herself in gasoline in front of the city's police headquarters and set herself on fire.
Through her act, that of an upright and determined woman refusing lies, cynicism, and compromises, and with the accusation against those she claimed were responsible for her death, she was still trying to shake the indifference and apathy of her fellow citizens.
Two and a half years have passed, and Slavina's children can now also be seen as symbols, but against their will. Not that Russia cares about their fate. The tragic disappearance of the journalist made few waves in public opinion and none in state media, but the fate of Murakhtayev's son and daughter (Slavina was a pen name) alone recalls the countless Russian families that the "special military operation" in Ukraine has divided.
'While our mother was burning, you were silent'
Margarita is 22, and Vyacheslav is 30. The day after their mother's death, they took to the streets together, holding a simple sign that read: "While our mother was burning, you were silent." A silent reproach to all those who refused to listen to her warnings, to read her rigorous investigations into the corruption and violence of regional elites.
Within a matter of months, their paths took different directions and they both shared their stories extensively with the exiled media outlet, Holod, while declining to comment to Le Monde. Their narratives present a seemingly impossible dialogue: the anti-war activist versus the soldier.
Margarita coped with the shock of October 2020 – "post-traumatic stress disorder" – by following in her mother's footsteps. For four months, she sorted out the business side of Koza, the website created by Slavina in 2015. She put the work on hold to focus on her studies. "I didn't want to put Koza's impeccable reputation at risk because of my youth and lack of professionalism," she explained to Holod.
On October 2, 2022, she went to the site of her mother's death with a sign proclaiming "My mother would have said: 'Putin, go to hell with your war,' but Putin killed her before she could." The philology student got off with a simple fine – according to her, the authorities want to avoid the embarrassment of putting Slavina's daughter in prison and, unusually, do not react to her anti-war posts. She also said that she is not afraid of anything anymore, and has no intention of leaving her country.
You have 52.72% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.