An English teacher in Russia has been punished for telling her student that Ukraine was not part of Russia. Marina Dubrova told the NYT: “It’s like everyone is drowning in some kind of madness.” Putin last month spoke in favor of a “self-purification of society,” referring to those opposed to the war.
A teacher in Russia said she was fired and fined after she turned herself in to authorities for commenting to students about the Russian war in Ukraine. Marina Dubrova told the New York Times that she showed her eighth-grader a YouTube video with an anti-war message. Then a group of girls asked her about the war. “Ukraine is a special country,” Dubrova, an English teacher on the Russian island of Sakhalin, told the girls. One of the girls replied: “Not anymore.” Russian police arrived at her school days later, the Times reported, and a recording of her comments, apparently taken by a student, was presented to the court. He was fined $ 400 for “publicly discrediting” Russian forces and fired from the school for “immoral behavior,” he told the Times. Speaking about the Russians in favor of war, Dubrova said: “It’s as if everyone is drowning in some kind of madness.” There have been various reports of Russians supporting each other because they spoke out against the war, which Russia calls a “special military operation,” although it is unclear how widespread it is. Russian President Vladimir Putin showed last month that Russia must undergo a purge of society to eradicate those who oppose the war or align themselves with the West. “The collective West is trying to divide our society, speculating on military losses, on the socio-economic impact of sanctions, in order to provoke a popular uprising in Russia,” Putin said in a video clip. “But any people, especially the Russian people, can distinguish true patriots from bastards and traitors and will spit on them,” he said, referring to people who do not support the Kremlin. The story goes on “I am confident that this necessary and natural self-purification of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to respond to any call for action,” he added. More than 4,300 anti-war protesters in Russia have been detained in protests across the country since early March. Read the original article in Business Insider
