A day before the start of the Russian presidential elections, krone.at editor and Russia expert Angelika Eliseeva, who has lived and worked in Moscow for more than four years, takes a look at the reality of everyday Russian life: “Life has its pitfalls and it is a Daily life is much more difficult for us than you can imagine. Shopping, the apartment, you need a lot more energy. And it is significantly more dangerous.”
Eliseeva: “You always have that political stuff in the background, where you feel that this is actually putting pressure on your private life from above. You already know somewhere that if you mess with the wrong people now, your relatively nice life could be over.” In everyday life there is information, and you don’t know whether which of the people of the Russian domestic secret service FSB is because they are well connected.
She herself would have been approached by strange Russians on the street about how she felt about Crimea and then you ask yourself: for what purpose and with what intention am I being interrogated? The editor describes this situation as follows: “Hello, how are you? Can I perhaps offer you my seat on the tram? And then it turns around relatively quickly: yes, how do you see Crimea? And the Ukrainians are bad.” She also has a good friend who is also Austrian and worked in Moscow and who had a similar experience.
When asked if she was personally afraid in Russia, she said: “Not from a political point of view. I didn’t always feel safe in my life, in my integrity.” There were several bomb threats and she was often evacuated from a shopping center or from work, where suddenly it was said that there was a bomb in the basement. That’s where you have to go live with.
“Zombifying people”
Finally: “I tried to watch as little state television as possible because the Russians have a very good term for it: they call brainwashing ‘zombifying people’. And they always said: don’t watch TV, otherwise you will become a zombie.’
DYou can see the entire interview above!
We explain what Austria is currently dealing with: the latest news conversations with politicians and experts.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
