Ukraine on the streets of downtown Moscow.“For the posts I’m making, you’d just get instantly 15 years in jail,” he said.Russian authorities continue to arrest protesters and block independent news outlets as the war against Ukraine rages on.On Friday, Putin signed a bill into law that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports.
Anyone convicted would face up to 15 years in prison.“I couldn’t keep silent, so I decided I’m going to go,” Slepyshev said.He fled Russia on March 5, and headed to Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, where he has relatives.
Russian, Belarusian truckers speak of fears over Ukraine war: ‘It should be ended’ He’s calls his departure, and the departure of the many other Russians fleeing the country, “the exodus.”“I’m in a safe place now,” Slepyshev told Global News, as he sat on a mauve-coloured couch in his family’s home in Tashkent, just hours after arriving.As a teenager, Slepyshev wanted to be a Russian navy officer.“I was very patriotic,” he said. “The propaganda worked on me very well.”That was before he found his music, and spent time working on cruise ships as a musician.
He travelled to Vancouver in 2019.Just a few days before leaving Russia, however, Slepyshev attended a protest in support of Ukraine in Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square.The invite to the protest came as a message from the organizers asking people to join them for a walk.“You can’t say meeting, you can’t say protest,” he said, because of the possibility of jail time.Despite the tough laws in place, Russians across the country have continued to protest against the invasion of Ukraine.