Berlin becomes haven for exiles from Russia anew

Transcript

00:00In the wake of that recent historic prisoner swap between Russia and a group of seven nations

00:04led by the United States, some of the political prisoners the Kremlin let go went to Germany,

00:10which historically has been a sanctuary for exiled Russian dissidents.

00:14VOA's Marcus Harten narrates this Richard Marquina report in Berlin.

00:20The prisoners released from Russia in this month's historic exchange with the West arrived

00:27in Germany, a country accustomed to receiving those escaping Russian repression.

00:34Vitaly Vobar arrived in 2022.

00:38He used to be one of the few opposition members of the St. Petersburg regional parliament.

00:44After he spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian secret services came

00:50knocking on his door.

00:53It was then he knew it was time to leave.

00:59In Russia, there are still many people with democratic and anti-war values, including

01:04among the deputies of cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk and Novosibirsk.

01:11But speaking out openly against the war is prohibited and poses a great risk.

01:18When the full scale invasion began, thousands of Russians took to the streets only to have

01:24their protests put down by police.

01:27One of the thousands who risked their freedom to oppose the war was Anja Demidova, a Moscow

01:34actress.

01:36By the time authorities ordered her arrest, she was already on her way to Germany.

01:42She sees little hope for change in Russia anytime soon.

01:48Among Russians who remain, there are many people who hope that Putin is not immortal,

01:53that he will die at some point and everything gets changed.

01:57But it seems to me at least, as I see it today, what is going on there, in terms of prevailing

02:02attitudes of Russian superiority, has such deep roots and they are much older and stronger

02:07than Putin himself.

02:09During the two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian exiles have received

02:22mostly bad news.

02:25More arrests, more convictions and the death in prison of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

02:32There is a makeshift memorial to him in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin.

02:38Bad news has become old news for a comedian known as Dan the Stranger, who fled Russia

02:45with his family the day the war began.

02:49He is less known in Germany, where he earns a modest living doing stand-up comedy.

02:56Despite the hardships here, he doesn't think he'll return to Russia.

03:01I prefer to earn less money, but feel free and dedicate myself to humor as I want, not

03:06as they allow.

03:08This is why we do not live thinking about returning.

03:11We do not face it as something temporary.

03:15Since the time of the Tsars and later the Soviets, Berlin has served as a place of refuge

03:22for those fleeing repression in Russia.

03:25Many exiles see the current tensions between Moscow and the West as a new Cold War, with

03:32Berlin once again assuming its role as a symbol of the divide between the Kremlin and the

03:39rest of the world.

03:41For Ricardo Marquina in Berlin, Marcus Hardin, VOA News.