“我們繼續下去” ：俄羅斯年輕人如何看待他們的生活和未來 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

‘We carry on’: How Russia’s youth see their lives and their future (2/2)

Updated Thu, July 27, 2023 at 3:49 a.m. PDT

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Maxim Lukyanenko, 20, a student from Krasnodar in southern Russia studying foreign languages and intercultural communication at the Higher School of Economics, and a founder of 'White Raven,' a patriotic, pro-military organization.

I have an optimistic point of view, so for me it's an opportunity to learn something new. Europe has closed down (for us), let's set our sights to Asia. There are lots of great things there.

I plan to study a master's course in China…I think they are very interesting people, an interesting nation. In general, Russia does need to strengthen ties with China. They are top blokes, we need to learn something from them. And to teach them something, of course.

Konstantin Konkov, 23, studied biology at Moscow State University, elected last year as an independent candidate to Moscow's municipal council

I'm mostly into public activism, for the most part politics and ecology… We set up neighbourhood clean-ups. We help animal shelters. We collect aid for refugees.

Of course, studying abroad to gain some knowledge and then put it into practice here is a rather tempting idea. But at the moment I feel that I'm needed here. And since I was elected a municipal deputy, for the next five years I plan to stay here, in my district, helping people as much as possible.

Since February last year, a lot of people I know, activists and others, have left Russia. It does have an impact on our campaigns and the quality of horizontal communication. Just think about it: the most active people, people who do care about what's going on in the country, have been ripped out of the country. Very few have stayed. In this situation it makes carrying out any campaigns, public or political, very difficult. But we carry on. Ivan Sokolov, 25, studied economics in Moscow and now works as a data analyst, left Russia briefly for Kazakhstan but has since returned to Moscow

(Talking about his first reaction to mobilization in Russia) I was in a total state of shock for at least one day, absolutely numb. I didn't understand what it was and why and how to live with it.

The mobilization was announced, I think, on Tuesday, and my friends and I flew away on Sunday. The route was long. At first we flew to Astrakhan (in southern Russia), then we hitchhiked to Atyrau in Kazakhstan. It took us two days to cross the border.

My plan of finding a job abroad failed…So I had to live on my savings, eating through them gradually.

Now I see that negative developments in geopolitics, for example, don’t have any impact on me. I'm totally cool about them.

My friends are here, my family is here. I was born and grew up in this country. I can't change and fix everything in the country, so I'm forced to come to terms with it, get used to it, and move forward.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by William Maclean)

Translation

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Maxim Lukyanenko，20 歲，來自俄羅斯南部克拉斯諾達爾的一名學生，在高等經濟學院學習外語和跨文化交流，也是愛國親軍事組織“白烏鴉”的創始人

我有一個樂觀的觀點，所以對我來說這是一個學習新東西的機會。 歐洲（對我們來說）已經關閉，讓我們把目光投向亞洲。 那裡有很多很棒的東西。

我計劃去中國讀碩士課程……我認為他們是非常有趣的人，一個有趣的國家。 總的來說，俄羅斯確實需要加強與中國的關係。 他們都是頂好的人，我們需要向他們學習一些東西。 當然，還要教他們一些東西。

 23 歲的Konstantin Konkov 在莫斯科國立大學學習生物學，去年當選為莫斯科市議會的獨立候選人

我主要熱衷於公共活動，主要是政治和生態……我們開展了社區清理工作。 我們幫助動物收容所。 我們為難民收集賑濟。

當然，出國留學獲得一些知識然後在這裡付諸實踐是一個相當誘人的想法。 但此刻我覺得這裡需要我。 自從我當選為市議員後，在接下來的五年裡，我計劃留在我所在的地區，盡可能地幫助人們。

自去年二月以來，我認識的很多人，包括活動人士和其他人，都離開了俄羅斯。 它確實對我們的活動和橫向溝通的質量產生了影響。 想想看：最活躍的人，那些關心這個國家正在發生的事情的人，已經被趕出了這個國家。 很少有人留下來。 在這種情況下，開展任何公共或政治運動都變得非常困難。 但我們還要繼續。25 歲的 Ivan Sokolov 在莫斯科學習經濟學，現在擔任數據分析師，曾短暫離開俄羅斯前往哈薩克斯坦，但後來又返回莫斯科。

 （談到他對俄羅斯動員的第一反應）我至少有一整天處於完全震驚的狀態，完全麻木了。 我不明白它是什麼、以及用什么理由及如何面對它。

我想，動員是在周二宣布的，我和我的朋友們週日就飛走了。 路線很長。 首先我們飛往阿斯特拉罕（俄羅斯南部），然後搭便車前往哈薩克斯坦的阿特勞。 我們花了兩天時間過境。

我出國找工作的計劃失敗了……所以我只能靠積蓄生活，慢慢地花光它。

現在我發現,例如地緣政治的負面發展對我沒有任何影響。 我對他們完全冷靜。

我的朋友在這裡，我的家人在這裡。 我在這個國家出生並長大。 我無法改變和解決這個國家的一切，所以我被迫接受它，習慣它，然後繼續下去。

So, four young men in their early 20s were interviewed. Some spoke of study plans and jobs, others were fear of an unknown and unpredictable future. But none of the four said there was much they could do to influence Russia's direction. Their responses surprise me. The fact is that since February last year, a lot of activists have left Russia. The most active people who do care about what is going on in the country are in exile. It seems the Putin is having a free hand in ruling Russian.