JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The risks of protesting the government have been on the minds of many Americans lately. In Russia, those dangers take on extra weight amid the war in Ukraine and an ongoing crackdown on dissent. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Maynes has the story of a rare dissident.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: The speech doesn't last long, just over two minutes, on an evening otherwise dedicated to poetry in Christ the Savior Church, Moscow's largest Orthodox cathedral.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VADIM DZYUBA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: But the man on stage has just shifted the topic to talk about political prisoners jailed for their opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DZYUBA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: "They're in jail, but they've done nothing wrong," the man says. He lists several names - Evgenia Berkovich, Maria Ponomarenko, Alexei Gornov. "You've probably heard of them," he says, somewhat hopefully. As he finishes, there's a small smattering of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
MAYNES: And that's basically it. That small act of defiance passes for incredibly brave in Russia these days, also incredibly rare, not least because it can land you years in jail.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MAYNES: So I was surprised when the man in that video, 36-year-old Vadim Dzyuba (ph), agreed to meet me in a central Moscow cafe and talk about what it's like to publicly protest against the Russian government and the war in a moment when so few are willing to.
DZYUBA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Dzyuba told me he was opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the outset, joining protests and once even arrested. It cost him his job as an actor in a local Moscow theater, something he doesn't regret.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) When I realized that 80% of people around me supported this nightmare, I sincerely couldn't understand why. I'd get in arguments with my colleagues during rehearsals all the time.
MAYNES: Still, he remained in demand as a performer when it came to his real passion - 20th century Russian poetry. At first, he'd sprinkle public readings around town with anti-war stanzas by his favorite writers, like the Soviet poet Sergei Yesenin, hoping audiences would hear echoes in the current moment.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter, reading) And how many war-scarred wretches come home now crippled and blind? How many in graves lie buried, and how many more shall die?
MAYNES: But as the war ground on, Dzyuba grew increasingly distraught about victims in Ukraine and about the growing ranks of political prisoners at home in Russia, a list that included artists, journalists, doctors and writers. He decided this time he would speak out directly and in his own words.
(SOUNDBITE OF TAPE REWINDING)
MAYNES: When he rewinds that moment in his head, Dzyuba still thinks he talked too fast.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) I was nervous and afraid they would cut me off before I finished, but they didn't. And I'm grateful to the audience for listening to the end.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DZYUBA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: And he has a theory why. Mindful he was speaking in Moscow's largest Orthodox church, he couched his speech in Christian terminology, with the call for miloserdiye, or mercy, despite the Moscow patriarchs' open support for the military campaign. Dzyuba is himself Orthodox Christian.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) Mercy is the most natural feeling, even if we often forget. And I wanted to remind people it still exists.
MAYNES: Still, as Dzyuba finished his speech and stepped off the stage, he could feel the glares from the hosts of the event. A few onlookers gave quiet nods of support. Others - they were just deeply concerned.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) One elderly woman came up to my friend and said, tell Vadim not to make any more of those statements because it's dangerous to do that in this country.
MAYNES: And he went home that night not sure if the police would come - a bag packed with essentials, if they did - prepared, but at peace with whatever happened next. To his surprise, there was no knock at the door. He's still not sure why.
(SOUNDBITE OF TAPE FAST-FORWARDING)
MAYNES: Fast-forward a couple months, Dzyuba decided to share footage of his protests online.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DZYUBA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: What good were his words if so few people heard them? - he thought. And suddenly, he was news. His speech all over social media.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: (Speaking Russian).
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Russian independent journalists abroad lionized him as a brave voice of conscience. Nationalists on pro-war blogs called for his arrest, and well-known opposition figures reached out behind the scenes with offers to help join them in exile. Dzyuba was surprised they were surprised to see someone, anyone, still speaking out against the war because of the risks everyone knew.
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) I now understand that it's important to give people hope, to show them that even in dark times, there are people in Russia who won't stay silent.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANNA AKHMATOVA: (Reading in Russian).
MAYNES: Dzyuba says he was raised on writers who also spoke up against injustice in the U.S.S.R. Poets like Anna Akhmatova heard here, reading her famous work, "Requiem," but also Osip Mandelstam, Alexander Blok and others. The list is long. Some lost privileges. Many spent time in labor camps or worse. Who was he compared to them?
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter) I understand I did something that mattered - probably the boldest thing I've ever done, and maybe that I'll ever do.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DZYUBA: (Reading in Russian).
MAYNES: These days Dzyuba publishes his own anti-war poems on social media, and they're getting some attention.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DZYUBA: (Through interpreter, reading) I'm with those who sit without light, with those who hide in the metro, with those whose homes have been destroyed by rockets.
MAYNES: A Russian actor-turned-poet, still far from famous, but now part of a larger history of Russian dissident artists challenging the state at risk of losing their freedom. Charles Maynes, NPR News, Moscow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.