- 4 weeks ago
In Russia, wearing the wrong earrings can land you in jail—while real criminals walk free!
👉 What World Leaders NEED to Know about Russia: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6d9EIByxz1AdkmIOYUlrDd0rmByq5zSN
In Russia today, even the smallest actions—like wearing the wrong earrings—can land you in jail, while real criminals walk free. This video explores how fear, power, and political repression shape Russian society, from everyday citizens to high-ranking officials. With stories of persecution, corruption, and social hierarchy, we uncover how the system rewards obedience and punishes dissent.
Video Chapters:
00:00 Russia's Moral Decay
01:16 What Officials Are Afraid of
04:18 Seeds of Fear
06:15 When Darkness Becomes Light
08:59 The Art of Guessing
13:46 Moral Corruption
👉 JOIN ME ON THE JOURNEY Sign-up for news about the New Book here: https://elvirabary.com/elvira-barys-newsletter/
MY HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK SERIES
➡️ Russian Treasures (a historical novel about the Bolshevik Revolution and Russian Civil War) https://amzn.to/43PutaM
➡️ The White Ghosts' Empire (a historical novel about the Russian refugees who destroyed the myth of white supremacy in China in the 192
👉 What World Leaders NEED to Know about Russia: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6d9EIByxz1AdkmIOYUlrDd0rmByq5zSN
In Russia today, even the smallest actions—like wearing the wrong earrings—can land you in jail, while real criminals walk free. This video explores how fear, power, and political repression shape Russian society, from everyday citizens to high-ranking officials. With stories of persecution, corruption, and social hierarchy, we uncover how the system rewards obedience and punishes dissent.
Video Chapters:
00:00 Russia's Moral Decay
01:16 What Officials Are Afraid of
04:18 Seeds of Fear
06:15 When Darkness Becomes Light
08:59 The Art of Guessing
13:46 Moral Corruption
👉 JOIN ME ON THE JOURNEY Sign-up for news about the New Book here: https://elvirabary.com/elvira-barys-newsletter/
MY HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK SERIES
➡️ Russian Treasures (a historical novel about the Bolshevik Revolution and Russian Civil War) https://amzn.to/43PutaM
➡️ The White Ghosts' Empire (a historical novel about the Russian refugees who destroyed the myth of white supremacy in China in the 192
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Anastasia Yershovanova thought a simple pair of earrings could land her in jail.
00:05But in Russia today, wearing the wrong jewelry can make you a criminal.
00:10Meanwhile, actual criminals, murderers and rapists are being set free to fight in Ukraine.
00:17No, this is not a joke.
00:19This is the reality of modern Russia.
00:22Stick around and I'll explain how Anastasia was accused and jailed for displaying extremist symbols.
00:31Not a swastika, not anything violent, just earrings that look like this.
00:41One of the harshest consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine is the complete distortion of values and moral
00:49standards.
00:49Killing a neighbor is considered a noble exploit.
00:54War becomes a path to peace.
00:57Ignorance is presented as knowledge and wearing anything with a rainbow becomes a crime.
01:04My name is Alvera Berry and today we are diving into how the dystopia oral described in 1984 is becoming
01:11real.
01:17To understand the root causes of Russia's moral decay, it's crucial to recognize that it's driven by fear.
01:24The concentration of power in the hands of a few and inequality before the law.
01:30In one of my previous videos, I discussed how Russian society mirrors a feudal system.
01:35What's allowed to the aristocrats and their vassals is strictly forbidden to those lower down the social ladder.
01:45Climbing the social ladder is nearly impossible.
01:48Almost as difficult as a medieval French peasant becoming a marquee.
01:53But falling to the bottom?
01:56That's all too easy.
01:57I know a deputy minister who used to manage large budgets.
02:01Let's call him Sergei.
02:03Sergei had a fallout with his boss and it didn't just cost him his job.
02:09For years, he struggled to find decent work because no one wants to deal with the state.
02:15All the projects he had successfully implemented while in office were shut down.
02:21To make matters worse, his leadership actively worked to dismantle Sergei's network of connections.
02:27While Sergei was a deputy minister, he worked hard to expand his influence, becoming a benefactor to those who could
02:35help him later.
02:37He supported some in their business ventures, gave others government contacts, vacation with some, and exchanged valuable information and contacts
02:47with others.
02:47Over time, the state did everything it could to severe Sergei's ties with his former associates.
02:55Those he helped were audited by the tax authorities and those who built businesses with his assistants were given an
03:05ultimatum.
03:05Either sell your business at a bargain price to someone we choose or face serious consequences.
03:13There is an old Russian word, Apala, which means falling out of favor with the ruler.
03:20In pre-revolutionary Russia, if you fell into Apala, your life was essentially over.
03:27You could not build anything alternative because in authoritarian societies, the state is the source of all power,
03:35ultimately controlled by the supreme ruler and his closest allies.
03:40The same thing is happening today.
03:43Once you fall out of favor, returning to the fold is nearly impossible.
03:49You can either immigrate and start over or stay silent and hope you are forgotten.
03:56This is unbearable for ambitious people whose lives are defined by victories and accomplishments.
04:02This dynamic plays out at all levels.
04:06A deputy minister can be crushed by the presidential administration
04:10and a local consular can be destroyed by a mayor or prosecutor.
04:19The fear of losing everything you've built over a lifetime is incredibly powerful in Russia.
04:25First, fear leads to self-censorship.
04:29Publishers, afraid of angering their authorities,
04:32stop printing authors who dare criticize the current regime.
04:36No one gives them a direct order.
04:38Instead, they calculate what might displease their superiors
04:42and adjust to what they believe are their authority's real or imagined desires.
04:48Take my books, for example.
04:50They would never be published because I dare to tell you what I really think.
04:54By the way, check out my novel, Russian Treasures, linked below this video.
04:59This is the type of literature that is currently banned in Russia.
05:04The same thing happens in education.
05:07If a university rector hears that a professor speaks negatively about the war in Ukraine,
05:12that professor could easily be fired.
05:15No hard feelings.
05:16It's just that the rector wants to keep his job.
05:20So, he adapts to what he assumes the higher-ups want.
05:24After all, they wouldn't like the professor's speech, would they?
05:28So, better to play it safe.
05:31Second, fear drives people to carry out actions they might consider unjust, immoral, or even criminal.
05:39But they do it anyway because not complying could lead to their own ruin.
05:44Take the trial of Alexei Navalny.
05:47The judges who sentenced him weren't idiots.
05:51They knew exactly what they were doing.
05:53They were professional lawyers, skilled in handling legal documents
05:58and fully aware of what constitutes evidence.
06:02But they had a choice.
06:03Either continue being judges and prosecutors rising through the ranks,
06:08or risk being destroyed by their state.
06:16The fear that drives Russian bureaucrats to make unjust decisions is not cowardice.
06:22They see their actions as a responsibility to their families and vassals.
06:27Yes, I am willing to take the blame.
06:30But my people will be safe and have the best opportunities in life.
06:35This mentality creates the perfect environment for all kinds of scoundrels.
06:40They act in their own self-interest, but pretend to serve Russia,
06:45while others go along with them because it's the will of their higher-ups.
06:51Anthropologist Sasha Archipova uncovered a fascinating story about a person
06:55who wrote dozens of denunciations against university professors and public speakers who opposed the war.
07:02This person went by the name Anna Korobkova and became notorious as a serial informer
07:09who dictated the fates of opposition figures.
07:12Anna even gave written interviews in which she passionately declared
07:17that she was helping the state fight its enemies.
07:21The academic community helped Sasha Archipova gather other texts written by the informer,
07:27and she identified specific phrases that Korobkova used.
07:31Then something amusing happened.
07:34Korobkova's own vanity brought her down.
07:38A huge Wikipedia article about her appeared,
07:41and it was obvious that Korobkova had written it herself
07:45because it contained characteristic phrases she had used.
07:49Moreover, she had posted photos that only she could have taken,
07:53and the metadata of these photos gave her away.
07:58Sasha Archipova traced who had uploaded the photos to Wikipedia with this metadata
08:03and discovered that Anna Korobkova was actually a journalist from Yekaterinburg
08:09named Ivan Abaturov.
08:12This vain young man had dreamed of becoming a university professor,
08:16but when that didn't work out,
08:18he resorted to sabotaging more successful people.
08:22The most crucial thing is that his denunciations actually produced results.
08:28People were fired and fined.
08:31Ivan Abaturov, who held no real power,
08:34could ruin others' lives simply because his actions were seen as pleasing the higher-ups.
08:41In any other situation, a denunciation is considered a law act,
08:46and the envious informer is seen as a vile person.
08:50But in modern Russia, darkness can be officially proclaimed as light.
09:01The concept of what might please or displease the authorities
09:05is something that lives and evolves on its own.
09:09The feudal system doesn't imply direct communication
09:12between the upper echelons and the lower ranks,
09:15so each official must guess what the powers that be are currently pleased with.
09:22This, rather than direct orders from Putin,
09:25gives rise to widespread beliefs and notions about what is good and what is bad.
09:32It's a closed system that feeds itself.
09:34TV executives carefully track what the top leader likes
09:39and they craft the narrative accordingly.
09:42The public watches TV and picks up the signal.
09:47Looks like the policy is shifting this way today.
09:51Got it?
09:52Let's go with the flow.
09:54Meanwhile, Putin watches his own television
09:56and forms his worldview based on what he sees and hears there.
10:01Take the situation with the LGBT community as an example.
10:06Russia has serious demographic problems.
10:08Its population is shrinking, partly due to the war and mass immigration.
10:12And this is a concern for the national leader.
10:16Likely in private conversations,
10:17he expressed the need to support traditional values
10:20and his allies eagerly picked up this narrative.
10:24See my video about how Russia is trying to project itself
10:27as a country of conservative values.
10:30First, state-run media began pushing the narrative
10:34that everything related to LGBT is bad and dangerous.
10:39Then, things escalated to the point
10:41where the LGBT community was declared an extremist organization
10:45and its activities were banned in Russia,
10:48even though no such organization under the name LGBT actually exists.
10:53Gay propaganda was banned,
10:56meaning any mention that this phenomenon exists
11:00and concerns millions of Russian citizens.
11:03These people are now legally classified as second-class citizens,
11:07if not third-class.
11:09And this has been formalized legislatively.
11:13In my hometown of Nizhny Novgorod,
11:16a young woman named Anastasia Yershova
11:18was arrested for five days
11:20because she wore rainbow-colored frog earrings.
11:24She was sitting in a cafe
11:26when some vigilant citizen started filming her on his phone.
11:30Probably, this was another activist,
11:33like Ivan Abaturv.
11:35A failure who claims power over others
11:38simply because his actions might please those in charge.
11:42It doesn't matter whether the big boss finds out
11:45about the informant's humble deed.
11:47If he does, he will likely praise them,
11:50not punish them.
11:52The video was posted on social media
11:54and the young woman was identified.
11:56She was later summoned to the police for questioning.
12:00The court sentenced her to five days in jail.
12:03The case sparkled some public outcry,
12:06but nothing changed.
12:08Vitaly Milonov,
12:09deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee
12:12for Family Protection,
12:13commanded on the situation.
12:15If these earrings were a visual demonstration
12:18of LGBT pride, so what?
12:20What if they were swastika earrings?
12:23Would they still be innocent decorations?
12:25Do the deputies, police officers, and judges
12:28think that frog earrings in rainbow colors are dangerous?
12:32No.
12:33They are simply protecting themselves,
12:35their positions, their families,
12:38and their clans.
12:39And they are showing those on the low rungs
12:42of the social pyramid
12:43that they can be punished for anything,
12:46at any time, for any reason.
12:49What's truly sad and absurd
12:51is that some of the highest-ranking officials
12:54in Russia are gay.
12:55They work in the various structures that draft anti-care legislation
12:59and shape the country's political narratives.
13:02I can't name names,
13:04as I have no evidence of who's doing what.
13:07But I knew some of these people in my youth
13:11before they held any powerful positions,
13:13and even then, rumors about them circulated.
13:18I'd hope they've suddenly changed their sexual orientation,
13:21especially considering they still work together,
13:24helping each other climb the career ladder.
13:27Do they worry about their safety?
13:29No.
13:30They've long become part of the Russian Federation's
13:33upper aristocracy,
13:34and laws don't apply to their aristocracy.
13:37What concerns them is one thing,
13:40the favor of the supreme leader.
13:48In a country where the law is not defined by legal documents,
13:52but by the hypothetical desires of those in power,
13:57society becomes profoundly corrupted.
14:00Those at the lower levels of the social hierarchy
14:03see this as an opportunity to climb the rings
14:06or protect themselves from potential danger.
14:09Sometimes this takes an disturbingly ugly forms.
14:14Nikita was gay,
14:15but he had always dreamed of having a child.
14:18He made an agreement with his lesbian friend Katya,
14:21who also wanted to have a child.
14:23They decided to use artificial insemination
14:26to fulfill their dream.
14:27Their original plan was for Nikita and Katya
14:30to live with their respective partners
14:32while raising the child
14:34as if they were divorced parents.
14:37When Nikita's daughter turned two,
14:40Russia began its open persecution
14:42of the LGBT community.
14:43It's incredibly difficult
14:45when the state is against you,
14:47and at any moment,
14:48you could face attacks, insults, job loss,
14:51or even persecution.
14:53Katya seems to struggle with her identity
14:56after joining a religious sect
14:58that shamed her for her past
15:00and pressured her to separate from her partner
15:03while also shielding the child
15:05from Nikita's influence.
15:07Katya stopped answering his calls
15:09and refused to let him into her home.
15:12This was a huge shock for Nikita
15:14as he loved his daughter deeply.
15:16In desperation,
15:18he threatened to sue Katya
15:19for denying their child a father,
15:21and then Katya did the unthinkable.
15:24She waited until Nikita
15:26Katya took the girl for the weekend,
15:28making sure he would be alone with her
15:30because his partner was away.
15:33When Nikita returned the child to her mother,
15:36Katya called the police
15:37and accused him of being a pedophile.
15:40Katya knew full well
15:41that this was a lie,
15:43that Nikita would never harm his child.
15:46She also understood that
15:48his accusation could send him
15:50to prison for many years,
15:51yet she did it.
15:53She believed that
15:55by making this accusation,
15:57she would protect herself and her child,
16:00proving to everyone
16:01that she had nothing to do
16:03with their LGBT community.
16:05Nikita spent three years
16:07going through investigations.
16:09The child was examined
16:10by doctors and psychologists,
16:13and of course,
16:14no evidence was found.
16:16Television journalists
16:18even stormed his house
16:19demanding a comment.
16:20The entire deal
16:22was incredibly humiliating
16:23and painful.
16:24The story ended relatively well.
16:27The charges were dropped
16:28and Katya claimed
16:29she had simply made a mistake.
16:32She faced no consequences
16:34for her false accusations.
16:37Nikita could have taken
16:38his daughter away from her mother,
16:40but he couldn't bring himself
16:42to do it,
16:43knowing it would hurt
16:44the little girl's feelings.
16:46So he decided not to pursue
16:48any punishment against Katya.
16:50Katya still receives money
16:52from Nikita
16:53and allows him
16:54to see the girl
16:55once a week
16:56under her supervision.
16:58Every time Nikita
16:59heads to see them,
17:01he turns on a recorder
17:02to ensure that
17:03every word he says
17:05is documented.
17:06When we spoke,
17:08it was clear that
17:09this event had been
17:10a defining moment
17:11in his life.
17:12He kept returning to it
17:14like someone who had
17:15survived a terrorist attack.
17:16I asked him
17:18if he had used
17:19his position
17:19to seek justice
17:21and he indignantly
17:22rejected the idea.
17:24But the investigators
17:26couldn't have been
17:27unaware
17:28that Nikita
17:29held a significant
17:30position
17:31in the local government.
17:33Meanwhile,
17:34Katya was nobody,
17:35just a woman
17:36at the very bottom
17:37of the social pyramid.
17:39If the situation
17:40had been reversed,
17:41Nikita would have
17:43almost certainly
17:44ended up in prison.
17:46By purchasing my books
17:47and most importantly
17:49leaving reviews
17:49for them on Amazon,
17:51you support me
17:52and help me rebuild
17:53my writing career
17:54which was destroyed
17:55by the war.
17:56I certainly have
17:57no future in Russia.
17:59Whether I have one
18:00in the West
18:01depends on you.
18:02You can find the link
18:04to my historical fiction series
18:05Russian Treasures
18:06in the description.
18:07And if you want
18:08to become my patron
18:09and sponsor this channel
18:11on a regular basis,
18:12click the join button
18:14below this video.
18:15My heartfelt thanks
18:17to everyone
18:17who supports me.
18:18and I'll see you in the next video.
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