{"id":11548,"date":"2022-05-16T14:14:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T13:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/?p=11548"},"modified":"2022-05-24T18:24:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T17:24:24","slug":"i-just-broke-i-just-couldnt-stop-crying-what-the-war-means-to-russians-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/i-just-broke-i-just-couldnt-stop-crying-what-the-war-means-to-russians-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"“I just broke, I just couldn’t stop crying”: What the war means to Russians in Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the wake of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, how has the conflict affected the lives of Russians living in the UK?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Maxim had two choices. Go home to Moscow and risk arrest and a possible prison sentence or seek asylum in Britain. He was confident he could go home unscathed, he had nothing to hide, and he had done nothing wrong. His wife, Eugeniya, was convinced that his innocence may not spare him from a Russian jail cell. With just minutes until departure from Heathrow, the decision needed to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They calculated the risks; two different paths could lead to two very different outcomes. With that in mind, they approached the Police at the UK border. Asylum and a new life in Britain had begun. The role his wife had in convincing him to stay in Britain was not lost on Maxim, \u201cNow, with the information what I know, my wife saved my life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two and a half years later and since invasion of Ukraine, protests had sprouted up across the UK. At one such demonstration I saw Maxim speaking to the crowd. His large, broad stature leaned over the demonstrators as they wielded home-made anti-war placards and displayed blue and gold colours that cut through the grey March sky on Cardiff\u2019s busy high street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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