Steve Rosenberg: Russian snitching evokes ghosts of the past

I’m sitting in a courtroom in the town of Pushkin, 400 miles north-west of Moscow.

Opposite me is the “aquarium” – the glass and metal box where the defendant is locked, the courtroom cage that makes anyone on trial in Russia look like a dangerous criminal.

Behind the glass is Anna Alexandrova. The 46-year-old hairdresser has been charged with “the public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”.

Put simply, spreading fake news about the Russian army. The charge relates to messages and social media posts she has been accused of sending.

The key prosecution witness is here, too – Anna’s neighbour.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine there have been regular reports of Russians reporting neighbours, colleagues and acquaintances to the police over alleged anti-war statements.

Denunciations have led to arrests, prosecutions and, in some cases, long prison sentences.

But why has snitching become commonplace? And what are the implications for Russian society?

To find out, I have spoken to a number of Russians caught up in this, including a doctor informed on by her patient and an 87-year-old man who was forced off a bus and dragged to the police.

Back at the court in Pushkin, Anna Alexandrova’s neighbour, Irina Sergeyeva, is sitting two rows in front of me with her mother Natalya. They live in the house next to Anna’s.

The two families were once on good terms but have fallen out. Badly.

During a break in proceedings, I ask Natalya why.

“She started sending [my daughter] pictures from the special military operation [Russia’s war in Ukraine],” claims Natalya. “Images of soldiers’ bodies torn apart, and tanks on fire.”

“I wrote to the prosecutor’s office about this,” Natalya adds. “The images make you want to cry.”

Anna denies sending any of the images and messages in question. According to her lawyer, if convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.

However, as I would discover, there was more to the tale of Anna and Irina than met the eye.