Ukraine: 'My family worries the iron curtain will come down'

Protests against the war in Ukraine have taken place across the UK

Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russians at home and abroad have been showing support for Ukraine, while others are outwardly behind the war.

But what has life been like for those with connections to Russia living in England?

'My uncle doesn't know if we'll see each other again'

Cambridge student Nik Yazikov says his family in Russia are saddened by the invasion of Ukraine

Nik Yazikov is a student in Cambridge and his father is Russian. He lived in Moscow between 2003 and 2014.

He says when he saw the invasion unfold, "it was shock, just horror".

"Ever since, I've felt it's been really weird to work on a daily basis knowing what's happening to Ukraine," he says.

The 21-year-old says he has "always perceived a danger" from President Vladimir Putin. "Even as a child I was conscious of that," he says.

"It is just disgust that Russia as a nation is committing these atrocities, it becomes hard to hope for a better future [for Russia]."

The art history student says his family in Russia is "saddened beyond belief" about the war.

"My family in Russia and my Dad are really struggling with it, they're pessimistic," he says.

"My uncle says he doesn't know if we'll see each other again because he doesn't know if the iron curtain will come down and we'll be stuck on two sides of a war."

He says he has not had any instances of discrimination or hate towards him but he has "sometimes thought twice about speaking Russian in public".

"I feel like it's a very polarising identity to have at the moment [but] the most important thing is not to play in to Putin's agenda where 'Russianness' becomes conflated with 'Putinism'," he adds.

The 'iron curtain'

The "iron curtain" is a reference to the ideological, and later physical barrier, that existed between the capitalist/liberal democracies of western Europe and the communist/Soviet bloc of eastern Europe during the period after World War Two that became known as the Cold War.

The phrase was coined by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1946 when he gave a speech which included the observation that "from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent".

BBC Teach produced a video for schoolchildren about the phrase, presented by historian Dominic Sandbrook.

'Russians are stuck between a rock and a hard place'

Russian students who speak out about the war may face issues when they return home, says Demetrius Floudas

Demetrius Floudas, senior adviser to the Cambridge University Russian Society, lived and worked in Russia "for a number of years".

Russians at the university "feel stuck between a rock and a hard place and it's perfectly understandable", he says.

"In order to continue to function as accepted members of society in Britain and in the university among their friends and peers in college they have to denounce the war.

"If they do that then there is a high possibility they may face repercussions if they do decide to go back to their own country.

"They understand it is not in their best interest to actually come out and denounce the war so what they are doing is keep a very low profile."

He says the Russian Society has now suspended activities until at least next term.

Russians in the UK "want to avoid the situation and don't want to talk about it but they feel completely discomforted by what is going on", he says.

Mr Floudas adds the society "had heard of a couple of instances of hate mail" when the invasion began, "but it has subsided".

War in Ukraine: More coverage

• LIVE: Latest updates from on the ground

• SYMBOL: Why has 'Z' become a Russian pro-war sign?

• VIRAL: False claims that war is a hoax

• EXPLAINED: Why Putin has invaded Ukraine?

• IN DEPTH: Full coverage of the conflict

'I don't want to offend people'

Hairdresser Violeta Samsonova says some people do not want to book with her because she speaks Russian

Violeta Samsonova is a Russian-speaking hairdresser in Northampton.

She says in a messaging group chat that people said "your president has invaded Ukraine" - even though she is from Latvia.

"Just because I speak Russian, people think all Russian people support [the war] but they don't.

"There are protests in Moscow and St Petersburg but people are getting arrested.

"I feel really sad, I haven't been uploading any photos of my work [to social media] because I don't want to offend people, especially people in Ukraine because they are really traumatised."

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