Q&A: Moscow’s ‘lone climate protester’ confronts war on Ukraine | Climate Crisis

Arshak Makichyan, 27, a prominent activist, has been protesting in Moscow for years, warning people about the dangers of climate changes.

He earned the title of Moscow’s “One climate protester” as a law in Russia bans unsanctioned protests of more than one person.

To be an activist in Russia, under an “authoritarian regime”, he said, was already difficult and dangerous as arrests and prosecution are common.

But now, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of UkraineMakichyan stated that protests of great magnitude are necessary to change the current situation.

“If you’re not an activist now, then you are part of the crime,” he said.

Al Jazeera spoke with Makichyan in order to learn more about Russia’s protestors and how he sees Russia changing due to the war in Ukraine.

Al Jazeera: What made you become a climate activist and a peace activist?

Arshak Makichyan In 2018, I didn’t know about climate. I started to read, and I found out that there is a huge crisis, and people in Russia don’t know about it. It was very important, so I felt I had to do something. I was already concerned about different environmental issues. I was trying to change my lifestyle and other such things.

With the climate crisis, it is not enough to just change your habits in order to be more environmentally-friendly. You need to do more, because there are many things that must change. And I then started to do weekly strikes – like [Swedish climate activist] Greta Thunberg.

I had originally planned to continue my education abroad, but I decided to stay here because Russia has the fourth highest CO2 emissions. The climate crisis is a global problem.

My strategy has been evolving over the past two-years. After the coronavirus epidemic, I began to become more politically because of the crisis. Many of my political friends were being prosecuted. I became more politically active because you can’t fight for our future and climate without basic human rights. Now, you cannot fight for climate while your country’s involved in a terrible war.

Al Jazeera: Many people believe Russia is a dangerous and difficult place to protest and engage in activism. Do you believe that this is true? What problems do you have?

Makichyan: Yes, it’s completely different to be an activist in an authoritarian regime, and especially in Russia, a rich country that’s used oil money to build this huge propaganda machine and to repress civil society.

It’s extremely difficult and dangerous to be an activist in Russia. My friends were all arrested and charged. Even if you’re not arrested … it’s so difficult to organise protests in a country where people are afraid because they are arresting people just for writing tweets.

It’s certainly difficult and complicated. A lot of activists in Russia are thinking that they cannot continue because you don’t feel feedback because people are afraid to support you. Activists are being marginalised.

But now the situation’s starting to change because President Vladimir Putin has crossed the red line, and if you’re not an activist now, then you are part of the crime, because the war against Ukraine is a crime. And if you’re not protesting now, the situation will be worse and worse and we will lose our country.

Al Jazeera: The war began on Thursday, February 24 – your wedding day. It must have been quite shocking.

Makichyan:Yes, we were shocked. We had been planning our wedding for over a month. You should submit the application at least one month before your wedding. We decided to get married because it’s a kind of security for us – you have this right to have meetings with your wife or husband if you are jailed.

We don’t want the country to collapse and we won’t leave, even though we had tickets to Armenia. We chose to remain in Russia to fight this madness because people need hope. People will become more frustrated if activists leave the country.

Al Jazeera: What is the situation in Moscow with regard to protests?

Makichyan: It’s difficult to protest in Moscow now because there’s a lot of police. They’re almost everywhere. Almost all our political leaders are imprisoned now or in another country, so it’s difficult to get organised. Although there are challenges, we hold protests almost daily in the centre. These protests in Russia saw the arrest of approximately 7,000 people.

We are considering what we can do as big protests are needed to change the situation. Russia is facing more dire news: the Russian authorities shut down Echo of Moscow (one of the last free radio stations). This must be stopped.

Al Jazeera: How does it feel to deal with the police?

Makichyan:We were walking out of our house when we were stopped by the police. They were waiting for us outside. My wife Polina was planning an act, so I walked her to the taxi. They arrested us even though we were with journalists who were going to record Polina’s action, and they arrested the cameraman.

We spent four to five hours at the police station talking with police officers and, of course, discussing war. They claimed they were only cogs in the machine and could not change anything.

Al Jazeera: Will Russia’s isolation make it harder to solve problems like global warming?

Makichyan: It’s scary for us activists to be alone in this fight because it’s not just our side. Europe was buying fossil fuels, which was helping to create this terrible regime.

So I think that activists and civil society in Russia should not be left alone in this fight against Putin, because it’s not so easy to fight a man with millions of police. We need to work together to defeat them. It’s frustrating to feel yourself alone in this fight.

Because there is no simple solution to this global crisis, the situation will only get worse. But we need to stop Putin’s regime invading Ukraine. We must stop him immediately, as it will be too late tomorrow.

We need to use every tool to change the situation in Russia because it was unbearable to be an activist before this war and now it’s even worse, because they say they’ll arrest people for spreading what they call fake news on Ukraine for 15 years. They have a new law they’re planning just against people who speak up against this war.

Although the current situation is dire, it might help us to overthrow the evil regime that has been destroying our country for 20+ years. But I hope this regime will collapse soon because what Putin is doing is insane, and there will be changes in Russia before it’s too late, because I don’t want to spend 15 years in prison.

This interview was edited lightly for clarity and conciseness.