In February, 2 News reported on Anatoly "Tolya" Bragin who fled Russia with his family because he's against Vladimir Putin's military invasion of Ukraine.
Tolya is one of hundreds of thousands of Russians who are conscientious objectors, yet have encountered many barriers to finding a new home away from Putin's tyranny.
"It's been a year and almost two months since I left Russia, it's been a tough journey," said Russian emigrate Tolya Bragin.
Tolya left Russia in July of 2022 to move to Latvia, then in December of 2022 he moved to Turkey , and in August of this year he moved to Cypress. In ever instance, Tolya had a job but his residency permits could not be processed in time for him to legally stay. He says things are going smoothly for him in Cypress.
"They told me to wait a little but, but I don't think there will be any problems, and the lawyers think it's going to be alright. My family has come just recently, like this week," said Bragin.
A dedicated educator, Tolya teaches math, science, and English.
Tolya left after the initial invasion, but before Putin's partial mobilization in which the Russian government conscripted more than 140,000 untrained civilian men.
"Putin comes knocking on their door, taking their kids, taking them to go fight in the war. Their level of life dropped," said Bragin.
Hundreds of thousands of more civilians have been conscripted for Putins "special military operation," and Reuters reports that Putin is calling up another 130,000 civilians.
I asked Tolya what he thinks about Putin's motivation for the ongoing conflict.
"What I know is that Putin does not care much about the war. He only cares about having the power. What he wanted was a small victorious war, which was neither small nor victorious," said Bragin.
It's inspiring to see people standing up for what they believe in, even if it means leaving their home behind.
Back in Russia, his former countrymen are put in jail if they protest, and they're only allowed to consume state-run propaganda. Facebook, Instagram, and the majority of independent media is blocked.
"They do not see the whole picture and they're not allowed to see the whole picture," said Bragin.
Tolya says in Russia, there is overall confusion among the populous over what Putin's ultimate goal is for the war.
"Putin and even (the state-run media) has not seemed to figure out what the goal of this war is, and they do not understand what to communicate to the people there, and people started asking questions," Bragin continued, "nobody understands what is going on and why. There have been numerous reason for the start of the invasion. They have all been changed multiple times."
Now that Tolya has a job teaching and he and his family are safely and legally settled in Cypress, their focus is to contribute to society and peacefully express their opinions without fear of persecution.
