Explanatory Statement - with identifying information blocked by the author in Ukraine's colours.
The detention in the metro of Asya Kazantseva, a Russian science journalist and author, as she was trying to get home, has been covered by the media, but she posted her own story on Facebook as there has been some mis-reporting.
The operative point is that facial recognition technology was used to make the detention of dozens of Russians. Kazantseva was not anywhere near a demonstration and was on her way home, although as she notes, she had been detained in the past.
Translation
A flood of insane sensations have been spreading through the news, taking on distortions along the way!
I was detained in the metro, after being recognized by the cameras; the metro police themselves couldn't explain the reason; then the police at the station explained that it was because I had gone into the metro on Russia Day, and accordingly, the point of the detention was so that I didn't go to the center of Moscow and didn't stage any anti-war protest. Since I was headed in a direction away from the center, and not the opposite, and it was already evening, I was held for a relatively short time (I was detained at 19:00 and was already released at 21:30). I was treated politely and with some embarrassment; I was released without a record of a misdemeanor, since none had taken place, but I did have to write an explanatory note.
Here is the explanatory note:
"On 12.06.22 at approximately 19:00 I was at the Fili Metro Station, waiting for the train, so as to go home, but police officers came up to me and asked me to follow them to the office. After a little while, police officers came and took me to the Filyovsky Park Police Precinct in Moscow. The reasons for being taken to the precinct are not known to me. I had not committed any illegal actions. I would also like to add that I am pregnant and the detention caused me stress, which is harmful for the baby, according to modern data in the science of neurobiology, a subject in which I am an expert with a degree. In addition I would like to explain that I was not headed in the direction of the center of Moscow. A prophylactic conversation was conducted with me about how people who have administrative detentions in their pasts ought not to go in the metro on Russia Day. This is a true copy of my statement."
Kazantseva added on her Instagram account:
Today Nikolai and I celebrate the 10th anniversary of our meeting.
This is how we spent our romantic evening: Nikolai snapped a photo of how the police escorted me to the toilet.
The thing is, today is Russia Day, and as it was explained to me by the keepers of the peace at the precinct, on this day, if someone is undesirable, they must not go in the metro. Such a person is preventatively detained so that they do not express their civic position.
Honestly, I had not in fact planned that today, but now that it has come to this, I will state that the war with Ukraine is criminal, and destructive even for Russia as well, and should be immediately halted.
There were 9,323 likes on this post, and many messages of encouragement, but also some nasty swipes at her personal life -- an example of what women who take public positions endure online, particularly in Russia.
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