Many studying here are anti-Putin, but still feel they’re being judged for the Kremlin’s actions
Since her country invaded Ukraine, Lydia, a 21-year-old Russian student at a university in London, has tried not to speak much on campus. She fears if fellow students hear her accent they will blame her for a war she vehemently opposes.
Like many Russian students who have left the country to study here, she does not support Putin or his regime. Her friends in Russia are risking imprisonment by protesting against his war. But she worries her classmates won’t understand. When last week her lecturer talked about the invasion she “felt ashamed and wanted to disappear”.
