When Russia invaded Ukraine, Pavel Semchenko’s theater group received an email – After reading it, Semchenko realized that he could not live safely in Russia

E-mail arrived the same week that Russia launched a full-scale war of aggression in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The message required every member of the St. Petersburg-based theater group to sign a pledge not to criticize the Russian regime or the war of aggression.

This is what a well-known Russian creator of experimental theater who worked as a set designer in the theater says Pavel Semtsenko. He says that he thought that he would no longer be able to live safely in Russia after openly criticizing the current Russian government.

“If I had stayed in Russia and not obeyed the authorities’ demands not to criticize the war or the regime, I believe that I would be currently either imprisoned for criticizing the war or would be sitting quietly at home,” says Semchenko.

Now Semchenko is giving an interview to STT in Vuosaari in Helsinki. He got from Russia to Finland with the help of an international NGO helping artists and his friends in April 2022.

Along with Semchenko, his wife, a costume designer, also moved to Finland Anis Kronidova. Semchenko says that while living in St. Petersburg, Kronidova had been arrested when she walked past an anti-war demonstration after the start of the war of aggression. Kronidova was detained for a total of three days, during which Semchenko did not know where Kronidova was.

The arrival of the message demanding censorship and Kronidova’s arrest confirmed Semchenko’s decision to flee Russia.

At the moment, it’s hard for Semchenko to believe in change in Russia.

“I don’t think there will be opportunities for change in the near future. the president of Russia Vladimir Putin the power is very stable and extends everywhere. But of course I’m waiting for a miracle to happen,” says Semchenko.

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“Over the years, Russia began to resemble the Soviet Union more and more as freedom of speech narrowed and censorship tightened.”

Yet While living in Russia, Semchenko worked as a set designer and director as part of the award-winning and internationally toured Akhe- theater groupwhich he had founded in 1989.

According to Semchenko, the experimental and privately funded theater had not been subject to censorship before 2022. However, the war changed everything.

Shortly after the start of the war of aggression, laws came into force in Russia that practically made it illegal to criticize and oppose the war of aggression. Just then, an e-mail demanding censorship of the theater’s activities arrived, Semchenko says.

Due to censorship requirements, the Akhe theater had to stop operating in St. Petersburg.

“I started making art in the 1980s, when Soviet censorship began to be liberalized. Over the years, however, Russia began to resemble the Soviet Union more and more as freedom of speech narrowed and censorship tightened. History repeats itself,” says Semtshenko.

According to Semtshenko, the other members of the theater also fled to Europe after the war of aggression began. When schedules give way, they continue to perform as the Akhe theater group outside of Russia.

Semchenko is one of the Russians who have fled Russia after February 2022. of The Bell publication according to this, at least 650,000 people have been confirmed to have fled Russia since February 2022.

Senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Margaret Zavadskayan there may actually be more people who have fled, as many Russians have fled to visa-free countries and have not registered in the countries they have fled to.

A total of around 2,100 Russian citizens have applied for asylum or temporary protection in Finland since February 2022, according to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

According to Migri, most of the Russians who have arrived in Finland have fled business promotion and conscription. However, there are people like Semchenko who have fled because of political activism, the Russian regime or anti-war opinion.

Currently, expressing anti-war opinions in Russia can lead to serious consequences. Human rights organization Amnesty International according to last year in Russia, at least 140 people were sentenced to prison for opposing Russia’s war of aggression.

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“If the Russians had experience with other options, or if there were options at all, they would be able to choose differently more easily.”

Semchenko has continued to talk about the war in Ukraine and Russia in Finland.

“I’ve thought a lot about the role of artists and dissidents when the country is at war. Do we keep talking or are we silent while the cannons sing? It’s the same question that artists who fled Russia have had to answer for decades,” says Semchenko.

In Finland, Semchenko joined his wife to the Helsinki 98 theater group. In their performances, the group deals with Russia and the events that led to the start of the war of aggression in Ukraine. The group wants to deepen Finns’ understanding of Russia with the help of art.

So far, the group has held 91 sold-out performances in the nearly 100-seat hall in Vuosaari’s soon-to-be-demolished old high school. The plays are based on the Nobel author Svetlana Alexievichin to production. The group’s play, which premieres at the end of October, is partially inspired Alexei Navalny about the news about

The director of the group works anonymously in this production for security reasons. The director’s identity is known to STT, and he participates anonymously in the interview with Semchenko. In this story he is called the Director.

While speaking Regarding Putin’s administration and the current situation in Russia, Ohjaaja and Semchenko compare the current situation to the Soviet Union.

In order to understand the events that led to the war of aggression and Putin’s popularity among Russians, according to Semchenko and Ohjaaja, we should turn our attention to Russian history.

The director thinks that modern Russians do not have proper experience of a completely free democracy, which partly explains why Russians support Putin.

“If the Russians had experience with other options, or if there were options at all, they would be able to choose differently more easily. When there is not, they end up considering Putin as a familiar, stable and safe alternative,” says the Director.

Putin has been president or prime minister of Russia continuously since 2000, and his current reign will last until 2030. With the constitutional amendment made in 2020, it is possible for Putin to continue as president until 2036.

According to a survey by the Levada research institute in April of the current year 85 percent of Russians approved of Putin’s actions as president. Levada is an independent research institute that has been added to the list of foreign agents by the Russian authorities.

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“I am lucky because I have been able to continue my work as an artist in a foreign country as a refugee who does not speak the local language.”

Pavel Semtsenko there are no plans to return to Russia for the time being. He says that he is currently trying to influence the things he can do in his close circle. For Semchenko, it means making art in the Helsinki 98 group and focusing on close people and relationships.

Semchenko’s productions and videos of the Helsinki 98 group The end of Soviet man -play was awarded with the 2024 Säde award of Finnish light, sound and video designers. He was also awarded a one-year artist grant from the Center for the Promotion of Art for 2025.

“I am lucky because I have been able to continue my work as an artist in a foreign country as a refugee who does not speak the local language,” Semchenko says.