“This country no longer exists for me. » Olga Yeshova abandoned Russia. Arriving with her family and luggage on August 18, she moved in with a resident countville (Your), Valery Domotorfy, whom she met through an online game a few years ago.

He then started teaching her French, then she perfected her skills by taking classes in Moscow, her hometown. Olga was the first TV and radio journalist.

But I could not tell the truth about this regime, which resembles a dictatorship.

Not wanting to deceive Russian citizens with official propaganda and lies, she gave up this profession to study at an art college and become watercolor painter, Graphic designer and art teacherbefore you turn to that tattoo. The artist was a prizewinner in the 2021 international “Watercolor” competition.

In this country, where journalists are arrested and opponents imprisoned, the 40-year-old bears less of the control of civil society and the negation of the citizen. She became an activist and donor for the political party ofAlexei NavalnyPutin’s opponent who survived poisoning and is now imprisoned in Russia.

Engaged in politics, she supports a friend who is running for parliament and even participates as an observer in the elections. She finds many scams there:

Whole buses of soldiers who came to vote as a one-man, or old people or invalids who were bought with money or even chocolate… We no longer know whether the elections in Russia are a comedy or a tragedy.

The prison risk

In 2018, during the presidential elections, the Kremlin hacked the membership list of this party and stole his passport data. Therefore her risk jail at a police check. A friend of hers was detained for two weeks.

More recently she has taken an official stand against the war in Ukraine, a country where activities are monitored and the government operates out of fear, and where saying ‘no to the war’ carries fines and prison terms.

The artist then sees the Russian supporters of the “special action” unsubscribe from his social networks.

Customers canceled appointments. I was asked to take my children out of school, where the parents of the students didn’t even greet me anymore. I received threats from Chechens on my Instagram which was blocked. I don’t want to hide my opinion. I’m not hiding, my phone and address are public. But I was afraid that someone would come and hurt us…

The association takes on fears the workshop of the artists in exile, which helps artists get visas or political asylum, helped her get to France. So here she is in this country that she knows because she has been there several times. Valéry gives him a job in one Tattoo parlor in Deauville. The Contevillais is “permanently in contact with the service strangers of the prefecture and the associations to find “solutions” to the many administrative problems that are now arising.

Because the family has obtained long-stay tourist visas, which are not allowed for adults Work on French territory. It is also impossible for them to open a bank account, despite the money they have. For fear of money laundering by the authorities, the bank demands a European residence permit. Without an account, there is no way to rent an apartment. And also impossible to get the gray card for a vehicle.

” Freedom “

Quartered in Conteville because of this administrative impasse, the family hopes to settle quickly in Trouville, where a school is already taking Russian children.

Olga’s mother and brother, who no longer have family in Russia, live in Montreal, Canada. When she earns a monthly income renting out her apartments in Moscow, Olga hopes to sell them to finally sever the ties that still bind her to her country of origin.

Because his wish is to start a new life in France. And to enjoy the most precious thing: that freedom. “Please respect your freedom and always think freely, don’t let others think for you,” concludes Olga.

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