Forgive me for stating the obvious, but there are events after which you feel like living and working all over again. That was today’s rally in Arkhangelsk. The atmosphere was incredible—I left feeling uplifted.
And the contrast is striking. The city is poor and bleak. There are literal ruins right in the center, people carry water in buckets. There are practically no roads at all. But the people are absolutely amazing.
The local authorities even put on a fireworks celebration so fewer people would come, and after pushing us farther from the city center, they changed public transport routes to make it harder to get there. But none of it worked.
Thank you to everyone who came. It was an immensely important, interesting, and genuinely enjoyable conversation.
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Arkhangelsk ❤️