I’ve been watching the livestream all morning from the spontaneous rally in Kemerovo. Thousands of people gathered because they simply could not do otherwise.
How could anyone not respond to a call like this:
You read the name “Vostrikov,” and at once the list of the dead rises before your eyes:
Artyom Vostrikov, 5 years old Roman Vostrikov, 2 years old Anna Vostrikova, 7 years old
Vostrikov’s wife and sister also died there.
Thousands are standing in the square in Kemerovo, and tens of thousands are watching the livestream. And they are not watching out of curiosity. They are taking part, in a way. They empathize and share this grief.
It seems to me that today everyone in Russia would want to take on a small part of Kemerovo’s grief.
I do not understand or accept this strange rule: if fewer than 100 people have died, then mourning is only regional. National mourning has still not been declared.
It is absolutely immoral. Mourning is not an obligation. We want this mourning.
People are demanding mourning.
I am very grateful to Yevgeny Roizman, the mayor of Yekaterinburg, who simply went ahead and declared mourning in his city. As I understand it, it has also been declared in Ingushetia and Primorye.
And here is what I want to say. Since our authorities, for whatever reason, believe that what happened in Kemerovo is not worthy of national mourning. That it does not meet the required criteria. That it is not horrifying enough. Or that they see some other reasons.
Then in this situation, I declare national mourning. You may laugh at me. You may join me. This is our shared mourning. This is my personal mourning.
All of us can very well postpone birthdays and parties today. Not tell jokes and not watch cheerful entertainment shows. This is not simply something we can and should do—it is impossible to do otherwise.
You can support this post, you can make your profile picture black on social media, you can wear a black ribbon. You can do nothing at all and simply say to yourself: I declare my own personal national mourning. My people are weeping and suffering today.
P.S. In Moscow, there will be a gathering today in memory of those who died in Kemerovo at 7:00 p.m. on Pushkin Square.
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