Russian government is closing the country with the heavy information blocking curtain. Many sites and social networks are blocked, and the government voice becomes the only voice in the Russian heads. For many, that was always the case, regardless of the free flow of the alternative information sources. What we can do – deliver them truth they do not want to hear, deliver them forcefully to their messengers and email addresses. May be, just may be, one of these messages will raise their doubt for the lies they are being fed.
1. PravdaMail (https://pravdamail.com/)
The Estonian tech community has created a service that lets
you email random Russian email addresses to tell them what is happening in the
war in Ukraine – as many Russians only get their information from the Russian
propaganda channels and don’t believe there even is a war going on in Ukraine.
The website calls on people to send pre-written emails to
random Russians about the war in Ukraine, saying that “[m]any in Russia
continue to support dictator [Vladimir] Putin because they only know the
‘facts’ from state propaganda.”
“Use this site to let them know what’s really going on.
We’ve collected more than a million Russian email addresses just for that.”
The website says five to ten emails at a time works best.
“If you don’t like the email, we’ve pre-written for you,
just click on the ‘Choose a different text’ button and a new one will be
suggested.”
On the website, there’s a FAQ, “Is it legal?” The answer to
that: “It’s an order of magnitude more legal than invading another country.”
There have been reports in the media that when Ukrainians in
Ukraine try to tell their relatives of friends in Russia – even in Moscow –
that there is a real war going on, the Ukrainian cities are being bombarded to
the oblivion and thousands of civilians are being murdered, then the people in
Russia refuse to believe it.
Russia has also outlawed speaking against the war and people
who spread “fake news” – i.e. speak against the Russian official narrative –
can face a prison sentence for up to 15 years.
2. 1920.in (https://1920.in/)
New Polish service Squad303 gives you a tool that allows you
to send text messages from your phones directly to randomly selected Russians.
Let them know the truth. Squad303 pulls from a database containing more than 20
million cellphone numbers.
- Go
to 1920.in.
- Wait
while Cloudflare passes you through anti -DDOS (distributed denial of
service) protection. This is necessary since Russian hackers may try to
flood the website with traffic, making it inaccessible.
- Enter
the number you see at the top of your screen into your texting app. (Note:
this is easier if you’ve enabled text on your computer, in which case you
can simple click to copy the phone number and paste it in your computer’s
messaging app.)
- Click
the Copy Text button to copy the already-translated-into-Russian message
you’re going to send. Open a new browser window, navigate to translate.google.com, and paste
it in. Read the English translation and ensure you’re in agreement with
the message. (This is optional, but I always would like to know what I’m
going to send someone.)
- Now,
if you’re on your laptop, paste the Russian-language message into your
messaging app, and hit Send. If you’re not, use AirDrop (on iPhone/Mac) or
Android Nearby Share on Android (here’s
how) to send the message to your phone. (You could also email it.)
- Rinse
and repeat.
3. Mail2Ru (https://mail2ru.org)
Another spam website set up to reach millions of Russians. A Norwegian computer expert has created a website enabling anyone to send an email about the war in Ukraine to up to 150 Russian email addresses at a time, so that Russian people have a chance to hear the truth their government is hiding.
Disclaimer: I have not validated these services performance
yet. Please provide your feedback and recommendations on the most efficient
usage practices and BKM (best known methods).
