It’s been a while since I last posted a book review. I had to buy a new e-reader and I postponed it to my birthday at the end of June. That is why I haven't been reading that much lately, which I really missed.

The first book I started reading was Vrijuit (which translates as; Speaking freely) and is about Russia and a love for a nation that proved one‑sided.

The book is written by the Dutch former Russia reporter Iris de Graaf.

Iris has roots in Russia. Her grandmother was Russian, but got deported by the Germans during the Second World War to perform forced labor. In the camp she resided, she fell in love with a Dutch man, got pregnant, got married and travelled with him to the Netherlands after the war.

Iris was always intrigued by Russia and studied Slavic and Russian and media and journalism. During her study she was exchanged to Saint Petersburg in Russia.

When she finished studying a Russia reporter retired and applied for the job. She got the job and moved to Moscow.

In the book she tells about her first days as a reporter and the things she reports. But then, a few weeks after she arrived, Russia invaded Ukraine. The war changed everything. The war, that couldn't be called a war, but was called 'special military operation'.
This changed the way reporters could do their jobs significantly. They were closely monitored by the government so they didn't publish bad news about Russia. Iris was balancing between telling the real stories of the people in Russia (which are diverse) and not being banned or even sent to jail like what happened to some colleagues (like Evan Gershkovich).

In the book, Iris is trying to show what the repression of the government did with the people of Russia. People only got to see the news from government sources. People that protested against the war were locked up and fined.

Iris tried to make objective reports from Russia, but it was getting more difficult. She was often intimidated by the police, border customs officers and even the Russian secret service. She found holes being drilled in the walls of her appartement and cabinets intentionally opened up when she returned home from her job to show someone was in her appartement.

At the end, she wasn't able to 'speak freely', just like most of the Russian people, of which a lot don't support the war, but are too scared to share their opinion.

Finally, her employer had her moved out of Russia instantly because they feared for her safety. She was seriously being monitored by the secret service and they feared that she would be sent to prison.
She no longer allowed to travel to Russia since she is put a blacklist.

It's a book that shows how a government controls their people by controlling the media by repression and fear.
It makes me glad the I live in freedom and I can say whatever I want.

I'm sorry for the people of Russia that have to live under these conditions and have no way out. And now almost all objective journalists are gone, it will be harder and harder to see and hear their story.

Friendlymoose