The Homeland Will Remember Its True Heroes

We sincerely regret that we overlooked this tragedy and failed to speak about it in a timely manner. But better late than never, and today we are correcting that mistake.

I do not want to draw parallels between this tragedy and the people standing on the other side of the barricades — the officials of Putin’s Russia and those who support the current political order. Such comparisons would be an insult to the memory of Alexander Okunev.

I want to speak about something else.

Alexander Okunev was not a politician, not a famous opposition figure, and not a public activist. He did not organize campaigns, lead protests, or seek attention. He worked as a system administrator, lived a modest and solitary life, enjoyed origami, helped people, avoided conflicts, and rarely discussed politics, even with those close to him.

That is precisely why his final act leaves such a profound impression.

Judging by the note he left behind, Alexander fully understood that his death would change nothing. He wrote that his act would most likely never appear in the news and would not receive widespread attention.

He did not expect a revolution. He did not believe people would take to the streets. He had no illusions about reality.

Yet the pain within him must have been so overwhelming that burning himself alive seemed less unbearable than continuing to live with the fire that had already been consuming him from within.

At five o’clock in the morning on February 24, 2025 — the third anniversary of the full-scale war — Alexander came to the Memorial of the 1,200 Guardsmen in Kaliningrad. On the snow he wrote simple words:

“No to war.”

He then set himself on fire.

In his final note, he wrote that there is another path. That in his vision there should be peace throughout the world. And that he no longer wished to live in the world he saw around him.

Equally revealing was the reaction of those on the other side of the barricades.

According to investigative reporting, the primary concern of officials was not understanding the reasons behind the tragedy or discussing it publicly.

Their main objective was to ensure that no one would find out.

The body was removed. The words on the snow were erased. The memorial was restored. Superiors were informed that everything was under control.

A grim paradox emerges.

Both sides, in different ways, were interested in keeping the event out of public view.

But while one man sought anonymity out of despair, pain, and a sense of helplessness, others sought it out of fear of their superiors and a desire to preserve the illusion that everything was proceeding as normal.

So that everything would continue as before.

So that the war would continue. So that families would continue to be torn apart. So that lives would continue to be destroyed.

So that the tragedy would remain invisible.

And perhaps the most frightening realization is that these were people from the same country.

Some burn — and sometimes literally burn to death.

Others do everything possible to make sure no one sees it.

I do not wish to place the memory of this honest and deeply suffering man alongside those who chose to conceal his final protest.

They speak the same language and were born in the same country, yet in essence they are complete opposites.

I have nothing more to add.

The Homeland Will Remember Its True Heroes.

Source: IStories (Important Stories)