His name was Ildar Dadin. In 2014, he was a well-known Russian opposition activist, staging peaceful protests against the increasing political repression in his country. And he was the first person prosecuted under the newly enacted Article 212.1 — later dubbed “Dadin’s Law” — that rendered his repeated protests criminal offenses. [Sarah Rainsford, BBC, October 6, 2024.]

He was, of course, convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Placed in a punishment cell, he staged a hunger strike, and was tortured by his prison guards to force him to stop . . . including being hung by his wrists handcuffed to a wall, and being threatened with rape. But he survived, and was released in 2017.

He always felt that he and his fellow protesters were not doing enough to stop Vladimir Putin’s increasingly totalitarian rule. A lifelong pacifist, he nonetheless felt he had to do something more, and in 2023 he joined a battalion of Russian volunteers fighting for Ukraine.

“I can’t sit by and do nothing and so become an accomplice to Russian evil, to its crimes,” he explained. “The aggression, the mass killing, the torture, rape and looting. The main thing now is to act according to my conscience.” [Id.]

And now, the Ukrainian group that had recruited him has told the BBC that he has been killed in action, and that “he was, and he remains a hero.” [Id.]

There are few details available at this time, other than the fact that his battalion, the Freedom of Russia Legion, came under Russian artillery fire in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine. Sarah Rainsford, the BBC reporter who earlier interviewed him, has been told that his death was “confirmed by those who were with him in battle.” [Id.]

Ildar Dadin was in most ways an ordinary man, but a man who listened to his conscience, who loved his country and was willing to fight against the evil regime that was — and is — destroying his people. He did his part in the only way he knew how, fully aware of the dangers, but always feeling he should have been able to do more. And he died a hero.

Rest in peace, Ildar . . . you did your very best. And it was more than enough.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/7/24