Grannik
grannik@libranet.de
About me
My name is Zhdanov Oleg Vladimirovich, as of now – a citizen of the criminal terror state of Russian Federation with which I have been in conflict for the last thirty years. Starting 2014, following the Russian aggression against Ukraine, this conflict progressed to its “hot phase.”
In the USSR
To leave the childhood out of it...
My first political, educational, and human rights movement, back then – a youth movement, I created together with like-minded people in 1989. Back then I also wrote a letter refusing to serve in the Soviet military, which was published in the Press-bulletin of the Siberian Information Agency which was issued and distributed by my friend, Alexey Manannicov, and his co-workers.
In the Russian Federation:
Afterwards, lacking the decommunization of the Russian society and without much support, I paused my activities. However, I never stopped my attempts at cultural and educational work. For my whole life I worked in crafts (wood, ceramics, jewelry, etc.). While doing that, I started to study Slavic culture, including that of ancient, pre-Christian times.
In 2012 I discovered that people like me were being persecuted based on paragraph 282 of the Russian Federation’s Criminal Code. Then I started again my political activities, organizing people who were persecuted based on this so-called “anti-Russian” paragraph.
In 2013, starting with the Ukrainian Maidan revolution, anti-Ukrainian propaganda welled up in Russian Federation, reaching its peak in the summer of 2014. I was fired from the Culture House in Vladivostok for “fascist propaganda” because I expressed my criticism of the annexation of Crimea. My attempts to stage a protest bore no results. Because of the televised propaganda, I found myself confronting the environment of aggression and lack of understanding by the common citizens, while only few thinking people would support me.
The transition:
In the fall of 2014 an investigation was opened against my friend, Anton Korolev, because he had created a page on the Ukrainian Maidan revolution in Vkontakte, a Russian social media site. I had already been invited to Center E, the department for investigating “extremism.” Since Anton was intent on going to Ukraine, I understood that I could be persecuted for “Ukrainian fascist propaganda” and organizing mercenaries – this was how they would interpret my human rights activities.
Since I understood the danger coming from the Russian state and had a strong desire to help the Ukrainian people in countering Russian aggression, I escaped together with Anton to Ukraine; I understood that in Russia I would be the next one in the list of “extremists.” We went through Belarus.
In Ukraine:
We crossed the border in Novi Yarilovichi, where the Ukrainian border control took us off the bus. We provided written explanations on our intent. They stamped our passports, and we proceeded to Kiev through Chernigov.
When we arrived in Kiev, we applied to the Migration Department of Ukraine for political asylum, after which I received a Certificate of Information on the Application for Protection in Ukraine.
On December 24, 2014 my asylum application was denied.
On December 26, 2014 I applied again.
On March 3, 2015 the application was denied again.
On March 5, 2015 I wrote to HIAS.
On April 10, 2015 I was denied the Right of Protection.
On April 22, 2015, HIAS in my name petitioned the court, attaching a UN report to the petition. HIAS was late in submitting the appeal.
The court proceedings were delayed several times, and finally denied the appeal citing procedural reasons: being late to appeal.
I was also volunteering from the winter of 2014 to the summer of 2016: I was an assistant to the military instructor in Nizhin.
In the summer of 2015 I went to Peski, where, in the vicinity of the Donetsk airport, I was fighting together with the Ukrainian volunteers against Russian aggression. I was volunteering as part of the group from the Svoboda (Freedom) party, part of the Karpatska Sich batallion. When I came back from the frontlines, I went to Kiev. There I went to the Migration Department and, after standing I a very long line, received another refusal to extend my temporary stay in Ukraine. After being rude to me, which was witnessed by a Ukrainian activist who wanted to help me with the papers, they refused to talk to me again. I also took part in various activities, informational and public, to counter the Russian aggression.
On November 15, 2015 an article about me was published and re-published on several separatist pro-Russian websites. As a result, my activities became well-known in Russia.
I was awarded a medal “Brother for Brother” by the committee of UNA UNSO, Ukraine, and the FRAC USA charitable foundation. I also have a certificate from the United Ukrainian Association of the Participants in Fighting.
Starting in 2014-2015, we, foreign volunteers, individually and collectively, tried to attract attention to legalizing our status. Working on these issues, I became active in the Committee for Freeing Political Prisoners that provided legal assistance to foreign volunteers.
On August 29, 2015 I took part in a demonstration before the Migration Department of Ukraine. For that I was fined 500 hryvna, which I could not pay: I couldn’t find any work because of my expired permit to stay in Ukraine.
On November 9, 2015 I took part in a press-conference on foreign volunteers in Ukraine.
On January 16, 2017 I took part in a conference “Foreigners in the Anti-Terrorist Operation” which was dedicated to the legal status of the foreigners who took part in protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine. It was a massive event attended by scientists, human rights organizations, activists, foreigners, and students, organized by a political party National Corpus.
Transition:
After exhausting all the possibilities to achieve legalization in Ukraine, I discovered that foreign volunteers received refugee status in Poland. Following the advice of my friend from Lithuania, I visited a Lithuanian consulate where I was told that, if I reach Lithuania, I would be helped. Indeed, a friend of mine who fought in Ukraine as part of the Azov battalion received a refugee status in Lithuania.
In the summer of 2018, I crossed the border between Ukraine and Poland without a permit and petitioned Polish authorities for asylum. The Polish side did not want to listen to me and delivered me back to the Ukrainian border control. They sent me to Moldova.
In Moldova:
I applied for a political asylum in Moldova, yet my application was denied. I must admit that I was treated very well in the Refugee Center there. However, Moldova has a pro-Russian government, and it is not safe for people like me.
Transition:
My American friend bought me a ticket to Monte Negro with a stop in Austria for November 26, 2018. On November 27 in the transit zone of the Austrian airport, I applied for a political refugee status based on the Dublin convention.
In Austria:
I have been staying in Austria since November 27, 2018.
On February 1, 2019 I was invited for a conversation to the BUNDESAMT FUR FREMDENWESEN UND ASYL (Federal Department for Foreigners and Asylum).
On April 30, 2019 my application for political asylum was denied; the denial was signed by the director of the Federal Department for Foreigners and Asylum, Nussbaumer.
On May 8, 2019 I received a letter from the Austrian Union of Human Rights (Verein Menschenrechte Osterreich, or VMO) that offered legal assistance. Within two weeks they appealed the decision on my behalf; on June 17 they received a pre-appeal decision (Beschwerdevorentscheidung) – a refusal.
As of now, I am awaiting trial; I do not know when it will take place. As a result, there is a small probability that I will receive asylum. Alternatively, they can deport me to Russia where I will be imprisoned for a long time, subjected to torture, and probably – most likely, in fact – killed without any legal proceedings.
I should emphasize that, in my view, the denial of my application was politically motivated and based on multiple lies about me and the Ukrainina volunteers.
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