As you surely know, any kind of protest against the war is forbidden in Russia. Anyone who dares to speak against the war is immediately arrested and jailed. Even calling the war a war is illegal. Protestors may be sent away for years. In this climate of repression, some bold Russians have found a way to express their anti-war views. The New York Times published some examples of these tiny acts of rebellion. Learn how a fish became an anti-war symbol.

Last year in St. Petersburg, an artist uploaded a few images of tiny clay figurines in a public space to Instagram under the account Malenkiy Piket, meaning Small Protest. In a separate post, he invited others to join him in his silent demonstration.

A yellow clay figurine raises a blank purple poster.

One of Malenkiy Piket’s first posts.

Since that post, he has received almost 2,000 images containing homemade figurines, many holding posters of protest with curious symbology. Contributors are able to preserve their anonymity by sending private messages in the app to the artist, who then posts their images. At its peak, the account received around 60 images daily, the artist told The Times.

Sending such pictures, even privately, carries enormous risk: Sharing antiwar messages can be a cause for imprisonment. Hiding figurines in public spaces could be captured by surveillance cameras. Police used CCTV footage to track and arrest one contributor in 2022.

A red figurine in a window holds a white sign with the inscription “Don’t be silent” in Russian.

“Don’t be silent”

Using strategic ambiguity to protest authoritarian governments is not unique to Russia: pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong held up blank signs as a form of protest, and social media users in China used the candle emoji to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The artist told The Times that it’s important for people to see that Russians oppose the war, too. “Not everyone is with Putin. We know how the media just skips this, cuts out everything that shows people against it.”

The messages in the images

An illustration of fish memes that became a symbol of protest.

FISH

In 2022, a woman was arrested for writing “нет в***e” in graffiti in a public square, putting asterisks instead of letters in some places. The police believed she had intended to write the word “война” for war, but the woman said she had written “вобла,” a fish native to the Caspian Sea that Russians traditionally eat with beer or vodka.

The story went viral, producing tons of memes and even a song. The woman was eventually fined, but by then, her story had already turned the vobla fish and asterisks into symbols of protest.

A green figurine holding a yellow poster with asterisks and a drawing of a fish.

Next to a road.

A figurine holding a fish with a red X through it.

At the base of a sculpture.

Two figurines holding antiwar posters, one with asterisks and the other with a peace symbol.

Three asterisks, followed by five more. A code among protesters meaning “нет войне” (No to War).

A yellow and blue figurine holding a poster with the word “No” and a fish drawing.

In a bush.

An illustration of figurines raising blank posters.

BLANK POSTERS

Blank posters underscore how Russia has criminalized free speech. During the first months of 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, many Russians took to the streets with blank posters, and the police arrested them.

A mouthless monk wearing red clothes holds a blue poster.

A mouthless monk sitting on a fence.

A sticker of a figure with bunny ears holds a blank banner.

A sticker attached to a lamp post on Bolotnaya Naberezhnaya, Moscow.

Three figurines hold blank posters by a river, a large church in the background.

By a river.

A blue figurine, seated on a post at the side of the street, holds up a blank poster. In the background is a snowy street.

By a road.

An illustration of figurines holding antiwar flags. The flags are white with a blue stripe.

ANTIWAR FLAG

Recognized as an antiwar symbol, the white flag with a blue stripe in the middle was created by Russians who opposed the invasion of Ukraine and disapproved of Putin’s government.

A doll set on grass holds an Ukrainian flag that reads, “Stand with Ukraine.” On its right, another doll holds a white and light blue flag that reads, “No war! No blood!”

A Ukrainian flag is sometimes paired with an antiwar flag.

Two paper silhouettes holding hands, each holding a flag. One is a blank, the other an antiwar flag.

Paper figurines stuck to a graffitied wall.

Two crying figurines hug.

Both flags are again represented in the embrace of these crying figurines, atop a memorial stone.

A figurine with an antiwar flag, perched on a fence.

A fence outside of a Russian government building.

An illustration of figurines raising placards with a letter Z crossed out.

THE CROSSED OUT Z

Members of the Russian army emblazon their tanks and trucks with the letter Z to differentiate themselves from Ukrainians in the field. Many of Malenkiy Piket’s images show the letter Z crossed out.

A figurine wearing the Ukrainian flag colors raises a poster of a letter Z crossed out.

This figurine wears Ukraine’s colors.

A figurine wearing a blue T-shirt holds a placard with a letter Z crossed out.

On a park bench.

A clay figurine with a poster of a letter Z crossed out.

Attached to a wall.

Illustration of seven figurines holding or wearing the peace symbol.

PEACE

About a hundred images shared by Malenkiy Piket show the peace sign.

A blue figurine wearing a yellow T-shirt with a peace sign on it.

At the foot of a statue in a public square.

A Lego figurine holding a peace poster.

On the ground.

A yellow figurine holding a peace card.

At the Moskva River, across from Moscow’s Red Square.

A Lego figurine holding a peace poster.

At a bus stop.