Maxim Doronin

Studuing in the Czech Republic

Now I am studying at the language preparatory courses of the Czech language in Poděbrady. I am preparing for language nostrification entrance exams. In the summer, I planned to enter one of the Czech universities to study IT. This is not the first university degree I'm getting.Before that, I graduated from a university in Moscow with an engineering degree. After that, I worked at a research institute as a researcher. Working with a big amount of data, I got a desire to change my profession.

My life in Russia, before the war

Quiet life in Russia, in my opinion, cannot exist. There is always a possibility of running into some case from which neither law enforcement agencies, which often become this very case, nor the “legal system” will protect you. At the same time, with such a “well-oiled” work of state bodies, many domestic violations of the order, for example, a neighbour's dog barking at 5 in the morning, became an almost insoluble problem for the police.

I grew up in a simple family in a small village in the North of Russia. My grandmother raised me. I love cycling very much, so Russia for me is, first of all, endless expanses and nature.

The war started

My Russian environment reacted to the beginning of the war in different ways. I would say, according to the statistical picture. Some are reservedly and prudently silent, clearly aware of the humanitarian catastrophe, but waiting for further developments. Someone exposed to propaganda simply retells the content of TV reports and pro-government media. But there are people who fully support me. In general, this terrible situation has narrowed my already small circle of friends. I repeat, the majority have a position of understanding, but waiting and adjusting further behaviour according to the changing situation.

This war demonstrates how fragile peace can be, how thin the line between rationality and insanity, how brutal human nature can be, and how effective propaganda is. It also shows how far Russian society is from democratic foundations and the concept of civil society.

Leaving for the Czech Republic. Apart from my wife

My fate was not left untouched either. I left for the Czech Republic on the eve of the war - January 17th. Then I parted with my beloved wife, then we were just worried about that relatively short period of consideration of documents for a long-term family reunion visa. My wife had to wait a long time for a certificate of non-conviction, as a result, all the documents were ready to be sent for translation only on February 24 ... Since then, we have been in a state of complete uncertainty, not even knowing when the submission of documents for a visa for my wife will resume. It is very difficult to endure the time of uncertainty and waiting. Life has become a continuous stress and has lost its colours. For example, living near the most beautiful city in the world - Prague, I don't feel like walking and enjoying the views without her. On her part, everything is also very difficult: an unlimited number of sedatives, constant nervous breakdowns.

At the moment I continue my studies and am going to pass all the exams. My future stay is in doubt. On the one hand, it took me a very long time to get an education abroad. In order to accumulate money as a budget worker in Russia, without being a government employee, you have to deny yourself literally everything. On the other hand, I am not ready to live without the only person in the world who fully understands and accepts me. Physically, I am healthy, I even donate blood plasma and doctors are happy with my good performance. But psychologically, this period is very hard to bear, I am in a state close to giving up.

When I arrived in the Czech Republic, I had a clear plan - to get a new education, to integrate into a civilised Western society, to be useful to the world community. I do not want to turn off this path, here I see an opportunity to realise the dreams that I had during my first education. In Russia, attempts to implement projects useful to society, such as the creation of a diamond microscalpel for ophthalmic and surgical operations, including the detection of cancerous tissue areas, ended with the lack of funding due to corruption. But life in the Czech Republic without a loved one, with whom for 11 years I have not been separated for more than a week, calls into question the fulfilment of my original plan.

To be with your loved one is everybody's right

To help people who find themselves in a similar situation, it is necessary to review the process of issuing visas, residence permits for Russians and residents of the Republic of Belarus. And this is possible, first of all, if the Czech authorities understand that not all people support the bloody dictatorial regime. Moreover, I believe that one of the differences between a democratic society and a dictatorial one is the attitude to the life of an individual person, to family values.

First of all, I would like to thank your resource for providing the opportunity to voice my situation and be heard. I am also grateful to a person with a similar problem who is studying with me. Thanks to him I joined a group of like-minded people in the telegram channel, from which I learned about your project.

In conclusion, I would like to say that, perhaps, it will seem to someone that my story does not contain a sufficient degree of drama or passion, which we love to receive from television series. In my opinion, the main thing in any story is how a person reacts to it, with what pain or joy he passes events through his heart. I think that everyone will agree with me that everyone has the right to be with their beloved one. If readers want to help, you can add your voice to the voices of people in a similar situation by signing the petition: (e-petice.cz/en/petitions/petice-proti-diskriminaci-v-ceske-republice-a-za-pravo-na-slouceni-rodiny.html)[https://e-petice.cz/en/petitions/petice-proti-diskriminaci-v-ceske-republice-a-za-pravo-na-slouceni-rodiny.html].