"The embassy was besieged by angry protesters. Back then, you couldn't walk down a British street without spotting the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag. That time was long gone."
"I was here to renounce my Russian citizenship. I was born in 1980 to parents of Ukrainian descent, and grew up on the island of Sakhalin, in Russia's far east."
"The Sakhalin of my youth would have been recognisable to Chekhov: still forbidding and gloomy, and, like much of the Russian provincial rust belt, crumbling."
"Dilapidated Soviet-era apartment blocks mingled with ramshackle Japanese buildings, recalling the checkered history of occupation and re-occupation in this contested corner of the Russo-Asian borderlands."
In May 2025, a person visits the Russian embassy in London to renounce their citizenship. The embassy, once besieged by protesters, now stands quiet. The individual recalls their upbringing in Sakhalin, a place described as gloomy and crumbling, with remnants of its complex history. They reflect on the stark contrast between their past experiences, including voting in Russian elections, and their current decision driven by a sense of identity and changing political landscapes. The visit symbolizes a personal and cultural shift amid broader geopolitical tensions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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