Cutting ties is a documentary by journalist Andrei Loshak released on June 19 on the Current Time.Doc YouTube channel. It looks at inextricable conflicts within Russian families caused by the intransigence of positions on the war in Ukraine. Even in the same apartment people find themselves on opposite sides of the “information barricades.”

For example, Renata, a doctor from St Petersburg, Alisa, an artist from Nizhny Tagil, Saveli, a repairman from Magnitogorsk, and Vika, a marketing specialist from Kharkov, all oppose the war, for which they are considered “traitors” by their families. Media planner Yekaterina from Leipzig and violinist Galina from Samara have stopped talking with their Putin-supporting husbands and are considering divorce. Natalya, a psychologist from London, is trying pull her mother Lyudmila, a pensioner from Perm Region, out of the “propaganda sect.”

Many of the people in the video who support the war are dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Russia – the level of salaries, infrastructure and the president's failure to make good on his promises. But during wartime they’ve chosen to stand with the authorities because they consider themselves “patriots.” It’s more important for a “patriot” to support the actions of even an unloved president than to understand the position of their loved ones who consider the war a terrible crime against humanity.

The filming of Cutting ties took place at the very beginning of the war, and since then no one has changed their minds. This leads to conclude that families continue to crumble as propaganda affects people more than the arguments of loved ones, “a brutal diagnosis of a sick society in which propaganda is stronger than family ties.”

Digest written by the Russia.Post editorial team.