Society‘I want to hug an actual, living person’: How Meduza’s Russian readers are coping with wartime loneliness

Meduza readers in Russia describe loneliness and isolation after the war in Ukraine fractured relationships and everyday contact. One says political disagreements drove friends and relatives apart, while he and his family try to adapt and keep living. Another has withdrawn from Russian-language online spaces and now communicates mainly in English on foreign platforms.

Russiawartime lonelinessUkraine war

MMeduza★★☆☆☆2026-08-18 11:38Original