“Without solidarity, activism becomes difficult. Russia’s agenda was not to emphasize the differences between women and men any more than to incite women and men to quarrel with each other; instead, their efforts were directed at shredding women’s common goals by utilizing preexisting, legitimate causes fro criticism. The operation focused on three storylines: feminism is too white to advocate for Black women, feminism is too liberal to advocate for conservative women, and feminism is too affluent to advocate to poor women. All these topics are substantive; however, there is no chance of productive discussion if Russian military intelligence [the GRU & Glavset] and internet troll armies with fake chatbots and tweets on a scale possible only for state level actors.”

An intriguing & varied book from Finnish Estonian novelist & play-write Sofi Oksanen.

It comprises a collection of essays on Russia’s strategy of sexual violence “as a weapon of war”, state sanctified misogyny, Soviet colonialism & occupation, Russification, & the extermination & persecution of “memory & identity”. Also under the lens is the new, draconian, legally-enforced “anti-fact” farce (now written into Russia’s’ constitutional code) compulsifying acquiescence/tacit support for war, & “military patriotic education” by outlawing criticism of the Ukraine “special military operation”, that ends up not merely prosecuting “dissent” but truth, fact, & reality itself.

It is exceedingly grim reading, with both the victims of contemporary Russian – & historical Soviet – imperialism, and, Russians themselves being shoved into hell by a cruel & uncaring Tsarist state.

there is also a strong para-thread on well-orchestrated disinformation operations & psy-ops that are covered in the books contents.

“Putin’s main task is to keep power and money in the hands of middle-aged men-in Russia, power and money belong to them. The Putin collective is defined by their KGB backgrounds, imperialist thinking, and mafia-like management style. Emphasizing characteristics such as these in state administration has never led to the promotion of equality or women’s rights. The normalization and institutionization of misogyny as part of a national identity hinders the aspirations of women, the opposition, and younger generations. In Russia, misogyny has been mobilized to support the central government, and therefore the war in Ukraine has also become a war between generations, and gender-roles.”

one problematic element of Same River is that so much of it is written solely from the authors perspective, in contrast to mixing testimonial voices from women within both Russia & Ukraine, detailing their own experiences from directly within the subject.

Although she selects extracts from related works, there is very little original interview efforts conducted, leaving a kind-of unilateral monologue-like impression.

This is not to dismiss or the value Oksanen’s work, but a decision to include more critical testimony & interview dialogue from those directly affected by the mechanised misogyny in question would have greatly amplified & substantiated her essays, & it remains an unfortunate absence that I believe is to the book’s detriment.

Nonetheless, her work certainly provides powerful perspective & historical context & is perhaps best absorbed as companion reading alongside a more “on the ground” parable book on the same subject.

I was also very surprised & disappointed to see that Oksanen failed to even mention the case of the Kachaturyan sisters (2018-to-present). To me, it is hard to think of a more symbolic & high-profile case that entirely encapsulates the horror & folly of modern Russian misogyny (fast becoming an international export), & how she could have left it out is a little beyond me.

For those unfamiliar with the infamous Kachaturyan case, it involved three teenage sisters – Angelina, Maria & Krestina, who murdered their appallingly abusive father – Mikhail Kachaturyan (also known as “Michael of Jerusalem”) – after years of intensely violent, sexual & psychological harm at his hands.

Mikhail Kachaturyan had gotten away with it by cultivating close links with local police chiefs, the Russian Orthodox Church (including frequent trips to Israel’s Christian shrines & churches) & local figures of power (it looks as if he was also a low-level gangster).

As well as battering, terrorising, sexually assaulting & subjecting his own daughters to extreme coercive control, semi-slavery & humiliation, “Michael of Jerusalem” would be convicted – posthumously – of distributing child pornography (probably his own daughters).

He presented himself as a “pious” & devoted man of the church, but the hard reality was that he was a brutal, sadistic, incestuous paedophile & sexual criminal.

The case caused a huge furore in Russia, with the girls going on trial for murder.

Vladimir Putin could easily have intervened & set a clear precedent, defending & exonerating the young girls & strongly condemning misogyny/extreme violence against women/paedophilia followed by a spree of new protections that would be imbedded into the Russian legal code.

He did no such thing.

Oksanen could have had a riot here …. alas, the case is strangely, completely omitted from Same River, Twice.

It is worth mentioning that Same River is published by HarperVia, a division of HarperCollins, Rupert Murdoch’s book publisher.

To say the very least – Rupert Murdoch is no feminist.

Having identified these curious flaws, it is worth repeating that this is good read, highlighting & uncovering a multitude of important factors & observations on this awful invention.

Sofi Oksanen, 2025, HarperVia (aka HarperCollins), 200-pages