Act I. "We'll show you how to set your own rules."
January 2001. A Muscovite, Inna Makarova, meets a Ukrainian citizen, Vladimir Shelukhin, in an internet chat. After six months of correspondence and meetings, the young people realize that they want to live together. Vladimir comes to the capital and finds a job as a page layout designer at a publishing house. A year later, with the blessing of their parents, they celebrate their wedding. In 2003, the Russian government issues a new law - "On the Procedure for the Stay of Foreign Citizens in Russia": foreigners, including residents of the CIS, must obtain a migration card and apply for a temporary residence permit in the RF. Only after that can they begin the procedure for obtaining a residence permit in Russia for a period of three years. Vladimir goes to the local OVIR to process the documents.
July 2003. Early morning. Passport office of the Zelenograd OVIR. Several dozen visitors are milling around near the doors. Multilingual speech is heard. Inside the room, a motley queue has formed at a small window. At its end is Shelukhin.
"Are you blind?! Don't be sheep, fill out the forms correctly," the OVIR employee snaps at a small Tajik. The Tajik shrinks even more.
Shelukhin, who has studied the intricacies of the new procedure on the Internet, begins to explain to everyone willing where and what to write and what documents to collect. Soon white sheets of paper appear in his hands - people in an organized manner compile lists for obtaining migration cards and for appointments with the authorities. Each person in line is given a paper ticket printed on a computer.
To avoid disorder, a roll call is conducted day and night. A few days later, calm and quiet reign in the corridors of the OVIR. No one is running anywhere. Near the registration department stand five citizens.
"Number 15, get ready," Shelukhin commands when the next visitor comes out of the cherished door. "And be more confident there, more confident. You haven't come to beg for alms, but for your own, for what is legal."
"What are you ordering around here? Who authorized you to compile lists and carry out explanatory work among the population?" the woman accepting applications jumps at the 'mentor.' "We'll show you how to set your own rules in Russia!"
"This is sheer mockery of people," Vladimir tells his wife in the evening. "Instead of putting all the information on a bulletin board. People have to stand for three days over some trifle. And on top of that, they are rude at every step."
"You'd better be careful there," Inna whispers. "Don't argue with them."
"You can't be afraid of everything forever. Judge for yourself, what can they do to us?"
Act II. "I don't want to be treated like cattle."
A week has passed since the first act. During this time, the main character managed to go to Ukraine for a certificate of no criminal record. Without it, documents for obtaining a temporary residence permit in Russia are not accepted. The line at the Zelenograd OVIR has by this time doubled. Again night roll calls, daytime duty in the corridors of the passport office. Finally, the head of the Zelenograd OVIR, Viktor Kozlov, summons Vladimir.
"Are you the one stirring up trouble here and handing out consultations?" the master of the office addresses the visitor with polite contempt in his voice. "But we warned you."
Kozlov purses his lips meaningfully and, after a pause, delivers a verdict:
"For a three-month stay, we will not give you a permit. Only for 30 days. You must leave the territory of Russia on September 29."
"But under the law, you have no grounds for this," a disheartened Shelukhin tries to object. "All documents are in order. I am not sowing any unrest. On the contrary, I help both you and the people. After all, even a literate person finds it difficult to understand what and how to write on the forms, and there is no one to ask. Why shouldn't I answer them?"
"Clear the room! While I am in charge here."
The door slams. Shelukhin walks along the corridor in complete silence. The crowd near the window sees him off with sympathetic glances...
The newlyweds' apartment. Inna is crying.
"It's nothing, Inna, don't be upset. We're not going to let some petty bigwig ruin our lives, are we?" Vladimir embraces his wife. Then he sits down at the table and carefully writes out: "Zelenograd District Court. Complaint against the unlawful actions of an official."
October 2, 2003. Preliminary court hearing. By the date of the hearing, Shelukhin's period of stay in Russia, allotted by Kozlov, expires. At the court entrance, Vladimir's passport is taken away, he is searched and detained for three hours for lack of temporary registration. He never makes it to the court.
Shelukhin comes to the OVIR again. Due to lack of registration, they refuse to accept his papers. Shelukhin loudly discusses the latest news with others in line. The door of the office of the deputy head of the OVIR, Alexander Musinov, swings open.
"You are sowing unrest again. Let me have your documents," the policeman, having dragged the 'troublemaker' into the room, takes away his migration card as well.
A patrol squad appears again. Vladimir is taken away in a 'paddy wagon'...
October 14, 2003. Zelenograd District Court. Shelukhin's complaint is found groundless. After the hearing, a patrol squad awaits Vladimir again. The police officers already smile at him - as at an old acquaintance. Despite the everyday troubles, in his spare time away from the jail cell, Shelukhin appears before the doors of the OVIR in the hope of still obtaining a permit to stay in the RF. At the same time, he again keeps track of those in line, conducts morning and night roll calls. He is repeatedly asked to 'show his documents.' As a result of the last 'arrest,' he is fined 1,000 rubles. On principle (Shelukhin does not admit his guilt) he refuses to pay the money; letters to the prosecutor's office remain unanswered.
- I won't go bowing to anyone, - Shelukhin declares proudly. - I don't want to be treated like scum. After all, there are laws.
On the afternoon of November 16, Vladimir again ends up in a prison isolation cell. In the cell with him are several homeless people. The days pass in peaceful conversations. The homeless complain about their hard lot and are glad they got state-provided food. Vladimir tries to explain to them the bill of human rights. The homeless yawn...
Another session of the Zelenograd Court. Shelukhin's lawyer was not notified about it. The judge, contrary to the defendant's demands, appoints him a public defender. Everything happens in a matter of minutes. The sentence is harsh - deportation. Until expulsion to his historical homeland, the defendant is placed in a reception-distributor of the Severny settlement.
Act III. "You should have written a petition to Putin or Kuchma"
Reception-distributor of the Severny settlement. Inna tries to give her husband food.
- What are you pushing in here? - a peroxide-haired woman shouts from the half-open door. - This is not a visiting house. You've all come here, get back to your Ukraine!
- But I am a citizen of Russia, I am a Muscovite, - she sobs timidly. - Vladimir is my husband, and he is being held here illegally. Can I at least give him a food parcel?
The iron latch clangs.
November 30 is Shelukhin's birthday. Inna again comes to the isolation cell. This time, after another stream of sobbing, her husband is brought out to her for a few minutes. Vladimir has grown a thick beard in this time - during a search they took away his razor.
- Shelukhin, you'd better write a petition to Putin or Kuchma, - the guards guffaw. - A prisoner of honor, after all! And you, citizen, you'd better buy him yourself a train ticket to Kiev, or he'll sit here until the end of time in a cell for ten people - we don't have extra money...
Epilogue. "The Decembrist's Wife"
Shelukhin does not give up and is ready to go all the way to the Strasbourg Court. Inna agrees. She is a true "Decembrist's wife". Only at night she cries all the time. She says she doesn't understand why someone is given the right to dispose of other people's destinies. Simply because they wanted to, simply because someone didn't like them. Inna does not want to think about tomorrow. If the deportation decision comes into force, Vladimir will be banned for five years not only from Russia, but also from other countries. And Inna cannot leave to her beloved - in Moscow she has a seriously ill mother...