'I was exiled from Putin's home town - this is what life in Russia is really like'

On the fences outside the Czechia Embassy in west London are small billboards proudly reminding passers-by that Prague is providing financial support to Ukraine's military as it continues to fight against Vladimir Putin's invasion.

Down the road is the Russian Embassy. Locals and tourists walk by as the Russian flag flutters in the wind behind a wall adorned with black spikes. CCTV cameras keep an eye out for any trouble.

Opposite the imposing structure a large crowd, including "exiled" Russians, gathered on the afternoon of February 16. Organisers say it is more than 100 people strong.

The protesters came together to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's chief critic.

In 2020, he was poisoned using the Novichok nerve agent, the same substance used in a 2017 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. He was later imprisoned by the Russian state before dying in custody.

Rubber gloves on top of metal fence poles outside the Guyana High Commission, opposite the Russian Embassy, display the messages "Hands off Ukraine" and "Russians for Ukraine and democracy".

Also attached to the fencing are photos of Navalny, with posters calling him a "martyr" and a "hero".

Before the event starts, a man on a bike stops, rips two down and continues on his way.

A woman walks over and re-attaches them. There is no confrontation between them.

Banners tell Russians to "stay strong", while another claims: "Navalny was killed by Putin." While many among Mr Navalny's supporters have accused the Kremlin of being involved in , Moscow has denied any state involvement.

When those holding the microphone have finished speaking, battling some interference from the speaker as they do so, attendees are led in chants of "Russia will be free" and "never give up".

Among the speakers is Maria Malysheva, 36, from Vladimir Putin's home city of St Petersburg.

She was "exiled" from Russia in 2022 after staging solo street protests against the war in Ukraine.

Ms Malysheva was arrested 10 times due to her activism.

She speaks to the Express in The Prince Alfred pub on Queensway, while activists write letters to jailed anti-Kremlin blogger Dimitry Ivanov and journalist Antonina Favorskaya, whom she described as "political prisoners" in Russia.

Generally, the country's officials don't allow messages about politics. However, depending on where the intended recipient is being held, sometimes censorship is almost non-existent, Ms Malysheva said.

This means "you can exchange letters, and sometimes we even manage to receive some political messages".

Ms Malysheva used to work for the country's electoral commission, and claims she caught "red handed" people "throwing fake ballots" into boxes at elections.

She adds: "If that was happening in the centre of St Petersburg, what were they doing in the villages where there were no members of the electoral commission?"

The former lawyer also described how people in Russia "continue to live as if nothing happened".

She said: "Many people don't care about politics. It doesn't affect their everyday life. The majority, they just don't care, unless something touches them personally. Maybe it's like everywhere in the world.

"Like here [the UK] is another state, the society doesn't have the same problems, but nevertheless the majority isn't interested in politics, unless something touches them personally."

Although, "for sure there are a lot of people against the war," Ms Malysheva believes. "I participated in anti-war protests but they were put down in a very violent way."

The war in Ukraine drags on, as US President Donald Trump aims to reach a deal to end it. There is concern that concessions could be given to Putin as part of a settlement.

Ms Malysheva tells the Express that there is "big fatigue" in Russia due to the nearly three-year-old conflict.

She says: "The families of those conscripted for the war, for sure they miss their loved ones. They are very worried for them."

Some people are affected by the country's damaged economy, she adds, depending on the area in which they live, and what they do for a living.

Overall, people are fearful and cannot oppose Putin or his war in openly. "They have to be very attentive to what they think and what they say," Ms Malysheva said.

When asked if she thought Putin could be ousted, she replies: "I don't think so, because people support him. They don't have a habit of deciding for themselves. That's the main idea of an autocratic regime, you just follow the main line, and you're not taking any steps, left wing or right wing."

Putin's government, she adds, tries to "pretend that all the people support them", comparing the current administration to those seen during the Soviet years.

In the street, Ms Malysheva claims, people are sent by officials to deliver "fake speeches" in support of the President.

On what it is like living in Britain, observing Russia from afar, she said: "It's very painful to see it and not to be able to be inside.

"Because I used to be a very active citizen. I didn't have a lot of means to influence, but I tried my best, and it's a very painful experience to be outside and to be in exile.

"I never dreamed to be outside Russia. I still love my country and my city. We try to be free people in a country that's not free."

Political blogger Vladimir Arutyunyan, 36, fled Moscow three years ago.

"I believe the majority of people in Russia want to live in a free and democratic country," he tells the Express.

Mr Arutyunyan, a gay man, spoke of how LGBTQI+ Russians cannot express their sexuality.

He says: "It's nuts. You cannot be who you are. Especially, it's become unbearable for LGBTQI+ people because you can't even be yourself; you can't express your sexuality.

"It's now a criminal offence. It's considered as gay propaganda, so it's just awful for people who try to simply be themselves."

The writer adds that he believes the "majority" of his countrymen and women are against Putin's regime, "but they cannot speak, and they choose to maintain their comfortable life".

People are even afraid to criticise Putin in front of friends, he adds, because they fear being exposed in an anonymous message sent to the police.

Both Ms Malysheva and Mr Arutyunyan say that it is hard to quantify the strength of feeling against what the Kremlin is doing, as surveys cannot be trusted.

"If someone is against Putin or the regime," Mr Arutyunyan says, "they will never tell that, because they will be in prison, simply.

"People are even scared to talk between each other, because they don't know if someone sends an anonymous letter. They would be in trouble.

"The majority is against Putin, but they cannot speak and they choose to maintain their comfortable life. I believe that nobody normal wants this war, and mothers in Russia, they don't want their children, and also other children, to die.

"No one wants to send their loved ones to war. It's just an authoritarian regime. People cannot just fight against the regime, against that monster.

"Some people can say that Russians have slave spirit, but look how many Russians sacrificed their lives for being against the war in Ukraine, and speaking freely against the regime.

"I mean it's admirable, to be honest. It's easy to say there's so many scared people, but it's hard not to be scared when just for saying the word 'war', you can be in prison for 10 to 15 years."

When asked for an educated guess as to how many Russians disapprove of Putin's regime, Ms Malysheva says: "Millions"

But, when asked how long he will last as President, she replies: "I don't know, until he dies maybe. Maybe."

Yet, she continues: "My perspective is I'm optimistic this regime will end one day. I don't know how exactly it will happen. It doesn't belong to the 21st century; it's something very outdated."