Russian man says his mother disowned him for not supporting the invasion of Ukraine

• A Russian model says his mother disowned him after he criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Jean-Michel Scherbach, 30, was posting about the war on his Instagram account.
• His mother told him, “You are no longer my son.” “There will be no traitors in my family.”

A Russian model and actor said his defense of Ukraine cost him his relationship with his mother, in yet another heartbreaking example of how Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has torn families and friends apart.

Jean-Michel Scherbak, 30, began posting about the conflict almost immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, sharing videos and news updates with his counterpart. Tens of thousands of Instagram followers.

Scherbak said his educational efforts did not go well with his Russian mother, a longtime and ardent supporter of Putin. CNN this week. His mother immediately banned him after he wrote on social media that he was ashamed of his country for waging war.

“She texted me on Facebook saying I was a traitor and that I made my decision,” Scherbak said. Reuters Last month.

Scherbak, who told CNN he has many friends in Ukraine and has visited the country several times, said he was inspired to start publishing about the war because he couldn’t believe such brutality was possible in this day and age.

He began sharing stories from Ukrainians on the ground via his Instagram account, and paired their living experiences with the lies of the Russian state.

“People who live far from big cities, they turn on their television and only watch propaganda news,” Scherbak said of Russia’s powerful propaganda machine. They believe that the official media is more than the independent media.

Scherbak eventually decided to leave Moscow and spoke to CNN from Germany. But before he left his house, he said he made one last attempt to reconcile with his mother.

on March 1 Instagram shareSherbak said he sent his mother some money and a letter, telling her he held no grudge against her. Her response came quickly.

And she wrote, according to the photos published on the Sherbak website on Instagram: “Do not send anything, I will only return it. I do not communicate with those who hate Russians and traitors to the motherland.” “I sincerely hope that you will give up your Russian passport and leave this country in any direction.”

“She is no longer my son,” she added. “There will be no traitors in my family.”

Despite being cut off, Sherbak spoke directly to his mother in the Instagram post, telling her he would never treat his children the way she treated him, but added that she could still call him if she wanted to talk again.

Sherbak’s experience with his mother has become increasingly familiar to many people in Ukraine and Russia who find their loved ones loath to believe the truth of what is happening across Ukraine. Inside Mia Jankovi? Last month he spoke with several Ukrainians about the difficulty they had in convincing their Russian relatives and friends that the Russian invasion was unjustified.

A woman who lives in eastern Ukraine told Insider she feels the war has left her an “orphan” after her father, a Russian veteran, refused to listen to her.

“I started talking about the horror that is happening in Ukraine,” she told Insider. “He said it was a lie. They are saving us.”