Why Can’t I Protect Myself?

I was living in Ukraine, and I still consider the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of Ukraine. But unfortunately, even in my own country, I could not stand up for Ukraine. Somebody had decided that those who support Ukraine should leave that territory. I could not carry the Ukrainian flag or bind a Ukrainian ribbon to my bag. One could have been beaten up or taken away for that. Every individual should have the right to express herself. More importantly, we live in a democratic state… But over there, other opinions were not acceptable; they had a change of power and established new republics.