‘We need something real’: the Russian climate activist taking on Putin’s war

As Russia seeks to strip Arshak Makichyan of his citizenship, he says negotiating with Putin on the Ukraine war or the climate crisis is impossible - and the west must act now for survival

Arshak Makichyan made a name for himself as Russia's lone climate activist', protesting for change in a country where oil and gas exports have propped up the country's economy for decades.

Every Friday, for nearly two years, Makichyan protested alone in Moscow's Pushkin Square, hoping to draw Russian attention to the danger posed by climate change. Born in Armenia, but given Russian citizenship when he was 10, Makichyan graduated from a prestigious music conservatory and turned to activism after reading about climate change and Greta Thunberg's weekly strikes. I was representing Russia as a violinist on competitions, and I was organising Friday for Futures, so I had a feeling that I am a future of Russia," he said.