People in Russia are losing access to information about the war in Ukraine that doesn't come from the government because of the restrictions on online platforms. A group of Polish programmers created a website to help people from around the world establish a dialogue with their Russian counterparts.
The website randomly gives you a number or email address. There are 20 million cellphone numbers and 140 million email addresses in the database. The creators of the Squad303 told The Journal that people from all over the world have sent over 7 million text messages and 2 million emails since March 6th.
The aim was to break through Putin's digital wall of censorship and make sure that Russian people are not completely cut off from the world.
The Royal Air Force has a famous squadron. The Polish airmen were part of a group that flew for the British during World War II. The largest number of Luftwaffe aircraft were shot down by the 303 during the Battle of Britain. The creators of Squad303 compared their project to Radio Free Europe, which began as a US-funded effort to broadcast news, information and analysis to Soviet satellite states during the Cold War.
The Journal was able to talk to a law student from Moscow using the website. The student said that they didn't plan to protest against the war for fear of being retaliated against.
Russians are at risk even if they engage in conversations like the one above. Russian police stopped commuters to screen the messages on their phones for signs of dissent, according to videos. You can read more about the effort at The Journal.
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