February 24, 2022. Russia begins its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, shaking the world. For the then 23-year-old Khrzhanovsky from St. Petersburg, who is in Israel, the war becomes an awakening. He realises that he absolutely does not want to be drafted and become part of Russia's war machine.
He has previously written critically about Vladimir Putin's rule and decides to stay away from his homeland. Khrzhanovsky, who is Jewish, applies for and is granted Israeli citizenship.
“Incredible contrast”
At the end of 2022, he accidentally travels to the Palestinian West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Since then, Israel has established a large number of settlements there that are illegal under international law. Many of the settlers consider the West Bank to be Israeli territory, or at least land to which they have a right.
Since Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed, settler violence in the West Bank has escalated sharply and the attacks have become more frequent every year, according to the UN agency Unocha.
Khrzhanovsky's visit to the West Bank in 2022 was transformative.
"The contrast was just completely unimaginable. It dawned on me how Israel uses systematic oppression," he says.
He decided to stay. For the past four years, he has practically lived in the West Bank, made new friends and documented what he saw on social media. The number of followers on his accounts on Instagram and Facebook, among others, has grown steadily.
Surrounded by housing
When TT spoke to Khrzhanovsky in mid-August, settlers had surrounded Palestinian houses in the village of Qusra in the Nablus region a few days earlier. They besieged them and attacked anyone who approached, with the goal of taking over the homes, claims Khrzhanovsky, who had been on site and followed the events with a video camera.
Residents of Qusra, located about 50 kilometers north of Jerusalem, have been subjected to violent attacks by settlers in recent months. The incidents have been reported in both Swedish and international media.
He explains that as an Israeli citizen he is much more protected than Palestinian activists.
I feel I have a moral responsibility to use it to fight the incredible injustice that is going on.
Higher risk for Palestinians
Are you worried about your own safety?
Of course. I am in a place controlled by people who want to see people like me dead or displaced.
But at the same time, the risks Khrzhanovsky takes are negligible compared to the risks his Palestinian colleagues expose themselves to, he believes.
He talks about the Palestinian activist Ayman Gharib, who, according to Amnesty, among others, has been detained by Israel, without charge or trial, since November last year.
Gharib has worked on documenting human rights violations by Israeli authorities and settlers - according to Khrzhanovsky, “the same type of work that I do.”
Even election this fall
He foresees that violence in the West Bank will increase further in the near future, with the upcoming Israeli elections on October 27. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government are under pressure from the opposition, and according to opinion polls, it looks like it will be very close.
If Netanyahu wins, they (the settlers) will celebrate by burning Palestinian villages. If he loses, they will take revenge by burning Palestinian villages, predicts Khrzhanovsky.
According to the UN, violence from Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank is at a record level and the number of attacks is increasing every year.
This is how many attacks by settlers against Palestinians, resulting in injuries and/or material damage, have been carried out in the last ten years:
2016: 95
2017: 179
2018: 330
2019: 367
2020: 379
2021: 532
2022: 852
2023: 1,291
2024: 1,449
2025: 1,836
2026: 1,197 (until June 30)
Source: UN agency Unocha
