On November 17, there was a march in Berlin to protest Russia’s invasion and brutalization of Ukraine. The march was led by Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, and Yulia Navalnaya. They are three very brave Russians. Until last summer’s swap, Kara-Murza and Yashin were political prisoners. Navalnaya is the widow of Alexei Navalny, who did not live to be included in the swap.
There were brave Russians — people of conscience — in Soviet days, too. Kara-Murza made a documentary about such people, They Chose Freedom. He highlights an extraordinary event that took place in Red Square on August 25, 1968. Seven citizens of the Soviet Union gathered to protest their government’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. Of course, they were quickly pounced on and tormented for their act.
One of them, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, a poet, later discussed her motivation. She said that the Kremlin had been claiming that the entire nation supported the invasion of Czechoslovakia. But, said Gorbanevskaya, “a nation minus me is not an entire nation. A nation minus ten, a hundred, a thousand people is not an entire nation.” So, thanks to the Red Square protest, the government “could no longer say that there was nationwide approval for the invasion of Czechoslovakia.”
Back in ’68, a newspaper in Prague, referring to the protesters, said, “Now there are at least seven reasons for which we will never be able to hate the Russian people.”
Remember: Putin and his brutes are not the whole of Russia. Kara-Murza, Yashin, Navalnaya, and other such spirits — they are Russians, too.
• “A Russian court on November 18 sentenced Sergei Lukashevsky, the former director of the Sakharov Center in Moscow, to eight years in prison.” So begins a bulletin from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. It continues,
The conviction, handed down in absentia, accuses Lukashevsky of spreading “fake news” about the Russian military. The Sakharov Center was a museum and cultural center opened in 1996 to preserve the legacy of prominent Russian physicist and Nobel Prize-winning human rights defender Andrei Sakharov. In August 2023, a Moscow court liquidated the museum, which also focused on human rights in Russia.
There is a nice Soviet term: “liquidated.” And you noticed the term “fake news” in the conviction? In 2019, Trump and Putin met at a G20 summit in Japan. During a photo-op, Trump said, “ ‘Fake news’ is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.” Putin answered (in English), “We also have. It’s the same.”
A moment that should have turned every American’s — every freedom-lover’s — stomach.
• In recent years, Putin and his men have succeeded in re-Sovietizing Russia. Daily, there is confirmation of it. This story is headed “Russian Doctor, Accused of Antiwar Stance, Is Jailed After Child’s Testimony.” Straight out of Soviet times.
• Here is another look at today’s Russia:
The human rights organization Department One has uncovered evidence that Federal Security Service (FSB) officers are impersonating Ukrainians online to entrap anti-war Russians. According to the organization, a Russian man recently imprisoned for communicating with a supposed “Ukrainian agent” was actually speaking to an FSB operative who was part of a sting operation. Department One, which reviewed the court verdict, says this type of entrapment — illegal under Russian law — has become a routine tactic for security forces aiming to stifle anti-war dissent.
That report is available from Meduza, here.
• “Russian ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov dies after falling from building.” So reads the headline over this article. It was just an accident, you see. The dancer had criticized Putin’s war on Ukraine. But accidents do happen, you know . . .
• Above, I quoted a report from RFE/RL (our combination of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty). A headline from Meduza tells us, “Apple removes RFE/RL news app from Russian App Store at federal censor’s demand.” (Article here.) Too often, that is the posture of corporations in the Free World toward tyrannies.
• A final article to consider: “Former governor confirms Russian soldiers looted homes in Kursk region, days after state media blamed Ukrainians.” Surprised? (By the confirmation, maybe.)