The Russian dissidents who were released in last week's prisoner swap have called for Russians not to be sweepingly condemned as war enthusiasts and Putin supporters. Vladimir Kara-Murza also criticised the Western sanctions as unfair, saying they hit ordinary Russians. These statements have sparked a lively debate, particularly in Ukraine.
What about collective responsibility?
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Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, criticises the statements by the released Putin opponents on Facebook:
“Even the best of the 'good Russians' avoid the concept of collective responsibility. In their idealised world of imagination, it is the ephemeral 'Putin regime' that is suffering from the Western sanctions. ... The average Russian, however, is a victim of this regime. ... For some reason, the political prisoners and dissident intellectuals refuse to accept that the Ukrainians in Ukraine are not being killed by Shoigu, Putin or Alisher Usmanov, but by a specific Volodya Ivanov from Perm or Ryazan. Or admit it.”
Allies in the fight against the regime
Ukrainians should cooperate with the Russian opposition despite differences of opinion, writes Valeriy Chaly, former Ukrainian ambassador to the US, in Ukraine's Espreso:
“I am sure that it is possible to talk to these people and convince them. There are no 'good or bad Russians'. There are criminals. There is a submissive majority and there are also those who have not been completely taken in by Russian propaganda. The latter are either in prison or abroad. They will never support Ukrainian national interests. But in our common struggle against the Russian regime, we must seek effective action together.”
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Opposition steeped in imperialist sentiment
Philosopher Vadim Shtepa, who had to leave Russia in 2015, rakes the exiled Russian opposition over the coals in Estonia's Eesti Päevaleht:
“Paradoxically, they largely support the very empire that Putin is constructing. Yes, they condemn the current all-out war against Ukraine, but there is no guarantee that when they get into the Kremlin they will bring it to a halt. ... Today's opposition activists can't bring themselves to call themselves 'anti-Russian'. They're in favour of the same imperial Russia, and for them Putin is not an ideological opponent in principle, but a usurper who's occupied the Kremlin and won't let them sit in the tsar's chair.”
Those who want to be elected can't be too critical
Clear calls to support Ukraine cannot be expected from dissidents, writes journalist Alexander Shmelev in Russia's Echo:
“The only satisfactory outcome is the complete defeat, destruction and punishment of the aggressor. Everything else is half measures. ... Nevertheless, it is impossible to imagine a Russian politician saying something like this while preserving any electoral prospects in Russia – whether today or at any point in the future, be it 30 or 40 years from now.”
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