21 January 2025
‘ “I control my own fate”. Konstantin Kotov on leaving Russia‘
by Olga Aleksandrova
Source: Radio Svoboda
Konstantin Kotov has left Russia.
Russian activist Konstantin Kotov, who has left Russia for Lithuania, intends to continue his human rights work and support Russian political prisoners. Kotov fled house arrest after removing his FSIN [Federal Penitentiary Service] ankle bracelet. He has not disclosed the details of his escape. In Russia he was charged with financing extremism for his donations to the Anti-Corruption Fund.
Since 2021, Kotov has sent the Anti-Corruption Fund several 500-ruble transfers. For this, he was detained in August 2024 and put under house arrest. Previously for these kinds of transfers heart surgeon Ivan Tishchenko was sentenced to four years in a penal colony, which is why Konstantin Kotov decided not to wait for his trial and to leave Russia. Kotov has already spent time in Russian prison. In September 2019, the court sentenced him to four years of penal colony under the “Dadin” article—for attending four peaceful protest actions and for a Facebook post. In January of that year the Constitutional Court issued an order to review the case. Soon after, the Moscow City Court reduced the sentence to 18 months in a penal colony. In December 2020, Kotov was released.
Konstantin Kotov spoke with Radio Svoboda about what he intends to do in emigration:
— From the very first days when all this happened to me—the search, house arrest—I was already considering leaving because I was a figure in a criminal case. I know how easy it is to lose your freedom, and I had no desire to repeat that negative experience a second time. I thought it over for a long time because, on the one hand, I understood all the risks, and on the other, I thought that in this criminal case they might only give me a fine. I’d made small contributions to the Anti-Corruption Fund, 3000 rubles total.
But I already had a record, moreover at the end of the year a heart surgeon from Moscow, Ivan Tishchenko, was given four years’ real time, and this influenced me. I decided to leave after all and not wait for mercy from the court. With respect to any details of my departure—I can’t tell you any details, but on the whole, it is quite realistic. If someone truly wants to do this, they can.
— You mean it’s quite possible to escape house arrest?
— Before me, Evgeny Bestuzhev, the political scientist, left for Lithuania, but his situation was a little better, he left under a suspended sentence. That is, as I understand it, the prison authorities simply were not yet monitoring him. I had an ankle bracelet, I couldn’t leave my apartment, and there were the restrictions of my house arrest. Nevertheless, such an opportunity does exist, you simply have to make the decision, find the right organization—all of them are on the Internet—and they will help.
— Why did you decide to go to Lithuania specifically, and what do you plan to do and how will you obtain legal status?
— I’ve been working with a human rights organization for several years, I won’t give its specific name—your colleagues asked about that—but it is quite well known in Russia. Many of my colleagues are already in Lithuania and other European countries, so this was just one of the most convenient options. Here I do have the opportunity of acquiring legal status, and the opportunity to continue the work I was doing in Russia. Actually, in Russia I was working, and even under house arrest continued working, for a human rights organization, and I am here, too, in Lithuania. I’m a programmer and am working specifically on IT projects inside the human rights organization.
— What took you so long to leave Russia, and what were you doing all those three years of war?
— There are various circumstances here, primarily family ones. My wife Anna Pavlikova (one of those prosecuted in the New Greatness case. — RS) is under a suspended sentence, and she can’t leave Russia, so this limited me. I have elderly parents I was looking after, and all these circumstances led to me not leaving. Once again, despite the war, despite the censorship that exists in Russia, I still tried to do good, I just did so out of the public eye. You can do that in Russia, and lots of people in Russia are continuing to work and do good.
— What does Moscow look like now? Can you tell from the city and its inhabitants that a war is under way somewhere there in Ukraine? Is that felt or not?
— If you’re walking through Moscow, it’s barely perceptible. Very little has changed compared with 2019, 2020, and 2021. But occasionally you’ll come across billboards urging people to sign contracts with the army, though, by the way, lately there have been fewer of those for some reason. I don’t know. Maybe Muscovites aren’t that keen on going, despite the multi-million-ruble payments we know about. And again, there probably aren’t as many letter “Z’s” in Moscow; I think there are more in the regions. If you’re just going out into the city, it’s not particularly noticeable that there’s a war under way.
All my friends hold an antiwar position. After all, I am usually in contact with people of my own circle and convictions, people who are speaking out against the war in Ukraine. So I can’t say how Moscow’s ordinary resident, the ordinary Russian citizen, judges the war. There have been some surveys, which are probably hard to believe. We have a war, we have censorship, and we have an authoritarian regime. Nonetheless, I definitely don’t think the majority support the war. More likely, the majority are truly indifferent. For them, the war isn’t a way to beat NATO or the West or to seize Ukraine. For them the war is just another inconvenience, and they want it to be over as soon as possible.
— What were your feelings on leaving Moscow and Russia?
— At the moment of my departure it was hard to talk about my feelings. We had to do everything correctly. There was a risk they might catch me as I was leaving. So I was thinking specifically about everything going safely, with maximum speed, and I was able to leave without any problems at all. It was once here in Lithuania, probably, on the other hand, that I felt relief that at last I control my own fate, I don’t depend on the Russian regime, I can speak freely.
One of the privileges I have in a free country is that I can speak openly about the war, about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, I have left behind in Russia my family and many friends, and of course parting with them is hard. And I have absolutely no idea for how long. I may have left Russia for many years and not be able to go back. That, too, is difficult to grapple with. But my family supported my departure. They believe I’ve made the right decision.
— How do you plan to occupy yourself in the near future?
— Right now I’m continuing to work, and I’ll be looking to see what events take place around me. Here in Lithuania there are already a great many émigrés. Various antiwar actions are being held, too. I believe that I have to participate in them. Clearly, these are not rallies in Moscow, or rallies in Russia. Nevertheless, if there is an opportunity to do something, even in safety, taking no risks whatsoever, it has to be done.
And I think this has some effect on the Russians who remain in Russia. Therefore I believe this is something I need to do. Well, and support political prisoners. All these letter gatherings that are going on over all the European cities. Naturally, I’ll be taking part in that, too, because this is very important. An enormous number of people have been unable to avoid imprisonment, and now they are not at liberty. I believe that they have to be rendered every possible support, if only with letters.
Translated by Marian Schwartz
