Aleksandr Podrabinek

11 -22 April 2025

by Aleksandr Podrabinek

Source: Facebook

11 April 2025

From an interview with Svetlana Zotova:

‘Almost a year after my daughter was seized, in February 2023, she told me (in a private moment) that they were torturing her. They beat her. They forced her to stand in the snow without shoes or socks on, dressed only in pants and a T-shirt. They plunged her head into a bank of snow. For days on end, they didn’t give her anything to eat or drink, just took her to the toilet. At night, they would handcuff her to a scalding-hot radiator pipe that ran from the ceiling. Not only that, but they would pin her with her back against the radiator until she almost died from the heat – it left her gasping for air all night. Lera added that the people torturing her were all from the same office. But when she was left alone, an investigator from a different office came along and pushed his coat under her hands so that she did not get them all burned. Why were they torturing her? Probably to get her to confess to everything, and not just on paper, but on camera…’

Source: Facebook

14 April 2025

Some over-zealous protestors got themselves all worked up over a speech [Vladimir Kara-Murza] gave in the French parliament. Leaving aside the fact he was setting out someone else’s opinion in his speech, and not his own, it would be worth taking a dispassionate look at what he said precisely. The idea that it is more difficult, psychologically, for Russian soldiers to fight against Ukrainians, given they are of similar ethnicity, has some logic to it. I’m not sure if the observation holds true, but it is possible. Ukrainians and Russians do share a similar ethnicity, as do the people of many other neighbouring countries. It may well be that mobilising people who are ethnically different from Russians, and even troops from North Korea and China, into the aggressor’s army makes it easier for the Kremlin to wage war against Ukraine. 

This certainly does not exonerate Russia from overall responsibility for the war, and for specific war crimes. However, it may explain some of the principles behind the formation of the present Russian army. In any case, it would be quite ridiculous to accuse Vladimir Kara-Murza of justifying aggression.

Source: Facebook

18 April 2025

Garry Kasparov, mired in accusations from Russian society of indifference to the victims of aggression, explains that there is no anti-war movement in Russia. And yet here am I, scrambling between the courts and penal colonies, corresponding with political prisoners and getting financial support to them, and I can see for myself what Garry claims is absent in Russia. He confidently asserts: 

‘This is not Putin’s war. This is Russia’s war. We have to stop lying to the West about the existence of an anti-war movement in Russia. There are a certain number of decent people around, who keep quiet, but these are isolated cases, looking at the broader picture.

I found what he said hurtful. I mean, everything is made up of isolated cases, and sometimes these isolated cases can turn into millions. But even where they don’t, this is no reason to disregard them entirely. I responded my old friend Kasparov thus:

Garry, you’re quite right that we all shoulder the blame, but it isn’t spread evenly – far from it. People who are locked up, like Skobov, Gorinov and hundreds of other political prisoners, are much less to blame than you, who made off for the West and, from the safety of expat life, reprimand the frightened majority back in Russia. Of course they got scared and keep quiet – they have reason to be scared! But then, you got spooked much earlier than they did, and without good reason, too. Their current silence is hence worth so much more than your bombastic accusations. Pardon my bluntness!

Source: Facebook

15 April 2025

Verdict on Freedom of Speech

On 15 April, the Nagatinskoi district court in Moscow sentenced four journalists to prison for their professional work. Antonina Favorskaya (Kravtsova), Artem Kriger, Konstantin Gabov, and Sergei Karelin were given five and a half years of incarceration each by Russia’s corrupt system of justice. None of the four admitted guilt. Lawyers for the defendants demanded an acquittal. The hearings were held behind closed doors, and neither journalists nor friends of the defendants were allowed into the courtroom.

The employee of the prosecutor’s office who presented the indictment came to the court accompanied by two policemen holding machine-guns atilt. Entrance to the courtroom was guarded by court bailiffs in combat uniform, black masks, bulletproof vests, and guns at their side. The convoy led the defendants in handcuffs, sometimes accompanied by German shepherd service dogs…

Link: https://slovo-zashite.org/column/prigovor-svobode-slova [for the full translation on Rights in Russia, see here: https://www.rightsinrussia.org/podrabinek-180/ – ed.]

Source: Facebook

19 April 2025

Response to Leonid Nevzlin

Dear Leonid,

I know that Kasparov is not an indifferent person. I know he values the resistance of those who stayed behind in Russia. I know that he’s doing what he can in exile. You were right about all of that — I don’t dispute it. 

I’m talking about something else. About Russia. About the silence of the majority. About the fear that’s stamped out the outrage. About how “you barely hear voices of resistance.” About how the country “has stopped standing up to evil — openly, publicly, and on a large scale.” I’m not quoting you to dispute you. I’m ready to agree with what you said. 

But the circumstances make Kasparov’s reproaches fall flat. It’s not exactly fair to reproach Russians for being afraid of prison. Especially coming from someone who has never been to prison himself, who chose emigration to avoid that risk. Everyone has always been afraid of ending up behind bars, in every era, in every country. In today’s Russia, some go quiet and retreat into kitchen talks, and some emigrate. It’s rich when someone who managed to emigrate reproaches those who stayed for their silence and lack of bravery. Come back to Russia and show some real bravery!

And besides, there are people in Russia who are resisting — and there are quite a few of them. Maybe from abroad, you can’t see or hear them so well. They’re unorganized, they hardly have any resources, and many of them don’t even know each other. They meet in the corridors of courthouses where political trials are held; they get together to write letters to political prisoners; they pool their money for lawyers and to cover court fines. It’s an unstructured grassroots movement, with no leaders or regulations. And it’s more than just an anti-war movement – it’s a movement against dictatorship. It hasn’t permeated society as a whole, but it exists. And Garry’s claiming it doesn’t exist! And he’s written us out of the book of life, erased us, declared us illusory and non-existent? Why? To validate his choice?

And another thing about the scale of the resistance —  You write that you barely hear any voices of resistance. That’s true. But it’s also because many people with strong voices have left Russia. The country needs political opposition now more than ever, but much of the liberal-minded opposition has left for the West, where they hypocritically lament the lethargy of the opposition in Russia.

You write that the Ukrainians, armed and unbowed, are fighting for freedom — their own and others’. I don’t entirely agree with you. Ukraine is fighting for its own freedom, may God help them. But for ours? I doubt it. I don’t think the Ukrainians need Russia’s problems. We’ll have to stand up for our own freedom, without depending on the military power of other nations or relying on outside support. It’s a good time to recall the slogan of the White émigré People’s Labor Union of Russian Solidarists: “No one will do Russia’s work for us.”

As for our public disputes, I agree with you: differences aside, we’re still on the same side — where war is unacceptable, authoritarianism intolerable, and silence unthinkable.

___________________ 

A link to Leonid Nevzlin’s post is here.

Source: Facebook

22 April 2025

Our Daily Lives

Back in the old days — which are now slowly creeping back — Soviet newspapers had columns with titles like Our Daily Lives. Here’s a bit of material for one of them.

On April 19, Women’s Penal Colony No. 3 held its first open day of the year. That doesn’t mean the imprisoned women got to walk out through those open doors. No — relatives of the prisoners were allowed into the facility. They say they were let back out, but I don’t have the exact details.

The Kostroma division of the Federal Penitentiary Service said the following about the event: 

“As part of the event, relatives visited production workshops, where they were shown the working conditions and production processes. They also visited sleeping quarters, cafeterias, storage areas for personal belongings, and the recreation and hygiene facilities. Colony staff responded in detail to questions about daily life in the facility, including the operation of the store, bathhouse-laundry complex, and hairdresser. Guests were told that inmates are allowed to visit a church on the colony grounds, where they can participate in services and prayer. Particular attention was paid to leisure programming, the functioning of various hobby groups, and participation in cultural and community events. The open day was concluded with tea in the cafeteria, where the inmates were able to talk with relatives. During this meeting time, relatives were shown videos of recent cultural events at the colony…”

What splendour – prayer services, cultural events, and tea for guests. What more could one ask for? But of course, the guests weren’t taken to the isolation cells or shown the punishment cells. And they didn’t invite political prisoner Lera Zotova to tell the guests about the punishment cells. That would have ruined the entire event for them.

Source: Facebook

Translated by Lindsay Mundford, Marian Schwartz and Nina dePalma