It is not only the opposition that is split (it has always existed in this state), for example, the liberal party Union of Right Forces thought it extremely important to hurt Yabloko, and vice versa, even though they had a common enemy: the communists in the 1990s and later, in the early 2000s, United Russia. Russians with democratic views have been fragmented and atomized.
In general, these people have the same views and values. But you would not believe the hate on social media toward Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin when they, having found themselves in Germany after the prisoner swap, held
a press conference and dared to say that not all Russians are freaks and Putin supporters, and that a ceasefire is a more important priority than continuing the war with the death of a huge number of people on both sides! Their heroism, it seems, means nothing to some.
We should not be disappointed in the opposition, but these people.
It is not the opposition that is resisting inside Russia, but civil society. We were reminded of its existence when it went
to collect signatures for Nadezhdin and lit candles
after Navalny’s death. Lawyers, sociologists, journalists, doctors, teachers, artists and publishers who are still working in Russia – this is responsible civil society.
The blocked
Novaya Gazeta works in Moscow;
Irina Prokhorova and
Elena Shubina publish excellent books in Moscow. And the lawyers who defend those persecuted for political reasons are mostly here, despite all the risks.
As in Soviet times, “to you and us” cheers the intelligentsia in their own kitchens – in St Petersburg, in Moscow, in other cities. All this, despite the differences in form, is civil resistance. Since Soviet times, we have known that nonparticipation in nastiness, “silent resistance,” is very important for the future of Russia.