Paul Goble
Staunton, Oct. 22 – Russians realize they have to do something to oppose Putin and his destructive policies, Aleksandr Podrabinek says; but regime repression and the fact that many opposition leaders have fled abroad to save themselves leaves them with few good alternatives. The best, the senior human rights activist in Moscow says, is massive civil disobedience.
By his massive expansion of his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Putin “released the genie of force from its bottle,” Podrabinek says. He expected that genie to be confined to Ukraine, but it has spread to Russia as well (svoboda.org/a/pobeditj-bez-nasiliya-aleksandr-podrabinek---o-buduschem-protesta/32088555.html).
Unfortunately, the still powerful repressive apparatus of the Putin state guarantees both that those who use violence will suffer personally and the crackdown against them will be used to suppress civil society more generally, the rights campaigner continues. But that should not discourage those who want to show their opposition to the regime.
“Russians still have an effective instrument of non-violent resistance – civil disobedience,” he says. They need not participate in activities that support the powers that be by working in military industry, conducting research that helps the Kremlin, obeying laws that violate human rights, or pay fines levied by politically motivated courts.
According to Podrabinek, “Civil disobedience is above all a personal decision. If the cowardly Russian elite can protest only if it has a passport and visa in hand, you should not wait for a standard-bearer. You must start doing everything yourself. It will probably be difficult and victory won’t come quickly, but even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
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