Member-only story
There’s No Such Thing as ‘Good Russians’
Nor there’s such a thing as Bad Russians. There are just Russians.
Earlier this year, in Vilnius, a proposal came up at the Russian Anti-War Committee conference. Why not create a document of a ‘good Russian’?
The original idea belongs to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a member of the Anti-War Committee of Russia and a former tycoon who served in prison for ten years under Putin’s regime. This document would, allegedly, allow certain Russians to travel freely around Europe and not be subject to discrimination (e.g., refusal to enter the country or open bank accounts). It was assumed that this certificate would alleviate the pain for political immigrants and guarantee: its bearer, although a Russian citizen, does not support the Putin regime and its military aggression in Ukraine.
The idea of having a ‘good Russian passport’ sounded appealing (to Russians).
Why should everyone suffer the consequences of Putin’s actions when not everyone in Russia supports the regime?
Why should a proverbial Petr from Moscow, an IT specialist, who went to protests, supported Navalny, and even — oh, my! — added a Ukrainian flag to his Facebook photo, suffered the same fate as someone who watches Channel One news and says things like, ‘I am outside of…
