What to do with the collective guilt and responsibility of the Russian population? Is obedience written in Russian genes? How and why do Russians arch their backs? Why is there so much “wool” abroad? Why did the reprisals against the Ukrainians take place? What is the potential of the protests and are there any prospects for change? Writer Dmitrijs Gluhovskis and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Kommersant Andrejs Vasilievs tried to answer these and other questions in the discussion “How to live for a Russian person?”, Which took place in the restaurant “Laivas” in Jurmala.
“Are you ready to get punched in the face as you walk the streets of Riga, Prague or Barcelona?” Vasiliev asks. Since February 24 he has not met a single “Krimnashista” (from the Russian “Крым наш” or “Crimea is ours” -ndr), not even in a taxi. Furthermore, he has never heard the phrase “there are no good Russians” – not even from former subordinates in the Ukrainian publication “Kommersant”. The search for personal faults also ended without results.
“I think I’m lucky,” Vasiliev thinks. “But in reality it is also a painful story. You, as a normal person, have been in contact with normal people, no one has ordered you to hell, but you think this is a generous gift of fate … Or, because For example, an old acquaintance calls you on your birthday, a former Russian colleague, but you think – oh, what a manly man! ”
Glukhovski’s experience is not so good. He made sure that collective responsibility was practiced in many places. The war surprised the writer in Europe. It took thirty seconds to make the decision to take a stand against the war, which meant saying goodbye to my possessions in Russia: “It’s all too clear: black and white. Even though I’m not the hero type, I have no relatives. in Ukraine, but I go there often. When the news of the attacks began, it came: “Look, look, Dmitri, we are saving ourselves on the subway just like in your book!”
Now a criminal case has been initiated against Glukhovsky in Moscow (he was arrested remotely), but the sale of the book is spiraling out of control. “It seems that the level of the public campaign has not yet reached the point of confiscating and burning books,” explains the writer. “But I’m sure we’ll get there.”
The following are excerpts from the discussion, in which Glukhovski spoke most of the time, while Vasiliev assumed the role of moderator.
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