Awarded the Redkollegia investigative journalism award for her work around Putin's palace on the Black Sea, Maria Konstantínovna Pévtshikh (Zelenograd, 1987) is today one of the best-known journalists and activists in Russian exile, especially following of the case of the poisoning of the leader of the Russian opposition, Aleksei Navalni, in August 2020, as she was one of his traveling companions on that tour of Russia. Since March, Pevtsikh has chaired the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by Navalny in 2011.
Russia just outlawed the LGBTI movement this week.
It's a very political play. Vladimir Putin is going to the elections in March. With each passing year, his political platform is more conservative. His message is that Western customs are bad because they do not correspond to traditional Russian values, which he appropriates. Each election cycle, these attitudes swell and he uses television as a political tool to brainwash people. These twenty years have created a social base that believes in him and that has assumed those values. But it's a trick, a tragic trap, because it affects millions of people.
Doesn't Putin fear that persecuting groups of millions of people will affect him electorally?
All minorities are repressed and we have reached a point where they are afraid to express their status because they can sentence them to up to 12 years in prison and even take their biological children. If you are gay, they can break into your house and take your children to an orphanage.
And Putin has come to consider anyone who receives money from a foreign institution, be it a foundation or an organization, a "foreign agent"...
It is a planned strategy.
To eliminate dissent?
Of course, it's a way to appease all the opposition. In fact, it has already happened, because all dissent has been expelled from the country or imprisoned. Human rights movements, lawyers, activists, journalists... they are all shut out, you can't even go out on the street to protest with a sign without facing prison terms. And this has even affected memorialist organizations, such as the one investigating Stalin's crimes.
Under what conditions does the opposition come to the elections?
In December, the possibility of presenting candidacies opens, but the whole process is fake. Most of the opposition is in prison, no one will go against Putin. The known candidates were bogus candidates and parties like the liberal don't even get 2% support.
Is the war the reason or alibi for progressive Russian authoritarianism or do you think this process would have happened anyway?
It would have been so in any case, because it is a manifestation of what Putin is. Don't forget he is a former KGB agent, he has always been in favor of killing and imprisoning dissent and the only difference is that now he doesn't have to hide to carry it out. For years he has planned the strategy, including the invasion of Ukraine, which he considers his pinnacle, his destiny. It is very difficult to imagine Putin without the war, but the repressive laws began much earlier.
In what situation is the opposition in exile, where the arm of Moscow has even reached to eliminate dissidents?
Keep in mind that no one leaves their country voluntarily. We are talking about people who have been accused of all kinds of crimes, so that if they return to Russia they face up to 20 years in prison. But the advantage of those of us in exile is that we can speak clearly about what is happening and that we have the means even for the Russian population to listen to us. Those who only watch TV will never know what is happening, but even if there are blocked websites, we use VPN networks to speed up the news and move it inside Russia.
Is the billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky the head of this opposition movement?
The leader of the opposition is still Aleksei Navalny, who even from prison remains the best voice against Putin. Despite the fact that they have tried to kill him and that his life is in danger every day.
The Russian economic exile has many properties in Spain. Does it play a political role?
He plays a role that is not at all desirable. They are millionaires with activities very close to those of the mafia. They launder black money and are barely affected by European Union sanctions.
And yet, is he optimistic about Russia's future?
I am moderately optimistic and would never devote my life to a hopeless cause. It is true that twelve years ago I thought it would be a faster process, and in fact it was impossible to imagine that Putin would continue in power in 2024 or that he would undertake the annexation of Crimea or the invasion of Ukraine. But time will prove us right because we are younger, smarter and stronger. The possibility of a large opposition movement consolidating is very high. It won't be next year, but everything will come. We Russians do not like dictatorship.
Are you afraid for your life?
I have seen friends die in front of me, but there are more important things than my emotions or my fears. And I don't feel insecure because I chose not to be afraid. Sometimes, to not be afraid, you just have to see yourself as a winner. I trust in victory even if I don't get to see it. You have to be strong to be able to do what we have to do.
