In the last part of interview to the Informator.lg.ua Varvara Darevskaya talks about participation of Russian soldiers in combats in Ukraine, contemporary political regime in the RF and future “insight” of Russians.
We were talking about participation of Russian servicemen in this war. How do you thing, what makes Russian mothers, who get “killed in action” notices, to keep silence and not try to reveal the truth?
They were intimidated.
How can you intimidate a mother?
It’s easy. FSC can intimidate anyone. Our population still remembers Stalin times, which haven’t finished yet. Let’s concede that she has other children. She understands that if she will do something wrong – her child will not see a good life then.
But were there “draftees”?
There were draftees. They were dying there. Elena Vasilieva tried to gather mothers and drive them to Moscow but they refused the last moment.
As I know draftees don’t participate in the war against Ukraine now. Now all people, who go to Donbass, know where they go and why. They get money for that work. I personally cannot imagine how people can agree to go kill people for money.
Now even activists of “Bolotnaya” have different positions. There are such people among them, who fight in Donbass right now. My friend met such “field commander”, whom she knows from “Bolotnaya”. He has 100 subordinates in Donbass now. She told me that he had changed. He told her, that he liked to kill, that it’s a feeling “better than orgasm”.
There is an interesting story about a cossack. We met him in interesting place – two artists from Piter threw holy water on Mausoleum. They were arrested for act of vandalism. After detention we were meeting them near a special detector.
We came there and saw a bunch of people – members of opposition, liberals; religious activists, who support carrying out Lenin’s body from Mausoleum; nationalists, who don’t like Mausoleum at all; and Cossacks.
One of those Cossacks was very talkative, gave interview to everyone, told how he fought with Girkin in Donetsk. We talked to him and he said: “Let’s get on well, unite, because we fight for the same things”. I asked him: “You have been at war, have you killed people there?”. He answered: “In the past noblemen went to wars of boredom”.
And I realized that the war for that man is kind of safari – where he goes to get entertained. “You women don’t understand, but men like to fight”.
You remembered that visited a special hall in a railway station in Rostov, equipped for refugees …
Yes, I wanted to compare it to what was done in Ukraine, “Kharkov station” in particular. They also have a long table, where representatives of the MES sit. Refugees come and fill out a form. Afterwards MES officers offer them to go to certain city (ticket is free), where they will get housing, work, places at school or kindergarten for children. Everything is great, but the city is in Siberia. They can refuse, stay there and wait for another city. They get food ration tickets there for two meals in a café, but there is no place to sleep. Finally they give up and go to offered city.
There were volunteers, who tried to bring mattresses there, but they were not allowed to do that. Initiatives are not supported, but the state does something.
Let’s go back to contemporary Russia. How do you think, will a change of the head of Russia mean a change of the regime? Will something change in case if Putin leaves?
I suppose no. If that had happened at the very beginning, when green men appeared in Crimea, it would have helped. If Putin had dismissed that moment, it would have been possible to change situation and say that he probably had got mad and made a mistake. But one and a half years later it is clear that they work together there and no one will surrender.
What about population?
They will have to admit their mistakes. I feel sorry about them. We were so enthusiastic before the Olympiad and now we understand that people will see us as Germans after the Second World War. But we cannot do anything about that.
So, you are waiting for some insight which will come to Russian population?
Yes I am. And I feel sorry about them. At some point of time, when the conflict started, I realized that I hate Russia, hate Moscow, hate my compatriots. I hated everything that surrounded me, even birches and taiga. It was very hard to stop hating Russia, but many people from opposition still live in this hatred towards Russia. They go to Kiev to breathe and return back like waiting for death. I realize now that I don’t go there to die. It is my country and I’m responsible for it.
If you say that Russians will realize their delusions, that means that citizens of Ukraine, who shouted: “Putin, bring in troops!”, have to revalue their actions too.
It is global philosophical question. I suppose, that any person has a right to be an idiot. He/she has a right to make mistakes and think about Putin as a rescuer. We cannot blame people for such thoughts. But if I will start yelling “Putin come!”, will he come? The reason is not in it, that is why we cannot overestimate degree of those people’s guilt. We have to understand how to integrate such people into society. But I don’t know how to do that.
Communication with Varya Darevskaya made us change our attitude towards Russians and existential problems of our states.
Trying to resist the war, propaganda, lie, barbarism and people’s rancor, Varya puts her kindness, disinterestedness, humanity, love and compassion to opposite scale. It makes us think that the more people follow her example the less time this mad war lasts.
Prepared by Aleksey Chernov and Lana Kosach-Kvitka