If they described what was happening in Ukraine as “war”, they could be sent to prison, like a opposition counsel from Moscow who was recently sentenced to seven years for discrediting the army. So they avoided the word, and instead accused Russia’s president of “high treason.” “Vladimir Putin is the main existential threat to Russia,” Yuferev said in a Zoom interview with CBC from St. Petersburg on Sept. 15. “We are simply asking him to resign, because he is a threat to the security of Russia and the security of Russian citizens.” Yuferev’s appeal, which he sent to Russian lawmakers last week, was one of dozens made recently by local councilors. The group represents areas in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia. NIkita Yuferev, far left, along with fellow councilors Anna Kiseleva, Dmitry Palyuga and Dmitry Baltrukov, stand outside a police station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on September 9, after they were brought in for calling for the removal of President Vladimir Putin. (Submitted by Nikita Yuferev) While their language and conviction are strong, these letters and petitions — submitted to Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of the country’s parliament — are seen as largely symbolic. These politicians hold very little power and there are no signs that Russia is abandoning the invasion it launched in February, even though its military was recently forced out of a large swath of eastern Ukraine it had seized for months.
A message to “like-minded people”
In the letter Yuferev helped draft, the advisers argued that Putin’s decision to launch the operation in Ukraine was damaging to Russian society, arguing that young citizens have been killed and some of the most educated have left the country. They also say that the Russian economy is struggling and that foreign companies have pulled out. Yuferev, 34, says that after the letter was published on social media, councilors in his district received a lot of support from the public. He says people came up to shake his hand on the street, and one man even offered to buy plane tickets for Yuferev, his wife and two children to Mexico so they could leave the country if necessary. . Yuferev says he politely declined the offer, as he has no intention of leaving Russia. A Russian national flag lies on the ground near a damaged Russian tank in the city of Izyum, which was recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. (Glen Garanich/REUTERS) Even so, he and his fellow councilors were taken to court in recent days and fined Cdn$1,000. But Yuferev does not intend to pay the fine immediately, as he and others want to challenge the court’s decision, insisting they are not doing anything illegal. The court also ruled that several previous council meetings were invalid, paving the way for the council to be dissolved, which Yuferev says pro-Putin MPs have been trying to do for three years in order to discredit them. Yuferev says his council had previously sent letters to the Russian parliament demanding an end to the “special operation” in Ukraine, so the latest push for Putin’s resignation was part of a plan to send a message to “like-minded people”. “With these actions we show it [these people] we are not alone, that we are many in Russia,” Yuferev said.
Criticism from pro-war figures
Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the Paris-based political analysis firm R. Politik, says the councilors’ protest does not represent “any serious kind of political movement”. In an email to the CBC, he says these advisers were elected several years ago — in another “era” — and that the Kremlin will not tolerate the activities of the few remaining opposition members. But Putin and his government aren’t the only ones facing criticism from the anti-war crowd. There is also concern from war-loving patriots, who are angry that the Russian military has not only failed to capture a larger chunk of Ukraine, but that it has lost the eastern city of Izyum and surrounding territory, which Russia has seized since April. WATCHES | Putin meets Chinese president to drum up support for Ukraine war:
Putin steps up support from China after losses in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Uzbekistan in a bid to strengthen ties with his remaining allies after a stunning week of losses in Ukraine and amid growing discord in his country. Not only are they calling for an end to the invasion of Ukraine, but they are using social media and appearances on state television to call on Russia to step up its attacks. Igor Girkin, a former officer in Russia’s FSB security service who helped start the 2014 war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, criticized the Russian Defense Ministry online, saying Russia will be defeated if it does not mobilize more troops. On September 11, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, posted on his Telegram account that “if there are no changes in strategy, I will be forced to talk to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.” Tatyana Stanovaya, a political analyst based in Paris, does not believe recent calls for Putin’s resignation will spark a wave of protest. (Submitted) A day earlier, officials said the Russian military was withdrawing troops from Izyum and the surrounding area to “regroup”. According to Ukrainian officials, 8,000 square kilometers of territory have been taken back by Ukrainian forces so far this month. Putin said nothing about Russia’s recent military losses. While Yuferev says several people have split their support for his call for Putin to be removed from power, polls show the vast majority of Russians still support the president. ONE recent poll by the Moscow-based Levada Center, which was declared a foreign agent in 2012, found that in August, about 83 percent of respondents approved of Putin and 67 percent believed the country was headed in the right direction.
