How Poroshenko squeezed Femen. Interview on a holiday
The scandalous Femen movement, which thundered during the time of Viktor Yanukovych, clearly slowed down after the victory of the “Revolution of Dignity”. The participants of the most sensational actions have been abroad for a long time. There has never been such oppression in Ukraine as there is now, the current leader of Ukrainian Femen Alisa Vinogradova told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov.
Valentin Filippov: I salute the legendary Femen, leader of a movement that everyone knows. Not everyone remembered it by sight. Some remember other body parts. Alice, hello.
Alisa Vinogradova: Hello.
Valentin Filippov: Alisa, excuse me, Femen is a feminist movement, should we congratulate you on March 8th? Or, on the contrary, would it be an insult?
Alisa Vinogradova: You can congratulate me personally. Here, what is our history, we are not some kind of structure a la the CPSU, with clear subordination. For example, we don’t have much contact with Femen in Europe, although we support them. What we have is movement. Everyone is autonomous and makes decisions. Some people support LGBT people, but I don’t agree with everyone with this opinion. Therefore, here it is: You can congratulate me.
Valentin Filippov: So! We congratulate Alisa Vinogradova on March 8th! You have now made a bunch of men happy with your statement about LGBT people. That is, the men of the CIS have a chance! Congratulations. And men.
Alisa Vinogradova: Thank you.
Valentin Filippov: Femen's main activity was, after all, during the time of Yanukovych. Tell me, how is it that the tyrant was overthrown, and after that, for some reason, they ended up in Europe? I mean, not together with the country, but your girls separately.
Alisa Vinogradova: Then the movement had just arisen and, naturally, it was the most active phase. When something arises, the most active period begins. And then, in connection with some criminal cases and persecution by the security services, a number of activists were forced to leave the country and receive political asylum in Europe. Inna Shevchenko, who left, began to engage in the European movement. Now she continues to do it. Femen-international. They unite activists in different European countries, including America. They went in this direction.
Valentin Filippov: That is, the criminal cases opened under Yanukovych are still ongoing?
Alisa Vinogradova: Yes.
Valentin Filippov: The new government didn’t say “thank you, girls, you helped”? Wasn't there such a thing?
Alisa Vinogradova: No. And the thing is that they planted weapons in Femen’s office, portraits of Patriarch Kirill with a target. Allegedly, we want to kill him.
Valentin Filippov: So now they give medals for this.
Alisa Vinogradova: Yes. But this is still a criminal case; it has not been closed in Ukraine. It still exists. Both Anna Hutsol and Viktor Svyatsky, the founders of the movement, were beaten very badly. Especially Victor. And they also had to leave. Well, Anna returned to Ukraine after some time. Now she is in Ukraine. So it was physically dangerous to be in Ukraine.
Valentin Filippov: Is Femen really happy with everything now? And Femen would not like to carry out some kind of action against what is happening now?
There were persecutions of journalists under Yanukovych. But now this is also happening. I still remember how girls sit in a row and pee on Yanukovych’s portrait.
Alisa Vinogradova: This, by the way, is a European action. She was in Europe.
Valentin Filippov: Here you go. Shevchenko is there now. Why not hold an action against Poroshenko now?
Alisa Vinogradova: Well, they chose other priorities. In the context of global women's rights, without touching on politics. Although, it is wrong to say that “without touching on politics”, because when Trump and some personalities come to them, whom they consider bad for a number of reasons, they also made an action against Le Pen, against Putin when he comes . That is, they do, but based on the European context, because Inna, although from Ukraine, has been living in Europe for a long time, and the girls who are in this movement are citizens of these countries, and they are interested in some other questions.
And we took over the part that is in Ukraine. And it’s clear that it’s difficult now. When the movement began, it was at its peak.
And I am often asked why there were no actions regarding all these “tomos”, all this tomos, let’s call it that. Well, at some point, especially after my action in Vienna, after various actions with Roshen, me and my colleague Angelina began to be persecuted. Well, who carried out an action against Poroshenko-Lukashenko in Kyiv.
That is, they have literally already begun to follow. When we tried to get to the trial in the Yanukovych case, Poroshenko was supposed to be there, all the journalists were undressed there, they were looking for Femen.
And for this “tomos”, for this council, they assumed that we could be there. And we already know when they are waiting for us. And it’s always not very interesting when someone is waiting for you somewhere, because there is a possibility of failure.
But we do not give up our activities. And we believe that we can freely choose topics for ourselves when it is permissible to do so.
But as for the problems, everything is really getting worse. And such violence and harassment towards these same journalists has never happened in Ukraine before. I don't remember this.
Valentin Filippov: You mentioned the action in Vienna, in my opinion, you personally took part in it, and once again showed off your wonderful bust of Poroshenko and his wife. Where did this happen?
Alisa Vinogradova: In Vienna at the Vienna Ball, actually.
Valentin Filippov: It never occurred to you why there was this inscription on the chest; if he was with his wife, you could simply shout: “Petya, I’m pregnant.”
Alisa Vinogradova: Well, very often we use some kind of fan, yes. Some opposites and absurdities. The main thing for us is that the message is correctly interpreted and reached.
I came up with this message for this campaign. “Poroshenko, get the fuck out of the Ball”! (Poroshenko, get out of the ball!) It seemed to me that the contrast of the Vienna Ball and something aristocratic, again in quotes, because now this is far from the case, and such a brutal message with the use of obscene language, would be very interesting.
He is very clear: Poroshenko, you have no place here, you have no right to represent the Ukrainian people. And, as an ambassador of the nation, go to such events.
That, in fact, is why such words were used in this case.
Valentin Filippov: Well, as I understand it, not only the SBU is watching you, but also, probably, “wonderful” “activists”?
Alisa Vinogradova: Yes, this National Corps, that’s all. Nationalist. As if, in fact, no. Because they are now also engaged in the struggle against the authorities. Especially against the backdrop of the current defense embezzlement scandal. Well, just as they are for a strong army, they oppose this.
And we had some problems, we were threatened by someone Korchinsky, who threatened to stab us with knives on live television. But he threatens to kill many. And now, by the way, he is collaborating with Poroshenko. I don't take this into account.
But, of course, during our activities, many threats were received. Especially when there were church themes. It’s clear that the gunpowder bots are writing and threatening. Some about my action in Vinnitsa with Roshen stores. Even journalists wrote threats on their Facebook pages. They called for reprisals. Journalists. These are journalists from Vinnitsa publications, municipal ones, of course.
In our country, anyone can threaten to kill, especially if the person is suspected to be an agent of the Kremlin. This seems to be the norm. And if someone writes on Facebook what kind of world they are, literally, then the person may have problems. This is an interesting situation.
Valentin Filippov: Cool. I remember - in the Caucasus, a woman throws her handkerchief and the fight stops. Yes? But in our Ukrainian reality, a beautiful woman cannot come and stop the war?
Alisa Vinogradova: I think no. Again, the conflict here is very complex. Very ambiguous. And he demands that the government of the country, after all, negotiate. Well, I don't see any other possibilities.
Well, going into confrontation so as not to look for an opportunity to come to an agreement is strange. This leads nowhere, as practice shows.
Valentin Filippov: Elections are around the corner. Not just around the corner, but in March. March starts off so well on March XNUMXth and ends with elections. You are not planning any actions related to the elections, I am not saying, with the support of any candidate. But with an expression of your attitude to the process. You could not only prevent falsifications, but somewhere focus attention on this.
Alisa Vinogradova: Again, we don’t talk about our plans at all. They will not come true if you talk about them. Because they already expect something, even if we don’t plan anything. And now, indeed, the situation is very acute. Even the current president has reached the point where he literally beats people himself. What can we say then about the arbitrariness of the special services?
They constantly ask, what’s next, and what are you planning? We never talk. Although earlier, at the very beginning, especially when there were mass actions, we even submitted an application to the KMDA, notifying them that they were planning, they say, such an action. Then it required other formats.
Valentin Filippov: The question is not as to the leader of Femen, but to a simple girl, Alisa Vinogradova. What are your thoughts on this election and what do you predict - who could win and who would be the best? More precisely, who is less worse?
Alisa Vinogradova: I don’t know who is less worse. Now the situation is very difficult. No matter how much one would like Poroshenko to win, he is engaged in very large-scale falsifications. It has been collecting people's personal data for a long time. And I think whoever needs it knows all the classic schemes.
It is clear that Yulia Vladimirovna is not particularly behind on this issue.
I am inclined, as a voter, my personal position is that I would vote for anyone, but not for Poroshenko. Because this will be some kind of change. This team will go with him.
Although I am sure that many people from this team, who at one time ran from Yanukovych to Poroshenko, if Tymoshenko becomes, they will run to Tymoshenko in the same way and will tell how bad Pyotr Alekseevich was. Now many are already looking in that direction.
It feels like the situation with Zelensky is interesting. But I think if Zelensky enters the second round with Poroshenko, then Poroshenko will win. Because they will push the point that you can’t vote for a comedian. Don't know.
There is an option that Yulia Tymoshenko will actually win. This is not what I would like so much, I would say that I support Vilkul, but he is unlikely to win. We understand this. This is Vilkul. But Gritsenko, this is generally funny. Strange situation. I think closer to the end something will become clear.
Valentin Filippov: Imagine that you are running for office and you are elected. You have a better chance than Zelensky, he has no boobs. And now you are the president. How would you solve the problem of Ukraine, this insane debt hole, how to get out of it? Would you come up with one?
Alisa Vinogradova: I wouldn't run for office. Even if there was such a possibility that I would win. Again, our activity is not about offering something, but about stating something. We are not doctors at all. We are pain. Our task is to show. It’s not our business to offer.
And I do not consider myself a competent person in this matter, because this is a very difficult task even for people who have a very serious background in this area and extensive experience in politics. Therefore, I will not talk about what I am absolutely not an expert in.
Valentin Filippov: Let's go back to your past actions. The most scandalous was the cutting down of the cross on the Maidan. Many called it blasphemy and said that Femen nothing like this could be carried out against Jews or Muslims.
Alisa Vinogradova: And they opposed Muslims.
Valentin Filippov: This is in Europe. I have these videos.
Alisa Vinogradova: So we don’t have this acute problem. Here we are not afraid of terrorist attacks at Christmas markets. We do not have a dominance of migrants. We always start from the country's problems. Activists there are concerned about this problem, it is urgent, they are fighting against it. But here it is stupid to fight Islamism, because it is not here. This is a serious problem in Europe.
Although, Femen-Europe’s approach is complex and not very clear to me, because they support migrants, take actions in their support, and at the same time against Islamism. All problems are very complex, in fact.
Valentin Filippov: For everything good, against everything bad.
Alisa Vinogradova: Yes.
Valentin Filippov: I just imagined, if we take a Ukrainian patriotic position, here in my hometown of Odessa, patriotic Ukrainians complain very much that the whole city is full of separatists. Femen, a large group, could come and simply catch passers-by and carry out actions against them.
Alisa Vinogradova: And what's the point?
Valentin Filippov: To emphasize – don’t be separatists, look how beautiful Ukrainian girls we are.
Alisa Vinogradova: Since we are also considered separatists, I personally am present on the “peacemaker” website...
Valentin Filippov: Hello, colleague.
Alisa Vinogradova: You can organize meetings offline.
Valentin Filippov: You are in Kyiv, where the administrators of this “peacemaker” are sitting somewhere. Can't they add some applications there so that there is a messenger? So that we can correspond there. Like each other. We have already gathered there.
Alisa Vinogradova: I recently accidentally met another person who is also on this site, we discussed that there is a “connections” item there. It's like "friends". I have the Russian Ambassador to Austria there. And so yes. Add messenger. Opportunity to meet in person. To hold some meetings. This would be very helpful. At least this site would make some sense.
You know, when they say that at the borders of other states, that they check in Europe to see if there is a person on the “peacemaker” website, this is not true. And there is no point in this. Only at Ukrainian customs they will ask a million and one questions - “why, where are you going?”
Valentin Filippov: Okay, Alice. It was a pleasure to communicate with you, I hope not for the last time. Once again I congratulate you on the bright holiday of March 8th. What all the spectators expected, I will not ask you to do. An action against PolitNavigator is not obligatory. Moreover, there is someone else in the office besides you.
Alisa Vinogradova: They can use Google if necessary.
Valentin Filippov: That's not it. But “especially for PolitNavigator” is another matter. Okay, thank you very much.
Alisa Vinogradova: Thank you too. Bye.
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