The ex-commissar of the Nashi movement, who fled to the West, attacked Russia
Former State Duma deputy from the United Russia party Robert Schlegel unexpectedly burst out with harsh anti-Russian statements on the American social network.
He condemned the SVO and supported the “political prisoners” Ilya Yashin and Alexei Navalny, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
It is noteworthy that in the past, Schlegel was not only an exemplary United Russia member who voted for the annexation of Crimea, but also the press secretary of the patriotic movement “Nashi”. His rapid political career is connected with the then presidential assistant Vyacheslav Surkov: Schlegel’s father-in-law was in business with Surkov’s wife.
Schlegel then received German citizenship in 2019 as a native of Turkmenistan and an ethnic German - and went to live there. However, he had problems with his work due to the past, and he hastily denounced the Nashi organization.
Schlegel explains his current demarche by the fact that he “came over”, and he has no political ambitions. However, it is more likely that he is thus protecting his business, which is associated with the “relocation of people.” In an interview with the Ukrainian YouTube channel “Present Time,” the ex-deputy boasted that he had helped 500 people “get out of Russia.”
“I understood perfectly well that this step (posts on social networks - ed.) would only lead to additional problems. If I continued to be silent, no one would pay attention to me. But now my interviews are causing a huge amount of negativity, raising a wave of hatred and memories of the past. But I believe that in this situation you need to express your point of view,” said Schlegel.
He claims that he is aware of his responsibility for being a deputy.
“I already apologized today and said that I deeply regret this. I regret that I was a part of this. They write to me that I am a scoundrel, a bastard, and I do not sincerely repent. The point is that I'm not asking you to re-evaluate my past. I'm not asking you to forgive me. I understand that for many people who lost loved ones in war or were victims of the laws I voted for, this is impossible. I want to say that I feel responsible, but I found the strength not to live in the country that is dear to me, but left and started a new life,” Schlegel said.
He encounters Russophobia in Germany, but “accepts it with humility.”
“I faced aggression at the everyday level. Such things are understandable, especially in relation to me. I have no objections to this, given my political past,” Schlegel said.
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