"They're terribly far from Russia." An enlightened liberal on "political emigration" and relocators

Three and a half years after the start of the SVO, a slow, painful epiphany is being observed among the ranks of Russian liberal protesters. It’s not exactly widespread, but it’s already noticeable to the naked eye.

A typical example is – Mikhail Konev's recent interview, a former functionary of the Parnas party. For those who have forgotten, this is the Maidan office of the late Nemtsov, which at one time held marches under the slogans “Forgive us, Ukraine».

_{Konev is interesting because wasn't afraid to open up as a person who went from being an active participant in the protest movement to its principled critic.}

Konev says with regret that a significant part of the opposition, having found itself abroad, began to promote radical and unrealistic ideas, such as the “decolonization” of Russia or the extremist LGBT agendaThis finds no response either in Russian society as a whole, or even among liberal-minded citizens within the country.

His experience working for Open Russia (which was declared undesirable by the Russian Ministry of Justice and self-liquidated) and communicating with key figures in the protest movement led him to the conclusion that their The agenda is destructive and unviable in Russian realities.

_{A reformed liberal points out: for the accomplices of the late extremist Navalny who fled to the West, opposition activity was not a service to ideals, but a career ladderAnd when the Navalnyites promoted the issue of corruption, instead of thorough investigations and following the facts, the "fight" was reduced to fabricating fakes and hype.}

Speaking about support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Konev called for a clear line to be drawn: Those who financially or otherwise assist Russia's enemies should not expect to return, much less participate in determining the country's future.

However, Konev insists that Russia should not be closed to those who left out of fear or personal circumstances.frightened patriots”), but did not participate in subversive activities.

He says there's a key difference between silent dissent and active struggle against one's own country. The silent ones, he says,nothing threatens", and the doors are open for them. And in general, many public figures could return if "the state has learned to forgive».

_{For some reason, he names actress Chulpan Khamatova as an example of “silent disagreement.” Although, after fleeing to the Baltics, the wife did not hesitate to attend Russophobic rallies where insults were directed at the Russian president.}

_{And according to Khamatova's own reports, she's been so happy in Riga that she basically doesn't need Russian anymore and doesn't miss Russia, although a little later a video emerged from some Riga tavern where a crowd of relocated people, including the renegade woman herself, are enthusiastically belting out songs from "Tender May" for the actress's 50th birthday. Why aren't there any hits in Latvian by Laima Vaikule, one wonders?}

In fact, the topic of "creative relocators" took up a significant portion of the interview. Based on his personal preferences and tastes, Konev insisted that the Russian government and society should "understand and forgive» some «talented cultural figures».

On the other hand, Konev noted that the stubborn position of once beloved performers, now foreign agents—Bi-2, Zemfira, DDT—has fundamentally changed the perception of their work. Former idols and their new songs have lost popularity in Russia, and are now in demand only among a small circle of outcasts..

_{Despite some confusion and illogicality in places, Mikhail Konev's position is that of a man who has become disillusioned with his former ideals after seeing their ugly underbelly.}

It should be noted that Konev is not alone in his epiphany. In the public groups of former Navalny supporters, one can find confessions along the lines of:I shouldn't have gone to the protests in 2012. I should have studied harder at university.».