Thank you very much to everyone who took to the streets yesterday in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and other cities across Russia and around the world.
Taking part in actions like these, each of which almost always seems hopeless, is an important moral choice for every person. And moral choice is now more important than ideological or political choice.
What other criteria could possibly guide our actions in a life that is being turned into a dystopian novel with the literal slogan "truth is falsehood"? Only the basic standard of "what is good and what is bad."
Even—forgive me for this simplistic reading of philosophy—we should simply borrow the formula from our great compatriot (born in what is now Kaliningrad), old Immanuel Kant, and ask ourselves: "Am I acting in such a way that my action could become a universal rule of conduct?"
"The categorical imperative is ours." That is a fitting slogan for our times.
Returning to yesterday: without morally right but seemingly hopeless actions, there can be no victorious and inspiring ones. Without the desperate few, the many cautious people who follow a path already cleared do not appear. Without individuals, there can be no millions, and I am glad that yesterday I was one of those individuals, even if only for a very short time.
I think our next organizational and political task is to prepare and hold truly large demonstrations simultaneously in Moscow and in five to ten of the country’s biggest cities. First and foremost in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, which did an excellent job yesterday. This must involve genuinely strong and sustained preparation, drawing tens of thousands of people into the process who are ready to take part.
The themes should be the fight against corruption, the judicial system, the right to participate in elections, and the restoration of direct elections for governors and mayors. In other words, the issues on which 85% of the population supports us.
Yesterday, officers from the 2nd Operational Regiment were transporting me in a police van, and the conversations were the same as always. I was talking to them about Sechin’s salary and theft at Russian Railways, and they were telling me, "I live with my family and two children in 18 square meters (about 194 square feet) in a dormitory in Lyubertsy."
So we can still argue over which side really has the bigger percentage here.
Today marks exactly 15 years of Putin being in power, having received it from the hands of a drunken regional Communist Party boss, who traded Russia for security guarantees for his corrupt family.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year, and I want to say this: may we never lose faith in the idea that Russia is not a lesser country, and the people who live in Russia are not lesser people. They do not need a tsar. They too can build a society where power changes hands through elections, and where monarchs, boyars (hereditary nobles), feudal lords, key-keepers, bedchamber attendants, and serfs exist only in history textbooks.
There is still no contact with Oleg for now (although Moskovsky Komsomolets somehow managed to interview him right inside Butyrka prison), but I am sure he too sends his greetings, thanks, and New Year wishes to everyone.
P.S. It appears this website is being blocked again. It is unclear on what grounds—most likely with no grounds at all. Don’t forget to download the mobile app; it is not being blocked. You can download it for iOS here. The Android version will be ready later today.