I really wanted to make it to Chelyabinsk. In recent days, it has seen a major influx of volunteers; by the number of registered sign-ups, it has risen to fourth place (after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg), overtaking larger cities.
Well, I made it there today, and it was great.
On top of that, everyone here is unbelievably polite and sweet. We even had a pleasant chat with the NOD people (members of the National Liberation Movement, a pro-Kremlin political group), giving them a chance to speak at the press conference.
Meeting with volunteers:
The head of the local NOD branch explained the movement’s ideology to me in detail. We agreed that an occupation regime has been established in Russia, but disagreed on Putin’s role in it. They believe he is subordinate to the system; I believe he is the one who created it.
As it happened, there was also a rally today against the construction of the Tominsky mining and processing plant. The organizers invited me as well, and I’m grateful to them for that.
The whole Tominsky plant project is truly awful. Chelyabinsk already has an environmental disaster on its hands; when you look at the statistics on cancer and respiratory diseases, it makes your hair stand on end.
The math is simple: the new plant would hit the environment so hard that the resulting healthcare costs would far outweigh any potential benefits.
Especially since there won’t really be any benefits to speak of: it will be the usual story, with the beneficiary registered in the British Virgin Islands, and the profits staying there too.
As one of the speakers rightly said: build it in Cyprus, then.
A huge thank-you to everyone who came.
And to everyone who hasn’t come yet—join us!