I’ve been watching a rather interesting debate around the spontaneous flash mob organized by people in the creative professions in defense of actor Pavel Ustinov. ⠀ Ustinov is completely innocent, and that innocence is confirmed by publicly available video footage of his arrest. The guy was quite demonstratively sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for absolutely nothing, as part of carrying out Putin’s directive: "after every protest rally, grab and jail a random hostage—let people be afraid." ⠀ Actors, directors, singers, and entertainers are now posting in support of Ustinov. ⠀ And then come the voices saying: why aren’t you speaking up for the others? Where were you before? Why only defend one of your own? ⠀ It seems to me that what matters here is this: guys, in our country people are so intimidated, so divided, and so conditioned to helplessness that any collective action or public statement is a breakthrough. ⠀ If at least someone stands up for at least someone else, that’s already a good thing. Someone was sitting there with a phone in their hand and decided not to post their own photo advertising something, but a political demand to free a political prisoner. ⠀ Everyone who did that is truly admirable and deserves a huge collective virtual hug. ⠀ Everyone who spoke out loud about injustice, suppressing the thought, "I’d better keep quiet, or they might take away my role or stop letting me on TV," is a good person. ⠀ If each of us stands up for at least someone, that’s how the principle of "one for all and all for one" begins.