Text version
0:00
A week ago, I asked you for help, and
0:03
now I’m reporting back: the help came, and I
0:05
think this video will upset both
0:07
President Putin and his chef, Prigozhin,
0:10
who was carrying out orders to seize your
0:13
money from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).
0:15
The authorities were bothered by the 7,607 people
0:19
who had signed up for monthly
0:21
transfers to us, so with the help of
0:23
corrupt judges
0:24
they decided to take away our organization itself
0:27
along with those subscriptions, and we—I won’t
0:30
lie—were worried about it.
0:32
Sure, we could switch to another legal entity,
0:34
but some people wouldn’t renew their subscription, some would
0:37
forget, some would refuse, and so on. So
0:39
here’s the question: a week ago we had 7,607
0:43
monthly donation subscriptions.
0:46
How many do you think we have now? 15,000
0:50
626 people, with an
0:52
average donation of 485 rubles (about $5.30) — an increase
0:55
of more than twofold, and this is the best
0:59
collective response to the gang of thieves
1:01
that has entrenched itself in the Kremlin, and it’s
1:03
a very instructive story for all of us.
1:06
First, the world is full of good people. They
1:10
are ready to help, and they are not afraid. Ask, and
1:13
help will come. Second, this is an example of
1:16
how much clearer, more honest, and
1:20
more transparent the opposition is than the authorities. What money
1:23
does United Russia (the ruling party) live on?
1:25
State budget funding, plus murky
1:28
schemes for stealing that same budget money.
1:30
And how is their state-run
1:32
television, their political pundits, and small and large
1:35
spoiler parties financed? And then there are
1:37
Simonyan, Solovyov, PR people,
1:39
political operatives.
1:40
All of this is what, broadly speaking, can
1:42
be called the political system on which
1:44
Vladimir Putin’s power rests. There, everything
1:47
is built on some kind of hidden
1:49
corrupt schemes—or openly
1:51
corrupt schemes. Take, for example,
1:53
Prigozhin: he supplies schools and kindergartens
1:56
with spoiled food, makes enormous profits
1:58
from it, and spends part of that money
2:01
on his so-called Prigozhin trolls,
2:04
who sit there writing comments about how
2:05
everyone lives so well and so richly in
2:08
wonderful Putin’s Russia. In our case, by contrast,
2:11
unlike theirs,
2:12
everything is clear down to the last kopek: 15,000
2:15
people each chip in 4
2:18
85 rubles (about $5.30). That’s how
2:19
it works. Putin can lie all he wants
2:22
about foreign funding,
2:24
his Investigative Committee can
2:26
declare our money criminal all it wants,
2:29
but both we and they all know that the opposition in
2:33
Russia exists on the honest money
2:35
of citizens, while the authorities live on money
2:38
stolen from honest citizens. The outrageous,
2:43
overwhelming dominance of corruption
2:46
prevents anyone or anything from developing. On behalf of
2:49
myself personally and all my colleagues in the
2:51
regional headquarters, I want to thank
2:53
each and every one of you.
2:54
This will be a long confrontation. It’s clear
2:57
that Putin will now want to steal this money too,
2:59
as well.
3:00
And we will constantly invent ways
3:02
to survive; they will invent ways to destroy us. But
3:06
the main thing is clear: together, we are the largest
3:10
organized political force in the country,
3:12
acting voluntarily. The potential of our
3:15
collective action is enormous, and so far
3:17
only a small part of it has been tapped.
3:19
We must not give up, we must work every day, and
3:22
believe in ourselves. Then we will change the country.
3:25
If you still haven’t become one of those who stand
3:28
behind FBK, then do it: sign up as
3:30
election observers, sign up for Smart
3:32
Voting, and subscribe to our
3:34
channel.
3:34
This is where the truth is told.