Muscovites live as if this war didn’t exist, is how Dmitry Glukhovsky describes the past six months. It’s over. The mobilization comes as a shock to the Russians, because everyone knows someone who now has to go to the front. What is missing for the protests to grow: anger and courage, says the author, who has been warning in his books against the path to totalitarianism for years. He has been on the wanted list since June.
ntv.de: Did the mobilization surprise you?
Dmitry Glukhovsky: I wasn’t surprised, but frightened. When Putin announced war, in Russia they call it a special operation, many Russians were afraid of a general mobilization. The first wave of departures came about because of this fear, and many of my friends from Moscow were also there. But then it wasn’t mobilized.
What happened instead?
In the first six months, many Russians had this slightly schizophrenic feeling that this war was going on far away, but nothing was changing in their lives at all. The cafes in Moscow were full. Yes, you saw a little more police in the streets, you saw advertisements for the Ukraine operation on the tram, but otherwise everyone still thought Moscow was the best city in the world.
Until Wednesday?
Reality finally invaded this life on Wednesday, since then this war has affected every person in Russia. Even for the people of Moscow, it’s no longer just on TV, they feel it in their own lives. I have friends and acquaintances who have already received their draft notice. They’ve already called you, weeks ago.
So the decision to partially mobilize wasn’t so short-term after all?
The convocations have been going on for some time, but the passage of the law went very quickly. It provides for up to 15 years in prison if you refuse to be drafted, and anyone who surrenders as a prisoner of Ukraine is severely punished – just like in Stalin’s time. In the Duma, the Russian parliament, the law was passed unanimously in an urgent procedure on Tuesday. The next day Putin announced general mobilization. In a day and night, Russia turned into a military dictatorship.
What do the young men do with their draft notices?
There are now queues at the borders. Flight tickets to Kazakhstan or Belarus are sold out for weeks at any price. The Buryats live on the border with Mongolia, they are considered fearless fighters and their homeland is very poor. The military was therefore always a good option for young people in the region to earn money, and up to 3,000 euros per month were on offer for this mission. But then corpses came back, there were many secret burials, people started talking and understanding. Not enough volunteers were found even among the Buryats when they were still looking for them.
And now?
… the Buryats are trying to flee across the border into Mongolia. This also shows that the war has hardly any support among the population.
But there was hardly any resistance either.
In Russia there is fear and people are very passive. It’s learned helplessness if you don’t believe that you can change something in your own country. In the families there are still memories of grandma or grandpa who were arrested in Stalin’s time. The mother warns her children not to fight back. “You can’t change anything,” she says, “but you’ll get a penalty.” On Wednesday alone, 1,500 people were arrested. These people are also convinced that they will not change anything. They only take the risk out of a pang of conscience.
That sounds very depressing.
Ukrainians accuse Russians of being too cowardly to fight back while Ukrainians fight for their freedom. But you must also see: Ukrainians have experienced two successful revolutions. You have a very different confidence, a very different sense of what’s possible. Vladimir Putin has not once changed a plan, renounced anything. Losing a war that he personally started is unacceptable for Putin. So now he has to up the ante again. In order not to show his weakness.
But that’s exactly how he shows a lot of weakness.
In the eyes of the West yes, but not in Russia. Putin’s magic is not based on truth. It’s built on lies, countering it with truth is utterly impossible. He exudes power, and that attracts the weak. When you lie but still appear strong and powerful, people don’t care if what you say is true. They are not looking for truth, they want to be close to the source of power and feel that magic. But as soon as Putin’s army showed weakness in Ukraine, that magic started to fade. He can’t risk that.
But again: it must also be made clear in Russia that mobilization is only carried out when it is necessary – because things are not going smoothly at the moment.
There is no strategy in the Kremlin, only tactics. We’ll take care of the problem we have now. What will follow from this in the next few months will concern us in the coming months.
Do you think the protests will spread?
For that you need to see the following: There is no organized resistance in Russia at all. The opposition leaders are either in prison or abroad. I myself, for example, have already been searched for my critical posts on Instagram and am wanted.
That’s why the publisher didn’t send me the location of our meeting by email, but via a secure messenger?
We are taking certain precautions. Maybe they’re unnecessary, but you don’t have to take chances. I can no longer live in Russia. The state showed again just this week how repressive it is. Up to 15 years in a prison camp can be imposed just for taking part in street protests. There is a lack of anger and courage for widespread protests.
How do critical voices and reports spread?
On Youtube and via Telegram. The Kremlin does not dare to ban YouTube, and members of the opposition and journalists from abroad report there. Telegram channels critical of the regime sometimes have 1.5 million subscribers and more. Information is available to those who want it. But resistance is dangerous.
How big is the risk of being pulled out by the police during a protest march?
You don’t even have to be pulled out. The big cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, monitor public spaces with cameras. At least 160,000 are in use, linked to facial recognition software – like China’s, only stricter. The Moscow Metro is cashless. Everyone is recognized, the fare is automatically debited from the account. If the system eventually recognizes you among the demonstrators, you’ll get a call later. And now, this is the latest, protesters get a notice of recruitment afterwards.
From a military point of view, however, a brigade made up mostly of anti-war demonstrators is not a real asset either.
On the front line, you have little opportunity to resist. And you’re always good as cannon fodder. I can describe all this in my books, talk about it, but it doesn’t change anything. Even with millions of copies of my “Stories from Home” sold, which ironically and metaphorically deals with the situation in Russia today – with censorship, oppression, corruption – it’s nothing compared to a talk show audience. Apparently every generation has to make its own mistakes. She only learns the value of freedom when she has lived through this loss herself.
Frauke Niemeyer spoke to Dmitry Glukhovsky