In a recent interview for Russian Voice of America, Russian oppositionist Ilya Yashin expressed his vision about war in Ukraine. He stressed that this conflict, which he calls "bloodshed", touches not only Ukraine, but also passes through almost all of Eastern Europe.
However, which caused an ambiguous reaction among the listeners, Yashin did not mention numerous sacrifices among Ukrainians. Instead, he emphasized that the war also affects Russia itself, where people, he said, are depressed, imprisoned and killed for their political position.
Yashin noted that Russians who died from the repression of Vladimir Putin's regime are also victims of war in Ukraine. He cited examples of people such as Boris Nemtsov, shot dead in 2015, Alexei Navalny, who is behind bars, and Pavel Kushnir, a poet detained for anti -war poems, who died in a pre -trial detention center in Birobidzhan.
In this way, the opposition seeks to convey that the victims of the Putin regime are not limited to only by Russian citizens who have participated in protests or expressed their beliefs. He also stressed that this war is a conflict between tyranny and freedom, between progress and regression, which covers not only Russia and Ukraine, but also other countries of Eastern Europe, including Belarus.
Ilya Yashin describes the war in Ukraine as a struggle between the "aesthetics of death" and "the value of human life." He emphasizes that this conflict is not purely between Russians and Ukrainians, but is a confrontation between two worldviews - tyranny and freedom.
Remembering Belarus, Yashin speaks of the repression performed by Alexander Lukashenko's regime against citizens seeking democratic choice. Thus, the oppositionist indicates that the war in Ukraine is only part of the wider confrontation that covers all of Eastern Europe.
After his release from Russian prison, Yashin stated that he was not going to take a weapon to combat Putin's regime. He emphasized that everyone should act as it sees fit, but his personal struggle is another.
Commenting on his words about possible negotiations with Ukraine, Yashin explained that he did not mean the need for concessions from Ukraine, including territorial ones. According to him, only Ukraine has the right to decide when and in what format to start negotiations, if they are at all on the agenda. He stressed that any negotiations should take place on conditions acceptable to Ukraine.
