Kremlin opponent Ilya Yashin: "A bloody disillusionment awaits Russia"

Opposition activist Yashin during an arrest in 2017

Photo: Sergei Karpukhin / REUTERS

Ilya Yashin is doing what he has always done: he is waging a hopeless battle. A Moscow court has sentenced him to eight and a half years in prison. He deliberately spread lies about the Russian military, according to the judge. Yashin had spoken on his YouTube channel about the atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. His lawyers had appealed the decision. But, of course, Moscow judges shot it down at the beginning of May.

This is the constant in the life of Ilya Yashin, 39: he has always thrown himself into battles that he can't really win without hesitation. Since Vladimir Putin first became president in 2000, Yashin has always been on the barricades. At the beginning of the noughties, together with Alexei Navalny, he led the youth wing of the liberal Yabloko party. They were kicked out because the party establishment never wanted to mess with the Kremlin and hoped for backroom deals with the presidential administration.

After the expulsion from Yabloko, Yashin set himself on fire in front of the walls of the Kremlin in protest against Putin. He wore fireproof clothing and thought that with the action he could shake up his compatriots a little. More than a small minority, however, has never opposed Putin. Yashin answered SPIEGEL's questions in writing while in custody. He describes why fleeing abroad was never an option for him – and why his faith in his own compatriots is unshakable despite everything.

SPIEGEL: How are you doing in prison?

Yashin: Of course, it was better. But overall, I'm fine. During the nine months in prison, I adapted to everyday life. I take care of my health. I try to stay fit, both physically and emotionally. I keep my optimism.

SPIEGEL: You started drawing in prison. Can you describe your everyday life in detention?

Yashin: Prison life is one big routine. Day after day, you spend time in the same four walls, see the same faces. The same food over and over again, the walks in the courtyard with the concrete walls, which you've been fed up with for a long time. A shower once a week ... The days are very similar and fly by. They seem to slip through your fingers. If you let your thoughts revolve around it, you can fall into despondency. There are few here who do not suffer from depression.

SPIEGEL: What helps you?

Yashin: I'm saved by the firm conviction that I'm right. I am imprisoned for what I sincerely believe in, and I am in tune with my conscience. I will never have to bow my eyes in shame when one day I am asked: What did you do when Putin's troops bombed Kiev and Odessa?

SPIEGEL: So you're the exception.

Yashin: But I also feel a lot of public support from Russia. No matter what you say about the Russian people, there are many good people among us. I receive thousands of letters of support and gratitude. This is encouraging and motivating.

SPIEGEL: How do you assess your security situation?

Yashin: After the murder of Boris Nemtsov and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, no Russian oppositionist can feel safe anymore. Not at large, not in prison, not in Russia, not outside. There used to be illusions about Putin, but nothing remains of them after the bombings and massacres in Ukraine. A human life is worth nothing to him. Anyone can be liquidated by the secret services. But it is better not to think about such things, so as not to lose your mind. Do what you have to do – and come what may.

SPIEGEL: Do you have any contact with the other prisoners? Is politics a topic of conversation behind bars?

Yashin: Curiously, I met a number of former dignitaries behind bars: deputy ministers, civil servants, intelligence officers and even military officers. Putin does not seem to be particularly satisfied with his apparatus. There is quite a lot of discussion about politics in prison. Many here have a negative attitude towards state power. The prisoners know from their own experience about the brutality of the police, the lawlessness of the courts. Sometimes I am recognized, and detainees inquire about my trial. Many are shocked that I was sentenced to eight and a half years for my anti-war speech on the Internet. Many murderers get less.

SPIEGEL: Many members of the opposition have fled abroad for fear of draconian punishments. You don't.

Yashin: For me, emigration was never seriously considered. This is my country, which is very dear to me. I have dedicated my whole life to the goal of making Russia a better place, a free, peaceful and livable country. I'm not ready to give up all that and flee. That would devalue what I have done so far.

SPIEGEL: Other members of the opposition continue to fight from abroad.

Yashin: I can't hide the fact that I have this sentimental attachment to my country and my hometown of Moscow. I feel part of this people and can't imagine myself beyond the borders. At some point I read memoirs of Russian émigrés who had fled to Europe after the Bolsheviks came to power. Many wrote about this scorching longing for home, and I think I can understand it well. I would have a hard time emigrating, even harder than in prison. I would lose myself.

SPIEGEL: You've fought for democracy all your adult life. Have you never had the feeling that everything is in vain?

Yashin: The history of my country is long and full of thorns. For several centuries we were under the yoke of the Tatars. Then followed a long period of autocracy and serfdom. People, like cattle, were the property of the landowners. The Tsar was followed by the Communists and soaked the country in blood. One would think that after all this, Russia would have to have a completely docile and silent population. However, in every generation there were smart and talented people who were striving for freedom. These are people who, at all times, have instigated uprisings that have been brutally suppressed. And even today, my people's longing for justice is unbroken. Unfortunately, our road to democracy is long and torturous.

SPIEGEL: This regime and this war didn't just hit the country like the Bolsheviks. All polls have long shown a high level of support for Putin's course. Didn't Russia indulge in barbarism this time in full awareness?

Yashin: I do not agree with the thesis that Putin's current policy is a response to society's expectations. Even if the Kremlin tries to portray it that way. In reality, after the collapse of the USSR, there was a strong desire for European integration in our society. The Russians did not want war, but a calm, stable and good life. Putin came to power in 2000 with the promise of such a society. He did not promise the restoration of the Soviet empire at that time.

SPIEGEL: So what went so wrong?

Yashin: As soon as Putin sat in the Kremlin, he began to play with the post-imperial syndrome of society, with all the insults and complexes of the nation. He has manipulated the public consciousness with aggressive propaganda. Step by step, he shaped his dictatorship. I do not absolve my people of responsibility. We are guilty of allowing this dictatorship to happen in our country. But it was not Russian society that produced this barbaric power. Russian society has become a victim of the manipulations of a sociopath. Please don't forget that.

SPIEGEL: Is it still possible to turn things around?

Yashin: A bloody disillusionment, a painful recovery awaits Russia. We will have to rebuild the country on the ruins of Putinism. We need a new constitution, democratic institutions need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Never again must we place the fate of the country in the hands of one man. However tall Putin's successor may be, how clever and sincere, his powers must be limited to a maximum of two terms. We need a culture of change of power, a strong parliament, a truly independent judiciary. It is no longer individuals who should steer the development of our country, but functioning institutions.

SPIEGEL: Many Russians wave their hands when people talk about democracy. How do you want to convince your fellow citizens?

Yashin: We no longer need a state that pursues abstract "big ideas". Rather, it is a kind of "applied humanism": a state that is there for the people, social support for the people, investments in our human capital, improvements in education and medicine. Russia must become a society of free and happy citizens. To do this, we must finally abandon our imperial thinking. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as better than others. Only then will we be able to develop good neighbourly relations. I want my country to be respected by the surrounding states, but no longer feared.

SPIEGEL: Where does your hope come from that this turnaround could begin soon?

Yashin: Putin, with his bloody adventure, accelerated the historical processes in our country. This will hit him like a boomerang. Disappointment with the president is also growing among supporters of the regime. Everyone can see that the army is not as strong, the state is not as efficient as always claimed. People feel betrayed, a sense of national shame sets in. This has created the conditions for a split in the elite. In the foreseeable future, we will see either regime change through a coup d'état or severe social unrest.

SPIEGEL: Your long-time comrade-in-arms Alexei Navalny has often advocated bringing oligarchs and civil servants and other profiteers of the Putin system to justice and convicting them. Why should the elite side with the opposition?

Yashin: That's a difficult question. Putin's elite is toxic, corrupt, and many of its members have blood on their hands. These people are a case for the judiciary. But if officials, oligarchs or intelligence officers contribute to ending the war and removing Putin from power, then this should be a mitigating circumstance or even a reason for an amnesty. With regard to the Russian establishment, flexibility is in order.

SPIEGEL: Many of your compatriots seem to be quite willing to accept Putin's interpretation that the West has humiliated Russia. What advice do you have for Europe and America?

Yashin: I have the impression that the West actually often gives the Kremlin its own strongest trump cards. Because he doesn't really make a distinction between the regime and the Russian people. For Putin, it is an advantage. He can share the responsibility for the war he unleashed all by himself with the citizens, he can hide behind the people. After all, he did not consult with the citizens before he started this aggression. Putin has taken the people of Russia hostage. Anti-Russian rhetoric will only help Putin stay in power longer. The Kremlin persuades society that the West wants to destroy our country. The West should not go along with this propaganda. It is worth seeing the Russian people as an ally in the fight against this dictatorship.

SPIEGEL: But it's striking that only a few Russians are rebelling against the course.

Yashin: Europeans and Americans forget that we are dealing here with a police state. We are arrested for a like on a social network, for a minute of silence for the victims of the rocket attacks. Rallies are brutally dispersed, children are taken away from their parents. And despite this terror, protests are still stirring today.

SPIEGEL: The Russian president still has fans in Germany. There are also so-called peace demonstrations, which primarily demand a stop to Western arms deliveries to Ukraine. If you could get on one of the stages, what would you shout to the Germans?

Yashin: Every normal person – all of us! – dream of peace. But we can no longer have any illusions about Putin. For him, a human life is worth nothing. He will be ready to soak not only Ukraine, but also Europe in blood, if by doing so he could achieve his goals. It is impossible to be for peace and at the same time not against Putin. Because Putin is war.