“Instead of the Russian opposition, let’s call it ‘Russian resistance’, because we need to distinguish the difference between those on the ground with weapons making a difference and those who want to create a more comfortable life for themselves somewhere in the West. The political component of this resistance has not yet been actualised, and Putin is trying to do everything possible to destroy the movement in this direction. From the very beginning, after the terrorist attack, he started talking about the trail of those former Russians who went to Ukraine in 2014,” said Ilya Ponomarev, former member of the State Duma who voted against the occupation of Crimea, political coordinator of the Legion of Freedom of Russia.
He believes that only at first glance it looks like nonsense and complete nonsense, but behind it all, one can see the scenario that Putin used during the Chechen war. Back then, the world’s sympathies were initially on the side of the Chechen resistance, but after a series of terrorist attacks inside Russia, public opinion in different countries changed.