“Putin’s lies are there to confuse people”: the Russian dissident in an interview 58,000 files found: actor Teichtmeister accused of child pornography

At a demonstration by Ukrainians in Paris, participants recently chanted: “Putin – criminal, murderer, terrorist!” You’re right?
Galia Ackerman: The indications are objectively correct. The war crimes of the Russian army in Bucha and elsewhere are now documented. But it started long before the war in Ukraine. In the Chechen war, Putin used terror against the civilian population. He had civilian buildings blown up and then blamed the Chechens for these files. Schools and hospitals were also hit in Mariupol. These are war crimes

In your “Black Book” you also describe Putin’s regime as corrupt, kleptocratic and mafia-like.
Putin literally privatized his land and gave it to his friends. At the same time, he suppresses public freedoms and prescribes to his country an imperialist policy against a country that has done him no harm, with a war of aggression that he does not call that. Another falsehood.

In your book you quote the Russian systemic critic Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who said that a regime of violence is necessarily a regime of lies.
Lying is the hallmark of Putin’s regime, just as it was a hallmark of the KGB secret service. They even tried to blame the Ukrainians for the Bucha massacres. A few days ago, the Russian army command claimed to have killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers in Kramatorsk in revenge for the Ukrainians’ New Year’s Eve attack. In fact, two schools and eight residential buildings where no soldiers were hiding were hit.

When Russian Colonel Sergei Skripal was poisoned in London or Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down, the Kremlin reacted immediately: Over time, it published several versions, some of which even contradicted each other. That was not an accident, but an attempt to cover the truth with a web of lies, so that nothing seems certain anymore. So people don’t know what to believe anymore.

Is Putin also pursuing a policy of genocide?
Yes, if you focus not only on the number of dead, but also on the intent to wipe out a nation, as Putin intends to do with Ukraine. In World War II, the Nazi genocide against the Jews did not begin with the Wannsee Conference; the intention was much older. Publications and opinions are circulating in Moscow openly calling for the destruction of the Ukrainians. A genocide is not only mass murder, it also consists of the denial of a people, for example its identity, freedom or religion. And this is happening today in Ukraine.

Does this include the deportation of Ukrainian children by the Russians?
Absolute. At least 10,000 children were separated from their parents in “filtration camps” or brought to Russia from Ukrainian orphanages and homes. There they are housed in institutions or adopted by Russian families. Robbing children of their parents and giving them new names and passports is part of a genocidal practice. And it’s cruel to the kids

At one point in your book it says that the main difference between Putin and Hitler is that the Nazis organized a mass movement. That said, is the equation valid?
The comparison with Stalin is more logical. Putin glorifies him more and more. This also applies to the “Great Patriotic War”, as World War II is called in Russia. The “immortal and invincible” people are glorified. In St. Petersburg, giant portraits of World War II veterans hung on the facades of houses. The honor of dying for one’s country is celebrated almost like a death cult

That sounds totalitarian.
The Putin system is still only partially totalitarian; I would rather describe it as autocratic

But the Putin clique is not alone in its nationalism. Spokespersons on television have the same discourse. And the audience nods and applauds, celebrating Putin’s performances, which seem only partially staged.
That’s right, autocratic regimes not only stay in power with state terror, they also need a certain amount of popular support.

… financed by state propaganda.
The manipulation has been going on for years on talk shows and other programs, flanked by patriotic films and mass concerts with ‘patriotic’ songs. Many people now believe that they are dream images of the need to “denazify” Ukraine. Particularly since Putin’s third election in 2012, a veritable “zombification” of Russian society has taken place. You follow the official discourse like a zombie.​

Did Western Europe suppress this discussion and also the manipulation of the masses in Russia until the war broke out in Ukraine?
No doubt. We all wanted to believe that Russia would be a normal country again after the fall of the Soviet Union. When Putin said he would restore “greatness” to his country, we failed to see how dangerous that announcement was. We forgive him for harassing Chechnya and also for provoking war in Georgia. Only Georgia’s entry into NATO would have prevented Putin from carrying out his plans

What do you base this assumption on?
Only then did Putin begin to reform his army and militarize society – right down to school lessons. Today we know that he also uses the gas as a weapon

Her book outlines in detail how Moscow exploited the German “Ostpolitik”.
Berlin’s Ostpolitik was initially aimed at the reunification of Germany, which was a perfectly legitimate goal. Later, however, people in Berlin did not want to see that Putin was not just about economic relations. Not only did he get Gerhard Schröder on his side, but hundreds, even thousands of German politicians, civil servants and industrialists

Was the German government naive?
Rather: blind. Germany has effectively denazified itself, but it has retained a very strong sense of guilt towards Russia. That is why the Germans go to such great lengths to supply weapons to the military enemy of the Russians. They overlook the fact that Russia is by no means the only heir to the Soviet Union. Belarus and Ukraine also suffered from the Wehrmacht invasion. However, they remained a kind of white spot for the German Ostpolitik. Since the Nazi regime, Germany has had an equal responsibility for Ukraine

It is not surprising that the far right in Western Europe – AfD in Germany, Le Pen in France – “understands” Putin. But why do reasonable bourgeois and conservatives think that way?
They follow Realpolitik too much and think that Ukraine is far away, not even in the EU or NATO. Above all, the Russian influence works. Russian propaganda portrays Ukraine as a Nazi state. Schröder is not alone in supporting Putin. In France, this applies to ex-premier François Fillon or ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, who allegedly received 300,000 euros for his rapprochement with Putin, the news portal “Mediapart” reports these days. Many Altgaullists in Paris also think like Charles de Gaulle, who felt closer to the Soviet Union than to the US. Two strong underlying currents play a role in its creation: in Berlin, as I said, guilt, in Parisian anti-Americanism.​

How do you rate Emmanuel Macron’s attitude?
The French president wishes Ukraine victory, he has recently started sending her light armored vehicles. At the same time, however, he also wants to participate and mediate in the search for a peace solution. That’s why he says don’t humiliate Russia

Switzerland remains neutral in the conflict. Do you understand this attitude?
Historically, Switzerland has always taken a neutral position. It provides humanitarian aid for this, which is also important. Arms deliveries require a change of mindset and I’m not sure the Swiss are ready for that at the moment. The question is whether Switzerland can remain neutral if the atrocities of war by the aggressor continue

Individual Swiss politicians and publicists hide their sympathy for Putin behind the principle of neutrality.
There are similar cases elsewhere. Most of these politicians do not have the courage to stand up for their support for Putin and say that Ukraine should not be allowed to have weapons. One should also negotiate with Putin on the basis of the current situation – which would mean that Russia could keep its illegally occupied territories.

What future do you predict for Putin?
I do not believe in a quick overthrow of his regime, even if it is based on the lie. Police and army remain loyal to him for the time being. Rulers like Putin or Alexander Lukashenko are very difficult to detach

Could hardliners like Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner’s private army, inherit Putin?
Prigozhin does not have what it takes to be the head of state, he is just an “opprichnik”, as the accomplices and executioners of Ivan the Terrible were called. Bad enough: the criminal gang of Wagner mercenaries, which also consists of released prisoners, is honored with medals in Russia. You have to imagine this: in Russia, convicts are celebrated as an elite unit!

Can you negotiate with Putin?
No, there is nothing to negotiate with Putin as long as he occupies a sovereign neighboring country. After that, yes. For now, however, it is a struggle for the independence of a country and also for our freedom. (aargauerzeitung.ch)