I have personal experience of Vladimir Putin’s regime and the way the Russian President operates. I have been forced to seek asylum in Britain for criticising the Kremlin as an independent journalist. I have come to realise that to return to my homeland would be suicidal for me.
But this letter is not about me. I am writing to you because I fear that a tragedy is befalling Russia, with the restrictions on political and personal freedoms worsening every day. Having done away with the domestic opposition, Putin, on the eve of the G8 summit, has now decided to deal with the external “enemies”.
He has threatened to aim Russian missiles at targets in Europe once again, just like in the Cold War, and has warned of a nuclear arms race. It is now clear that the escalation of aggression by Kremlin is the direct result of the policy of appeasement pursued by Western leaders who, during the seven years of Putin’s rule, have turned a blind eye to his lynching of the opposition, the press, NGOs and all democratic institutions in Russia.
There has been no single example in history of a dictator who, sooner or later, did not become a danger to both his close and distant neighbours.
The goal is not the “revival of Russia” or the “revival of the national pride of the Russians”, as Putin and the Kremlin’s propaganda are trying to present it. It is a full-scale revenge by the secret services and the authoritarian regime with all their old methods and tricks.
Putin has shut all independent TV channels, introduced harsh censorship, blocked access to the press for the democratic opposition, accused Russian human rights activists and NGOs of being Western spies, and split up the country’s biggest oil company, Yukos, among his friends from the special services.
Putin should be faced with a stark choice: either the Kremlin restores democratic freedoms, or Russia will be expelled from the G8 and other international clubs.
I completely agree. It’s high time he is treated like the Soviet dictator he is.
Several years ago I read a presentation by a Russia expert who said that Russia is headed toward an essentially petrodollar economy, with all the attendant political and social problems. Although people are talking of Putin re-starting the Cold War, Putin is closer in his ideology and actions to Hugo Chavez than to Leonid Brezhnev.
Economic isolation would be disastrous for Russia and would lead to utter chaos, and Putin needs to remember this. Threatening the West in any manner is suicidal, and the European countries won’t stand for it.