Anti-War Committee of Russia

The Anti-War Committee of Russia was created in 2022 after the start of Russia's military special operation in Ukraine with the participation of many personalities known for their anti-Russian views: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Dmitry Gudkov, Marat Gelman, Yevgeny Chichvarkin, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Shenderovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza and many others. All of them are recognized in Russia as foreign agents.

The purpose of the Anti-War Committee is not a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, but "the unification of forces to resist Putin's aggression and the regime," that is, the desire for a coup in Russia. They perform under the white-blue-white flag of "beautiful Russia of the future."

The committee claims to be an alternative "government" abroad and a "representative body" of emigrants from Russia.

History

2022

Project "Ark" - coordination of Russian protests and oppositionists abroad

"Ark" - a project organized within the framework of the "Anti-War Committee of Russia," was created for the targeted coordination of Russian political emigrants, "condemning military aggression against Ukraine and not seeing opportunities for themselves to live in Putin's Russia." The project has a huge number of chats in different countries.

Created "Ark" human rights activist Anastasia Burakova, who is associated with Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In June 2022, she participated in the conference of the American organization "Free" in Russia Tbilisi and spoke at the same section with the ambassadors,, and in, USA Poland Lithuania Czech Republic Georgia discussing "Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine."

The "Ark" has two main offices - in Yerevan and Istanbul.

Yerevan branch of "Ark"

In Yerevan, the office is located at st. Pavtosa Buzanda, 1/3. According to Meduza (recognized as a foreign agent), Khodorkovsky personally gave funds to an office with an area of ​ ​ 250 sq.m. in a prestigious area of ​ ​ Yerevan and another apartment and house. Burakova created a space like the "House of United Belarus" in Vilnius, which unites Belarusian oppositionists.

The coordinator of the Armenian office of "Ark" is Darina Mayatskaya, an activist from St. Petersburg. She spoke about her activities, which are related to material and psychological assistance to emigrants, in a short interview with opposition journalist Viktor Muchnik.

In an interview, Mayatskaya said she believes she "Ukraine showed Putin that the elections can be fair" and the SVO began because "Putin hates Ukraine because of the choice of the democratic path." Moreover, the coordinator of the Yerevan office says he will experience "great fear if Russia wins."

Various activist initiatives periodically appear in the Ark chat in Yerevan: for example, to financially support a rally in honor of the independence of Ukraine.

From here comes the coordination of anti-war rallies in Armenia for several people. One of the coordinators of such actions is Yury Alekseev and Oleg Rusakov from Krasnodar. The latter is also relevant to the small Liberal Platform project.

Ark in Yerevan cooperates with other Russian opposition organizations. For example, on August 21, 2022, the Yerevan "Ark" together with the "youth democratic" movement "Spring" held the "Evening of Letters to Political Prisoners." Other partners of The Ark include Feminist Anti-War Resistance, and film activists Artdokfest.

In August 2022, the main political activity takes place precisely in the Yerevan branch of the Ark, which can be explained by the large number of politically active emigrants in Armenia and Georgia, which have become the center of Russian opposition political activism. As a result, a stable environment of emigrants is formed, which they are trying to give political weight to through positioning it as an "alternative Russia of the future."

Istanbul branch of "Ark"

The coordinator of the Istanbul branch is St. Petersburg lawyer Andrei Davydov, who was involved in accompanying the election campaigns of independent candidates. In the Turkish capital, the "Ark" is rather a hostel, which is located near the Yenikapa metro station.

In an interview with Novaya Gazeta, Davydov says that for many, Istanbul is "a transshipment point, because during the coronavirus everyone has run out of Schengen."

In another interview, Davydov claims that Putin "went crazy" and "morons" the population: "a moron on a moron and a moron drives" - this is how the oppositionist described Russia. On February 24, 2022, a lawyer went to a rally at the Russian embassy in the capital of Turkey (the man was there a few weeks before the start of the SVO).

The local opposition community from Russia gives interviews to Turkish "liberal" publications about their lives after the start of a special operation in Ukraine. The video about the mutual assistance of emigrants was released by the channel "+ 90," which collaborate with the BBC, Voice of America, DW, etc. The video about the Istanbul hostel was made by Al Jazeera, the head of the Ark project Anastasia Burakova distributed.

Proposal to create passports of "good Russians"

In May 2022 , a discussion continues on the issuance of passports of "good Russians." Opposition figures abroad came up with the idea of ​ ​ creating a base with "good Russians" who condemned Russia's policy, for which they would receive indulgence in the form of a special document to bypass European sanctions.

The interests of these "good Russians" should be represented by a certain "committee" consisting of people in white coats. This idea was also voiced on May 20, 2022 in Vilnius at an anti-war conference from the Forum of Free Russia. It was led by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Evgeny Chichvarkin, Dmitry Gudkov. It is said that Kasparov proposed the idea.

Novaya Gazeta Europe. supported the decision by a column of lawyer Leonid Nikitinsky, who from 2018 to February 2022 was a member of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.

Nikitinsky writes that "the passport proposal for" good Russians "does not discriminate against" bad "ones - it corresponds to the idea of ​ ​ humanity." Nikitinsky immerses himself in reasoning about the development of the universal value of man and mankind. According to him, globalization has consolidated this process. Now we need a criterion that will allow some Russians to this heritage, while others will remain with the "Russian world" and will not receive access to "humanity." The lawyer himself writes that he has always "recognized himself as a citizen of the world," and now there is an opportunity to get a real "certificate of world citizens."