Falling Out of Love With Sports - And the Russian Regime
Fear, loathing and Olympics: Howard Amos in the New Lines magazine on sportsmen expressing (or failing to express) their political stance, on elite defection in general and the dangers thereof. I do the expert's most draining job: explaining the self-evident.
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И (ИЛИ) РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ [ФИО] ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА [ФИО]
https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/falling-out-of-love-with-sports-and-the-russian-regime/
"While some expected the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to lead to high-profile defections from the Russian elite, the opposite turned out to be true. Whatever they might have said in private, the majority endorsed Putin. The most well-known figure to break ranks was singer Alla Pugacheva, the queen of Soviet pop music, who condemned the war and relocated to Israel with her husband in 2022. While Kremlin envoy Anatoly Chubais, who helped bring Putin to power in the late 1990s, quit his job and left Russia after the invasion, he has not publicly denounced the regime.
According to Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, an expert at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, the reason for the lack of public condemnation of the war among the elite is simple: fear. Even leaving the country is no guarantee that you are safe.
“Defecting is dangerous, speaking up even more so,” said Schulmann about Russian emigres. “There is a threat to families, to parents and siblings, to assets and property. And, even if people don’t have these things back in Russia, they can, with good reason, be afraid of being killed in any part of the world.”
The Kremlin is concerned about former members of the elite living abroad and either criticizing the war from afar or sharing information with foreign governments, according to Schulmann. This reveals itself in formal bans on lawmakers and other officials from leaving the country, as well as what appear to be attacks on Russian journalists, politicians and even cultural figures in Europe.
“The Russian state has been doing extrajudicial killings since Stalin’s time,” Schulmann said. “They don’t hide it; they boast of it. The risks are very real and tangible.”
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И (ИЛИ) РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ [ФИО] ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА [ФИО]
https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/falling-out-of-love-with-sports-and-the-russian-regime/
"While some expected the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to lead to high-profile defections from the Russian elite, the opposite turned out to be true. Whatever they might have said in private, the majority endorsed Putin. The most well-known figure to break ranks was singer Alla Pugacheva, the queen of Soviet pop music, who condemned the war and relocated to Israel with her husband in 2022. While Kremlin envoy Anatoly Chubais, who helped bring Putin to power in the late 1990s, quit his job and left Russia after the invasion, he has not publicly denounced the regime.
According to Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, an expert at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, the reason for the lack of public condemnation of the war among the elite is simple: fear. Even leaving the country is no guarantee that you are safe.
“Defecting is dangerous, speaking up even more so,” said Schulmann about Russian emigres. “There is a threat to families, to parents and siblings, to assets and property. And, even if people don’t have these things back in Russia, they can, with good reason, be afraid of being killed in any part of the world.”
The Kremlin is concerned about former members of the elite living abroad and either criticizing the war from afar or sharing information with foreign governments, according to Schulmann. This reveals itself in formal bans on lawmakers and other officials from leaving the country, as well as what appear to be attacks on Russian journalists, politicians and even cultural figures in Europe.
“The Russian state has been doing extrajudicial killings since Stalin’s time,” Schulmann said. “They don’t hide it; they boast of it. The risks are very real and tangible.”