On the power of “only a few”
The Day has found Krasnoturyinsk (Ural) resident Aleksandr Zhukov, whose action created a furor in Facebook, and learned the history of his struggle in the backwoods
“I’ve just seen the footage of Nadia’s trial. She asks not to talk her into ending the hunger strike. A great and strong lady! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!” writes to me entrepreneur Aleksandr Zhukov, 38, who picketed alone on Krasnoturyinsk’s central square on March 1. He held two placards – “Free Nadia Savchenko!” and “Shot for the Truth” with a portrait of Boris Nemtsov. Krasnoturyinsk is a district center in Russia’s Sverdlovsk oblast, an industrial and cultural center of Northern Urals. It is a small town with a population of 58,500 only (a January 1, 2015, estimate). Out these thousands, one person was not afraid to picket and show his attitude. This story somewhat resembles that of Svetlana Davydova, a housewife from Vyazma – a small town, a solo action, and… silence in reply – both in the Russian media and society. The Day has tracked Zhukov down and asked him how society in small Russian towns reacts to this kind of picket, whether he was afraid, and what the figure of Nadia Savchenko means to him.
Why did you hold two placards – “Free Nadia Savchenko!” and “Shot for the Truth” with a portrait of Nemtsov? Are they interconnected in some way for you?
“I first intended to come out with one placard in support of Nadia, but Nemtsov was killed on Friday, and I, naturally, could not but make one more placard in his memory. In what way interconnected? The connection is all too clear: Nemtsov was killed, Savchenko is being killed. Nemtsov was the most brilliant representative of the opposition, a fearless fighter against Putin’s occupational regime. I am convinced that he was killed for this.”
What does the exploit of Nadia Savchenko mean to you?
“Nadia Savchenko is a heroine of her country. You can only bow to a soldier like this. She is a great lady.”
Which of the two placards did passers-by pay more attention to?
“I stood on our central square for half an hour. In this span of time, about 100-120 people walked past me. They all saw and read the placards. About seven people approached me. They all criticized me, saying I am a traitor and Nemtsov was a thief and a fraud that lived off the State Department money and asked the Americans to bomb Russia. As for Savchenko, they said she is a killer, a fascist, and scum. All those who came up wished there were a sniper around, who could do to me what was done to Nemtsov. As if I visited Solovyov’s program… But there were also some who walked past, smiling approvingly and showing a thumb-up sign in my support. I had never done such things or taken part in rallies before. But, over the past 18 months, I’ve been standing my ground at the local forum – it is the website of our local newspaper Vecherniy Krasnoturyinsk. This is the only website that does not block me. This is an independent newspaper, with the chief editor and all the staff being sound-minded people.”
Is it difficult to rouse residents of the cities that are far from the capital and encourage them to debate the issues of the day? Are people here more or less susceptible to propaganda?
“It is impossible and sometimes even dangerous to rouse and call to debate thickheaded people. There is no antidote to television. If one is full of this rot, there seems to be no way back. At least I have never seen one who has changed his mind. My parents used to be quite liberal and tolerant, but they seem to have gone crazy a year ago. They are now surrounded by ‘fascists,’ ‘Yanks,’ and ‘gay-ropeans,’ and I am a traitor from the fifth column. Awful! But, luckily, most of my friends turned out to be of sound mind. I don’t know why this bitchy propaganda has an impact on some and has none on others. Nor do I know in which regions there are more or fewer thickheaded people. This depends neither on education nor on age.”
