A Russian lawmaker stood up for a rare public display of dissent against his government on Friday, imploring Vladimir Putin to cease its “military campaign” in Ukraine and withdraw its troops.
The lawmaker, Leonid Vasyukevich, made the address at the Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai meeting, which is located in South-Eastern Russia along the coast of the Sea of Japan.
“We are backing measures to support families of servicemen killed during the special military operation. We understand that unless our country stops the special military operation, there will be even more orphans,” he urged in his speech. “Young men die and are maimed during the operation, even though they could have benefited our country.”
“Nearly three months have passed since the start of the operation, and it is clearly impossible to reach success by a military way,” he insisted, fighting past objections and disruptions from officials.
“Continuation will inevitably lead to an increase in numbers of killed and wounded servicemen. We demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine,” Vasyukevich demanded.
“We demand to stop military actions,” he can be seen reiterating in a video of the address.
The Governor of Primorsky Krai quickly accused Vasyukevich of being “a traitor” whose actions “discredit the Russian army and our defenders who stand in the fight against Nazism.”
Although initially, Vasyukevich’s appeal to Putin was signed by three other lawmakers, during the meeting, two of the signatories disavowed themselves, leaving only Vasyukevich and Gennady Shulga remaining.
According to the Daily Mail, during the session, Shulga “demanded that Vasyukevich should be heard and not abused.”
Anatoly Dolgachev, the head of the regional Community party, insisted that the party had not been forewarned about the appeal to Putin and vowed to take “the toughest measures” against the two lawmakers.
He further claimed that the men had “defam[ed] the honor of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation with such a statement.”
The majority of lawmakers in attendance then voted to strip Vasyukevich and Shulga of their ability to speak further at Friday’s meeting and asserted the address amounted to “political provocation.”
Russia’s Crackdown On Criticism
On March 4th, 2022, the Russian parliament passed a law that punishes those they deem to have “discredited” or spread “fake” news about the country’s military with fines or a jail sentence of up to 15 years.
The amendments to the criminal code also included enacting “very tough punishment” on those encouraging sanctions against Russia and calls for public action.
From the beginning of the country’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, Russian opposition leaders have sent stark warnings that the Kremin would begin to crack down heavily on dissent. This concern has proven accurate in the months that have followed.
Public Displays of Dissent — This Week
Recently, 115 national guardsmen of Russia’s “Rosgvardia force” were fired after refusing to participate in the invasion of Ukraine when ordered; instead, in a massive collective act of dissent, they returned to a duty station. On Wednesday, the appeal of their firing was denied by a military court located in Kabardino-Balkaria, which borders the country of Georgia. The court ruled against the military members for “arbitrarily refus[ing] to perform an official assignment.”
On Monday, May 23rd, a Russian diplomat to the United Nations, Boris Bondarev, resigned his position in a fiery letter, which was additionally published on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter), declaring that Russia’s actions have made him “ashamed” of his country.
After being held back by fear of retaliation from Russian authorities, when Mr. Bondarev decided he would speak out and open himself up to face the heavy hand of the Kremlin’s wrath, he didn’t waste his last words tip-toeing through his condemnation of Russia’s actions.
Bondarev’s letter, which is illegal under the new law passed on March 4th, did not hold back:
For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year.
The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.
Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this.
I regret to admit that over all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time.
However, in most recent years, this has become simply catastrophic. Instead of unbiased information, impartial analysis and sober forecasting, there are propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s. A system has been built that deceives itself.
Minister Lavrov is a good illustration of the degradation of this system. In 18 years, he went from a professional and educated intellectual, whom many of my colleagues held in such high esteem, to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world (that is, Russia too) with nuclear weapons!
Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred. It serves interests of few, the very few people thus contributing to further isolation and degradation of my country.
Russia no longer has allies, and there is no one to blame but its reckless and ill-conceived policy.
I studied to be a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years. The Ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy.
The now-former “counselor to the Russia mission at the United Nations Office in Geneva” admitted that he doesn’t see it as likely that many people will follow his lead of public dissent, despite receiving support privately from several of his colleagues.
The fear of the Russian government is too overwhelming, and “most won’t risk it,” he stressed. “In our system, we can’t voice our own opinions.”
Not Simply a Russian Issue
The severity of Russia’s crackdown on dissenting voices has garnered much attention from media in the western world and should not be dismissed.
That being said, it is important to recognize that western countries also, and globalist organizations such as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations, have taken similar actions by openly advocating for the censorship of those who do not endorse their ideology.
For example, in the United States, the Biden administration’s disinformation board was tabled due to public backlash. Many likened it to a “communist policy of censorship and propaganda” and George Orwell’s “ministry of truth.”
Eradicating Dissent: Biblical Analysis
From a Christian perspective, God’s Word, the Bible, teaches us that this crackdown of dissent will become increasingly prevalent in the time prior to the return of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote that in the “last days,” men of “corrupt minds” will despise and suppress the truth (2 Timothy 3:8-9).
The book of Revelation additionally states that a man will rise to power as the leader of a future global government. That man, referred to as the antichrist, will work to suppress dissent by eradicating those who refuse to worship him (Revelation 13:7-8, Rev. 13:16-18, 2 Thess. 2:3-4).
On a much smaller scale, we have already seen this antichrist resembling mentality in communist countries like China, North Korea, and others, whose leaders elevate themselves to god-like status, demanding to be worshiped by the population.
The suppression of dissenting voices in Russia and globally is a harbinger that is paving the way for what the Bible describes as occurring in earth’s future history.
God’s Word lovingly describes these things in advance, Jesus explained, so that when these begin to occur we can not only understand the infallible accuracy of Scripture but also have the hope of knowing that, the “redemption” of believers in Jesus Christ “draweth nigh” (John 14:29, Luke 21:28).
