ah, hey guys, it's evelyn share. my welcome to my podcast, love matter. i, i, and life celebrities influences and experts to talk about all things. love back from day to day. nothing less because all these things and more in the new season of the pot, come make sure to tune and wherever you get your path and join the conversation because you know it love matters ah, ah, vladimir puddings approval rating continues to rise in russia ever since the invasion of ukraine lost you. meanwhile, the last remaining weiss's of the opposition are being silenced. houses have been arrested on charges of treason, and despite all possible rest and sanctions, the russian economy is still driving. if anything has gone bankrupt,

it is the democracy in the country. prominent critics of the regime, such as like the me, a car, morsa and alexi, navarre me have been sent them to long prison terms. others have gone into exile. doors, speaking against the war, are perceived as enemies of the state to despise and traded on to the point we are russia under put in. why is the opposition disappearing? ah, hello and welcome to to the point, i'm e shop. hassan, and here in berlin. what is going on in russia, on the one hand support for vladimir putin is on the right. and on the other hand, any kind of opposition is leading to arrests. to understand this, i have 3 incredible guests with me today. elia grasping shot glasses, shift guy, excuse me, is a rush. john the best he phases 10 years in prison for allegedly spreading fake

news on the killings off billions in you can go founded mendoza? russian language, revenues, outlet based on a historian and author. she is currently a was a thing research panel at the live mid center for contemporary history in germany and rica on his house and is also a historian. she teaches at the university of ross talk with a special focus on a very warm welcome to you all. thank you for joining you. i'd like to start with you. now. you have been charged for spreading fake news against the russian armed forces, and that was an instagram post. now, what is really happening in russia are civil in being really monitored so much. is there absolutely no freedom of speech there you can,

you can speak freely. i think when you are in your apartment. sure. i think there isn't a student, not north korea. you can speak somewhere, but the problem is not a big problem is that you never know what will happen next. sometimes nothing happens. sometimes it's consequences are horrible. so for example, if, for example story or the gold marsh was called over, she has pictures of some she made to some picture in school. this was unto or picture. and her father was arrested. he tried to escape and he was arrested again in bellows. and she, she was sent to the open house. so everybody in all the stories she has the stories her horrible. ah, and you never know what will happen. so yes i,

i posted the earnings through, i'm abroad, butcher, and whatever it is, i see a, as i said, the, this is the russian mill through her. my rush moved through so as possible for who's a massacre. that's about enough to put you behind bars and yoga. you won't be dirt for our lives, any other senior am livid us. and there which claims to be non government independent research center has said that wouldn't approval rating. we have gone up from 70 to more than 80 in the last one year. for do you make of this? i think i think we need to be very cautious with statistics for years and how we use it. when you saddle of added santa claims to be independent, i think we have to take it with a grain of salt. and so she ologist warn us that any statistics applicable tool tool, despotism tool, authoritarian societies and is not very reliable. i think this is also the function of those figures is to create a semblance of majority and to demoralize those who oppose the war. never the last, i do believe that their reserve sense of acceptance of this war. i mean, there is

a whole range of reactions from a theatric approval and endorsement and willingness to volunteer for the front too . you know, tacit acceptance maybe would aren't like it maybe would, would all want to participate, but we do not mind. and i think with this was put in taps and to where whole gum, lot of reactions and feelings and concepts, imperial resentment, and the sense that ukraine is ours, rushes to claim back on that are they? are they that they have circulated for years? so it's like we aren't address statistics, but i wouldn't so nevertheless dismiss a whole complex of attitudes which as they are, which permit the society which explained the endorsement and this whole right range of reactions will read the talking of the theme research. it also mentioned that the only time when the reading idly debt that was when marshall mobilization was announced that was september last year. now we are talking about mass mobilization

. do you think the people are the civilians in russia? they will unite against it. i think we have to differentiate between the metro poles. we are lots of pause, i've taken actually and the regions, and we have about 80 regions in russia. and it's a completely different situation out there because the ethnic minorities from this region are primarily drafted in moscow. right now we have 0.5 percent of the adult male population who is drafted. and in the regions we have up to 10 percent. so there's a huge difference who shares or who wears the burdens of this war. so i do think that if there is some sort of disapproval, it will rather be in the regions than in the centrist and speaking out against the regime or criticizing. fulton can be extremely dangerous. in russia, legal action made adult and life sentence that are however, some dissenting voices who are willing to sacrifice their own freedom in their

fight for the freedom of citizens. vladimir kara, moore's us trial is over and the verdict has been pronounced guilty of high treason . the former journalist had criticized the russian invasion of ukraine. the fact that yet he sang in 25 years of imprisonment in a strict penal colony 25 years. i want to remind everyone that this is the maximum sentence for a person with no previous convictions. flavia delia yashimi was arrested after he protested the russian invasion in a youtube video and denounced war crimes committed by the army. among other things he drew attention to the atrocities committed by russian soldiers in boucher joshing, has been in jail awaiting trial. ever since. what imprisonment in russia can mean is demonstrated by the fate of russia's best known opposition. figure alexey enough, only after barely surviving and attempted poisoning,

he returned to russia voluntarily in 2021, and was arrested immediately upon his arrival. the most recent pictures of him showing emaciated men marked by illness, can protein silence his critics in the long term by locking them away. alia, can he can foot in silence his critiques by just filling jails. he have many options to silence critics ah, he can jail them. ah, he can or, or you can leave, or you can if the he and poisoned them. so where, for example, where you see here, i like save only and sad to me to, to talk about them is cause i know lexi and a, the metal, lots of times. and every time i see this is it's hard to see. so he was sentenced not for 15 days, and then 15 days in the 15 days, then he was a voice and then he left to germany. he spent

a month in chile fair here in berlin, and then he came back and right back to jail, to jail for a i don't remember 70 years or 8, you know, he doesn't matter. then he became an extremist, that he will be a terrorist and he will get a life sentence. and i also need to say that they have a prison for the campus where he is stated. so this is horrible place. so for example, yesterday the because the organization i organization, they probably should the video when the former prisoner of this cam, she describes the cam. for example, these guy he spent 40 in the state to their wooden bed. just he will state for 14 days, and right now actually he's in

a military organization called wagner. yes. which is fighting against the ukrainians in ukraine. and so well, as we know there, russia, russian, russia is training the prisoners and send them to the war. and we have questions, white white people go there. this is their list. place on the earth. this, that's why when you were, was for 14 years straight for the birth. this is better for you all if, if uh, maybe i can give an argument. why do people go to the war who are not a draft dirt? and it's an economical argument arm and a lot of research has been done recently on that. so a normal income would be $600.00 us dollar monthly, and what they are paid to fight in ukraine for wagner are $4000.00 u. s. dollar right? now, this is sort of the highest income you can make. this is a considerable difference. and because all these ethnic minorities in rather it

sort of poor regions are drafted also for wagner. this is an incentive. so i would say that the economical argument is a one among many, yes, surely planetary factors why people go to ukraine and kill ukrainians. and they're also being promised that they will not need to go back to the prison yet if they absolutely. so that promise will be, and there is a promise of sort of resource elevation because those institutions are absent. and russia, when you, when you are released from fraser, and there are no channels that we socialize in normal life, so to say, so people bounce back and there is a very high percentage or free offenders and much imprison scott, currently, it's higher than people who are there for the 1st time. so wagner is a promise of certain respect, respond respectability and a career and, and money. and i think that we need to mention this economic reason as one of the reasons behind the approval because it's a social mobility vehicle for many people in terms of career,

some of the carriers are now vacant. people have left opening those career opportunities to those who could not really claim those shops before. and there are payments that the government for mrs to those volunteering for the and signing military contracts to their families in case they die. so there is em financial incentive there on the table very clearly. and some people who are, they are involved in this conflict. they never had such financial opportunities before and fortune and julia just ave briefly about her and among his condition, knew the prison. now we know about a handful of opponents who have been jailed and about the situation that in but give us an idea of what a jail in russia is lay because there are a lot of reports about of physical abuse about sexual misconduct. yeah. and the, these reports are true and then we know that such practices have intensified own for the last 97 years and sexual life violence, rapes have been corman. and these are the rapes conducted by other prisoners

against the people down there prison administration, a penal colony administration wants to subdue and subjugate. this is also one of the instruments through which people are co opted into corporation with security services because those tortures and sex last tortures i. videotapes and videotapes are later used to blackmail people into obedience into conformity. russian prisons are places of torture and abuse. and so for a lot of people, and i mean, they miscalculate they think that the chance of dying at this wall is some lower than the chances of being abused, harassed, raped, and on or killed. am in a russian penal, colony, or prison. these are horrible places we have to be clear about that and the earth you little bit because a coin cur, plot the where the russian jail in the russian and the what do i see that a super verb? sorratto changed a lot in lusts earlier censure and bud for russian reason for decent. it didn't

change saw garage in jail before the soviet earth, soviet union, after the soviet union, were thousands of prison resolve the same. yes. so with many prisons have the same, they are 150 years old and are starting when you so you go to the jail. and then for example, when you are show your jail, you are sentenced and then they send you to, for your jail. it can be weeks in their train, and this is like a style and strain though. 7 people in one a block. yeah. the leave together they, they have no food and then you go go to the prison. that 2 types of prison for exam, the black prison and the red prison, one prison there. as far as the, remember, the black prison is controlled by the administration. there at reason is controlled by the prisoners. so this is the system of torture. this is bruce bitter system of killing people there and said that there is no idea of change. people there do like

artisan at talk what yes, just saying because we have this historically tradition of criminals in the russian army because in the 19th century, at the village, select it, who had to go to the army. and they of course, didn't choose the strong ones and the healthy ones, these shows the criminals, their most in cap of are ones to just put them away in the army. and this is kind of a long traditionals and his iris empire. i don't know about the soviet union, but i do think that we have an ingrained tradition which is now revitalizing under the condition of war. you have also written about how crime has been normalized in the dash and society can elaborate. and i think we need to remember also about the prevalence of criminal experience and russian society in the she in numbers that tell us that a lot of people have criminal experience. i have been socialized into this experienced by the church of having parents, grandparents,

relatives on neighbors who have criminal experience under their belt. and i think in 2007, i might be mistaken about the date and russian newspaper kind of some published as so. so logical study claiming that almost 18 percent of adult male population hass . an app former valence effectively, which means that those criminal norms percolate into normal society and the informed different spheres of life, attitudes among people, the ideas of machismo, patriarchal structure, and sort of veneration of force. subjugation, i'm certain cynicism. these are values that percolate from presence into regular society and there was another aspect was art that criminal mentality conceives of itself as an authentic form of being. and civility, proper polite society conceived off as artificial fake. and you see that very often in the language spoken by, by the kremlin, putting himself use his criminal argo a lot. and i'm in his diplomatic saw this shows them and middle finger until the

world effectively using some of the language which was unthinkable. some you know, 20 years ago, and this is, i think, a sign that russian society, or russian regime is a criminal regime. not only because it commits crimes both in ukraine and in the country, but also because it, it is governed by a subtle particular ideas and concepts that in russian are known as piazza that percolated from this very widespread prison experience. but what a violence, how the nationalistic sentiment to it, ah, the though you mean the violence or the the fact that we have to die for our country, no matter what. oh this is a tough one. i. i think it can be abused by propaganda, but i think of course, this criminal mentality is also very selfish and individualistic. it can be channeled into particular users, but i think essentially, you know, it is there, it just what you make of it politically. how you frame it, how you shape it,

adding on that what you were just saying, i do think that the propaganda managed very successfully to make that sort of fighting for the country and what you were just saying. dying for the country is part of this kind of re in parallel, zation pro drag is sort of seeing russia as an empire. it is no empire. right now. we have an imperial policy, but we have no empire, but that's what they want to sort of, you know, in a construct. and it fits very well a, to attack ukraine, part of the soviet union on to re state this imperial vision of putin. and i do think that a lot of people don't rush up i that through the state television, i met via theme to the, to, through an employer or colonies. and actually this is the old employer. this is a we can fire. and this is be real war and the actually, the buyer use colonies and send people from colonies to this war. so that's why you are in the, in the, not the,

in the metro metropolis. but in the regions there are so many drops of people. yeah . the draft people from the colonies from her body. i to, for example, from you creature, there is a lot of people and the far east, and we're speaking about the empire and the metropolis. this is actually the war about metropolis because putting thing that the center of the empire is ukraine, russia, and billows. and for him, the european, her ukraine, is that of the best to empire, because this is his metropolis for hundreds and hundreds to use. this is it one can't one center of empire for him, and that's why i think this is imperial war. and that's why he is so nervous about this. he want to save this empire. and this is a really old, old constructor. yes. and that's what, and this is the real old type of war. that's why we see something from the past talking of all construct and things of the past. now statistics are just also sure

that more than 80 percent of russians, they like to have the collapse of you with this. are that, do people really want soviet union back? is he done of most of his people they don't know what they want. yes, this is just listen to men, they want the this is lecture ample, wanted went to make her rush. great again. what does it, what does it mean? i think that most of the people dont can't answer this question or key one's a great country and everybody in the world should think that this country's great should be afraid of us. what does it matter? what does some of the want to live better maybe? but i'm not sure that people can answer this question. what does it matter or doesn't mean to come back to the soviet union? but i think that one answer on that question is one of the 3 divisions which sort of in our, the biggest problems in russia right now. and one is age. the other one is social inequality. and the 3rd one is territorial unevenness. um and i think age is a huge factor explaining also why the majority of people beyond 70 probably are

prone of having something like a remembrance of the soviet union back. but there's a, you know, young generation, you are of a preventative of them who are very far from wishing posts. so our soviet situation specs that we have to look at h to differentiate who is very pro put in regime. and who is thailand right now? i wouldn't even say they are against put in, but they are silent because there's no other choice. they are silent, but they're also traveling. now there's no other country in the world that is subject to as many sanctions as russia. more than a 1000 foreign companies have left russia in the past year. the aim is to exert pressure on the russian government by weakening the economy. but the western pressure tactics are proving to be few tail bags, clothes shoes. moscow market for a 2nd hand goods is booming up this jacket is made by our local brand,

and it's much cheaper than foreign made one nasa shambly dobbins. before we used to go shopping at h and f s, but now we can find the same clothes here right here. everything is available at a 10th of the price gc that i suppose that's because i lose it's business as usual in moscow despite the war and sanctions like here at suite house, the new ikea knock off from bellow roofs, like many other western companies. ikea withdrew from russia after the start of the war in ukraine. many global chain was like mcdonalds or starbucks, now have a russian equivalent. those with money hardly have to do without any thing. western brands are also still available by a middleman on the internet. the kremlin is clearly pleased the russian economy has not yet collapsed. it was cuz you believe a positive trends in the economy are strengthening. according to economic data,

retail revenue has increased by just under 25 percent since the beginning of april bio media diversity. it yet, but it's in consuming, instead of protesting, how much does the good economic situation help putin here? how do your friends and family back home, look at these changes which economic changes you did the new market that has come up. i. i considered a lot of things they leave in moscow and i can see that a lot of things changed there. so people that lived, they can get anything they want. but is there a sense of pride that now we can buy more made and rush hour stuff? no, no, a. so there wasn't a kia right now. there's the, has this different brand, but this is all the same. they have factors in russia. ok, there wasn't mcdonald's right now. it's colder than i thought. yeah, ma'am,

that's easy. i mean, that's a yes. so area, this is all the same. this is all the same. they just sometime right now, they started to nationalize some western companies. and before that, they just pushed the western company to sell it for, for cheap, for some control to businessman's. it was like the same. so i have some examples, for example, there is no coca cola right now anymore in russia. but if you go to the food chin called us because of, with the luxury products, you see 5 types of coca cola because there are they input from different countries and you can choose right now so that you can so right, i'm how you have more choices and before we have be coming to the end of the show in your how long can put in really sustain this. they've gotten me as well as keeping the opposition in check in one sentence, if you can,

i think infinitely. i think, you know, we are looking into some, some very prolong process of, you know, russia as a sort of nuclear swamp continuing to lot and that can take years unfortunately, but i think a lot depends on the, on we have when you cream, winced the war definitely that that's going to be, it says, deciding factor footing. i would say putting can keep that position and check for low time. but he will not be able to keep the economic situation in check for very long because it is a completely different situation than the one which the propaganda gifts. and there will be a steady deterioration of the economic system. so i think this is the key point for pushing interface in its own country. thank you. millions of russians have fallen silent since the beginning of the war. many have fled, thousands have gone into exile. if you're watching this on you do, do let us know your thoughts. why is the opposition in russia disappeared?

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ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin, russian cruise missiles and drones hit targets across ukraine. at least 12 people are reported dead and strikes in several cities overnight. the attacks coming, as keith prepares, a counter offensive but will new weapons and western training be enough. also coming up.