On February 20, the second plenary session of the Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia opened in Warsaw.
This project was announced at the beginning of November last year.
And at the very beginning of this plenary session, the following figures were announced: The Congress today represents approximately 5 million voters who have voted in past years for the deputies of the various levels represented here (the first Congress represented more than 1 million voters). The credentials of 76 delegates were confirmed. Over the past three and a half months, members of the Organizing Committee have had one-on-one talks with governments and MPs from Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, Great Britain, the United States, Canada and the European Parliament. . Consultations have started with representatives of Russian opposition groups and movements on the coordination and unification of efforts in accordance with the decisions of the First Congress. The most active contacts were established with the Free Russia Forum and the Anti-War Committee.
Ilya Ponomarev, a member of the executive committee of the Congress of People’s Deputies, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the 5th and 6th convocations, pointed out that the number of delegates is noticeably increasing. “We remember the skepticism and arrogance that reigned after the first congress. Now other opposition groups are joining us and we look to the future with optimism,” Ponomarev said.
He also announced the adoption of transitional laws: on freedom of expression, lustration, amnesty and the release of political prisoners. In first reading, the Act of Peace will be proposed.
Ilya Ponomarev mentioned that the current plenary session is taking place at an important moment: February 20 marks the 9th anniversary of the death of the participants of the Dignity Revolution in Ukraine, who went down in history as the “Hundred heavenly”. And February 24 will mark the first anniversary of the Russian army’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory.
“The war has already claimed more than 200,000 lives and even more people have been injured and maimed. During this year, our comrades in arms also died,” Ponomarev said, after which a minute’s silence was announced in memory of the dead.
“We can speak with those in whom freedom, dignity and honor live”
A member of the Polish Sejm’s International Cooperation Committee, former MEP Pavel Zalevsky spoke on the host side.
He noted that it was a great honor for him to welcome delegates from the Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia. According to the Polish politician, Vladimir Putin started the war that started a year ago not only against Ukraine, but also against the whole world.
“It’s a war of Putin, of his oligarchy, of a kleptocratic regime, but I believe it’s not a war of the Russians.
I have already lived enough, and I remember the time when Poland was under the influence of the USSR as part of the Warsaw Pact countries, and I remember how difficult it was at that time to break into the regime. And I’ve been in opposition since the early 80s, and I felt it all myself. And I understand that it is now very difficult to hear the voice of Russians from Russia. And it is all the more joyful to hear the voice of a free democratic Russia in your person – that democratic Russia which opposes this dirty and cruel war,” he continued.
The member of the Polish Sejm added that the citizens of his country are interested in good neighborly relations with Russia, based on international law and mutual respect. “We want to build such cooperation. With President Putin it is impossible, but we see hope in you and we want Poland’s slogan “For your freedom and ours!” has become your slogan, ”concluded Pavel Zalevsky.
The next speaker was Verkhovna Rada Deputy of Ukraine Nikita Poturaev, who said: “It is difficult for me now to speak the language that was the first for me in my life. This is how all of us Ukrainians feel now. I’m sure the time when our peoples can speak again will come, but it won’t be soon. For now, we can speak with those who retain humanity, decency, adherence to civilized behavior, and in whom live freedom, dignity, and honor.
The Ukrainian politician believes that in the future in Russia there will be deputies who will not be appointed “from above”, but elected as a result of fair and competitive elections. “Politicians should appear who will think of the well-being of the country, and not of their own ambitions. And my main wish is that the Russian state can no longer threaten its neighbors, and not only its neighbors, with war, invasion, occupation and other war crimes. To do this, Putin’s regime must suffer total defeat. The basis of peace should be that Russia has no desire to invade other countries, start wars and commit war crimes, and that is a matter of politics. The road will be neither short nor easy. Victory is not necessary not only for us, but also for you,” said Nikita Poturaev.
In addition, Ilya Ponomarev gave the floor via video link to a member of the Executive Council of the Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia, a member of the “Russian Freedom” Legion with the call sign “Caesar”, which is fighting now on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Bakhmut.
First of all, he recalled that a year had passed since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine. “We are witnessing the complete degradation of state institutions in the Russian Federation and the moral decay of Russian society. In this form, the life and development of the peoples of Russia is in principle impossible. Our task is to allow the Russian people and every citizen of our motherland to return to the path of peaceful and creative development, ”said the fighter, dressed in a camouflage uniform with stripes of the state flag of Russia. Ukraine and a white-blue. white flag, which he uses as a symbol of Russian political emigration.
“Our struggle cannot and should not be limited to military actions,” Cesar continued. “Our main task is, together with you, to give the peoples of Russia a clear and understandable alternative to the current political and economic system, to convey to the citizens of Russia the senselessness of this aggression and the failure of the Kremlin’s policy. “, touch the heart of every citizen and make him our supporter. The moment that happens, the regime will crumble like a colossus with feet of clay.”
The Legion member ended his speech with a plea: “Let us multiply our efforts to bring our common victory closer. Glory to Ukraine, freedom to Russia!
“We want to give people a unifying toolkit for political struggle”
Congress delegate Andrei Davydov was elected to the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly in 2011, but following a tampering, his mandate was given to a pro-government rival. Incidentally, stealing Davydov’s warrant was upheld by the ECHR.
Andrei Davydov
In Warsaw, Andrey Davydov spoke about the creation of a network of mutual assistance centers for Russian citizens. The fact is that the authorities of all levels of the Russian Federation not only are not interested in the existence of civil society, but also by all means prevent the emergence of “initiatives from below” , fearing that the Russians will thus see the uselessness of the existing bodies of legislative and executive power, starting with the city councils and the heads of the district administrations, ending with the Federal Assembly and the President of the country.
But despite active opposition, Russian citizens are trying to organize themselves. “There are a lot of anti-war initiatives, humanitarian projects that aim to help Russians who left Russia because of the war. All are aimed at ending the war or helping Ukrainians endure its hardships,” Davydov said in an interview with a media Russian service correspondent.
And he lamented that so far there is no organizing force which can help these people to engage in useful activities and which would aim at changing the political regime in Russia, which has forced many of them them to leave their homeland. “We want to give people a unifying toolkit for political struggle,” Davydov notes.
At present, no self-help centers have yet been established – these are promising proposals for further work. “It was decided to choose pilot regions, to involve interested participants. In my opinion, there are two directions to choose. The first is the classic center of attraction for Russian emigration, for example Berlin. And the second is the region that became the center of attraction for the latest wave of emigrants who left Russia precisely because of the war, a kind of visa-free country – Georgia, Armenia, Turkey. During the pandemic, many of them no longer had visas and were unable to travel to Europe, ”describes a participant in the Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia.
“No one knows how or when Putin’s regime will end, but it will inevitably happen”
Among the participants of the Congress are also representatives of the executive, for example, the former mayor of the city of Kurovskoye, Moscow region, Alexei Cheryomushkin.
Assessing the current event, he noted, “If we take into account the opposition forces that oppose Putin’s regime, then, of course, Congress has great legitimacy. Because these people were elected, supported, they went through the crucible of election campaigns, communicated with people, discussed and argued. They are representatives of the people, citizens of Russia. Therefore, what the Executive Committee has done shows that the process of preparing laws for the transition period is going in all directions.
Alexey Cheremushkin.
Sharing his impressions with the correspondent of the Russian service media, Cheryomushkin rejoiced that politicians from 54 countries of the world already know about the work of the Congress of People’s Deputies. “Somewhere in the parliaments, the deputies were received openly, as in the Baltic countries, somewhere, as in France, the meetings were held behind closed doors, of course, everywhere has its own policy. But there is a dialogue with the official representatives of the Congress of People’s Deputies. This is important, because no one now knows how and when Putin’s regime will end, but it will inevitably happen – the regime will be crushed by Ukraine. And now it is very important to launch laws on lustration, laws on the media, on rehabilitation, to understand where we are going. Russia will not go anywhere, everyone understands that, there will be a parliament, an executive, a judiciary. But it will be in another form. And the Congress shows that we are going in this direction,” summed up Alexei Cheremushkin.
