Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin writing in his Telegram channel that more than half of Russians who left after February 2022 have returned to their homeland. At the same time, others, he said, may soon lose such an opportunity due to “the hysteria that is being stirred up in Western Europe”. Russian media learned from other parliamentarians what they think of “returnees”.
Maria Butina, member of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma (United Russia), believes that “everyone has the right to return and realize their mistake”, therefore, Russians cannot be denied return in the country.
“These are citizens of the Russian Federation who have realized that in difficult and difficult times their motherland needs them and they need their own walls, because it is not worth trying to participate to a foreign country. You have to understand that in the West, no matter how they tell fairy tales, nobody really needs it,” she said in an interview with Russian media.
The MP also urged those who have left Russia to take a pragmatic look at the situation, particularly “at the level of inflation in Europe, the unemployment rate in Europe and the United States, and to understand that faced with the level growing russophobia, no one needs our fellow citizens there. “Yes, they are attracted, they made the buzz about it, then they just stopped,” Butina is convinced.
The parliamentarian noted that if people come back, then that is “great”, however, if we are talking about those who had to fulfill their military duty, “then it must be done without a doubt, go and defend their country”.
“If they broke the law, they will answer for it, if they didn’t break the law, they are released from any responsibility, there are no questions here. Everything must be done according to the law. If a person, when leaving, for example, escaped partial mobilization, then please go there voluntarily, appear and fulfill your military duty. We must be guided by the letter of the law,” she said.
Butina added that she sees no obstacles to the return of Russians to their homeland, while in her opinion no further measures should be taken to this effect. “To be a citizen of Russia, to be in our country is a great privilege, it is a great happiness to be born in a great state and to serve it faithfully. So if people want to come back, please, but begging is definitely not our way,” the MP concluded.
Saffron Golikov / Kommersant
Oleg Leonov, deputy chairman of the committee for the development of civil society (“New People”), in a conversation with Russian media, is convinced that the main threat to Russia’s security is not military operations, but the demographic situation.
“We have huge problems with the birth rate, with the number of Russian-speaking Russians living in Russia, so every person who was born and raised in Russia is dear to us,” he said.
According to him, citizens left the country for various reasons, but “the majority was just scared”. He believes that people need to be told what really awaits them in Russia, as many have been guided by the wrong sources of information and “have been seduced by the horror stories of TsIPSO and Western channels”.
“They have to explain, tell the truth and help people come back, because everyone is dear here. And they won’t have the same career prospects there as here, because there – judging by my friends who both left a long time ago, in the 90s, and recently – nobody has not reached great heights, because at some point everything hinges on the fact that a person is from Russia, which means that he cannot really be trusted. And in some versions, it’s still second-class people there. And only here can you achieve good professional, financial and family results, ”says the deputy.
Leonov believes that for people who left the country, but after some time decided to return, “from the point of view of the state and society as a whole” there will be no “complications serious”, because the society in Russia is “traditionally tolerant and very ready to forgive everyone a lot. This is our national characteristic”, noted the parliamentarian.
However, he admits that in the future, between citizens who returned to the country and those who remained in Russia and took part in hostilities, “difficulties may arise on a daily level.” “An understandable conflict: one fought, and the second was somewhere in the Emirates, but these are everyday things that must be resolved by clarification,” said the MP.
At the same time, according to him, those who begin to acquire property abroad run the risk of being nationalized or not being authorized to sell, that is to say that “they will take away what belongs to them by right “.
“I believe that such a risk is very real, and with the Russophobia that exists in the West, there really can be various problems ranging from daily negative attitudes to government measures. We know that in Germany children are taken away from Russian-speaking mothers because they dared to say something wrong. And this will continue, so there are indeed risks for those who remain,” Leonov added.
Alexander Yushchenko, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications (KPRF), believes that the “hysteria” that reigned in September after the he announcement of the mobilization in Russia was “due to a certain herd feeling, people were more afraid than their own shadow.”
“They thought everything was fine there, but when they got there they were faced with the fact that they are third-class people even in the CIS countries, that is to say that they faced certain inconveniences, discomfort, because they were initially looked upon by all as a source of income and cheap labor. The saying “where you were born, there you are come close at hand” is not an empty phrase. They have experienced it in their own skin, and many come back because they understand that no one needs them. It is a very process. logic, whether they like it or not,” Yushchenko told Russian media.
In his opinion, first of all, everything should be done so that specialists work in their country, students study, receive a quality education, get their first guaranteed job and a decent salary, and military service is an honorable duty of each person.
Sergei Savostyanov / TASS
“The sophistication of the Western world is unpredictable. If someone tried to save his capital, hoping that it would pass, he did not pass: everything was taken away from everyone, football clubs were taken away, sold, and the funds were transferred to Ukraine. Miracles don’t happen. Either way, it won’t be good. And if someone else hopes it will be easier tomorrow, that’s wrong, tomorrow it will only get worse,” the parliamentarian is sure.
Yushchenko added that “certain measures” should be taken by the state against those who pursue a hostile policy, hostile and subversive activities against Russia. As an example of such people, he cited former State Duma deputy (Ilya) Ponomarev*.
“In any war there are enemies, there are heroes, there are traitors, there are saboteurs, there are agents, so here you have to separate: one thing is just gone and wants return, did nothing for his homeland, another thing is those who left and committed certain destructive actions against his own country: financing enemy armed forces, statements against his own country, insulting actions discrediting the honor of our country,” Yushchenko stressed.
Boris Chernyshov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Liberal Democratic Party, is convinced that the Russians who left “should return as soon as possible, because the whole country should work for the economy”. “They left, discouraged, let them now strictly defend the Russian economy and make money for a common pot. Victory cauldron, victory budget,” he said in a conversation with Russian media.
Emin Jafarov / Kommersant
The MP noted that “today in the West anti-Russian propaganda has started to run at full speed”, in particular Czech President Petr Pavel “openly offers to treat any native of Russia with suspicion”.
“We see what kind of slaps in the Baltic receive all those “good Russians” who fled the “bloody regime” there. Unfortunately, this is now a stage in history where Russians are better off staying in Russia for their own good. We will become good Russians for them only when we win, so we say once again that the main task now is to consolidate,” Chernyshov said.
The parliamentarian added that many people who have left the country understand that they have made a mistake. He urged these citizens to return to their homeland and work. “Let’s not scare anyone, they will come back anyway, they have nowhere to go, there is no money, there is no work there, they have already whipped themselves,” he said. concluded.
*registered by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents
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