Imperial Medvedev and Imperial... Khodorkovsky

This is also the case with the strange coincidence of the statements: one of them belongs to the deputy of the Russian Security Council, the caricatured Dmitry Medvedev, and the other to a well-known Russian oppositionist, at one time even a prisoner of the Kremlin, the former owner of Yukos and the MENATEP bank, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

These statements are worth listening to for one reason only. If anyone still harbored some hopes that there is a difference between Putin's officials and "good Russians," both Medvedev and Khodorkovsky have dispelled those illusions.

What does the former Russian president and now tireless blogger Medvedev say in between alcoholic prostration? As usual, he frightens "well-fed Europe" by saying that because of its support for Ukraine in the war with Moscow, it will "wash less often" and "turn down the gas burners." The Kremlin dwarf also predicts "national humiliation" for the Old World. Supposedly, according to Medvedev who is aiming at the what he believes is a "sore spot" of European leaders, the former all-powerful empires have become "objects of manipulation" by "former losers," "well, the former 'great duchies” - Polish and Lithuanian. This is very humiliating. Especially for the direct descendants of the Roman Empire citizens, Quirites. And for the descendants of the warlike Franks and Gauls."

“What does the former Russian president and now tireless blogger Medvedev say in between alcoholic prostration? As usual, he frightens "well-fed Europe" by saying that because of its support for Ukraine in the war with Moscow, it will "wash less often" and "turn down the gas burners." The Kremlin dwarf also predicts "national humiliation" for the Old World”

Here, Medvedev falls into 3 traps at once: temporal, ideological, and historical. The first is that the time of empires has passed (maybe the swamps have missed the news?), they are not a "model" or "trend" of the 21st century. The second trap is that the modern world is very wary of its own imperial past, even trying to "make amends" in some way for the guilt of its predecessors who caused pain to long-colonized peoples. From Medvedev's point of view, this is a strange thing, because the Russian imperial tradition was quite different, and to a large extent, what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine was provoked by this attitude of the weak metropolis towards yesterday's vassals.

And the third trap is historical. Because the "great duchies", or rather the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia, and Žemaitija, united with the Polish Crown to form a powerful state that quite successfully resisted Moscow. And farther afield, it often influenced its savage neighbors, including in the field of enlightenment.

But Medvedev either does not know this or masks the real reason for his anger toward the "great duchies " with ignorance. After all, the Kremlin, and not only it, but also in the EU, is noticing the growing influence of those countries' union's eastern flank, its decisive role in resisting Russia. I have already written that Old Europe is somewhat wary of the emergence of a new center of influence in Warsaw, the Baltic capitals, and Ukraine. This center is categorically opposed to any "sentiment" for the Russian monster, and demonstrates a willingness to take on the role of an outpost on the border of democracy and tyranny. Moreover, it is in the potential Intermarium that they take very seriously the format in which a defeated Russia will remain, and insist on dismantling Putin's empire.

“Old Europe is somewhat wary of the emergence of a new center of influence in Warsaw, the Baltic capitals, and Ukraine. This center is categorically opposed to any "sentiment" for the Russian monster, and demonstrates a willingness to take on the role of an outpost on the border of democracy and tyranny. Moreover, it is in the potential Intermarium that they take very seriously the format in which a defeated Russia will remain, and insist on dismantling Putin's empire”

And then the "anti-Putin" and "democrat" Mikhail Khodorkovsky rushes to its defense. He calls for the abandonment of plans to break up the "federation" like the former Yugoslavia. "Leave Russia to us!" the former political prisoner calls. And he offers his own version of the empire's formatting, based on the principle of the Swiss Confederation. In other words, save Russia within its current borders by any means!

At the same time, Khodorkovsky somehow frivolously, if not arrogantly, ignores the opinion of the main players in this war, who are focused on finally killing the "Russian bear" because they realized that otherwise they would simply postpone more wars for "tomorrow." Khodorkovsky does not care about the sentiments of the peoples who are still being held captive by the "federation" as its "little brothers", exploiting the natural resources of their lands, and throwing their men into the hell of war against Ukraine. And they - these peoples - not only deserve, they demand the right to live their lives outside of Moscow's dictates.

“In order to reformat Russia like the Swiss Confederation, it is necessary for the local elites to think like the Swiss do. Instead of sticking to imperial habits and stereotypes, they should finally recognize their historical guilt towards the oppressed and not treat them as "losers”

The former rich man, robbed by Putin's regime, dreams of returning to Russia, where he will have new opportunities for enrichment. By the way, at the expense of subsoil, which is obviously not in the Golden Ring* zone. There is nothing much to look for there...

In order to reformat Russia like the Swiss Confederation, it is necessary for the local elites to think like the Swiss do. Instead of sticking to imperial habits and stereotypes, they should finally recognize their historical guilt before the oppressed, and not treat them as "losers" (see above).

So how does Medvedev's empire differ from Khodorkovsky's? Both can be listened to, but is it worth talking to any?

*Golden Ring is a number of tourist routes that run through Russian cities that have preserved monuments of Russian history and culture.

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Espreso.Zahid website.

Espreso TV does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.