"Aggressive empire"

Civil rights activist: Putin’s victory endangers the whole of Europe

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Orlov was only released from the Russian regime this year through a prisoner exchange.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Alexander NEMENOV)

Prominent Russian civil rights activist Oleg Orlov is calling for comprehensive support for Ukraine to ward off the war imposed by Moscow. "It is essential to help Ukraine, because a defeat would have terrible consequences for them as well as for my country," the exiled co-founder of the Russian human rights organization Memorial told the German Press Agency in Berlin.

The 71-year-old warned European countries not to be intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "If you in Europe want to appease the aggressor, you will have a terrible, brutal, aggressive empire on your borders. I don't understand the politicians in Europe who don't understand that."

Only some politicians see danger
Judging by his conversations in Germany, some politicians see the danger, said Orlov. "But there are also forces that are prepared to make compromises for the sake of their voters, for the sake of their seats in the Bundestag, which will lead to a catastrophe."

Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in Moscow in February for his protests against the war. However, he was released in August in a prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.

Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in a camp for "discrediting the army" - after an exchange he is free again:

Moscow's defeat important for democracy
Although Russia's democratic opposition is united in its rejection of the war, there are different views on Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in custody, criticized Western arms deliveries in an interview with Die Zeit because these bombs also hit people in Russia.

Support for Ukraine and a possible defeat of Moscow is the most important opportunity for Russia's future democratization, said Orlov. "I cannot say that this will one hundred percent lead to the fall of Putin's regime. But his victory will one hundred percent lead to a stabilization of the regime and to Putin coming back after Putin."

What is tactically more important?
It is therefore impossible to say which is tactically more important: "In the fight against the war, Putin is being fought and in the fight against Putin, the war is being fought. They are inextricably linked," said Orlov. The Russian opposition in exile has called for an anti-war demonstration in Berlin on November 17. In addition to Navalnaya, Kremlin critics Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Mursa have also been announced as speakers.