In 1933, Osip Mandelstam wrote 16 lines that later cost him his life.. This poem "

We live, not feeling the country under us,.

Our speeches are not heard for ten steps,.

And where is enough for half a conversation,.

They will remember the Kremlin mountaineer.

His thick fingers, like worms, are fat,.

And the words, like pood weights, are true,.

Cockroaches are laughing.

And his bootlegs shine.

And around him is a rabble of thin-necked leaders,.

He plays the services of demihumans.

Who whistles, who meows, who whimpers,.

He alone babachet and pokes,.

Like a horseshoe, he gives a decree after a decree:.

Who in the groin, who in the forehead, who in the eyebrow, who in the eye.

Whatever his execution is raspberries,.

And the wide chest of the Ossetian.

This poem, of course, the author did not publish anywhere. It was retold and someone denounced the poet, who was accused of " But Mandelstam was sentenced to five years of exile in Siberia. In 1938 he died in a transit camp in Vladivostok..

Something similar is happening in Russia right now.. Theaters close performances and blackout authors' names from posters. This happened, for example, with the writer Boris Akunin and the play about Erast Fandorin. “I do not condemn theaters that are forced to adapt to the thickening state madness. Engaging in culture in today's Russia is a difficult task, like swimming in sulfuric acid, ”he reacted.

Artist Sasha Skochilenko faces 10 years in prison for changing price tags in the Perekrestok store for stickers with information about events in Ukraine. The trial has been going on for almost a year, and at the next meeting, as evidence, the prosecutor presented a protocol of inspection of her “home, computer, trousers and hat.” What the prosecutor saw as extremist in a hat in the form of a fox face is not clear.

[see_also ids\u003d"

And this applies not only to cultural figures.. Now in any word “no” to a person endowed with at least some authority, the rashist authorities hear “Glory to Ukraine! In general, at an accelerated pace and ahead of schedule, the construction of a Stalin-type state is going on, where repressions, squealing, loyalty and “that's all”. And that's bad. But let's be honest. And who suffers from this regime? For the most part, those who lived quietly, served, and at best tried not to notice, the Putin regime.

Russians' resentment of their government after February 24 " Their reaction, often expressed in the form of fleeing the country, is in fact a reaction to the fact that the regime has now touched them.. And before, when the regime got close to a few oppositionists, they didn’t care about it. One could laugh and squint with pleasure, for example, at how Putin cracked down on the far from saintly Boris Berezovsky. Now that all the oligarchs have been charged with loyalty to the regime, somehow it’s not funny at all.

I have no moral right to say that Akunin or Skochilenko are guilty of something before the Ukrainians. Or that their sacrifice is inevitable and deserved. In no case. Personal liability is not subject to the rules of collective irresponsibility. And this does not justify the Putin regime.. This sadist who endowed himself with a pseudo-historical mission must and will be punished.. But it is also impossible to turn a blind eye to the fact that Putin is a product and reflection of the Russian mainstream.. So the majority wanted to see him and saw. He was allowed to take place. The question, of course, is who. Without pretending to be a complete answer, I will admit that silent and indifferent Russians, as well as opportunists, imperialists and foreigners who avoid conflict.

[see_also ids\u003d"

There was just an idea that he would be “great and terrible” in relation to someone else, but not to those thanks to whom Putin took place. But it turned out that the driver of the asphalt skating rink is not going to go around anyone. The silent ones were shaved into soldiers, turning them into \; opportunists were forced to kiss the ring as a sign of loyalty, as in the mafia; the imperials went crazy in their ideological frenzy. And no one dares to think about the future. And why? Because here it is, right next to it: a legless drunk in camouflage, trying to take another three-step height.

We can always justify ourselves. Explain to yourself your cowardice. And if there are many such explanations, then cowardice is no longer a vice, but a " And the Russians, I think, will go exactly this way.. Putin will die and the regime will fall. Of course, I would like it to be faster, but this is how it will turn out.. But people will remain and their memory will play tricks on them.. They will suddenly remember that they “survived the regime” and “survived”. That " And, perhaps, they will even ascribe to themselves the slight opposition of being.

Your post-war path is waiting for us. We really like to think that we have some special freedom gene that distinguishes us from Russians.. It's not at all wrong. Much depends on conditions and time.. Replace TV discord with a single marathon; close parliament from the people and let it calmly accept what no one will criticize; delegate authority to a person who is not responsible and whose position is no higher than the average clerk in status. And let's see what happens: censorship, closedness and illegitimacy of power, corruption. And there and up to one, the only correct opinion is not far. This stage is located almost next to the one and only correct game..

Of course, our gene of freedom / spirit (you can call it whatever you like) at some very critical moment works and we do not allow an authoritarian regime. Passionaries do not allow. Two Maidans - proof of this. The Heavenly Hundred is a terrible evidence of this. But the inability to build a country and be included civilly between the Maidans is already critical. If we also take into account the war, then we are standing at the point of no return - either we will take place, born again, or we will collapse from our own passivity.

[see_also ids\u003d"

Therefore, it is also critically important for Ukraine to notice what is happening inside the state right now, forcing the government to fix what it needs to fix. Including corruption, authoritarian encroachments, when all decisions, replacing the government, are made by the GTC, etc.. If we allow another accumulation of problems, the country may simply no longer hold on..

Our society in its civil development is an order of magnitude higher than Russian. Over the past ten years, historically, we have experienced much more. And that is why we are so strong in our external manifestation, fighting the aggressor, but still so fragile internally.. You can win the war, but lose the country.

Of course, now we are thinking about something completely different.. Negative theoretical scenarios for the defeat of Ukrainian democracy, as one of the results of the victory over the racist autocracy, look forced and far-fetched. Let it be. But. As Nietzsche wrote: “He who fights with monsters should be careful not to become a monster himself.”.

By the way, about Mandelstam.

Officially, his rehabilitation took place only in 2017.. It was held on the basis of the decision of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. A couple more years and there would be no rehabilitation. In hindsight, the poet would have been found guilty of committing a crime under Art.. 207. 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation " And soldered for five years. Posthumously.

[votes id\u003d"

Read more articles by Valery Kalnysh at the link.