Smolensk legislator criminally prosecuted for his remarks on region's independence and potential association with Belarus

At a conference in Poland, Vladislav Zhivitsa, a member of the Smolensk Regional Duma, proposed that his region should join Belarus in the future. On August 14, he told 7x7 that a criminal case has been opened against him in Russia.

Vladislav Zhivitsa, a member of the Smolensk Regional Duma, said at a conference in Poland that Smolensk should be independent of both Russia and Moscow. For this purpose, he formed the "Smolensk Liberation Movement." He also unveiled the flag of the future independent region. In an interview with 7x7, Zhivitsa said that in the future, the Smolensk region could potentially unite with Belarus into “an integrated supranational structure akin to the ‘Mezhmorie’ model.”

“Yesterday, just 15 minutes after the conference, my legal representative called me and said that an FSB officer had contacted him. That a criminal case had been opened against me and that they promised to call me. They didn't specify the charges, but I don't care anymore. The FSB did not call, and I'm not sure that they will," Zhivitsa said in a conversation with 7x7.

Smolensk legislator Vladislav Zhivitsa lives in exile. In 2021, he was expelled from the Communist Party after accusing Valery Kuznetsov, head of the party's Smolensk branch, of financial manipulations. Zhivitsa complained that in the past three years, Kuznetsov had been taking half of his monthly salary for the party's needs.

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