Alexander Podrabinek Have you ever heard of the cowardly fireman? No? Well, listen. A very large house, many residents. Someone with a burning gaze and a loud voice promises residents to take care of their safety and save them from a possible fire. He speaks convincingly, they believe him, they chip in on his salary, buy uniforms and equipment, they care about him, they admire him.

In the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow, the trial continues in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious organization that the Supreme Court of Russia in 2017 declared extremist and banned. There are six people on trial: Zaur Murtuzov, Daria Petrochenko, Oksana Ivanova, Larisa Kislaya, Liliana Korol and Tatyana Levitskaya. The first two are in prison, the rest are under house arrest. All are accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization.

From the verdict: He began to share the radical ideas of the non-systemic opposition, which completely denies the legitimacy of the existing government in the Russian Federation... A criminal intent arose aimed at making public calls for terrorist activities using the Internet ITCS. Florinsky Ilya Vladimirovich, born on December 7, 1988. Before his arrest, he lived in Orel. Convicted on April 19, 2023 by the 2nd Western District Military Court of the city of Orel under Art.

Alexander Podrabinek Gamblers know: a joker is a card that can replace any other. However, such universal substitutes are not only found in card games. I recently heard in a speech by an emigre publicist that one of the most important qualities of a Russian person is shamelessness. The publicist himself seems to be Russian, too, but he says nothing about his relationship with conscience. There are a lot of normal people around me - are they all unscrupulous?

The dictators are worried, and for good reason. “The year 2026 did not start very well,” Chinese President Xi Jinping complained on February 25 in a conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Indeed, the year began anxiously for them. First, American special forces took the self-proclaimed President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro for trial in New York. Then the Americans and the Israelis destroyed the head of the Iranian theocratic regime, Ayatollah Khamenei.

Some argue that human rights are the reality in which they live. Others object that this is an illusion – there are no and cannot be any human rights. The truth, as usual, is in the middle. Human rights is the stepchild in a large international family of politicians and statesmen. In public they speak about the stepdaughter in excellent terms, they assure those around them of their love for her, but in reality they think little about her and care even less.

Alexander Podrabinek The formation of a platform for the Russian opposition in PACE is entering its final stage. By January 5, all applications have already been submitted, and a not very transparent selection procedure begins. For many, the Berlin Declaration remains a stumbling block. The requirement to sign it as a condition of work in PACE is evidence of disrespect for people who, in word and deed, have proven their commitment to the values ​​of democracy.

In mid-December, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should develop and approve a procedure for electing delegates to the platform of the Russian opposition - a quasi-parliamentary delegation representing the democratic future of Russia in PACE. This is a reasonable start, although the effectiveness of the future structure is still completely unclear.

Alexander Podrabinek They joke that adults differ from children only in the size of their toys. Sometimes this happens: respectable people create an imaginary world for their games of reality. In this world, everything can be very beautiful, logical and reliably justified - everything is like in real life, except for one thing: it is an imitation. Russian life is rich in such undertakings.

According to the European Commission, in the first half of this year, the European Union transferred more than 10 billion euros to Ukraine from the proceeds from over 200 billion euros of Russian assets frozen in the EU. The normal reaction to this is twofold. On the one hand, this is good, because it supports Ukraine, a victim of Russian aggression. On the other hand, this undermines trust in international financial institutions.

What else can you call people who encroach on the well-being of the majority of the adult population of Russia? And not just adults. Roskomnadzor admitted that it is blocking WhatsApp and Telegram voice communications in Russia. Each of these messengers has a monthly audience of about 100 million people. We can say that the whole country uses this connection, and everyone is happy.

My friend N moved to live in Crimea. I condemned him with all the severity of irreconcilable liberalism: you encourage annexation, you violate the Ukrainian border, collaborator! N dejectedly agreed with my accusations, but gave the following arguments in defense. His wife has an old mother living in Crimea. She is lonely, she needs care, she misses her daughter. She has lived in her home in Crimea almost her entire life and categorically refuses to move to her daughter in Moscow in her old age.

Alexander Podrabinek Here are photographs of two servicemen from World War II: one in an SS uniform, the other in an American one. A child just discovering the world will say that these soldiers are the same, since both are in military uniform. An adult and reasonable person will say that they are different, because one fights for tyranny, and the other for freedom.

Someday our descendants will discuss with bewilderment how we could live under a dictatorship and not go crazy. This is idiocy in all respects, they will say to each other. And for good reason. If you try to look at yourself from the outside now, it really is a madhouse. For example, there is a war with Ukraine, and various cities in the European part of Russia are under fire. What should civilians do during an air raid? That's right, take shelter in bomb shelters.

Anyone who lived through the Soviet era probably remembers the 70s film “Kalina Krasnaya”. It begins with an absolutely incredible scene: a choir of recidivist thieves performs the song “Evening Bells” from the stage of a camp club. They perform well. But thieves who signed up for camp amateur activities? Spreading cranberries! The average viewer, of course, did not notice anything, did not catch the falsehood and, probably, only grinned at the vicissitudes of the prisoner’s fate.