“I don’t want to be exchanged for gas for Ukraine”

Oppositionists are fleeing Russia. Solidarity movement activist Mikhail Maglov asked for political asylum in Ukraine. He told PublicPost how and why he ended up in Kiev and how he is trying to prevent the story of Leonid Razvozzhaev from repeating itself.

— Why did you leave Russia?

It became completely unsafe there. On May 6 I was at Bolotka. I walked with the procession and then calmly left there. He was neither in the paddy wagon nor in the police station, did not take part in encounters, did not touch a single police officer. But on June 11, when everyone was being searched , I arrived at Ksenia Sobchak’s apartment, and the Investigative Committee kidnapped me. They said that I am on the lists that they are working on. First they took me to some apartment where the staff thought I lived...

— Did you live there?

This was Yashin's apartment. So, when they realized that I didn’t live there, they took me to their reception area, to the industrial zone, where the entire investigative team in the case is based. They didn’t let anyone tell me where I was or what was wrong with me. They conducted an interrogation and demanded testimony against the organizers of the rally.

- What kind of evidence did they need?

On Navalny, Yashin, Nemtsov, Udaltsov. They wanted me to say that they organized mass riots. They kept a protocol, a copy of which they later refused to give me. By the way, they were sure that there were no more than 5 thousand people in the square.

“Were they really sure of this?”

I asked them again. They wanted to know who was making the phone calls and inviting all these 5 thousand people. Then they promised to put me in jail. There were several investigators, they changed all the time, threatening that the relatives would have problems. My phone, laptop, and personal documents were confiscated.

- If it was all on June 11, why did you wait so long?

I was under surveillance for three more days, there are a lot of witnesses. After that I went home to Siberia for a while. Then a request came from the place of registration about the presence of a foreign passport, and it became clear that they were preparing to arrest, that these documents would be in court when a preventive measure was chosen. This was in July. In fact, I have been here since the beginning of August; I only recently announced my whereabouts. A limited number of people knew, of course.

— Did the family know?

Well, yes.

— How did you prepare for leaving? You need money and generally an understanding of where and how to run.

Thank God, I have friends in Moscow who helped. We were taken by car to Gomel, and friends of friends were found in Kyiv, who also helped at first. Everything happened in a few days, without much preparation. In Gomel I took the train to Kyiv. When I arrived, I first stayed in a hostel, then found a more suitable place.

- What are you doing here now?

I earn a little money by sitting at the computer. Officially, I can’t work here yet. The procedure for obtaining refugee status has begun, both through the UN and through the local migration service. The fact is that in order to obtain UN refugee status, you need to apply to the civil service. But Ukraine gives this status to no more than 5% of applicants, and the flow is very large. They are coming from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia.

- So you are waiting until they refuse you?

Most likely they will refuse. The procedure is quite long.

— At what stage of consideration are your documents now?

It's very difficult. There are no clear deadlines, just an understanding of how long it might take. For example, up to three years. But they told me about some guy, a Belarusian, who has been receiving his status for five years now. Range from a month to two to three years.

— How did the kidnapping of Leonid Razvozzhaev affect you?

Quite a tense situation. The SBU has a strange interest; they visited the guys.

— Which guys, Jenny Kurpen and Alexey Devyatkin ?

Yes, that’s why I now try not to walk around Kyiv, although I used to walk freely, without problems.

— Did you have contacts with the SBU?

Nobody called me and I didn't see anyone following me.

- So you're playing it safe?

Yes. It’s just stupid, I don’t want to be exchanged for cheap gas for Ukraine.

- What do you mean?

Well, for me, in the story with Razvozzhaev, it is obvious that this was a joint operation. I think they were taken and tracked by the SBU. It’s unlikely that ours would have so brazenly entered someone else’s territory. And it was a planned operation. But I doubt that the SBU officers believed that this would turn into such a big scandal for them. They may well not have known that the person was political; they thought that he was a criminal.

— Do you have contact with those who came here from Russia?

No. I know that Jenny is here with Alexey and several other people.

— Which no one knows about yet?

Yes.

— Are these ordinary activists from different organizations?

The investigation has been carried out on everyone, but now it is clear that the topic of the left is being highlighted most of all. The logic of the investigation is incomprehensible to me. Or rather, they don’t have it, and that scares me.

— In the country where you end up, will you find a place for yourself?

I don't know, good question. I don't speak foreign languages. I learned German at school, but I can improve. I'm learning English now. We'll have to make arrangements somehow.

— Are you ready for the fact that you may never return to Russia?

I don't think about it. I think I can still come back. Putin is old, but I am young and plan to live for a long time.

— Already a citizen of another country?

No, I am not going to obtain citizenship of another country. UN refugee status does not oblige you to do this. Moreover, I am not going to renounce Russian citizenship under any circumstances.