by Marco Imarisio
The JournalistBlogger Who Reveals the Secrets of the Elite: The Russian President Raise a Wall to Those Who Explain the Troubles of the War. The ruling classes said they were sure nothing would happen
I thought about leaving journalism. At the beginning of February I traveled to Sri Lanka with my husband for vacation. Then the war broke out.
Life changes quickly when big events occur that force you to question everything. Farida Rustamova was considered an upandcoming chronicler because of her sources in the economic or political disputes surrounding Vladimir Putin. Over the years he has worked for BBC Russia, for the Meduza website and finally for Rain.tv, which are no longer accessible or had to be closed. In December 2021 I gave up. It was already clear what would happen. I had decided to go and do something else. There seemed to be no other choice. The space for independent journalism no longer existed.
The night of February 24 made her retrace her steps. I was abroad, on my way to Moscow, with a few tshirts in my backpack and nothing else. I couldn’t believe Russia was bombing a brother country. I had to channel my fear. I’m a journalist, I said to myself, what can I do other than my job? And here I am. I’m certainly not filling the huge void that real information is leaving in my country. But somehow I can try to break the silence. Just a month after opening, his blog and Faridaily newsletter on the Substack platform, where he also exclusively published confidential documents on the RussiaUkraine negotiations, have become an indispensable tool for anyone who really wants to understand what happens the Kremlin. One last thing: Farida is only thirty years old.
Did his sources within the Russian ruling classes know that war was about to break out?
I also spoke to him in the days leading up to February 24th. And everyone said they were sure nothing would happen. They weren’t worried. They hadn’t expected it. This was Putin’s special operation, conducted and prepared in the utmost secrecy. Unnoticed by almost everyone.
And who didn’t know, how did they react?
Many expressed their disapproval and made sure it went all the way to Putin. It’s not true that everyone was silent. Some, unprepared for the consequences of the war, beginning with the destruction of the economy, tried to make their voices heard.
With what results?
Zero. He didn’t listen and kept repeating the same things, that Russia didn’t start the war, that there was no other choice, and so on. For the past two years he has lived in complete isolation. And now it’s even worse.
can you give an example
Alexei Kudrin, his finance minister from 2000 to 2011 and above all his friend from the Saint Petersburg days, contacted him in the first days of the conflict. He tried to explain to him that the Russian economy would soon fall to the level of the early 1990s or catastrophe. Putin made it clear to him that he didn’t understand the meaning of his message, that he didn’t understand why he was saying these things to him. A wall.
Is everything still the same after thirtynine days?
The same people who first complained have now accepted the situation. You can’t help it. It must be understood that Russian quarrels have a very high average age. A month later, many realized that the sanctions will prevent them from ending their lives in the West the way they dreamed. Now they can’t. Trapped at home, they accept this fate.
Are you saying that Putin is even stronger today?
Let’s look at the facts. In the early days of the conflict, it was said that the big names in nomenklatura and business were fleeing. Nobody moved. On the other hand. Many have become sympathetic to Putin. To survive, not to go to jail. You cannot be sure of their sincerity. But they are obliged to stay. Putin has tied them to himself. Now, with the sanctions, they have no other interlocutor than the state, that is, him. There is no way out.
Are sanctions counterproductive?
Part of me thinks we Russians deserve what’s happening. We could have chosen differently, and we never did. But it is also true that we are suffering the consequences of a war for which we as a people are not to blame. What is certain is that the whole country is now locked in a cage to which only Putin has the keys. And that goes for everyone who remained locked inside.
But what is he thinking and where is he going?
Many people have confirmed to me that Putin believes his own propaganda. Think what it says to quote Angela Merkel. In my opinion, always alone, he’s starting to see the mistakes he’s made. Anyone who calls him crazy is wrong again. In him there is and still was a rational thought.
April 2, 2022 (change April 2, 2022 | 23:13)
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