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‘The Kremlin failed to kill civil society’ Russian leftist activist Mikhail Lobanov on his plan to create a lasting opposition movement from abroad

Source: Meduza

Before last month, Mikhail Lobanov was an associate professor at Moscow State University (MGU) and a well-known trade union activist. In 2021, he ran for a seat in Russia’s State Duma as the Communist Party’s candidate — and he surpassed pro-Kremlin propagandist Yevgeny Popov at the polls (though the latter ultimately “won” the election due to falsified electronic voting results). Then, in late June, the Russian Justice Ministry declared Lobanov a “foreign agent,” and on July 10, he was fired from MGU. Lobanov, who has been an outspoken critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, proceeded to leave the country and announce that he plans to organize a large-scale movement to unite Russians abroad and help transform Russia’s ruling regime. Meduza spoke to Lobanov about his plans.

On July 10, Russian mathematician and leftist activist Mikhail Lobanov announced that he had been fired from Moscow State University (MSU), the country’s flagship higher education institution, and was leaving Russia. The self-described “democratic socialist” had long been a critic of Russia’s ruling regime; last summer, for example, he hung a “No to war” sign on his balcony, which led to his arrest. 

In late June, the Kremlin declared Lobanov a “foreign agent,” making his dismissal from MSU all but imminent. According to Lobanov, university administrators were reluctant to fire him and repeatedly suggested that he resign “voluntarily” — which he said is “the worst thing one can do” from a labor rights perspective. When his termination order was finally issued, he noticed it was signed not by the university’s rector but by his deputy: “In other words, [the rector] didn’t want to sign it himself, so he had someone else do it.”

Lobanov told Meduza that while he’s long been determined to continue working and engaging in activism in Russia as long as possible, he sees important opportunities for influencing the country’s political development from the outside as well. “For many months, me [and other like-minded people] have been discussing how there’s work to do abroad that’s not getting done,” he said. “Now I have hope that perhaps my involvement will be fruitful.”

Lobanov’s long-term journey abroad, which he refers to as a “political business trip,” has two main goals, he said. Firstly, he hopes to help establish a “political, potentially large-scale activism structure” aimed at “playing a direct role in transforming the [Russian] regime.” Secondly, he wants to establish ties to “international progressive political forces” that could help initiate a “supranational coalition” — one that would discuss not “arms and sanctions” but “paths and proposals [for a postwar order] for the peoples of Russia, Ukraine, and other countries that would serve more than just the interests of the political and economic elites.”

Mikhail Lobanov isn’t the first person from Russia to declare his intention to build a political movement from outside the country, and he’s aware of the limits of what can be done abroad. But seeing the failure of his compatriots, he told Meduza, is part of what has convinced him and his wife, the sociologist Alexandra Zapolskaya, that their involvement could be valuable.

“We see that the ability of Russians abroad [to organize into a political force] isn’t working out like we’d like. It seems to us that we can overcome all of the issues by adding enthusiasm and experience from our past [activism], by bringing in our social connections. Everything could be working orders of magnitude better,” he said.

Lobanov said he understands that street protests outside of Russia won’t bring an end to the Putin regime on their own, no matter how large they are, and that he plans to take a more intentional approach.

“[One thing we hope to do is to] unite people in a political structure that allows them to maintain ties to their homeland, ties between one another, and keeps them from falling into the depression [that can follow emigration],” he said. He also aims to provide information support to protest movements inside of Russia as a way to “put pressure on the authorities.”

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In addition, the former professor aims to advocate for the Russian people in international discussions of what the postwar order should look like. “We can make the protests [in Russia] visible to other countries. This changes their relationship to Russia and helps ensure that Russia’s interest is taken into account in discussions of the postwar order and the resolution of this conflict,” he told Meduza.

This matters, he said, because if Russia’s opposition forces are invisible, other countries will be inclined to write the country off as a lost cause and isolate it rather than providing support.

“If Russia looks to other countries like a political desert where everyone either hates Putin or doesn’t want anything at all, that gives them nothing to work with,” he said. “People like that can only be fenced off and left to do what they will. […] But if we manage to show the true situation, that will stimulate strong [sympathy from the outside]. People will say, ‘These people are humans like us. […] Let’s not leave them at Putin’s mercy for the next 50 years, let’s try to propose something that will work in both of our interests.’”

In his announcement of his departure, Lobanov wrote that he had stayed in the country for so long because he wanted to see for himself, and to “demonstrate to the whole world,” that “the Kremlin hadn’t managed to kill Russian society.” He told Meduza that he’s now confident: the country’s civil society is still alive.

“[I know it’s alive because] we started projects ourselves; we created new things, and we’ve seen a bunch of similar initiatives, including human rights projects, like OVD-Info — no matter how much they target it, it keeps working. Just like Memorial: it’s clear that these people will endure, despite the fact that they’re being hit with tremendous force.”

Practically every initiative created by ordinary Russians these days exists in opposition to the war, even if that aspect isn’t overt, Lobanov said, citing small libraries and film clubs as an example: “[A film club] is a closed, relatively safe event: you can gather together, watch a political film, and discuss it.”

But while the war is the defining event of Russian life right now, it’s not the only issue on people’s minds, according to Lobanov. “People have already begun thinking a little further ahead,” he said. “What’s going to happen next? They’re already concerned.”

Lobanov told Meduza that while he plans to be abroad for the foreseeable future, he will go back to his home country if the moment calls for it, something he believes is inevitable.

“[I’ll return when] processes begin in Russia that create a crack into which millions of ordinary people can rush and work collectively to bring about change, exert pressure, and force the regime to transform,” he said. “At that moment, the presence of recognizable individuals can be important.”

In the meantime, he told Meduza, he’ll be working to ensure that that moment comes as soon as possible.