Slamming the Putin regime for its human rights abuses, corruption, and its invasion of Ukraine from the distance of Washington is easy to do. I do it all the time and never worry about my safety. But for Russians living in Russia, to do it takes enormous courage. Some Russians live in exile because the risks to their personal safety reached a point where they felt they had no choice but to leave their native land. But many Russians—people in the opposition and civil society and the intelligentsia—have stayed in Russia and regularly criticize the actions and decisions of their own government. They do so at great peril.
Boris Nemtsov was one of those Russians, and he paid the ultimate price for his outspokenness and dedication to his country exactly a week ago today. Regardless of who ordered his assassination last Friday, the climate engendered by Vladimir Putin’s demonization of any opponent and critic—describing them as part of a “fifth column”, or enemy of the state, seeking to overthrow the incumbent regime and using nationwide television to blacken their reputations—placed Nemtsov’s life in danger and that of anyone else who has the temerity to question those in the Kremlin.
Whether you agree or disagree substantively with Nemtsov and other Putin critics, you must admire their bravery. They are the true heroes in patriotically calling for a better future for their country rooted in democratic principles and fully integrated into the international community. It does not matter whether they are popular in opinion surveys or not—and given Putin’s control over the media, it is nearly impossible for any of them to rise in the standings. In Putin’s mind, they are all a threat and must be dealt with accordingly—either through investigations, intimidation, arrests, beating, or murder.
And yet I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time people in Washington dismissed Nemtsov and other members of the opposition, writing them off because of their low support among the population. It is the determination to speak out even with low popular support that makes Nemtsov’s position even more admirable. How many of us would regularly organize opposition rallies or issue scathing reports critical of the host regime and exposing its corruption when it seemed that not many in the country cared? Doing the right thing when the government relentlessly attacks you and the population seemingly ignores you takes a steeliness of character that few of us have.
We in the West have an obligation to stand with those in Russia and elsewhere around the world—whether politicians or those in the think tank community—who call for democratic change and a better future for their countries against great odds and dangers. It means organizations in the United States should not abandon and disown their overseas colleagues who live in difficult environments and speak out in ways that may upset authoritarian regimes. It means the President of the United States and Members of Congress should meet with such activists when they visit Washington and when they travel overseas. Demonstrating solidarity with democracy and human rights activists and politicians who understand the threat posed by authoritarianism is the least we can do.
