‘I have much apathy toward Moscow’ – interview with Russian activist in Vilnius

The Russian activist Elena Kotenochkina has been living in Lithuania for more than a year on a humanitarian visa.

In an interview with LRT.lt, she discusses the situation back in Russia, her adaptation in Vilnius and what hope she has for her country’s future.

The original interview is available in Russian

Elena, when and under what circumstances did you come to Lithuania?

I am from Moscow, and I left in April 2022. Without a Schengen visa, I had to flee to Armenia, and then to Georgia because a human rights organisation there offered a job to people like me and granted asylum.

At the time, I was a member of the Moscow Krasnoselsk Municipal District Council and head of the municipal district.

That human rights organisation in Georgia, which also has a branch in Lithuania, has been working since 2016. They applied on my behalf so that I could get a Schengen visa C because the Lithuanian Embassy in Georgia usually does not issue Schengen visas if there is no Georgian residence permit. But in an emergency, it could be done.

And I came here, applied for a D visa, which is issued for a year. I was even able to invite my closest family here – my brother brought our mother. They got a D visa for a year too. It’s about to expire.

I got a job in a Russian project that fights propaganda in Russia.

Here in exile, we continue to fight for the minds and souls of Russians inside Russia. With a team in Lithuania, we are working against war propaganda on social networks and in the media, condemning Putin and the regime that unleashed the war and the propagandists who are fuelling it.

As a member of the initiative group of the movement “Peace. Progress. Human Rights” and the Sakharov Institute in Paris, my colleagues and I, led by the well-known human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, are in touch with democratically-minded Russians who have signed the “No to War” petition – and there are 1.3 million of them. We have developed a strategy of democratisation, crucial to which is the intensification of sanctions pressure and the phased lifting of sanctions.

Your residence permit is about to expire. Do you think it will be extended?

Yes, I think I will be extended for another year because the law that came out in Lithuania recently restricts the granting of visas and residence permits to Russians, but humanitarian visas are still valid. And I am on an international wanted list in Russia and arrested in absentia.

What charges were brought against you?

Same as against most people. In the wake of the war, a law was passed that introduced Article 207.3 into the Criminal Code, regarding the dissemination of deliberately false information about the actions of the armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, the so-called Law on Fakes, and Article 280.3 about discrediting the army. Charges were brought against many activists and citizens who spoke out against the war, for saying “No to war”.

Now, about 150 people are in detention, and most of them have already been sentenced. Some are awaiting sentencing. My colleague, MP Alexei Gorinov, was the first to be convicted under this article, he received seven years in prison. [...]

When you came to Lithuania, what was it like?

I arrived and I felt free, protected, I felt safe. I was crying all the time. Then, I felt much better, I saw how friendly people are here.

And I feel very comfortable here because many people speak Russian, they do not refuse to speak Russian with Russians and Belarusians.

So, you have not encountered any ill will or aggression?

Not once have I encountered any aggression. People are very friendly.

And they understand everything perfectly well, they support Ukraine, but there has never been any aggression towards us, for which I am very grateful.

When it comes to everyday life, did everything go smoothly? Did you encounter any difficulties, for example, in receiving documents?

As practically everyone here speaks Russian, it was not very difficult. Although I do try to speak a little English. Also, my colleagues who live here, the community of Russians, they helped me with advice on where and how to submit the documents.

So I have no problems. I was even given a bank card, although we came to the bank without an appointment. Everything is very convenient.

Did you have any problems finding accommodation?

I think I would have had problems, but I was lucky: a realtor recommended me a flat that had not even been put on the website yet. And I went there, it was completely empty, and I sat on the floor and said to the owners, “I want to live here”. This is the area of Kalvarijų Street, behind the market.

And then my mother came to visit me, and the same owners rented us their other flat, a two-room flat, which we moved into with my mother. My mum is old now, she needs help. I consider myself very lucky.

Are you learning Lithuanian and get to meet any local people?

No, I don’t really socialise with locals because we don’t have any common points of contact, any common causes or projects. I mostly hang out in my own environment of Russians. I just have to work very hard.

And I plan to start learning the language. I would like to enter the Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence at the European Humanities University (EHU), which is based in Lithuania. I started studying for a second degree in Moscow, but I studied for only one year because it was impossible to continue. Now, I want to continue my studies here.

It sounds like you are already planning to stay here, at least in the short term. Or maybe in the long term too?

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I have commitments in Russia, I want – and the voters hope for me – to be a deputy again. My colleagues in solidarity, in the democratic movement are there.

On the other hand, I have much apathy towards Russia right now, and until the criminal charges against me are dropped, I cannot go back.

But I’m sure that if Putin is removed from power, Russia will be on the path to democratisation to some extent. And I think that the West, if that happens, should lift sanctions in stages as conditions for democratisation are met.

But first, Russia has to stop the war in Ukraine…

I am afraid that this is impossible under Putin, because he cannot lose, and Ukraine is not ready to sign an agreement, to cede territories. I understand them quite well.

I believe that Russia after Putin should return to the 1991 borders, at least with regard to Ukraine, this is unambiguous. [...]

You socialise in Lithuania with Russians. How often do you meet people who support Putin?

I don’t communicate with everyone. I once came across a “vatnik” on social networks, yes. But mostly... We held rallies in Vilnius, I often organised them. And people came up to us, and they were not Russians, but, apparently, local Russian speakers, elderly people who had been poorly integrated, so there were many of them who supported Putin.

And what did they tell you?

That Putin is doing the right thing. I said that I have expressed my opinion in Russia and I am being prosecuted. This is unacceptable. But they were not convinced. [...]

It is very unpleasant to hear all this. I know that there are even more people like that in Latvia, and we have to do something about it. There should be a television channel in Russian for them, an international one. The situation in Germany is not better either.

What plans do your compatriots have for their future? Do they want to stay here? Do they dream of returning to Russia? Or are they thinking of going further West?

Many would probably like to stay. But there are many journalists here, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, former presenters of Ekho Moskvy. They will return because politicians, political scientists and journalists cannot live outside Russia.

But non-activists who simply do not agree with the regime, I think that many will try to integrate here.