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Russians who still identify with Western values are told to choose a side and support their motherland at war, or risk becoming a victim of the West, as happened with the arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov in France.
The Russian-born tech entrepreneur, who holds multiple passports and has ambitions to take his messaging platform global, was once idolized by Russians who, before the conflict in Ukraine, staked their futures on ties to the West, working for multinational corporations and traveling the world.
After Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, many people lost their jobs as multinational companies withdrew, and hundreds of thousands fled Russia to start a new life elsewhere.
But prominent Russian leaders had long told them that their choice was wrong.
Philosopher Alexander Dugin, widely regarded as one of Ukraine’s leading theorists of the war, said: “This (Durov’s detention) is the latest proof that it is impossible for anyone to remain neutral during a full-scale world war.”
“We are them, two irreconcilable, opposing worlds. There is a chasm between us. Dual nationality, blurred loyalties, manipulation between camps – all this is a thing of the past,” Dugin said on Telegram.
“You’re either with us or against us.”
His comments echoed appeals by Soviet envoys to Russians who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, who tried to persuade them to return home or become foreign agents of the NKVD secret police.
Durov, 39, is a Dubai-based billionaire known in Russia as the Russian version of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. It is unclear whether he maintains ties to the Kremlin.
But he is currently under investigation in France for allegedly running an online platform that allowed illegal transactions, drug trafficking, child sexual abuse images and fraud.
Russia, which exercises tight control over the media and suppresses dissent, says this disproves Western claims that free speech is sacrosanct.
Durov’s lawyers said it was “absurd to claim that the platform or its bosses are responsible for any abuse that occurs on the platform” and that Telegram complies with European law.
‘Different blood’
Durov’s critics in Russia now say any Russian who believes in what they see as “false” Western values could become a victim of the West, although France says Durov’s arrest was made in the interests of France’s independent judicial system and is therefore apolitical.
“He (Durov) is Russian, so he is unpredictable and dangerous. He is not of the same bloodline as Durov. He is definitely not Musk or Zuckerberg,” said Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president who was once seen as pro-Western.
A video recorded in 2018 of the late outspoken politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky addressing Durov went viral in Russia after Durov was detained.
“A foreign country doesn’t accept you, Pasha. Back home, it’s not only more interesting, but also more lively,” Zhirinovsky said in the video, using the nickname of Pavel.
That view has been shared by many Russian Telegram users who have united under a banner dubbed “Fortress Russia” since the start of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation in Ukraine.
Russian state media often tells the Russian public to view Western sympathizers as potential traitors.
“This is a good lesson for those who try to sit on several chairs at once,” said Irina, a Moscow resident who declined to give her last name for fear of retaliation.
Read more by Euractiv
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