WORLD WORLDWIDE RUSSIA News Journal Update - (en) Russia, Avtonom: "I try to live like in a free country." Everyday life of Russian anarchists who are still involved in the liberation movement (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The Pryamukhin Readings, an open scientific conference dedicated to the

history and theory of anarchism, have been revived in Russia. The
readings took place on August 26-27 in the village of Pryamukhin, Tver
Region, where the former estate of the Bakunin family is located. Its
most famous representative is Mikhail Bakunin, an active participant in
many European revolutions of the 19th century, publicist, philosopher
and one of the founders of classical anarchism. ---- However, this year
the readings were renamed from Pryamukhinsky to Pirumovsky - in honor of
Natalya Pirumova, a talented Soviet and Russian scientist who devoted
many years to studying the history of social movements in Russia in the
19th century. Her works on Herzen, Bakunin, and Kropotkin became
reference books for a new generation of Russian anarchists in the late
80s and early 90s of the last century.

The main organizer of the Pirum readings, editor of the Black Square
publishing house, Mikhail, told Spectrum why historians and anarchists
have not gathered on Tver soil for several years, what the anarchist
movement is in Russia today, and how Bakunin's followers support their
fellow political prisoners. Tsovma (in the title photo).

Participants of the Pryamukhin Readings 2023

- Where did the Pryamukhinsky (and now Pirumovsky) readings come from?
And why didn't you and your colleagues get together for several years
before?

- Pryamukhin readings have a long history. Initially, it was an event
dedicated to the history of Mikhail Bakunin's family, local history and
a little anarchism. It then grew into a full-fledged conference on
anarchism and social issues. We conducted readings from 2001 to 2018.
Then there was a five-year pause.

In 2018, there was a "collision" on our event - it coincided with the
FIFA World Cup. Belarusian security forces tried to catch someone. As a
result, employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism
(Center "E") came to us, detained one person and partially disrupted the
readings.

But that was not the only reason why we fell silent. Some fatigue has
accumulated. Although the request for such a conference as the
Pryamukhin Readings constantly existed.

- After the visit of the security forces in 2018, did you or other
organizers have any problems?

- There were no special problems. Apparently, it was just an order from
the Belarusian special services. As a result, a Belarusian citizen was
detained and tried to accuse him of drug use. They took me away and then
expelled me from Russia for some period of time. This is where the story
ends. There were no consequences, although local district and village
authorities took it with interest.

Now the situation is completely different, of course. There is much more
attention to the fight against terrorism and dissent even at the local
level, but in general the implementation of these initiatives is usually
bureaucratic in nature.

I hope that this time we will not attract much interest, especially
since our reputation in the village and region is quite positive. We did
only good things here: we ran volunteer camps, improved the former
estate and park, and held cultural events. This is what we continue to
do, gathering peacefully and without weapons.

- At the same time, the conference program included a section "On
current problems of the liberation movement in Russia."

- We believe that the liberation movement in Russia is not only the
history of the revolutionary liberation movement of the 19th - early
20th centuries, but also a current project. In this section we discussed
the problems that modern Russian society faces. I wanted to include the
post-Soviet space here, but in the end there were two reports in this part.

Pavel Kudyukin, co-chairman of the trade union "University Solidarity",
and sociologist Alexander Bikbov spoke.

On the other hand, we have a tradition of including in the collection of
materials from the Pryamukhin readings - in addition to the reports of
those who participated in them in person, also articles of people who
could not come. This time we also plan to release such a collection and,
perhaps, we will be able to discuss some problems of Russia and the
post-Soviet space, freedom and democracy in printed format.

-Aren't you afraid that such discussions will again attract the
attention of Center "E" or the FSB?

"I try to live as if I were in a free country." This is not always
possible, but I believe it should be a conscious position. If I am
presented with any demands, then, for my part, I will demand to explain
them, I will seek a reference to some formal legislative acts, rules or
something else.

Maybe I'm an incorrigible optimist, but I don't think that we will
attract special attention from law enforcement agencies. We don't
specifically focus on ourselves; besides, we need to understand the
specifics of local authorities. They are given some idiotic
counter-terrorism or other instructions from the center or the regional
level. They imitate vigorous activity on the spot, which is usually
absurd in nature. This applies to issues related to the fight against
terrorism, protecting schools, and so on and so forth. It is clear that
no one is a professional in this field and everything is done
carelessly. This is the situation we live in.

Our audience is mainly youth, leftist, anarchist. We don't really hide
this. At the same time, our readings are not a very large-scale event;
hundreds of people do not come together. Everything goes quite behind
the scenes.

- Could you describe today's anarchist movement in Russia?

- The problem is that it is youthful. Every three to four years the
composition is updated. We have almost no veterans of the movement. But
interest in anarchism[in society]is constantly present: people read
anarchist literature, even mainstream publishing houses publish it. They
publish classics like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, or more
modern works of post-anarchism.

Yes, there is interest in the topic, but it's hard to say what the
movement is. The last major organization to exist, Autonomous Action,
split. Now this is just a media project, which, unfortunately, does not
even generate its own content.

At the moment, the anarchist movement is not even a network, but local
groups that implement some projects at the local level in their cities.
Usually this is some kind of anarchist club, where discussions are held,
film screenings, and some kind of library functions. This is a
fashionable topic in Moscow. But such groups also exist in the regions,
although it is, of course, more difficult for them there: there are
fewer activists, they are always visible, and the interest in them from
law enforcement agencies is usually more intense. For example, in
Irkutsk there is the Black Square, a local anarchist club.

Now, due to the changing political situation and increased repression,
these projects are forced to work more secretly, but still exist. Every
week two or three discussions and book presentations take place in
Moscow. Anarchists also participate in book fairs.

As for activism, now, of course, he focuses mainly on putting up
stickers, applying graffiti, although there is also the "Combat
Organization of Anarcho-Communists", which organizes sabotage on the
railway and so on...

- From August 23 to 30, the International Week of Solidarity with
Anarchist Prisoners took place. Was this reflected in the work of your
conference?

- The conference was attended by people who are involved in this work on
a daily basis. We have announced various initiatives that need support.
Unfortunately, a large number of our comrades are in prison in different
conditions: some are actively being helped, while others, until
recently, it was even impossible to establish contact with.

For example, with Maxim Butkevich, a Ukrainian anarchist and human
rights activist who was captured as a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces. There was no contact with him for 14 months. Now the appeal
court in Moscow has finally passed, and we were able to communicate with
Maxim directly via video link. We learned about the current situation.
He, like many other Ukrainian prisoners of war, was in total isolation
for many months. The only hope is that some kind of exchange of
prisoners of war will be organized, but for now he was sentenced to a
monstrous prison sentence in Russia. We hope that his situation will
change a little and he will be able to receive letters and parcels. We
will do this.

- Are there special structures that organize assistance to political
prisoners?

- Yes, several structures. Some people deal with many things at once,
others with specific projects. Currently, work continues to provide
assistance to anarchists and anti-fascists arrested and imprisoned in
the Network case. This initiative is called Rupression.

Now the "Tyumen case" is more relevant. A number of anti-fascist
activists have already been arrested in Siberia on trumped-up charges.
They were tortured. There is a special group that provides assistance to
them.

There are local groups of the anarchist Black Cross that coordinate
assistance to various imprisoned comrades.

Such groups exist not only in Russia. In Belarus, a large number of
activists, including anarchists, were imprisoned. Helping them is even
more difficult than in Russia, but there is an anarchist "Black Cross of
Belarus" that does this on a regular basis.

Note from the editors of avtonom.org. Mikhail Tsovma is wrong when he
says that our resources do not generate their own content. We produce a
weekly podcast, Trends in Order and Chaos, we have columnists and
reports from our own correspondents, and volunteer translators.

But, of course, we need a lot more original content, and we are looking
for new authors. Read about how you can cooperate with us here.

They imitate vigorous activity on the spot, which is usually absurd in
nature. This applies to issues related to the fight against terrorism,
protecting schools, and so on and so forth. It is clear that no one is a
professional in this field and everything is done carelessly. This is
the situation we live in.

Our audience is mainly youth, leftist, anarchist. We don't really hide
this. At the same time, our readings are not a very large-scale event;
hundreds of people do not come together. Everything goes quite behind
the scenes.

- Could you describe today's anarchist movement in Russia?

- The problem is that it is youthful. Every three to four years the
composition is updated. We have almost no veterans of the movement. But
interest in anarchism[in society]is constantly present: people read
anarchist literature, even mainstream publishing houses publish it. They
publish classics like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, or more
modern works of post-anarchism.

Yes, there is interest in the topic, but it's hard to say what the
movement is. The last major organization to exist, Autonomous Action,
split. Now this is just a media project, which, unfortunately, does not
even generate its own content.

At the moment, the anarchist movement is not even a network, but local
groups that implement some projects at the local level in their cities.
Usually this is some kind of anarchist club, where discussions are held,
film screenings, and some kind of library functions. This is a
fashionable topic in Moscow. But such groups also exist in the regions,
although it is, of course, more difficult for them there: there are
fewer activists, they are always visible, and the interest in them from
law enforcement agencies is usually more intense. For example, in
Irkutsk there is the Black Square, a local anarchist club.

Now, due to the changing political situation and increased repression,
these projects are forced to work more secretly, but still exist. Every
week two or three discussions and book presentations take place in
Moscow. Anarchists also participate in book fairs.

As for activism, now, of course, he focuses mainly on putting up
stickers, applying graffiti, although there is also the "Combat
Organization of Anarcho-Communists", which organizes sabotage on the
railway and so on...

- From August 23 to 30, the International Week of Solidarity with
Anarchist Prisoners took place. Was this reflected in the work of your
conference?

- The conference was attended by people who are involved in this work on
a daily basis. We have announced various initiatives that need support.
Unfortunately, a large number of our comrades are in prison in different
conditions: some are actively being helped, while others, until
recently, it was even impossible to establish contact with.

For example, with Maxim Butkevich, a Ukrainian anarchist and human
rights activist who was captured as a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed
Forces. There was no contact with him for 14 months. Now the appeal
court in Moscow has finally passed, and we were able to communicate with
Maxim directly via video link. We learned about the current situation.
He, like many other Ukrainian prisoners of war, was in total isolation
for many months. The only hope is that some kind of exchange of
prisoners of war will be organized, but for now he was sentenced to a
monstrous prison sentence in Russia. We hope that his situation will
change a little and he will be able to receive letters and parcels. We
will do this.

- Are there special structures that organize assistance to political
prisoners?

- Yes, several structures. Some people deal with many things at once,
others with specific projects. Currently, work continues to provide
assistance to anarchists and anti-fascists arrested and imprisoned in
the Network case. This initiative is called Rupression.

Now the "Tyumen case" is more relevant. A number of anti-fascist
activists have already been arrested in Siberia on trumped-up charges.
They were tortured. There is a special group that provides assistance to
them.

There are local groups of the anarchist Black Cross that coordinate
assistance to various imprisoned comrades.

Such groups exist not only in Russia. In Belarus, a large number of
activists, including anarchists, were imprisoned. Helping them is even
more difficult than in Russia, but there is an anarchist "Black Cross of
Belarus" that does this on a regular basis.

Note from the editors of avtonom.org. Mikhail Tsovma is wrong when he
says that our resources do not generate their own content. We produce a
weekly podcast, Trends in Order and Chaos, we have columnists and
reports from our own correspondents, and volunteer translators.

But, of course, we need a lot more original content, and we are looking
for new authors. Read about how you can cooperate with us here.

https://avtonom.org/news/starayus-zhit-kak-v-svobodnoy-strane-budni-rossiyskih-anarhistov-kotorye-po-prezhnemu
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca