In our first article for our invisible woman series we briefly profiled Lyubov Sobol — a Russian woman at the forefront of a political journey to force the Kremlin to adhere to modern democratic standards instead of Putin ‘s strongarm grip that has plagued Moscow and Russia for decades.
Enter: Lyubov Sobol and her many comrades in Russia whom are members of the Russia Of The Future Party whom have long fought Vladamir Putin ‘s troubling policies; addictions to power, and his governments clampdown on anything and anyone who dare challenges the ruling United Russia ‘s grip on power.
Sobol first rose to prominence with the help of the Russia Of The Future Party in 2018. Since its inception — Sobol has been a part of numerous protests; organized protests, sit-ins, and two infamous situations that made her activism and her character an international topic of discussion.
Her infamous 2019 moment that saw Sobol refuse to consume food for three weeks led not only to detention but it led to international headlines revealing to the western world the treatment and severe oppression in which she was facing and fighting against.
One resident of Moscow who supports the party in question told us in translated e-mails (we’re not identifying them for purposes of their safety) that they feel “Sobol is the biggest threat to the Kremlin along with the party itself because they feel like if Sobol receives enough public attention that she and the party will begin the process of telling the truth to people in Moscow on a massive scale. The western world must remember that Putin ‘s biggest fear is: the truth.”
“I’m so proud to support the Russia of the Future Party. We all should live in a world where we are free and not under the opression of a regime who feels as if they have to lie to people to remain in power. The time is n ow and people are slowly waking up.” – A current supporter of the Russia of the Future Party who declined to be publicly identified out of fear of attacks against them in Russia.
This is perhaps arguably one of the main focal reasons as to why Russian authorities recently fined Sobol and quite a few others massive fines for “uprooting civil society” and “causing unregistered and illegal protests that led to damages of public property” according to Russian court documents provided to this newspaper from an informant within Moscow.
According to internal polling documents from Russia ‘s election commission, officials have long been aware that Putin ‘s approval ratings have been slipped to pre-Crimea annexation days. Following his election to a third record term as President, Putin enjoyed a brief time whereas his popularity and approval soared following said annexation. But in recent months, those numbers have fallen and have sent Kremlin officials into a spiraling attempt to control political dissent they have been wholeheartedly unprepared for.
In August, Sobol and demonstrators alike staged t he large anti-government protest Moscow has seen in recent years. It was estimated that more than 50,000 people took to the streets demanding policy changes and the like — but Russia as we currently know it is unmoved while Putin remains in power.
Factoid: As of 2019, Putin has been in power for more than 20 years.
“The government is very afraid that the myth they spread via state propaganda will be destroyed — namely that only 2% of the population supports the democratic opposition and that we have no constructive political platform and just like protesting,”
Lyubov Sobol, previously recorded Youtube video.
But maybe it was her turn on Navalny Live a radio type show on Youtube that helped propel much of the cause she fights for but ultimately led to targets being on the back of Sobol and her husband at the time of the recording. The extensive research we’ve performed on this woman indicates that she hasn’t done much of anything wrong — but instead as she has said herself poses an endangering threat to Putin ‘s grip on disinformation to the masses.
Similarities sit between Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump ‘s own grip on power and how they appeal to their bases. Both men appeal to their bases on the hinges of misinformation; hatred, intolerant and bullying behaviour, and often gross abuses of power. But their supporters eat it up.
They eat it up as if they have never heard of a misinformation campaign before. But why?
We dove deep into those answers. Across Moscow, many fear the idea of the day that Russians wake up to the reality that the world around them isn’t as described by their leader Putin. In fact, in some cases, it is actually the polar opposite.
“I left my seat on the city council because of the staunch support of Putin. It was like Putin could get away with anything even dating back to the days of Pussy Riot. It wasn’t fair to others. I had a strong awakening after realizing that if I hadn’t left when I did — it could’ve been me or someone close to me that was suddenly jailed and prosecuted for speaking up against the Kremlin.”
Former Russian stateman who defected to an unidentified country after a 2017 incident that led to the discovery Putin was prosecuting government officials he thought were turning on him.
Putin certainly enjoys an aura of brute force in his political regime, but, in the age of social revolutions (take Brazil; Chile, France, and even America for example) Putin is certainly and slowly losing his grip on an aging Russia that desperately needs to modernize itself.
Article 3 in this “Invisible Woman” series goes to publication on Thursday and will feature statements and takeaways from Russian university students; protesters, and former government officials who have all turned on Vladamir Putin amid his growing and terrifying grip on Moscow.
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