Frequently Asked Questions
Facts about the movement
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Q: Why is your movement called “Oborona” (Defense)? What exactly do you defend and against what?
A: We defend the dignity and honour of our citizens from the lawlessness of government officials, and in particular Oborona stands for the rights of Russian citizens to have freedom of expression, to elect the government and to demand the fulfillment of its duties. You can learn more about our ideas and goals from our Declaration.
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Q: Why have you chosen a fist as the symbol?
A: The fist symbolizes our unity and readiness to struggle for what we believe in. Its history is rather long: in the 1930’s Spanish Republicans fighting against Francoists took it as their symbol, then in 1968 various European student movements used the fist for their banners. In the early 2000’s the fist became the symbol of “the 4th wave of democratization” when Serbians, Georgians, and Ukrainians were striking for fair elections in their countries.
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Q: What are your goals?
A: Our long-term goal is to establish a civilized democratic regime in which the government is fairly elected by the citizens, respects and defends their interests, rights and freedoms both domestically and abroad.
What we do need is a complete and drastic change of the political system instead of just a simple replacement of a number of government officials. Nowadays when the whole election process is farcified, nation-wide referendums are barely possible to be held, when there is no more parliamentary opposition and the government no longer wishes to know its citizens’ opinions, grassroots movements are the only alternative and threat to the current regime. We are talking about revolution, but this revolution has to be nonviolent and democratic.
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Q: You criticize the system a lot, but do you have something to offer?
A: Oborona is not a political party nor a governmental group. We can’t just solve all the problems that currently exist in our state, but our direct duty is to draw the attention of politicians and society in order to deal with them, which actually is the main responsibility of officials.
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Q: Why don’t you want to gain power?
A: Oborona unites a number of persons with different points of view. Most of us are just ordinary people who never thought about being involved in politics and never wanted politics to be the main goal of our lives. The only reason for our taking part in political life now is the critical political situation in Russia, which is why we defend our civil rights. What we really want is to live in a free country; cheap fame, fast money and political careers are totally out of our concern.
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Q: What means do you use?
A: Oborona resorts to any possible nonviolent means such as publications, conferences, collection of signatures and legal assistance, yet our main means are the “street” ones–from pickets to demonstrations to street performances to direct actions.
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Q: Why do you use street means of struggle?
A: In modern Russia the government blocks any possibility to express an opposite opinion and to conduct any uncontrolled activities. All TV channels and newspapers have “black lists” of people and organizations which are strictly not recommended to be dealt with; it’s impossible to vote a bill through the Parliament or to raise funds for any opposition social activity; courts break the laws with perfect impunity once they are told to do so. The only relatively free space is the streets, and it can be the real alternative source of struggle. Streets have already made the government to retreat many times, so there’s no other way now except for this one.
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Q: What are your achievements?
A: At the present stage the main goal of Oborona is to mobilize Russian citizens, and the most important thing is to call the youth to uphold its rights and freedoms. In this field our achievements are more than obvious: “Oborona” has its branches in more than 20 Russian cities and towns. We have hundreds of active members, and hundreds of thousands of people know about us and share our ideas.
The Structure
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Q: Who is your leader?
A: Oborona is a leaderless organization and therefore has no chairperson. Its regional branches are totally autonomous and have the Council of Oborona as a coordinating institution (where all regions are represented). This way of self-organization helps us to avoid the cult of leadership and the struggle for leadership.
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Q: Who is your sponsor?
A: Our key rule is to accept financial assistance on condition of keeping our total independence, therefore it’s impossible to influence on our goals, strategics and tactics.
In fact our funds aren’t great at all; we don’t have office staff, and usually funds are raised only for specific actions and projects. Actually, sometimes our members club together, and at times responsible Russian small- and medium-scale businessmen sharing our ideas donate money to Oborona.
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Q: How many members are there in your movement?
A: Oborona is currently represented in about 20 regions with approximately 1000 members.
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Q: What activities do you run?
A: Each one of our members can choose any activity s/he wishes: one can take part in our actions or help prepare them, write texts and draw banners, make a report at a conference or paste stickers. The only limit is your will and imagination.
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Q: Who are your members?
A: Our members represent totally different social strata: rich and poor, left- and right-wing views (excepts, perhaps, the extremes). Most members are students and persons who have just graduated from universities: smart and independent guys and girls.
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Q: Can I gain any financial profit from Oborona?
A: Absolutely not. We never pay money for taking part in our demonstrations nor use donated funds for personal purposes, so if you’re financially interested, you’re kindly welcome in pro-governmental organizations.
The Ideology
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Q: What party or candidate do you support?
A: Oborona is a non-partisan movement, which means we never support any party or candidate. Political support is a strictly personal issue, and therefore our members may be supporters of very different political forces. In any case, it’s absolutely prohibited to use Oborona in order to promote them.
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Q: Is it true that you collaborate with the National Bolsheviks?
A: It is true; in fact, we collaborate with any organization if we share the same goals. When NB support transparent elections and fair police system, we struggle for the same things; yet none of us are forced to share all the ideas mutually.
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Q: Do you have any connection with ex-oligarchs?
A: No, actually we don’t have any. No ex-oligarch has ever donated to “Oborona” nor have we ever asked for it. Have you any suspicion about that, please feel free to visit our headquarters or regional offices, to get to know our activists or to take part in one of our actions.
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Q: Television says that you’re bought by the Americans. Is it true?
A: No, this is just another propaganda cliché. The easiest way of blaming the opposition movement is to say that it’s connected somehow with external forces. This propaganda maneuver was used both in Nazi Germany and in the USSR just as well as in another dictatorial regimes. The most curious thing is that no evidence was found but the flow of strange allusions and comments still continues. If any opposition activist was ever found guilty of espionage, there surely would be a huge scandal. But since such facts never existed the only thing we hear is continuous lies.
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Q: What do you think about the Orange Revolution in Ukraine?
A: There are no doubts the Orange Revolution has drastically changed the state of current political affairs in Russia. Ukrainians managed to protest at the main square of Kiev for the freedom of fair elections and self-expression even if it was totally opposite to the official national ideology. Now the fact they have won is more than obvious: even during the scandals and perturbations of the last years fair elections and personal freedoms remained untouched. Ukraine made its government to respect the opinion of its citizens.
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Q: Why are you against Putin’s policy?
A: Putin himself represents the current political system in Russia. He abolishes elections and appoints his old buddies from Saint Petersburg. He decorates Ramzan Kadyrov with the Hero of the Russian Federation order and takes under his personal control or shuts down independent TV channels. He signs the law on social benefits monetization and meanwhile donates $16,000,000,000 from the state budget to Roman Abramovich. He tells blatant lies about the Kursk submarine and the act of terrorism at the Nord Ost theater. He has even appointed his old friend the puppet President of the country. We’re not so much against Putin personally but against the regime and the system he has created.
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