Lev Shlosberg’s Telegram channel, 9.10.2024

18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА

18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNS ACTIVITIES RELATING TO FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG. [This capitalised section is a text Lev Shlosberg is obliged to add under the ‘foreign agent’ law to any publication he makes; we include it here solely to give readers an idea of the pressures under which civil society actors operate in Russia]

Dear friends! I am sincerely grateful to everyone who in the last few days has written me words of support, solidarity, empathy, and confidence that our family, and I, and all the people close to us will have the strength to get through this ordeal.

I am grateful to everyone who found the courage to speak out openly and publicly in my support, to directly assert my innocence and the fact that the suspicions directed at me have no foundation whatsoever.

Our country is going through a tremendous human ordeal right now. The entire world is going through a tremendous human ordeal. This ordeal has found us in different places, in different countries, at different stages in our life, and in very different personal human situations. None of us was prepared for this time.

We have all changed over these years, months, days, and hours. We are all going through a trial beyond our human dignity and our ability to maintain our love for humanity, our respect for people, and our readiness to speak with people in peaceful, respectful, human language.

It is the love of humanity and humanism that are now going through the hardest trials. What can we do in this situation? We, who are not holding a weapon, who have no state opportunities, who have nothing but our word, our personal dignity, and our faith in people.

We must tell people that they are human beings. We must assure each doubting person that he is a human being. We must tell all those people who doubt their own ability to be a human being: you can be a human being. Keep it together. Return to yourself. Don’t squelch the human in yourself. This is the most fateful political moment right now for the whole country, for the whole world.

We are calling you to life, not death. We are calling you to good, not evil, to a human understanding of the ongoing tragedies.

This is going to be a very long and arduous journey. It is going to demand we do real work on ourselves. And the very first effort each of us must make on ourselves is the effort to remain human. The effort not to become part of the evil. The effort to retain our belief in society’s human destiny.

Millions of people are having a terribly difficult time right now. People have lost their near and dear, and that is forever. People have seen things a person should never in their life see. Many people have experienced and are now experiencing blood on their hands. This is a tremendous and horrific trial.

We are experiencing an acute need for a love for humanity. We are experiencing a need for sympathy and empathy.

We need to build the world such as it has never yet been. But if it is to be human, we must preserve the human being in ourselves. Preserve the human in ourselves.

Lately, after receiving messages from thousands and thousands of people, I’ve felt that all these people are first and foremost human beings. They understand the absolute importance and value of the human in the human being, the value of human life.

I understand all those who have turned to me with pleas to save myself. I thank you for your concern, for your worry, for your empathy and your disquiet.

My responsibility, and the responsibility of all those close to me, is to stay who we are where we are right now. Here, in my hometown of Pskov, here, in our country, where millions of people right now are going through a test of their humanity. It is important that we go through this test together.

Anything at all might happen in our life. But in these historic years, it is very important to remain where you are, where you stand. To remain yourself. I hope I am able to do that. Once again, my sincere thanks to each of you.

Your words, feelings, and thoughts are priceless. They prove that you and I are right. The world will be different. It will survive today’s nightmare and become more human. From the horror of the present day will grow another time, another society. But it will grow out of us. It won’t come from the outside. It won’t be brought to Russia by other states, other lands. We will cultivate this society gradually, day after day, year after year, you and I. Thank you very much.