Natalia Antonova
Years ago, the late Russian writer Elena Gremina correctly predicted that her country was growing worse by the day. “I don’t want to live in an Orthodox Iran,” she told me back in 2013, after Russia passed a reactionary law criminalizing offending “religious feelings of believers.”
Now that the Russian Federation has fully embraced fascism, more parallels with Iran and other autocratic states like China are emerging. One of the biggest is hostage-taking. And that means that for Americans and other Westerners from countries helping fight Russia’s brutality, it’s past time to get out.
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rules of the game have changed. Denunciations are on the rise. As it slaughters people abroad, the Kremlin is increasingly more paranoid at home. And an American passport won’t protect you from the Russian authorities. In fact, it’s likely to draw their attention.
After detaining Americans such as Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed in order to use them as bargaining chips, the Russians have decided to go after an American journalist, the first such case since the Cold War. This journalist is the Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, currently detained in Russia on ludicrous espionage charges.
Gershkovich came to Russia the same year that I finally left, and we haven’t had much interaction, but I’ve always known him to be a stand-up individual and a terrific writer. He had a lot of affection for Russia, because he was interested in the stories of its people—even as he was more than aware of the darkness at its center.
Before he was grabbed, Gershkovich knew that Russia was growing more dangerous. You could see that from some of his tweets. His social media presence was smartly low-key—you can’t get the job done in Russia if you’re railing against its government on Twitter, certainly not anymore—but what is left unsaid is sometimes more obvious than what is articulated.
I believe that Gershkovich stayed because he is a brave man who is committed to his work. I have seen some victim-blaming of him on social media, which is gross and appalling. As Jason Rezaian, another brave man who knows what it’s like to be a political hostage, recently put it, we should all avoid “repeating the Russian narrative” when it comes to this story. Rezaian was held in Iran and understands how depressingly similar both country’s playbooks are. Gershkovich is likely in it for the long haul. The Russians will hold onto him until it is useful to trade him.
Politically combustible situations require nuanced thinking. What is happening to Gershkovich is sickening, but it also should serve as a very clear signal to any Americans remaining in Russia. These people need to get out.
Americans making plans to travel to Russia for whatever reason should cancel those plans, even—perhaps especially—if they have Russian heritage. Russia was never particularly safe, but now it is a minefield. There’s no need to place yourself in harm’s way if you can avoid it.
I know from experience that it is hard to break personal ties with a country like Russia. I gave birth to my son in Moscow (and wrote about it for this very publication). There are many tough, principled people in Moscow and elsewhere whom I miss. There is the legacy of artists and writers like Gremina herself—a group that has immense talent and pure grit. Gremina, a ferociously brave and funny woman, passed away in 2018, and in that, I suppose, she has been spared the worst of seeing what happened to her country, though she did predict it.
Yet the Russian government has repeatedly shown us what it is. The mask has been off for some time now. The Kremlin is uncivilized. Its political strategies are written and implemented by thugs.
Globally, Americans are being snatched and held hostage at an alarming rate. There are a few countries where that’s particularly likely to happen, Russia being just one of them. But in recent years China has seen the hostage-taking of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the detention of Australians like Cheng Lei on trumped-up espionage charges, and even the kidnapping of its dissidents, including foreign passport holders, from other countries such as Thailand.
Russia has slid downhill even faster, however. The problem with the Russian government is that it talked a good game for a number of years. Until an all-out war in which Russia sees itself as battling the “evil West,” a lot of Americans, especially ones who couldn’t care less about Ukraine, could afford to be fooled by it. We cannot afford that anymore.
This goes for everyone, even the useful idiots—or, as the Soviets used to call them, the “shit-eaters.” There are Americans and others who to this day come to Russia to sing its praises. Some are political extremists. Some are sex tourists. Some are Steven Seagal. These people assume themselves to be safe, because they breathlessly support Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It’s a dangerous strategy, though, because if there is one thing to admire about Russian political culture, it’s this: They hate a traitor, and they view pro-Russian Americans as fundamentally traitorous to their own nation. As such, pro-Russian Americans are useful to the Russian regime, but they are not trusted or respected. It’s a bit like striking a deal with a fairy tale monster—the terms might seem OK on the surface, but there is always a risk, and a catch.
Of course, journalists still need to report on what is happening in Russia. But the danger now has become immense. There are no easy answers or platitudes I can offer here. There is just the cold, hard reality of a violent, fascist regime that despises Americans and will use them in its endless tit-for-tat games as much as it is able.
Do not give that regime what it wants. Don’t feed the monster. Stay out of Russia.
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