In Vladivostok, no visible sign of a country at war, the vehicles do not display the Z of the Russian army. In this port city by the Sea of Japan, 7,000 kilometers from Ukraine, almost no trace of the war between the two countries. The Russian army has just set up a recruitment tent in the main square.
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It is in this great Russian port in the Pacific that the 7th Eastern Economic Forum opens on Wednesday 7 September. Vladimir Putin is due to deliver a speech at 7 a.m. (Paris time) on his country’s Asian turn. The Russian president wants to send a strong message to the West: Russia can count on Asia to finding supplies and economic outlets, diplomatic and military cooperation. The master of the Kremlin visited Kamchatka on Monday where he supervised the great manœVostok 2022 military works conducted jointly with China and India.
Inside the army recruiting tent, the servicemen are firmly bored. In this deliberately rebellious city, support for the central power is not obvious, according to Denys Djendjera, a business leader and human rights activist: “Moscow has always caused some annoyance here.” This resentment has always been present. “Already in Soviet times, remoteness created a kind of very autonomous local identity which is that we try to live according to our agenda because the power is far away. He tries to impose stupid laws on us and we are going to adapt them”he explains.
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Right after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were some protests in Vladivostok, but they were severely suppressed. “A group came out and fifteen people were arrested”says Sergueï Valiouline a lawyer who defends opponents of power. “They were young people with a higher education, young people with a future and almost all of them have since left Russia.” Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has multiplied the arrests of political opponents.
“In fact, now everyone is resigned and tired.”
Sergei Valiouline, lawyer who defends dissidentsat franceinfo
All are resigned, except one… Guyia Kakabadze. Here, everyone knows the long beard of this septuagenarian of Georgian origin. Until recently, he did not hesitate to take to the streets, all alone, to protest. “I came out with a sign “if you are against war, come into my arms”. A lot of people came to me”, testifies the pacifist activist. The response was not long in coming. “My home was searched. At 5:30 a.m., the FSB special forces put me on the ground, my hands behind my back, handcuffed as usual”details Guyia Kakabadze.
Two hours after speaking to franceinfo, Guyia Kakabadze was again arrested for an interview he gave to the Russian television channel in exile, Dojd. He knows he risks prison. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin will cross a calm city, emptied of all its protesters.