The daughter of a strongly
pro-Putin senator in Russia has fled abroad fearing persecution and
jail after he branded her a ‘traitor’ for opposing the war in Ukraine.
Diana Isakova, 25, posted
flyers against the conflict which led to her arrest and interrogation by the
feared FSB secret service.
Her father Eduard Isakov, 48,
reacted with fury, having previously warned her not to criticize Putin or
the authorities on social media.
‘We had a conversation, and
all of my fears came true,’ the yoga teacher told Medusa media outlet.
‘He told me I was a traitor to
our family, an enemy of the people, and a criminal.’
When the war started, she saw
the anguish of Ukrainians who she followed on Instagram, she said.
‘These girls’ stories were
full of bombs and sobbing. I felt their suffering as if it were my own.’
She staged a ‘brave’ protest
in Sochi which led to her rapid arrest, and now claims Putin embodies ‘cruelty,
arrogance, and impunity’.
Putin – and her senator father
who backs him to the hilt – should face justice for the war, she says, while
arguing Russia’s political illiberalism is a consequence of authoritarianism in
the family with the country’s despots being products of childhood humiliation.
‘Inside of every cruel person,
there’s an unhappy child who’s afraid to admit his weakness, his vulnerability,
and his needs. At some point in his childhood, someone was cruel to him and it
was painful…Naturally, Putin should be held accountable, but that doesn’t mean
we just shoot him. By seeking revenge, we’re effectively going down the same
hateful path.’
She warned of ‘fanatical
patriotism’ in Russia and ‘weak-willed submission’ of people to the
authorities.
