The Criminalization of Patriotism
Alexander Zyrianov has been imprisoned for two years on false allegations of corruption. His real crime? Putting his country above the political interests of his regional authorities in Novosibirsk.
I was recently interviewed by Ksenia Sobchak. She had apparently taken umbrage over what she perceived as my unwillingness to be critical of Russia.
I have been traveling to Russia on a regular basis since 2023. My goal has been to listen and to learn, not to criticize and object.
Russia belongs to the Russian people. And it is the duty and responsibility of the Russian people to criticize and object to aspects of their existence they are dissatisfied with, not mine. I let Russia show me the Russian reality as it is—unvarnished and genuine.
I did, however, voice one major objection—how my very good friend Alexander Zyrianov has been treated by the Russian legal system.
Alexander Zyrianov was arrested by authorities in Novosibirsk on June 3, 2024—the same day I had my passport taken away from me by US authorities. Alexander and I were both heading to Saint Petersburg, where we were scheduled to attend the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.
It is not my place to question the legal machinery of the Russian Federation.
But when a friend of mine—and Alexander Zyrianov is a very close friend of mine—is detained the same day my government decided to take passport, it is inevitable that questions will be asked as to whether there was any connection between the two actions, and what such connections there could be.
There is no doubt my government did what it did because it feared the work Alexander and I were doing to improve relations between the US and Russia, especially when it came to citizen to citizen connectivity. Therefore, I was always sensitive to the possibility that the Russian government had somehow taken offense to aspects of our work and had similarly moved to block it. After all, I was visited by the FBI two months later, accused of working as a Russian agent. I was concerned that Alexander was being similarly accused by the Russian government.
But to my surprise, the charges being made against Alexander had nothing whatsoever to do with our work. Rather, he was being charged with acts of corruption. This shocked me, because I believe I had come to know the measure of the man I called my friend. I had entrusted him not only with my safety, but also the safety of my two daughters who had joined me on the two visits I had made to Russia that had been hosted by Alexander, and who were scheduled to travel with me on the third visit that was interrupted by my passport seizure and Alexander’s arrest.
I reached out to friends and associates of Alexander whom I had met during my travels—well respected professionals all—and asked about the legitimacy of the charges being made against my friend. There is an old saying here in America—where there is smoke, there is fire. There was a lot a smoke coming from Alexander, but according to his friends, there was no fire.
No crime.
No corruption.
At first I followed Alexander’s case by reading the Russian media. My friend was accused of using a film festival he had organized on behalf of President Putin’s reelection campaign as a vehicle of corruption.
I remember vividly the pride that Alexander had when he told me about this film festival and its connection to the promotion of family values. And I couldn’t grasp the idea of something so pure, something done so openly, being somehow caught up in corruption of the sort being charged against Alexander.
I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the big reveal, but it never came.
Instead, the Russian media reported about dark rumors of police misconduct being egged on by politicians with even darker motives against Alexander.
The Russian media named names.
Clearly there was no crime.
I awaited the exoneration of my friend, but instead the Novosibirsk authorities leveled a new charge of corruption against Alexander, this one linked to the delivery of special armored vehicles to soldiers serving on the front lines of the Special Military Operation.
Soldiers like Alexander Bormatov, a decorated hero serving with the Burevestnik Drone Regiment in the Donbas.
Like Yan Gagin, the special military advisor to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic whose work has been memorialized in the museum of the Russian Armed Forces.
Like Lieutenant General Apti Aloudinov, the legendary commander of the Akhmat Special Forces.
I know all three of these Russian patriots very well. They are not fools. And all three had worked with Alexander Zyrianov purchased and delivered the vehicles all three men needed to help with their important work on the frontlines of the Special Military Operation.
This was not corruption.
This was patriotism.
And now patriotism was being criminalized.
While Russia was at war.
I began to suspect that something was very wrong in Novosibirsk. I asked to speak with Alexander’s lawyers, who shared with me critical details of the case the Novosibirsk authorities were trying to hang around Alexander’s neck.
And it was at this time I became completely convinced that Alexander was an innocent man being falsely accused by others who had their own corrupt motives.
I did not reach this conclusion alone—I followed Alexander’s case closely in the Russian media, and was shocked at how obvious it was that their was no evidence at all to sustain any of the allegations being leveled against my friend.
And yet, more than two years after his arrest, Alexander Zyrianov remains in jail, awaiting the conclusion of a trial which reeks of legal malfeasance and political corruption.
So I voiced my frustration to Ksenia Sobchak. What else is a friend to do, especially when confronted with such flagrant violations of legal norms and standards.
At the end of the day, however, Russia is Russia.
It is the duty and responsibility of the Russian people to administer their nation, and to make sure that justice prevails.
I know that there is a new head of the Supreme Court in Russia and that he is carrying out reforms aimed at securing the independence of the judicial system.
I am also hopeful that the judge leading Alexander's trial will come to a fair decision, void of the well documented political interference and police misconduct that has tainted these proceedings and acquit my friend, Alexander Zyrianov, so that he can join his wife and mother as a free man, and he and I will be able to continue our joint projects designed to improve relations between the Russian and American people.
It is not my place to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state such as Russia.
But the bonds of friendship know no national boundaries, and the cause of justice is universal.
I will be watching the events transpiring in Novosibirsk very closely. So will all of my supporters in the United States and around the world. We look to the Russian people to show us who they really are. We look forward to justice being served.
We look forward to freedom and exoneration for Alexander Zyrianov.
Rabotayim, Brat!
I think the evidence you already pointed out is where you will find the answer to Alexander's detainment. Both of you approached by your separate governments on the same day? No coincidence. I'm concerned about anyone in Russia that collaborates with a government such as ours for any reason. Please keep us posted on any developments.
You said: "I know that there is a new head of the Supreme Court in Russia and that he is carrying out reforms aimed at securing the independence of the judicial system.” I say: 1) There is none in the UK where the one-voice doctrine which has imprisoned young protesters who are trying to stop the genocide in Palestine. 2) Will judge Hellerstein be under the same doctrine to keep the sovereign head of state, Venezuelan Leaders Nichola and Cilia as political hostages in a US jail?