The following is an incomplete transcript of Ilya Yashins remarks at the University of Texas at Austin on April 12, 2012, recorded

by Daily Texan reporter Samuel Liebl. Im so grateful that youre interested in whats happening in my country right now. I hope youll understand that freedom and democracy in Russia is something that Russians themselves need to do. Were not welcoming help from the outside. But I really hope that citizens in the US and around the world will have their own understanding of whats going on in Russia, not just whats spread by Putins propaganda machine so that you have a chance to form your own objective opinion. Thats why Im here. It will be fair to say that the situation in Russia right now is political crisis. Putin came to power in 2000 and in twelve years he installed a regime of personal power. The situation differs from Soviet times. But we have no doubts that the regime that he built in Russia is an auth regime. Putin eliminated free courts and free mass media. He basically became the main player in Russian politics. and this is what I mean when I say he has built a personal monopoly on power. For a long time, people in Russia were O.K. with this status quo. On the one hand, Russians were going through the post-imperial syndrome, their so called phantom pains from the missing limbs. The empire is not there anymore but people feel it still exists. When Putin came to power in 2007 he chose the rhetoric of empire. This and the military campaign in Chechnya allowed him to gain power quickly. Besides, he was able to make a social contract with society at that point. On the one hand, part of his contract was that civil society lost part of its civil liberties and rights. So their political freedoms were only declared but not fulfilled in real life. But on the other hand people saw it as inevitable to improve their wellbeing. They think is that when Putin came to power, money started to pour into Russia. Putin has nothing to do with it. On the world market, the situation was favourable to Russia. Those of you who study Russia, you know that of the russian budget is filled by oil. The wellbeing of the Russian economy depends on the price of oil. The economic crisis of the 1990s was in large part due to oil. Now that prices are rising, the wellbeing of Russia has become better. People took wellbeing as the payoff of giving up their political liberties and rights. The social contract does not work anymore. Small groups of poli activists were struggling against Putin. But sometimes photos can tell more than thousands of words. People are more aware of falsifications in elections. The main reason is that trust has eroded. Previously, people knew well that elections were falsified but they were not worried about it. But in December of this year, when parliamentary elections were falsified again, tens of thousands of protesters stepped out into streets. It was a surprise for both the government and the opposition. The matter is that during the last 10 years, there has appeared a new generation of Russians that did not want to put up with the social contract. During those years of well being a middle class finally formed. Now, in Russia, during those 10 years there appeared a civil

society. Its still in its early stages but people began to organize themselves on the internet and blogosphere. Finally we have a new generation of Russians - those younger than me, the Facebook generation. Those young people use social media to not only meet girls and boys but also as a source of information and self organization. Its exactly those people who came out into the streets to protest elections. The foreign press in Russia called these people the creative class. They are not ready to put up with the personal power of Putin. These people see problems in Russian political life in the concentration of power in one persons hands. People are really irritated with the level of personal corruption. Those who study Russian literature know that people have stolen for centuries in Russia. But with Putin it became systematic. Any question, no matter how small, is decided with money. The awareness of this corruption has shocked the Russian middle class. And because of the internet, we have an idea of the scale of Russian corruption. Transparency International gives Russia a very low rank, around Nigeria. In Egypt, there was a revolution and one of its main goals was the elimination of corruption. Mubarak compared to Putin as an honest person. Almost all of Putins friends, his classmates, colleagues - theyre all ranking as billionaire. Even his judo coach. His dog is also a billionaire. No surprise there. When Russian civil society realized the scale of corruption, it was really shocking. Another huge problem is the immense gap between the different social classes. The number of billionaires measured in US dollars has doubled under his rule. And we have more billionaires in Moscow than in New York. Every year the gap becomes worse and worse. According to the constitution, Russia is a social state. But in fact it remains a country of bandit capitalism. The third problem is lawlessness. Ill give you some details. Were talking about the court system. During Stalins time in power, the number of not guilty compared to not guilty - under Stalin seven to eight sometimes 12 percent were found not guilty. So about one out of every 10 walked away not guilty. Putin is not a bloody dictator, but less than one percent of those who are brought to trial are found not guilty. Its the triumph of Humanism in Russia. Its hard to imagine that only 1 person out of a hundred are not guilty. Since December, there have been mass protests in Moscow. The official reason is the false elections in December. It was the first time that Russian civil society received so much proof of falsifications in elections because everyone now has a cell phone with a camera. During the day of elections, thousands of videos and documents were published proving corruption. That is why, when the central elections committee announced the result, that 50 percent chose putin, people were outraged Because of this discontent, thousands of people went out. They organized themselves in just a few hours over the internet. There was a breakthrough. In the previous years, opposition protests had gathered just a few hundred people. In the matter of 2 days, thousands of people were arrested. I was one of them. Between 80 and 100 thousand people went out into Moscows central square. It signaled a new era in Russia. We saw the attitude of police change while in jail. Were often accused of being revolutionary, but were not. We only want the constitution to work in Russia. The dialogue between the government and the opposition goes this way: the

opposition says We want elections, freedom of speech, and the laws to work. Power says, you are CIA agents who are trying to destabilize the situation in Russia. The absurd part is that any attempt to establish laws or make sure theyre enforced is called revolutionary. Im convinced that the real revolutionary in Russia is Vladimir Putin. Nobody contributes so much to the revolutionary situation in Russia. Im not a revolutionary, Im an evolutionary. The government reaction to those protests is very ambiguous. In the beginning, Putins reaction was very angry toward the city dwellers, as he calls us. He said some insulting things. He likened the symbol of the protest, a white piece of fabric to condoms. He called those protesting in the the streets monkeys. Just because he reacted in this way, even more people went out to protest. Then the government changed its rhetoric. They promised to liberalize the situation. They promised to make elections more free, but that promise remains just on paper. We saw with our own eyes that government will only do something if thousands of people go out in the street and demand it. Putin is leading the country to a civil confrontation. Buses loaded with pro-Putin youth were brought to Moscow. Of course there were some real supporters, but we have proof that many of those people were forced to show their support. In March we had elections - not honest, not fair. Putin had the chance to become a legitimate president. If elections were fair, Putin had a chance to win because for 10 years, no one was on TV but Putin. After honest elections, he would have won . He chose another way. Not a single independent candidate was allowed to participate. Putin appointed his own sparring partners in this competition. These people knew that they were only taking part in the spectacle. Putin preserved total domination on TV. About 70 percent screen time was given to just one candidate. In essence the key demand is the removal of Putin from power. We regard the figure of Putin as the main barrier to the political reforms we demand. We want fair elections, an independent court system, freedom of speech. Not a single of these things can actually be realized while Putin is in power. The last few months show you cant have a dialog with Putin. At the same time, we dont want to corner Putin. Putin published an autobiography in 2000. There was an interesting episode in his young life. He described how once when he was a teen in Petersburg, he was running after rats with a stick. He cornered a rat and the rat was so scared that he attacked Putin. Putin finds himself in that role. Our message is that we dont want your blood, we dont want revolution. We want you to step away peacefully, to leave the country to its people. And if that happens, we are ready to discuss amnesty, safety measures. Several times we insisted that were ready for this kind of dialogue. But this opp between people and Putin can lead to very tragic results. Im convinced that Putin will decide his own fate sooner or later. I sincerely hope that the final days of his political career will be like the Polish Communist leader who gave up peacefully and is living happily as a retiree. I hope he does not share the fate of the Romanian Communist dictator who started a war with his own people and was shot. Im convinced that several members of Russias opposition could head state. There are people that have are very experienced in administration management. We want to create a political system where a change in power is not perceived as an earthquake. I sincerely believe that in a free parliament, it will be easy for us to make agreements, even if its just because we sat in the same jail together.

The attitude toward Putin is changing everywhere but at a different speeds. It depends if people have access to alternative media or not. Were talking about, first of all, the internet. In cities where people have access to the internet, the support for Putin and his party is much lower. One of the key tasks of the opposition is, as I say, to shake a million hands. We need to go around the country and tell people as I am telling you. The first thing is to destroy the myth of destructive forces. Putin says the opposition can only criticize, but they cant offer anything to Russian society. Thats not true Each group has its plan for development.

Putin really understands that situation has started to change. But I dont think he will change the situation. His problems stem from psychological reasons - hes been in power so long he is physically afraid to leave. All his wealth and connections are guaranteed by only one thing political power. He will not reform, he will try to con society again. He will change the appearances so he can preserve his monopoly. With Perestroika, we had some gulps of fresh air. Officials at that time thought they could dupe everybody. We all know how that ended. In cities its very in-vogue to be involved in opposition politics. When its in fashion to protest, it almost always signals change of power. In this sense, the new generation is much more active in politics. Theyre widespread hipsters. They criticize everyone, doesn't matter who, and its really good. Thats why the situation is changing and why I think weve passed the point of no return. Sooner or later it will bring its own results. Its really possible for P to turn this into a total totalitarian regime. But it contradicts the interest of his closest friends, who are integrated in world economy. Putins daughter lives in Paris. Theyre really used to enjoying the fruits of civilization.