Thread by @Leonov_mr

A thread about 'Berlin expert' Sergei Sumlenny @sumlenny, the star of English-speaking and
Ukrainian-language Twitter.

Let's start. A the end of the 2000s, Sergei, a graduate of the Journalism Faculty of Moscow
State University, got a job in the pro-Kremlin magazine 'Expert'.

The magazine was odious. E.g., the key figure of the Presidential Administration, Surkov, chose to use 'Expert' as a platform for his articles on state ideology.

Here are the words of Expert’s CEO: 'We became an unambiguously government-aligned
magazine somewhere in the 2000s'

The editor-in-chief of 'Expert' was Valery Fadeev - he later became a prominent TV propagandist, and now he serves as the head of the so-called Presidential 'Human Rights Council'.

Today he is making statements on 'Kiev's regime using innocent civilians as a shield', and so on.

During the 2011-2012 protests against the regime, the magazine took a pro-government position.

In 2013, it published an editorial in support of the 'Law of Scoundrels': this law banned the adoption of Russian children by US citizens as a twisted 'response' to the Magnitsky Act.

A former 'Expert' employee later stated that 'it wasn't about censorship': there just weren't any journalists at 'Expert' who would come up with an idea of writing something 'against Putin'.

Among these people was Sergei Sumlenny, the hero of our story.

Was it unforgivable that Sumlenny used his journalism degree to get a job in such a publication?

No. At that time, things weren’t so black-and-white, although we already had plenty of, let's say, signs, that Vladimir Putin wasn't the most moral person on Earth.

Do I think he should have reacted somehow to the stance taken by his magazine on protests or
regarding the law of scoundrels? By resigning, e.g.?

Yes, I think that would have been best. But again, humans are weak. Sergei does not claim to be a
moral barometer. Correct, Sergei?

In 2008 Sergei came to Berlin - 'and fell in love with this city', according to the foreword to one of his Russian-language books about Germany.

One can only envy him. But let's remember the stated reason he stayed in Germany.

This is an important point: he went there not because of @mich261213's jailing, not because of Magnitsky's murder, not because of the war with Georgia, not for other moral reasons.

He just fell in love with Berlin and stayed there as a correspondent for 'Expert'.

That's it.

But then there was a turning point - the war in Donbass.

It was then that Navalny wrote the tweet with the word 'khokhly' (derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians) that was so seared into Sergei's memory.

But here's the question: what was Sergei himself writing about that time?

Quick note: Sergei's 'interpretation' of the tweet's meaning is VERY debatable. To me, it's clear that he is not worrying about soldiers being exposed and is describing what the Russian leadership must be thinking. So it's 'палево' (a fear of being exposed) for them, not for him.

It's pretty logical if you think about it: if Navalny is himself concerned about 'палево', why would he expose this whole plan on Twitter?

But it indeed can be interpreted as a warmongering tweet if you are not sure what Navalny's position on the war was.

More on that later.

So, back to our question: what was Sergei writing at the time? Was he concerned about 'палево'? Did he use the word 'khokhly'?

(actually, he used it multiple times in his youth when he held far-right views, but as he states, he grew past that, so I won't focus on that)

The thing is: we don't know.

Sergei wasn't active either on Twitter or Facebook. Nor could I find any interviews. The voice of a prominent expert on Eastern Europe was silent.

Instead, in May 2014 Sergei was publishing articles about WW2 in 'Expert':

Let's move on to 2015. In this photo Navalny distributes leaflets in the subway urging people to
come to the 'Spring' protest march.

In second place among the demands of the march, along with fair elections, was a call for
'immediate cessation of the war (in the Donbas) and all aggressive actions against Ukraine'.

Note: I'm not here to prove that Navalny is good or bad. I'm establishing who was doing
what.

The march was to take place on March 1. On February 27, Boris Nemtsov, one of the loudest opponents of the war, was assassinated. The 'Spring' march thus turned into a morning procession.

In the photo - Nemtsov distributes the same leaflets in the subway at Navalny's invitation.

But you probably ask: what was Sergei Sumlenny doing at that time?

He worked for Russia Consulting, which advised Western businesses how to work in Russia under
sanctions, and discussed it in the Russian media.

Was that wrong? No, any company that worked in Russia helped enriching the regime in one way or
another. There is nothing unforgivable about Sergei earning a living by helping to solve sanctions
issues.

After all, he is not going to teach us morality. Correct, Sergei?

I choose my words very carefully, because Sergei is offended by the wording 'helped to avoid
sanctions'.

You can watch his interview yourself, or you can read my exchange with Sergei himself on Twitter to get an idea of what he was getting paid for.

https://twitter.com/Leonov_mr/status/1516100857732939783

To complete the picture, during this period Sergei became a welcome guest on various Russian
media outlets as an expert on sanctions and working under them.

Here are a few links in Russian:

MK: mk.ru/politics/2014/…
Lenta: lenta.ru/articles/2015/…
RIA: ria.ru/20150402/10561…

Someone might ask - surely RIA interviewed a lot of people! On the one hand, that’s a fair point.

On the other hand, we have, for example, @v_milov , a former Deputy Minister of Energy,
whom RIA itself called 'a most frequently cited analyst' in 2010.

Did they interview him?

No, there was no interview with Milov on RIA - neither about sanctions nor on energy. There are just articles about his arrests and his ineligibility as a candidate in elections.

Because in 2015 Milov was not engaged in sanctions consulting, but speaking out about the war.

At this point, I want to go back to Sergei's original thesis - that all Russians are involved in Putin's crimes simply by being Russian citizens.

So I ask - what about you, Sergei?

I know you don't want to,you write 'we Germans' so desperately, you're so passionate about how 'you Germans' will be perceived in the international arena

But perhaps today, as an exception, you could reflect this question with us? Not as an expert, but as Seryoga from Odintsovo?

You think it's our fault that we could have left and didn't leave.

I won't even be ironic about the fact that, to put it mildly, NOT EVERYONE had the opportunity to go to Berlin, to work there as a journalist and 'to fall in love with the city'.

Let's say you're right.

What about you? You could have got a job anywhere after your MSU journalism studies: @novaya_gazeta, e.g.

But you preferred to work in the pro-Kremlin media and tacitly approve the 'Law of
scoundrels'.

Is everything fine? Or would you like to go back in time and change it?

You are a prominent specialist on Eastern Europe, as we can see. Couldn't you have found a job
unrelated to *insert the correct verb* sanctions?

Let's assume you didn't do anything wrong, but .. was this the most logical profession for an
ideological fighter against Putinism?

If I were to say something in the spirit of 'all Russians are to blame'; I at least would have some moral basis for doing so.

Not because I attended protests when you were giving out interviews to the Kremlin media. Nor even
that I've never worked in 'Expert' magazine.

I'm Russian and I acknowledge it. If I say 'all Russians are responsible' I mean myself as well.

And you, Sergei, with your 'we Germans', took a rather clever but odious position: the Russians, of course, are all assholes, don't believe them.

But you are of course German!

And ordinary people are accomplices to crimes - they haven't left the country. Don't be deceived,
dear Western public!

And the opposition is also actually in favour of the war - so don't trust them, Western public! Don't listen to what they're saying, I found a tweet from 20xx!

The 'no good Russians'; narrative sells well, and you harnessed it. You are loved by Ukrainians and Eng-speaking audiences.

Good that they won't see this thread, right? What if they decided that you aren't a Berlin fighter against Putin, but just an ordinary Moscow opportunist?

Alexey Navalny, with all his incorrect positions and chauvinistic statements, is strikingly different
from you in one aspect of his biography.

Not so long ago, he was also in Berlin as you remember. And he also had the opportunity to 'fall in
love with the city and stay'.

He could have been an excellent Berlin-based expert on Eastern Europe. Maybe he could even
have competed with you for a job: HBO didn't make any movies about you.

But for some reason he went back to fight Putin instead. And you stayed to shit on him on Twitter
in English.

So, Navalny is secretly pro-war, despite him vigorously opposing it? Fine. There may be an argument for that.

Heck, you may even be right - I have no way to know what's happening in his head.

Let's say all of your 'interpretations' are correct.

https://twitter.com/Leonov_mr/status/1516043981649596422

But the fact of the matter is:

Navalny stood against Putin and his crimes, including the war in Donbass, when it was dangerous. You only took a stand against him when it became convenient. And safe, of course.

So I'm much more curious about what's happening in *your* head.

And here's my last theory about you.

Many of those who emigrate immediately turn into fighters against other emigrants - I managed to jump ship, and now it's time to close the escape hatches behind me!

You've became 'not Russian' in time, and now you want to capitalise on it.

Why would you want anybody to think that there are normal Russians? Did you become German in
vain?

Why do you need Navalny's team to be given grants and invited to speak in parliament? Are you a
Berlin-based expert for nothing?

In general, what I wanted to say about all this:

I'd rather die a fucking Russky than change my
citizenship and become like you, Sergei.

Good luck to you!

This was a translation of my Russian-language thread. I was asked to do it, so here it is.

The original one contains some 'additional material' in a form of our short back-and-forth with Sergei himself (it's short cause I was banned by him pretty fast)

https://twitter.com/Leonov_mr/status/1516882275966894080

I wanted to thank a man who helped me translate it (it was an unexpected ally for sure!), but he decided to remain anonymous.

Anyway, huge thanks!

And here comes a totally unexpected sequel:

https://twitter.com/Leonov_mr/status/1518973043074285568