Thread by @navalny

1/17 Exactly three years ago, I came back to Russia after treatment following my poisoning. I was arrested at the airport. And for three years, I've been in prison.

And for three years, I've been answering the same question.

2/17 Prisoners ask it simply and directly.

Prison officials inquire about it cautiously, with the recorders turned off.

"Why did you come back?"

3/17 Responding to this question, I experience frustration in two different ways. Firstly, there's a self-directed frustration for failing to find the right words that could make everyone comprehend and put an end to this incessant questioning.

4/17 Secondly, there's frustration aimed at the political landscape of recent decades in Russia. This landscape has ingrained cynicism and conspiracy theories so deeply into society that people inherently distrust straightforward motives.

5/17 They seem to believe, If you came back, there must be some deal you made. It just didn't work out. Or hasn't yet. There's a concealed plan involving the Kremlin towers.

6/17 In any case, there's a SECRET motive lurking beneath the surface. Because, in politics, nothing is as straightforward as it appears."

But there are no secrets or distorted meanings. Everything is really that simple.

7/17 I have my country and my convictions. I don't want to give it up or ever betray it. If your convictions mean something, you must be prepared to stand up for them and make sacrifices if necessary.

8/17 And if you're not ready, then you have no convictions. You just think that you do. But those are not convictions and principles; they're just thoughts in your head.

9/17 Of course, this doesn't mean that everyone who's not currently in prison lacks convictions. Everyone pays their price. For many people, the price is high even without being imprisoned.

10/17 I participated in elections and vied for leadership positions. The demand for me is different. I traveled the entire country, declaring from the stage everywhere, "I promise that I won't let you down, I won't deceive you, and I won't abandon you."

11/17 By coming back to Russia, I fulfilled my promise to the voters. There must be those in Russia who don't lie to them, after all.

12/17 It turned out that in Russia, to defend the right to have and not to hide your beliefs, you have to pay for it by sitting in a solitary cell. Of course, I don't like being there. But I will not give up either my ideas or my homeland.

13/17 My convictions are not exotic, sectarian, or radical. On the contrary, everything I believe in is based on science and historical experience.

14/17 Those in power should change. The best way to elect leaders is through honest and free elections. Everyone needs a fair court. Corruption destroys the state. There should be no censorship.

The future lies in these principles.

15/17 And now, sectarians and marginals are in power. Overall, they have no ideas. Their only goal is to keep their seats. Perfected hypocrisy will allow them to wrap theirselves in any cover.

16/17 So, polygamists have become conservatives. Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union have become Orthodox. Owners of "golden passports" and offshore accounts are now aggressive patriots.

Lies, and nothing but lies.

17/17 It will collapse and crumble. The Putinist state is not sustainable.

One day, we will look at its place, and it won't be there.

Victory is inevitable.

But for now, we must not give up and stand by our beliefs.