Mikhail Gorbachev: Putin is a demigod, and does Russia need to be a superpower? 2014 interview
What have you been doing for the last eight years? For example, in 2014, while working at Dozhd, I spoke with Mikhail Gorbachev about whether Ukraine would forgive Russia, whether Russia needed to be a superpower, and why any leader should leave when it's time. Gorbachev also recalled that he had been buried many times before. His words ring very true now. Although many of Gorbachev's assessments have certainly changed over the years.
Here's the Dozhd TV channel's YouTube channel, you can also subscribe to it: / tvrain
It feels like we're moving backwards again, not forward. The Cold War, unification, and the "velvet revolutions" are over, and democratic processes are underway within the Soviet Union. It seemed like things were moving along nicely. And then it all turned into these breakdowns. I think we've all learned a lesson here. The lesson is that triumphalism, when someone lays claim to a monopoly, to sole leadership in the world, is a dangerous thing. What we laid out in Perestroika, from all points of view—both domestic and foreign—was the right course, and it had to be pursued.
Whenever I say anything, I always talk about Putin. I don't avoid problems. Where I consider his steps correct, I support them, but I also speak openly about any shortcomings I see, if any.
Putin's actions have begun to adopt more authoritarian methods. I think he's already contracted a disease that, to some extent, has also done me a disservice—arrogance. I've already spoken about this publicly. Politics, ideology, which have returned to old names. They've dug up both in Russia and around the world. After all, if you look at it that way, it's stability, leaving everything alone, and so on, as if nothing needs to be changed. So what are we going to do – a conservative ideology?
Yeltsin is a vile man and an adventurer.
"We demand change" – that was the cry that was heard everywhere in the country back then.
The strongest state is a democratic state, for it presupposes the will and decision of the people, and the people can decide everything – send them to hell, lift them up, protect them, and hold them together.
You've had this choice many times: bloodshed or even more bloodshed. You've had to accept or try to avoid terrible decisions – both in Baku and Tbilisi, many conflict situations.
I think Stalin played an important role, but even before the war, on the eve of the war, he weakened both the party and the military. There were so many of them, they were taken from prison to the front to lead divisions and so on. But I've come a long way since then. I have a wealth of information at my disposal. Stalin committed a crime. In my opinion, the fight against Stalinism – not against Stalin, but against Stalinism – is a very important topic and struggle, because without overcoming it, we can do a lot of bad things.