Russians sanctions lead to isolation from west

 Daily Beast:

Out of all the Western sanctions imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine, none has bothered pro-Kremlin mouthpieces more than the dwindling opportunities for foreign travel. They loudly proclaim not to care, but even carefully scripted exchanges on state television and in print betray the Achilles’ heel of Vladimir Putin’s regime. Putin’s propagandists claim to hate the decadent West, but prefer to live, study, shop, retire and send their offspring there.

In an interview published this Friday, popular Russian film director Egor Konchalovsky told the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda just how much he is bothered by the growing divide: “I am disappointed. The West has deceived us. After the collapse of the USSR, it seemed to us that we were about to become part of Europe, a grandiose free world from Lisbon to Vladivostok, where we would use credit cards in expensive stores in Paris.”

Skillfully avoiding any type of an acknowledgement that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the rift, Konchalovsky griped: “It seemed that a magnificent world was about to open up. But it opened for exactly a second, when it was convenient for Britain and the United States… Suddenly—poof! And we no longer hear: are you a good Russian or a bad Russian? No. Now all Russians are bad!” He added: “The West disappeared surprisingly quickly. Now we’re on our own. With a gaze turned inward. And, in my opinion, this is very good.”

The interviewer, journalist Vladimir Vorsobin, candidly asked: “So what’s so good about it? Most of my acquaintances still dream of teaching children in Europe. Any villager in Russia dreams of green lawns, a house and a pub. What will you replace this American dream with? A return to the Soviet Union?”

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Konchalovsky had no good answers: “In today’s world, it would be very difficult, even ‘claustrophobic,’ to return to the USSR. Let’s not be upset that we can’t answer the question as to where we’re going just yet.” To sweeten the pot, the director said that Russia is not totally isolated and can look towards China or India instead of the West. He added: “I am convinced that a new community of countries will emerge, in which Russia will play the most influential role, if not the main one.”

Admitting that not everyone in his family supports Russia’s war against Ukraine, which is still called a “special military operation” by Putin’s regime, Konchalovsky claimed: “This is a clash of civilizations, in which Russia stands on the side of light, and the West embarked on the path of Satanism. And we are now fighting against values ​​that are simply opposite of what we stand for, against absolute evil.” Konchalovsky failed to reconcile the claim that the West represents absolute evil with his grief about not being able to freely travel to or live in that supposedly dark place.

Similar contradictions permeate state TV shows, where host Vladimir Solovyov can’t stop bringing up his seized Italian villas and admits that he’s waiting “until better times” to renew his expired U.S. visa. Head of RT Margarita Simonyan repeatedly acknowledged that she stopped traveling to the United States only for fear of getting arrested for her failure to appear pursuant to official notices, pertaining to federal investigations of election interference.
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With millions of Russians fleeing to the west, this complaint seems unrealistic.  It is obviously harder for regime figures to flee.  Putin has put them in that position, yet they blame the west for objecting to their aggression in Ukraine.