Russia will be free

Bolshevik revolutionary {{ill|Vladimir Shimanovsky|ru|Шимановский, Владимир Иванович}} wrote in his last letter to his wife before his execution: "Russia will be free, no matter how hard its enemies try, and this faith gives me the opportunity to die in peace".{{cite web |url=https://www.amur.life/news/2021/03/15/my-ne-obnaruzhili-dostoynogo-podviga-amurskie-kraevedy-ne-ponyali-pochemu-ulicu-v-blagoveschenske-nazvali-v-chest-shimanovskogo |title=«Мы не обнаружили достойного подвига». Амурские краеведы не поняли, почему улицу в Благовещенске назвали в честь Шимановского|publisher=Amur.life|date=15 March 2021| accessdate=27 March 2022 |language=ru}} Leon Trotsky, in a lecture delivered on June 16, 1918, said: "Fellow brothers! I call on you to proclaim with me: "Long live the Red Workers' Army and long live the honest labor Workers' and Peasants' Soviet Republic!“ It will not be a slave and will fight to the last drop of blood. Russia will be free! Russia will be popular! Russia will be happy!".{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/russkij/trotsky/works/trotl671.html|title=Международное положение и организация Красной Армии|publisher=Marxists.org|date=|accessdate=27 March 2022|archive-date=2021-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813221729/https://www.marxists.org/russkij/trotsky/works/trotl671.html |language=ru}}

===Contemporary usage===

Boris Yeltsin during the August 1991 coup attempt wrote in the {{ill|Obshchaya Gazeta|ru|Общая газета}}: "The days of the conspirators are numbered. Law and constitutional order will prevail. Russia will be free!".{{cite news|url=https://yeltsin.ru/archive/photo/54815/|title="Общая газета". 20 августа 1991 года|newspaper=Общая газета|date=20 August 1991|accessdate=27 March 2022|archive-date=2016-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114113624/http://yeltsin.ru/archive/photo/54815/|language=ru}} In 2010, the Memorial organization and the Yabloko party organized a march in honor of the victory over the 1991 coup, which was held under the slogan "Russia will be free".{{cite web|url=https://www.yabloko.ru/regnews/ekb/2010/08/21|title=Шествие "Россия будет свободной"|publisher=Yabloko.ru|date=21 August 2010|accessdate=27 March 2022|archive-date=2012-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209200811/http://www.yabloko.ru/regnews/ekb/2010/08/21|language=ru}}

Subsequently, the slogan was often used at opposition rallies, including those during the 2011–2013 Russian protests: at a rally on Sakharov Avenue in December 2011,{{cite news |url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/24431541.html |title=Митинг на проспекте Сахарова |trans-title=Rally on Sakharov Avenue |newspaper=Радио Свобода |date=29 December 2011|accessdate=27 March 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=2022-02-04 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220204124348/https://www.svoboda.org/a/24431541.html |last1=Zykov |first1=Dimitri |last2=Timofeev |first2=Yuri |last3=Tatarskii |first3=Nikita |last4=Chevtaeva |first4=Irina |last5=Kirilenko |first5=Anastasia |last6=Gutkina |first6=Elena |language=ru}} rally in March 2012,{{cite web | url =https://www.ekhokavkaza.com/a/24506000.html | title =Пушкинская площадь: разгон после митинга | publisher =Эхо Кавказа | date = 6 March 2012| accessdate =27 March 2022 | archive-date =2022-03-27 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220327003807/https://www.ekhokavkaza.com/a/24506000.html |language=ru}} rally at Bolotnaya Square in May 2013, where many people ended their speeches with this slogan, including Alexei Navalny,{{cite web | url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2184873 | title="Многие завершали свое выступление на митинге фразой "Россия будет свободной" | publisher=Коммерсантъ | date=6 May 2013| accessdate=27 March 2022 | archive-date=2022-03-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327003807/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2184873 |language=ru}} funeral of Valeriya Novodvorskaya in 2014{{cite book| last=Dodolev|first=Yevgeny |author-link=Yevgeny Dodolev| title=Девица Ноvодворская. Последняя весталка революции| publisher=Рипол Классик| year=2014| pages=347| isbn=978-5386078614 |language=ru}} and the March in memory of Boris Nemtsov in 2017.{{cite web | url=https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2017/02/26_a_10545821.shtml | title=«Мужчина, давайте кричать то же, что и все» | publisher=Gazeta.ru| date=26 February 2017 | accessdate=27 March 2022 | archive-date=2022-03-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327003806/https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2017/02/26_a_10545821.shtml |language=ru}} Also, the slogan was repeatedly used at 2021 protests in support of Alexei Navalny.{{cite web|url=https://m.rosbalt.ru/russia/2021/01/31/1884947.html|title=«Россия будет свободной»: в стране начались очередные акции протеста|date=2021-01-31|access-date=2022-04-12|website=Rosbalt|archive-date=2021-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216073702/https://m.rosbalt.ru/russia/2021/01/31/1884947.html |language=ru}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4661089#id2005173|title=Протесты 23 января. Главное|website=Коммерсантъ|date=2021-01-23|access-date=2022-04-12|archive-date=2021-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130112231/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4661089#id2005173 |language=ru}}{{cite web|title=«Январисты»: что происходило на акции протеста в Петербурге. Видео|website=РБК|url=https://www.rbc.ru/spb_sz/23/01/2021/600c051b9a794749c03f3abf|access-date=2022-04-12|date=2021-01-23|archive-date=2022-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402130533/https://www.rbc.ru/spb_sz/23/01/2021/600c051b9a794749c03f3abf |language=ru}} According to political analyst Vladimir Gelman, "the slogan of the participants of the opposition rallies — "Russia will be free" — may not just be a call, but become a key aspect of the political agenda for our country in the foreseeable future".{{cite book |last=Gelman |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Gelman | title=Из огня да в полымя: российская политика после СССР| publisher=БХВ-Петербург| year=2013| pages=226| isbn=978-5977508278 |language=ru}} Economist {{ill|Andrey Zaostrovtsev|ru|Заостровцев, Андрей Павлович}} expressed the opposite point of view: "if Russia - then not free, if free - then not Russia." In his opinion, the democratization of societies belonging to a "power" civilization is possible only due to a special combination of circumstances arising after external shocks and crises.{{cite book |last=Gelman |first=Vladimir |author-link=Vladimir Gelman | title=Авторитарная Россия: Бегство от свободы, или Почему у нас не приживается демократия| publisher=Альпина Паблишер| isbn=5906067086 |language=ru}} Alexei Navalny, after returning to Russia after poisoning, at a court hearing on February 20, 2021, proposed changing the slogan and saying that Russia should be not only free, but also happy.{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://www.dp.ru/a/2021/02/20/Rossija_budet_schastlivoj|title="Россия будет счастливой": Навальный в последнем слове предложил новый лозунг|website=dp.ru|access-date=2022-05-13}}

The slogan is also used by Russians fighting in the Russo-Ukrainian War on the side of Ukraine, notably in the Freedom of Russia Legion.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLcLhhVywgU | title=Белгородская область | Легион Свобода России | website=YouTube | date=26 May 2023 |language=ru}}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xu_uqcUDro | title=Обращение Легиона "Свобода России" к Евгению Пригожину | website=YouTube | date=5 June 2023 }}

{{reflist}}

{{Russian opposition}}

Category:Russian political phrases

Category:Opposition to Vladimir Putin

Category:Slogans

Category:1918 quotations

Category:1991 quotations