Media: The Pskov coach asked for political asylum in Estonia. “We ourselves are creating this Putin.” Former spy about service to the regime
Mikhail Petrov at a rally in Pskov. Photo: PG
Pskov coach nicknamed “Fizruk” Mikhail Petrov, who was imprisoned in Estonia because of cooperation with the Russian FSB, said that he actually collaborated with Russian intelligence services, writes Pskov Province with reference to DELFI. He explained that he is not offended by Estonia for putting him in prison until the summer of 2018.
“As you understand, my punishment is really mild. And there are 90 days left, and I definitely want to note that the attitude of the guys from KaPo towards me was super loyal. I even want to say that we even have friendly relations with some of the investigators. We meet every month and talk about abstract topics. That is, human relationships. But on the other hand, there is a law and, unlike Russia, it cannot be circumvented. And I had to be punished,” Petrov said.
Petrov also revealed two episodes from the 1990s. One of the episodes was related to the fight against drug trafficking, with some of the drugs going to Estonia. The second episode was associated with work with groups of National Bolsheviks and extremists in the Baltic states. He also confirmed that in the 2010s he worked against Estonia: he supplied the FSB with information about the dissatisfaction of Estonians with various aspects of their lives, as stated in the KaPo yearbook. However, Petrov stated that he sabotaged this work.
“I dealt with this very superficially. Well, in everyday life - I come to competitions, and they tell me that people are dissatisfied with this and that, and then at a meeting with the curator from the FSB I told this. Well, which is also - correctly [KaPo CEO Arnold] Sinisalu said that even such small information is collected like a mosaic,” Petrov noted.
Let us recall that the Estonian court sentenced Pskov martial arts coach Mikhail Petrov, who was known in the Pskov region by the nickname “Fizruk,” to five years in prison. In the summer of 2017, he fled from Russia to Estonia, where he asked for political asylum, allegedly due to persecution by the FSB. But the Estonians themselves recognized Petrov as an FSB agent.
Petrov assumed that the FSB was interested in children’s drawings on the wall of the headquarters of the 76th Airborne Assault Division on Yubileinaya Street in Pskov. The drawings appeared on June 22, the military washed the wall on June 24. "MK in Pskov"
https://www.site/2017-06-27/pskovskiy_trener_poprosil_ubezhiche_v_estonii_posle_antimilitaristskoy_akcii_22_iyunya
“I urgently had to leave the territory of the state - with a backpack with a kimono, in shorts and a T-shirt”
The Pskov coach asked for asylum in Estonia after the anti-militarist action on June 22
Mikhail Petrov's page on the VKontakte social network
Martial arts coach, director of the Pskov Children's Martial Arts School No. 1 Mikhail Petrov asked for political asylum in Estonia due to the fact that the department for protecting the constitutional system of the regional FSB became interested in him, reports the Pskov Province publication.
According to Petrov, the interest of the security forces in him arose after the anti-militarist action that he carried out together with children on June 22, the day of the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. On the walls of the headquarters of the 76th Airborne Division they wrote “A world without war” and “No war”, drew a sun and national flags Russia and Ukraine. Two days later, the soldiers washed away the drawings.
“For the last 24 hours I’ve been receiving information from different sources that boils down to one thing: I’ve crossed some kind of line. As a result, I urgently had to leave the territory of the state, immediately after training, like this - with a backpack with a kimono, in shorts and a T-shirt. Presumably, the situation is presented in such a way that, they say, the guys and I, along with drawings, drew some extremist appeals and so on. Brad, we have photos of the walls. Maybe they painted it later, took a photo and then washed it off, who knows? I have just submitted documents to the migration department for political asylum. I won’t go back,” said Mikhail Petrov.
He also left a message to the students on his school’s page on the VKontakte social network, in which he promised that the club would live without him.
Photo: Mil.ru at the base of the 76th Guards Airborne Division in the Pskov region, screenshot June 27, 2017 10:53 / Politics / Tags: ,
According to Echo of Moscow, the Department for the Protection of the Constitutional System of the FSB of the Russian Federation became interested in Pskov coach Mikhail Petrov. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Petrov, together with his students, painted with crayons the fence of the military unit of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division with calls for peace with Ukraine.
As Meduza previously reported, two days later the inscriptions were washed away by the military.
On June 12, anti-corruption rallies across Russia were organized by supporters of politician Alexei Navalny. The first series of anti-corruption rallies took place on March 26.
Mikhail Petrov is a famous Pskov martial arts coach. After a conflict with the administration of the Pskov region, he began to actively engage in social and political activities.
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Such fragile security
First there is a wave of noise that is rapidly approaching. Following her, a stream of people is visible, creating this wave. The crowd instantly fills a narrow Brussels street, sweeping away the tables of summer cafes on its way, carrying with it more and more people - local residents and tourists, who a moment ago were serenely having dinner, drinking wine and beer, exchanging lazy phrases and funny jokes. This is exactly what the “evacuation” of the main square of Brussels looked like on the evening of June 20, 2017, which the author of these lines accidentally witnessed.
: a children's coach from Pskov asked for political asylum in the European Union after an anti-war rally. However, it didn’t work out then. In Estonia, Mikhail Petrov, instead of political asylum (or along with it), received a sentence of five years in prison: a year of actual imprisonment plus four suspended sentences. Later, it became known from the Estonian media that Petrov was related to the Russian special services and came to the Estonians to surrender as a spy. He was recently released.
About working for the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Petrov and today he talks without much desire, although in brief information I added the word “spy” to my Facebook page. In Pskov, they had no idea about this incarnation of him, and when asked: “Did any of your friends know that you served in intelligence?” – Petrov answers with a laugh: “No, of course!” For everyone - journalists, officials, opposition activists - he was simply a Fizruk: a children's mixed martial arts coach, whose dedication to the sport the authorities tried to use for the purposes of patriotic propaganda.
The physical education teacher was a prominent character in the political community and in social networks. He was known as an athlete who literally lived in the gym, as a friend and sparring partner of the vice-governor Maxima Zhavoronkova(now – first deputy head of the Central Election Commission " United Russia") and almost a combat unit of the governor's team Andrey Turchak. In 2015, Petrov headed the Pskov regional branch of the notorious MMA club "Oplot", which, after the events on the Maidan, moved from Kharkov to Moscow.
However, at some point his rhetoric changed dramatically. On the pages of social networks, Petrov, without mincing words, began to vilify the regime, as he had previously vilified the opposition. He joined the regional branch" Open Russia“, became a regular at protests, and at a rally on July 12, 2017, assembled by Navalny’s Pskov headquarters, he openly spoke about how he “sold himself to the authorities” for two years. Addressing young people, Mikhail advised not to follow his example: “You will lose more.”
On the eve of his flight, Petrov, together with his students, painted with crayons the concrete fence around the airborne military unit stationed in Pskov. A couple of days later, pacifist drawings, including those about Russian-Ukrainian friendship, were washed away by soldiers with mops. It was with this action that the media associated his request for political asylum in Estonia.
Having been released from an Estonian prison (and immediately leaving for Germany), Mikhail Petrov told Radio Liberty that the reasons are much more complex.
"When you start to think, you are replaced"
– Mikhail, what complaints do the authorities have against the children’s coach?
- Yes, there were no complaints, I just left the cage, and since I left the cage, I must either return, or I will be punished. But somehow I didn’t plan to be punished, I still have big plans.
– What does “out of the box” mean?
– Now is the time that you need to keep pace and carry out general guidelines, and by doing them, receive some benefit, money and all that. Over time, you understand: just one step - and you won’t go back, and you no longer work with children at all, you’re already just working as a propagandist. Pskov Regional Administration – part common system. Personally, I have no complaints about any of them. But since they are part of the system, that means I am their enemy.
- Meanwhile, for some time you were friends, you were valued there...
- Yes Yes. When I opened up (opened the Iskra sports club. - RS), about three years later Maxim [Zhavoronkov] came to me and began to provide help. In general, this is normal. I believed and still believe that before becoming an oppositionist, you should try to work with the state itself, that is, I tried to work with them. At first it seemed to me that this would be fruitful, but then, over time, all this became clear and uninteresting to me, and I left.
– You are involved in children’s sports. What does this have to do with politics, with ideology?
- Yes, that’s exactly what was said, at first in a soft form: “Misha, take care only of the children, don’t meddle there, don’t meddle with that one, don’t meddle here.” Some everyday things, questions with some coach, some family, I started asking him (Vice Governor Zhavoronkov. - RS), and it annoyed him. That is, they are annoyed when... So you were given the task of washing the dishes, you and I wash the dishes. You were given the task of jumping and playing war games with the children, and not taking a step left or right. When you start thinking, they start punishing you, you are replaced.
– What did you ask for that irritated you?
– This concerned specific people, I won’t name them. Help specific people from the Pskov region.
– That is, the poor families you asked to help?
– Somewhere there are poor families, somewhere there are poor boarding houses, somewhere there is an offended coach - such things. And then they reached the Russian level, and I said: “Why is this so? Why was it necessary to beat Schlosberg?” “He is an enemy. We need to return the political article,” he answers me. “They all need to be taken to the bridge, like Nemtsov.” These are the things. And little by little you realize that you cannot think, or even try to think, the way you want. And they raised me to such a level that I can be seen. That is, when I expressed something against it, both Turchak and Maxim Konstantinovich immediately wrote to me. And then they simply stopped writing, and prosecutorial checks began, that is, this whole system worked against me.
Imagine, I leave the gym, come back with the children, and the gym is sealed by the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor comes to the school director, the school director runs and seals the gym. I bring the children to the dining room, the head of the dining room runs out: “We cannot serve you!” Here in the last camp: we come to the fire museum, we are taken on a tour, the director of the museum runs in and whispers something. The pale guide comes out: “Oh, our lights are going to be turned off now, you have to leave.” This happened every day at every step. Every day!
– Did it start abruptly or gradually increase?
– It happened somewhat gradually, yes. I didn’t keep a chronology, but I felt like I had crossed some kind of Rubicon and there was nowhere to go back.
"The help was that they didn't bother me"
– How did your friendship with the authorities begin?
– First, they showed love for children and a desire to help them. Here I am a coach, I love my job. I lived on the street. Karl Marx, in the store closet. The door opened and I walked into the twenty-meter gym; I had ten groups there. Here, I’m working, you can see it all. And one day he writes to me... and I don’t even know who it is, Stirlitz in his avatar: “You are a very cool guy, we want to help you.” Then one of our friends explained who it was, I thought: well, okay. But somehow I didn’t care, for me the regional administration was such a bunch of mice.
- And who was it?
– Maxim Konstantinovich Zhavoronkov. And when he came, he seemed to me, and now he seems, as a person who is interested in sports, in the development of children's sports, in helping coaches. He still helps, but you have to live up to his ideas about a coach. And what you write and say must correspond.
That is, if I throw a straight right hand, I should do that exclusively. But I don’t consider myself... As the former head of the regional sports committee called me, I am a social worker. Through sports, I try to develop the child, you know, and develop with them. As a teacher, I go with them, with the children. And it doesn’t matter to me at all whether he hits well with his right straight or not, it won’t make him any worse for me. Whether he makes a good throw or not, he will be just as precious to me. And there everything was set up like this: “So, we’re having a rally in the spring, maybe you should come out?” It’s not like: “Misha, if you don’t come out, they won’t give you anything.” But it was done in such a way that an adult understands that they need to go to a rally - there, “Russian Spring”, Crimea, something else...
– And they went and pretended to be extras?
– We walked and walked, you can find photos somewhere on VKontakte. And when we went to see Navalny, I just went alone, my close guys went themselves. I thought with them, they said: “We want to go too.” I say: "Let's go." That was the difference.
– What did the administration help you with?
– Firstly, the administrative resource was assigned to me. But honestly, I remember now – there wasn’t really anything special. Gym... Oh yes, grants! That is, at half past ten I already knew that I would receive a grant, on which at one o’clock, after lunch, only the decision was made. I think I received two grants.
– Regional grants for socially oriented NPOs?
- Yes Yes! This, I think, is a help. But, really, I lived in the gym as I lived, and we were already able to rent another gym, we were able to rent some sports equipment. I gave the old one to the Sebezh special school, they gave some to school No. 25, they gave everything away. The bar will not go anywhere, or the tatami, it will work for five years. Plus more in the newspapers. But then I asked: “Don’t publish me in the newspapers.” Because the best advertising is competitions when people come. This is how help was provided.
– In general, the green light for everything, right?
– You know, in the office, which I hope we won’t talk about, they say this: “We’ll help you.” – we won’t help, but we’ll interfere – let's interfere." That is, the help consisted in the fact that they did not interfere with me.
I’m a kid from the 90s, they shook my hand and said “25” - that means 25, not 60, as on paper
– After you escaped, the Pskov media began to write that you were left with huge debts on rent for the hall in the Prostoria sports and entertainment park, which was built by Nikolai Zagorui...
– Hall "Prostoria". Even at the stage when there was concrete dust, Andrei Anatolyevich [Turchak] promised me that “we will find a hall.” And when the construction of Prostoria began, this hall was immediately filled into the plan. That is, it was assumed, naturally, that I would pay [the rent] with grants and take care of the children; the director, in general, knew all this.
Zagoruj is a businessman, but he survives in the same system, and he decided to make a hall. And the following situation turned out: I think that they pay, he thinks that in general someone should pay something, and when I had the situation that we talked about, in my opinion phone calls no one answered, and Zagoruj began to issue an invoice. The amounts there are truly exorbitant. I paid him because there were verbal agreements. And then several months pass, I receive a letter: “You haven’t paid anything for these months...” In general, there is some cosmic amount named, which, frankly speaking, could have been paid, but I already realized that I was everywhere I won't shut you up. And that's it, I left. They didn’t kick me out, I left there myself.
– And what did you pay, did you still have receipts, checks?
– Yes, they stayed, but the agreement itself was concluded in such a way that... That is, oral agreements with him are one thing, but the agreement is another. I’m a kid from the 90s, they shook my hand and said “25” - that means 25, not 60, as on paper. That's it.
- I see, and you are left in debt.
- Yes! And then a letter comes from the regional administration that I didn’t pay back 25 [thousand rubles] from the grant and didn’t report. When I arrived, the accountant told me: “Misha, they just drew a number for you to demand from you, and no matter what you bring, they will still demand it from you.” And all this together with the closure of classes, canteens... I realized that they would simply destroy the club. Now my club is alive, with a different name, I try to shine less there, all the guys are engaged, the main backbone. So the club is alive, I'm alive.
“Then I didn’t want to sell”
– How did it happen that after the “Krymnash” rallies you started going to Navalny’s rallies?
– You see, aesthetically I couldn’t stand it all anymore. I'm not a politician, it was an aesthetic dislike of everything that was happening. When I went to the rally [for Crimea], I went because I wanted to help the club develop. I sold out, I talked about it at the rally. We're all for sale. I sold myself like this.
- And then?
– You will be surprised, but then I didn’t want to sell myself.
- Sharply.
- Not sharply. This happened somewhere, probably in 2015, 2016 and 2017 in part. That is, from ordinary everyday things, conversations with my brother, with my mother, with my friend Dima Markov, I listened to some other opinions. I argued something there about this Crimea. Then I talked with Ukrainians. You see, this communication – it changes. I didn’t swallow a stick so I could walk around and not change. If we didn't change, the world wouldn't develop at all. And it's not about money or anything else. He (Zhavoronkov. - RS) He wrote to me that there are problems with money now, I say: “Okay, but I don’t need it.”
– Then there was a sensational action when you came out with the children and painted the fence. How did this idea come about?
– In general, we walked to the stadium using different routes and started talking about how this fence was ugly and aesthetically unpleasant. It’s funny to hear from a person who wears sandals with his socks, but I have an aesthetic aversion. I say: "Let's paint it." And the next day, as we walked, we painted it. Before that we planted trees. They were simply beautifying the city; there was no global meaning. But it turned out that this was precisely the final point.
In fact, there is no need to be afraid of the regional administration, I could continue to work, especially since they were later sent to another direction. And when the state security system, military counterintelligence, is activated, then you begin to think that you have allotted hours.
– But in general the action turned out to be symbolic: children painted the fence of the military unit with pacifist drawings...
- Yes, we thought we would draw. Well, since it’s a military unit, let’s say “children for peace”, that’s all. My brother and I drew this now famous picture with Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, damn the guys who painted.
– But why did you still have to run?
– I had to flee Russia because it was unsafe for me to be in the city and in the country in general. When you feel unsafe in a room, you leave it. So I went out. My life was in danger.
– Where did the danger suddenly come from? What danger can threaten the coach?
– A coach can be in exactly the same danger as a journalist or a bus driver if he begins to speak out against what is happening in his country and in his region. We painted the wall of a military unit that is participating in the war, and immediately a registration file is opened with military counterintelligence, and four soldiers in disguise are sitting in my entrance. You see, all these things... You ask such questions as if I ran away from Holland! “Why did you escape from Holland, everything is fine there!”
“I came to give up because I came to them for help.”
– How did you understand that the FSB was interested in you?
- Yes, they called me there! The person we worked with, from the parallel service, called me and said... I won’t say what he said, because he’s still there. The main thing is not even what he said, but it was clear that I needed to do what I did.
- Get out.
- Well, yes, back off for a little bit.
I took a training session, noticed that something was wrong in the yard, and right there with my bag, I carried my passport with me, and I recommend it to everyone, I crossed the border.
-Where to go there?
- And then to the city of Tartu.
– We in Pskov were very surprised to learn that political emigrant Mikhail Petrov suddenly became an Estonian prisoner.
– And you were surprised because they suddenly called me a political emigrant. If you didn't call me a political emigrant, you wouldn't be surprised. This is a matter of concept.
- So you were imprisoned for the crime?
- They put me in prison for the case. There was a court, thank God, there a court is a court, and taking into account the fact that I came on my own, that is, I came after crossing the border directly to the competent authorities. We talked, and then you know everything - the trial, the deadline, which is still symbolic.
– Mikhail, did you expect that this would end – in court and in prison?
- 99 percent.
“So, essentially, we came to surrender.”
I realized that there are no special services anymore, and these are just security companies under all these Usmanovs, Vladimir Vladimirovich, under everyone. And I would work for another hundred years
“I came to give up because I came to them for help.” So I come to ask you for help, and I myself have a gun. We need to open up! I came and I opened up. First of all, I don't know what they know. And secondly, I am not a political emigrant. Yes, I had a fight with Russian authorities, it reached a critical point, but the danger came not from political repression, but specifically from the named people, the special services.
-What was the charge? There's espionage there, I think?
– No, this is Article 233 “Non-violent actions of a foreigner directed against the sovereignty and state integrity of the Republic of Estonia.” That is, espionage was replaced with this article.
– What kind of “non-violent actions”?
– You know, there are certain rules that I don’t want to break. I cannot divulge the very essence of the matter, because I gave a subscription.
And speaking of the special services. I spent about 20 years in these organizations, so to speak, and I would still like to say that there is no need to idealize the intelligence services of democratic countries. The intelligence service itself is not a democratic organization. Everywhere, like in Russia, they have only one rule: do everything you need, everything you want, you won’t be punished, except for one thing - don’t cheat on the office. This applies to the British, the Americans, the Germans, and everyone! I want to tell you right away that I also think that this is a Russian trace in the Skripal case. But I also believe in Santa Claus, I also believe that Elvis Presley is alive - this is my personal business, proof is needed. Because the British intelligence services can also poison him, believe me, without any further discussion. I just know how the intelligence services work. Believe me, both Russian and Western special services can break legs and do anything. Therefore, there is no need to idealize them, just like society itself.
"The agency has no contracts"
– Mikhail, what was your status in the intelligence services?
– Status... like this.
- A spy, in short.
– Something like that... No, you know how the Russian intelligence service is different: it is never possible to prove the connection of an agent or a career employee with the work of these intelligence services, this is a Russian peculiarity. There is no documentary evidence, you can always say: this is not ours. And at the same time, our boy will be wandered by the special services of some Uruguay, and they will quietly change him.
– You didn’t quit intelligence, did you?
- And no one there... It’s not like a bus driver: you came to the personnel department, “Oh, can I work?” The agency does not and cannot have any contracts. At most, when you report for money, you write something there. These are the ones who go there, in the management, twenty personnel people, from 9.00 to 18.00 - yes, these are registered there. But the rest are not. Some work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some at Aeroflot, some at railway, some are journalists, some are oppositionists.
– So, all employees are distributed throughout the society like this?
- Absolutely right.
– Were you a “coach”?
– I was a coach. I was just a coach before that. And the fact that I went [to competitions abroad] was of interest. And they took me to the department that dealt with intelligence. That is, I could travel abroad without attracting any attention. At least that's what it was supposed to be. And there I was already collecting information.
I, of course, was not involved in undercover operations, this is a complex system. And everything else... Another thing is that over time I suddenly realized that I was doing something wrong. That is, the organization I was with did not concern politics at all. And the organization that OZKS (Department for the Protection of the Constitutional System. - RS) in the FSB, it is generally a gangster organization, and over time, as I understand it, it eventually took over the foreign intelligence department. I spoke with our general in February (Head of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Pskov region, Major General Alexey Kalyan. - RS), We talked for three hours: “Putin is Russia,” I listened to it all, and we parted not very well. That is, I realized that there are no special services anymore, and these are just security companies under all these Usmanovs, Vladimir Vladimirovich, under everyone. And I would have worked for another hundred years, you know.
– You were specifically involved in foreign intelligence, right?
– Well, yes, since I was arrested in Estonia.
– How did you spend this year in an Estonian prison?
– Well, compared to what’s going on in some Russian prisons... I spent thirteen months there. I spent six months in solitary confinement, and my voice even changed—I hardly spoke to anyone. Then they transferred me to a general cell.
I don’t know, maybe I’ll go to Africa and lead an uprising in some country
Is there something in this prison like in the Russian prison in Yaroslavl? Of course, there is no such thing there. Not now. It happened before, and after Soviet Union. There used to be racks, according to old prisoners, all this happened. Now it's done differently. If you need to put pressure, then it is done like this: “This is for your safety.” It’s 32 degrees outside, 40 degrees in the cell, they lock it, there’s no air, you lie on the floor for weeks. They open it, you go out and don’t want to kill anyone, swear or anything else. Or they took me outside, and I stood there for two hours in a T-shirt and pants. I wrote a complaint, they said: “We don’t remember anything, and the camera didn’t record anything.”
These things, of course, exist; there is no need to idealize them. And it doesn’t even depend on the system, because Estonia is Democratic state, and this depends, firstly, on the people themselves, secondly, on the social justification of such things. When the police shot this crazy man on the street, it was socially justified, and no one was particularly indignant. When a prisoner is locked up for a week in the heat (you can’t imagine this hell), that’s what he needs, he’s a criminal. You and I ourselves are creating this Putin and these camps, it’s our people who work there and hit us on our heels. People like us, what does Putin have to do with it?
It’s just that under an authoritarian regime, human qualities that are so bad are easier to develop and less punishable, and we ourselves justify all this. I'm talking now about why I left. I even tried to become the same as them, and it didn’t work out.
– Are you going to return?
– Oh, the main thing is that they don’t come on their own!.. Listen, I haven’t settled in here yet, I need to think about what to eat and what to drink. I have enough money to live for a month, and it’s good that my friends settled me here for free.
I need to think about work. But the situation is such that, having a residence permit in the European Union, I must work only in Estonia, and here, in Germany, I must obtain a separate work permit. And I am now busy with such ordinary questions.
I'm in Berlin now, but in three weeks I won't be here, I'll be on the other side of the continent. And it will probably stay like this for a long time. Why? Because in Estonia they gave me a residence permit for five years, in my opinion, this is called “significant state interest,” but they strongly hinted that it was undesirable for me to stay in Estonia. Apparently, I’ll be wandering around countries like this.
Plus, I want to get back to training, first with friends, with friends’ children, and then, with permission, to work here, if possible. If not, I don’t know, maybe I’ll go to Africa and lead an uprising in some country.
Photo: KAPO
Pskov coach Mikhail Petrov hopes to be released from an Estonian prison in 90 days, writes the Pskov Guberniya publication. Here is the article in full and without changes:
“Fizruk” Mikhail Petrov already deserves to have a book written about him or a film made about him. Perhaps the main Pskov adventurer of the 21st century has been sitting in an Estonian prison for almost a year, which he calls “a disgrace.” Mikhail still cannot explain his conclusion clearly (for various reasons), he only says that you need to communicate with Estonia carefully and it is better not to give up on your own. “One way or another they will want to imprison you,” he believes.
“The man who served the administration for two years”
The story of Mikhail Petrov must be told first, although many in Pskov know it well. Pskov coach Petrov returned from Estonian Tartu to Pskov, where he began training in mixed martial arts, jiu-jitsu, and grappling. “Fizruk” Petrov (it’s already difficult to remember who first came up with this “label” for him, which he himself lovingly promoted) is a charismatic man, even more of a fanatic, who lit up himself and lit up everyone around him. Petrov lived in the gym, renovated it together with his parents, and organized a real holiday for the children.
Many people communicated with Mikhail; one of his regular partners on the tatami was the political vice-governor of the Pskov region Maxim Zhavoronkov (the current first deputy head of the executive committee). Petrov also communicated, to a lesser extent, with Andrei Turchak, including on social networks (their correspondence has been at our disposal for almost a year, but for obvious reasons will not be published). Petrov’s friendship with the regional administration helped provide support for the club; Mikhail himself was published in Pskovskaya Pravda and regularly appeared on social networks. Quite quickly his “passionarity” began to take on active forms: either he declared that he would create a Pskov branch of the Oplot organization, or he was going to go and burn the striking truck drivers who were burning tires and speaking out against “Plato”.
And then something suddenly changed. Stories vary, but the most plausible version (everyone traditionally tries to be as neat as possible during a conflict) is related to the fact that Petrov and Zhavoronkov had a conflict. On the basis of money or politics - this is no longer so important, and the truth can only be found out in a confrontation.
Petrov abruptly went into opposition, hated the Russian authoritarian regime, began speaking at rallies organized by Navalny’s headquarters in Pskov, and tried to join the regional council of the Pskov branch of Open Russia. Before fleeing to Estonia, Petrov was sent a document according to which he owed more than 100 thousand rubles for rent. This was due either to some error in the accounting department, or somewhere he did not read what was written in the fine print. “I’m an athlete, not an accountant!” - Mikhail Petrov was fuming then and said that all this was being done at the instigation of officials.
The story reached its climax in June 2017. First, Petrov made an amazing phrase at a meeting of Navalny’s headquarters on June 12, declaring that he “served the administration of the Pskov region.” “There are posters here that say, “Crook, don’t steal.” A swindler cannot help but steal, a thief cannot help but steal, and we ask him: “Can you not steal a little?”... They will not give you anything. I’m telling you this as a person who served the regional administration for two years. Served. He didn’t even serve, and did it for money. This is 20-30 thousand rubles a month. Neither more nor less, but I sold myself for this figure. I don’t recommend doing this,” admitted Petrov.
And 10 days later, Mikhail Petrov and the guys from his section painted the walls of the 76th Airborne Division. Two days later they were washed, and two days later Petrov fled Russia.
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When he arrived in Estonia, Mikhail and I were constantly in touch: he asked to help him with the status of a political refugee and, in principle, to make sure that he was not “rolled into cement” somewhere. At the same time, he talked about how he adapted to the area, how he got a job at a center for foreigners. “They forcibly shoved 20 euros directly into me. I say “I refuse social assistance.” They: oh, you’re probably suicidal, you need mental help. And two Georgians in tights looked at me like I was some alien shit. With interest and disgust. They generally sleep for puten and eat here for a year,” wrote Mikhail (spelling preserved).
“Shame of Europe”
Today Petrov sits in an Estonian prison. A long cold concrete block with chambers-pencil cases. “This is a shame for Europe, that’s what I’ll tell you,” Mikhail responds to interrogations about the conditions of imprisonment. - They will tell me: why are you complaining, it’s even worse in Russia. Hardly. We had three Russians sitting here, they were born in Estonia, but according to their passports they were Russian. So they wrote a paper to the authorities with a request to transfer them to serve time in a Russian prison, they were transferred. Last week, for example, a guy hanged himself here.”
What ultimately happened, the coach is still not ready to tell. “Well, I had an Estonian friend who helped me, because I don’t know the language - I’m a spy, and a spy, of course, shouldn’t know the language! - so, when I told him that I needed to get political asylum, he took me to the local police. I clarified to him that we still need to talk with KaPo, an analogue of ours. We went, talked for about two hours, I asked for help, and yes, they helped me get a job at a center for foreigners, famous place Here. And what happened next... Well, this is still a secret, as I said, we entered into a gentleman’s agreement with them, which they partially violated, and if they do not keep their word on other issues, then I will be ready to say everything. And I think this will be an unpleasant revelation for many Estonian residents. One thing I can say: never give up voluntarily. You can negotiate, but if you give in like this, well, they’ll want to put you in jail anyway.”
In terms of promises from KaPo - a calm exit from prison in 90 days, as well as the parallel receipt of a residence permit. Petrov plans to leave prison in mid-July: a five-year sentence was imposed by the court according to the “one plus four” scheme, that is, four years - suspended. “That is, if I already go out and steal a can of milk, then four years will become real. But this is hardly possible. When I get out... I won’t stay here anymore, I’ll leave” - “Probably not to Russia?” - “Of course, not to Russia. I looked at how the special services work, I know what awaits me. You understand, the FSB and KaPo are one and the same, all intelligence services are the same. I have no hatred for Estonia at all. And where to return? For example, they tell me that now allegedly the police have started calling the children and parents of the club, they are collecting information about financial irregularities and, according to unofficial information, opening a case of fraud.”
By the way, one of the points of the “gentleman’s agreement” between KaPo and Petrov, according to Mikhail, was his refusal of the status of a political refugee or, as it is officially called, international protection. It is unclear why the Estonian intelligence services insisted on this. Now the main thing for him is a residence permit; they promised to help him prepare the documents a couple of weeks before leaving prison.
“I don’t despair at all, but there’s not much that’s pleasant,” Mikhail returns to the conditions of his imprisonment. - We have spies, sexual rapists and drug addicts sitting here. Well, we’ve been joking with spies for a long time: “hello spy, whose spy are you?” and so on. We have Bosnian generals sitting here and many other interesting personnel. But the conditions... Yes, I have a hernia here, hypertension. What are they saying? You’ll be leaving soon, and when you’re free you’ll take care of your health.”
Now Petrov is waiting for information from KaPo, trying to take care of his health, calling his parents and us. “This whole yearbook thing scared a lot of people. One of my friends, who was also seeking political asylum, has not answered his phone for three days. This story and the spy trail - it was all bad.”
“Amazing story, how did this happen? - he asked me the day before. I am now an enemy in Russia, a spy in Estonia. Isn't it too much for one [person]? How did this happen, tell me?”
Karma, Misha, karma.