Changing Putin without changing the empire is a scam

“Good Russians” must not be allowed to come to power in Russia. Because this isn’t about changing the system, but merely changing faces. Ruslan Kutayev, President of the Assembly of the Nations of the North Caucasus, has stated this directly. They say they want to remove Putin, but they don’t say they want to dismantle the imperial model. They criticise individuals, but they don’t criticise the very structure of the state, built on the suppression of regions and nations and colonial logic. Their position on Ukraine remains the same: “influence,” “interests,” “geopolitics.” Their position on the North Caucasus remains the same: “control,” “governability,” “integration.” The wording changes, but the essence remains. We raise this conversation not as a political debate, but as a question of the future of nations. Because for the Caucasus, as for Ukraine, the question is not the president’s name, but what kind of state Russia will be as a state, an empire, or a space of freedom.