Russian truckers are organizing a freedom convoy

The Association of Carriers of Russia has called for a Canada-inspired protest

Things are getting interesting.

Canada’s Freedom Convoy has reached Russia. The Association of Carriers of Russia (OPR) is organizing its own convoy:

OPR is also organizing for “the elimination of digital slavery and its implementation.”

Russia’s Free Press has the details:

The Association of Carriers of Russia (OPR) intends to support its colleagues from Canada, who organized a “Freedom Convoy.” The demands of truckers and all those who sympathize with them are shared by the overwhelming majority of citizens of the Russian Federation. Most likely, the protests will begin when the weather warms up, and they can become the catalyst that will shake up our society. The patience of the people is at its limit…

The “Convoy of Russia”—the planned demonstration of the OPR—is a purely local project, not a product of “proletarian internationalism.” Support for Canadians is only at the ideological level, because the citizens of each country solve their own problems. However, for the most part they are common. […]

It is not clear when the convoy will begin. A “quorum” will be reached, and “then the drivers will turn on the ignition.” […]

“If a sufficient number of people gather, then no police will be able to counteract this. It all depends on people—how ready they are,” says Sergey Vladimirov, head of the OPR.

It is necessary to defend ourselves, otherwise we will indeed be driven into slavery. Free roads are being taken away from Russians, the Plato tariff [a system for collecting tolls for trucks on federal highways] is growing higher than inflation, they are playing tricks on toll roads, fuel is becoming more expensive at a cosmic pace.

If you do not push back against this, then soon you will have to pay for the very opportunity to breathe.

And that's just the road problems. The rise in food prices in our country is even greater than in Europe and overseas, this topic will also inevitably come up. And not just this…

On February 4, the group announced its support for the Canadian truckers and said it would begin organizing its own convoy:

To organize the Convoy of Russia, the OPR calls out to everyone, not only truckers, but also to all caring people in the regions of the country to unite to achieve the goals of the Convoy, to openly express their will, and their opposition to the blatant violation of fundamental human rights. Namely:

- abolition of compulsory vaccination, in any of its manifestations;

- the elimination of digital slavery and its implementation. 

So basically, they are very anti-compulsory genetic slurry, and also very anti-cattle tag.

Sergey Vladimirov, head of the OPR, was interviewed on February 8 about the current status of the convoy.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

“If a sufficient number of people gather a sufficient number of truckers supporting people, then the convoy can take place. But we must understand that we have one big difference between Canada and Russia. Firstly, the repressive pressure in Russia is much more serious than in Canada. Secondly, truckers in Russia are not so affected by this story with restrictions at the moment, because in our country, all the strictness of the laws is compensated by their non-compliance.”

“Toll roads are being expanded, that is, there are more and more of them, the price of fuel is rising and so on. All this very much hits the pocket of both the trucker and the ordinary citizen in general, and as a citizen, since this whole story affects prices.”

“There is now a severe shortage of drivers, it is not even only in our country, it is happening all over the world, but in our country now it is already clearly visible. There are not enough professionals… The cars are parked because they can't find drivers.”

It’s interesting Vladimirov notes how non-compliance has softened the severity of Russia’s COVID decrees. Your humble Moscow correspondent agrees with this assessment, although it’s important to recognize enforcement measures vary from region to region.

For example, in Volgograd, Andrei Purshev, an OPR representative, told local media at the end of January:

There is a stratification, a division of society into vaccinated and unvaccinated, between QR-coded and ordinary people. The situation is very tense… This is especially noticeable in public transport. People without a mask are attacked.

We’ll keep an eye on the OPR and report any convoy developments.

In the meantime, you can follow them on Telegram or on VK.com, Russia’s Facebook.