Political Accessory
American actress Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted on the set of the third season of And Just Like That (the sequel to the iconic series Sex and the City) holding Alexei Navalny’s autobiography, Patriot, which was published in autumn 2024 following the opposition leader’s death (assassination) in Russian camps, reports British Vogue.
A balalaika, a matryoshka doll, a fur hat, Gorbachev-era “Perestroika” T-shirts, and now the posthumous book by Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny—Western society has long enjoyed “souvenirs from Mother Russia,” adopting them as fashionable accessories, often with little regard for their ideological or political implications and the ways such use shapes public opinion.
Sarah Jessica Parker has not been known to sympathise with the fascist Putin regime; on the contrary, the Hollywood star has repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine in its struggle against Russian occupiers. On 28 February 2022, just days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the actress posted the Ukrainian flag on her Instagram page and asked her followers how best to support those affected. She also highlighted charities such as UNICEF USA, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, the Ukrainian-American world champion in Latin dance who was in Kyiv and actively reporting on the situation in his social media.
It’s highly likely Sarah Jessica simply doesn’t realise that the Russian regime and the Russian opposition—which displays high media activity across Europe and the United States—are two sides of the same coin, both bearing the name Russian Empire. Their actions are geared solely towards one goal: to strengthen Russia’s influence in the world through all available channels, from political talk shows and articles in leading global media to T-shirt prints and accessories like Navalny’s book. Putin couldn’t care less whether it’s War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or Patriot by Alexei Navalny being flaunted across New York, Berlin, or London by socialites and global celebrities. For Putin, the key is that it’s a Russian book, maintaining an open and actively functioning channel of influence through the “mysterious Russian soul” and “great Russian culture.”
Moreover, given Russians’ notorious cynicism and mercantilism, it’s plausible that the book under Sarah Jessica’s arm was paid product placement orchestrated by Yulia Navalnaya’s team, which is now in full swing and generously funded by Western sponsors. Rumours of tens of thousands of dollars paid to Ms. Parker for the shot with Patriot have circulated not only on social media but also in traditional media outlets. In a relatively short time, FBK (the Anti-Corruption Foundation) staff, including members of Navalny’s family, have successfully integrated into the American political establishment. For example, the Navalny family has been hosted by prominent American politicians, from Joseph Biden to senators, and Navalny’s daughter Daria now works on the campaign team of U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
As to what Russian oppositionists are actually doing in the West, we at The Gaze have reported extensively: whether recently exchanged political prisoners Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, or Yulia Navalnaya at her press conferences, they have skirted around the topic of the genocidal war in Ukraine and the destruction of the Ukrainian people. Instead, they focus Western media attention on the “suffering of ordinary Russians,” effectively equating victim with aggressor, while actively criticising the very idea of “decolonising Russia” by dividing it into national clusters. In the speeches of these “oppositionists,” Russians have no desire to dismantle the empire, and the interests of smaller, Russified, and oppressed nations under the Kremlin mean little to them.
Thus, Putin’s political prisoners and Yulia Navalnaya are not fighters against the Putin regime but rather advocates of Russia’s imperialist ambitions, backing the notion of “settling the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in a way that respects the interests of both sides.” Can you find even a single distinction between this rhetoric and statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov or Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov?
Ask yourself—what have the “Navalnyists” achieved, aside from toothless populist statements, after gaining access to prominent global platforms and significant financial backing? They bought a mansion in Washington, two blocks from the Capitol, pompously named it “the headquarters of the anti-Putin resistance.” This building, worth $1.9 million, is set to open in November 2024 as the Free People of Russia House—a new “Russian cultural-political centre” where “opposition” narratives about de-escalation and the need to consider the interests of Russian victims of Putin’s regime will sound even louder. The house was established by certain members of the “Congress of People’s Deputies,” a political coalition of Russian oppositionist exiles, led by former Russian Duma member Ilya Ponomarev. The building’s funding came from sponsors, though their identities and the transaction amount remain undisclosed.
As long as opposition figures like Yulia Navalnaya are welcomed in the West, Russia’s dictator has little to worry about—what the Kremlin’s official propaganda couldn’t achieve, its supposed “opponents” will. They’ll create that very image of a “beautiful and free Russia of the future” that Navalny described in his book. An image that will continue to restrain Western democracies from taking more radical measures against Putin’s war, while Western elites, without delving into the details, carry Russian books as trendy accessories, thinking they’re helping to combat dictatorship.
But the truth is, the unchecked Putin regime won’t be brought down by a trendy book titled Patriot; it will fall to Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, long-range Tomahawk missiles, and devastating sanction packages.