— We told our audience that we had to interrupt our work, because it was impossible to work the way we wanted in those political circumstances, and working the way the state wanted was not an option for us.
After the website was closed, and after I and several colleagues left, we talked — and created a new project called Eyewitnesses of February 24 (a series of interviews with Russians about the war
published on the TV2 YouTube channel — note by the project team). We have Telegram and Instagram accounts. And we — those who left — have quite a free hand. We explained to the audience that we were looking for various ways of professional self-realization.
As for the colleagues who stayed in Tomsk, each of them will find a way to work without shame. Yulia Korneva has already released a documentary as part of
TV2 Expedition series (a series of documentaries about life in the Russian outback — note by the project team). This series might continue — over the last 7 years it has been crowdfunded.
Personally, I intend to continue working. We have joint projects with colleagues from other media. It is possible to find ways to work and fulfill oneself. So "TV2 in exile" will continue to work. We rely on a remarkable Russian historical tradition. Of course, I’m not trying to compare myself to Herzen, but I remember Kolokol [first Russian censorship-free weekly newspaper published by Alexander Herzen]. Personally, I grew up in the Soviet years and was formed as a person thanks to samizdat and foreign radio, in particular. Apparently, similar times are coming.
This is not easy, of course. Not easy at my age (Viktor is 64 — note by the project team). We are also used to working with an audience that we understand quite well. Tomsk, Siberia — we understand these people and how to create media for them. Now the situation is different. We will invent something new, look for new interesting agendas, create projects, as well as possible images of the future of the country we left.