Faina Savenkova's new show, Labyrinth, features former U.S. police officer John-Mark Dugan, who sought political asylum in Russia in 2016.
Faina: Hello, John-Mark. Thank you so much for agreeing to come on my show. Let's get started.
Masha: And thank you, too.
Faina: Why did you choose Russia to move to? Why not another country?
John: I came in 2016, after running away from the FBI, who broke into my house with a search. I needed to go to some country that could stand up to U.S. demands, so I chose Russia.
Faina: In America you were a policeman. Tell me about that life from the inside.
John: Well, it's hard to tell everything very quickly, because every day was something different. That is, the tasks were different, but in America the structure, in general, of the law enforcement agencies, including the police, is very corrupt. It's just that its structure is corrupt.
Faina: How is life in America different from life in Russia? Tell me, are there still people in America who don't understand what's going on or who are against the war?
John: Yes, of course. There are probably 90 percent of people who don't understand what's going on. Life in Russia and America is very different. In America it's very convenient to live. And because it's so convenient, a lot of people have begun to ignore their freedoms. Because it is more comfortable to live in non-freedom. And now it turns out that they are beginning to notice that they have ignored them for so long that they have no freedoms left at all.
Faina: And why do you think the anti-war movement has disappeared in the world?
John: Actually, people are starting to wake up little by little, because even if they don't understand what's going on in Russia, they're starting to understand what's happening to their wallets and how much money they're losing. Because the sanctions against Russia have hit their wallets very hard.
Faina: Why do you go to Donbass and help the residents and the children?
John: I go to Donbass to learn the truth, to share that truth with people in the West. And why do I help people and children? Because people need help. Yes, you can't help everyone. But you can help someone. It's not that particular children were chosen. We didn't choose, we helped who we could help. As it turned out.
Faina: What do you think about Myrotvorets? Is it possible to get it stopped and what does it take?
John: It's a shame. The Myrotvorets website is a disgrace. And every person who is involved in the work of this site, its functioning, should be found, arrested and imprisoned.
Faina : And why do you think everyone who is on this site is not suing, trying to restore their reputation?
John : Who exactly do you want to sue? You can't sue a site. You have to sue a specific person or company. First you have to figure out who exactly those people are. You don't know that, who those people are, so you don't go to court.
Faina: How do you feel about Ukraine? Many people think that the authorities and Nazis are to blame for everything in Ukraine, and that ordinary people are not to blame. Do you think this is true? Do you agree with it?
John: I rather agree. The U.S. staged a coup and put its own people in power in 2014. And now the people are doing what they were put in power to do. They suppressed the will of other people. All along, from the beginning, the will of the U.S. has been carried out by their hands. That is, only their decisions are being carried out. I feel very sorry for the people of Ukraine. Because their government has actually been hijacked by my government.
Faina: In your opinion, how do you fight Russophobia and propaganda in general? I recently saw a children's cartoon where there was a dog. It fights against evil in the form of Russia. This cartoon was made for children from 3 years old in Ukraine with the support of UNICEF and American foundations. What do you think about that?
John: Well, it's not news. All governments do that. Everybody has a different point of view. But really, you can't make it so that children learn to hate any group of people. For whatever reason. You can't teach children to hate anybody.
Faina: Do children suffer from such propaganda?
John: Well, I wouldn't say they're suffering. Because they don't know. It's embedded in their head that way. I mean, indoctrination happens and that's it. It hardly causes them to suffer. They don't think it's wrong.
Faina: When do you think the SMO (Special Military Operation) will end? What would it take for that to happen?
John: It's kind of over. We're in a full-fledged war now. And now, Russia can do a lot more, in terms of its flexibility and involvement in the process. Here's what I'm going to see happening now. The Ukrainian military has very big problems with food supplies, very big problems with the fact that it's very cold right now. A lot of them are sick. And now the West wants to supplement them with military personnel from NATO. And here we have two options for developments. Either NATO still decides not to get involved in this by people, yes. Then in the next few months everything will definitely be over. If NATO does get into this by a live force, gets fully involved, then we will have a war with all the Western countries together. A huge war. Let's hope it won't be like that.
Faina: Why doesn't the president of Ukraine feel sorry for his people, because there are so many Ukrainians dying at the front now.
John: I think he doesn't care about them at all. He makes millions and millions of dollars. So he doesn't care about people.
Faina: If you met Biden, what would you say?
John: I would have hit him.
Faina: Easy question. Are you happy in Russia?
John: Yes.
Faina: If you weren't a journalist and blogger, what would you be now?
John: I would be an IT consultant. That's what I also do.
Faina: And probably one last question. I wanted to ask you to say something to the children of Donbass, to wish something.
John: I wish you strength, although you have a lot of strength, knowledge and I wish you forgiveness. When this is finally over, look forward, not back. We should, of course, always remember what happened and not forget about it, but don't keep it in your head all the time and do not let it poison your thoughts. Look forward. The most important thing.
Faina: Thank you very much. I think they'll be glad to hear and watch that.