"It's sad to the point of despair that good people become monsters."
A Russian woman whose name is listed in the Guinness Book of Records was accused of discrediting the army and forced to paint the gates of the DOSAAF.
Elena Guseva lives in the city of Perm BereznikiShe worked for eight years as a crane operator at a local factory that produces titanium for airplanes and spacecraft. She poured molten magnesium into molds. She says it was very beautiful. And unhealthy.
After retiring, she works at a local supermarket, delivering groceries to elderly women.
Her name appeared in the Guinness Book of Records in 2013, when she, as part of an international team, swam across the Bering Strait – 134 kilometers from Chukotka to Alaska.
In recent years, Guseva's name has appeared increasingly frequently in police reports and court rulings, as the record-holder speaks out against the Putin regime and the war with Ukraine. Currently, for example, she's renovating the garage of the local DOSAAF (Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force, and Navy) organization—a decision the court made after finding her guilty of discrediting the Russian army.
Elena Guseva told NeMoskva how she got into politics and how she's currently undergoing "correction."
International scale and the governor's prostitutes
Elena Guseva became interested in winter swimming as a child during the Soviet era. She first dove in pools, then moved on to ice holes and ponds. Six months after the birth of her first daughter, she was already swimming the crawl stroke in Lake Ladoga.
When political relations with the United States warmed, she decided to swim the Bering Strait. She made her first attempt in 1991, but was unable to reach Alaska that time: while the Americans were processing permits for the Russian participants, the calm waters gave way to a storm. Ultimately, she had to return home, having completed less than half the distance in Russian territorial waters. They reached Moscow on August 17, and just two days later, a coup began in the country.
Journalists in those days no longer had time for us, Elena Guseva explains the lack of newspaper reports about the swim, which was unique for that time.
She attempted to swim across the Bering Strait for the second time 20 years later, in August 2011. She and walruses from several countries chartered a boat, but it never set sail.
When the second week of waiting began, we approached the ship's crew, who had suddenly started painting it. They told us that [Sakhalin Oblast Governor] Alexander Khoroshavin was currently in Moscow, where he'd receive approval to become governor of Sakhalin and would be celebrating, taking prostitutes on tours of the islands. Guseva recalls. "I found an online club and wrote a naive letter to the presidential administration: 'There's an international scandal,' they said, 'people from 20 countries have gathered to sail across the Bering Strait, but they won't let me have a ship.' A month later, when I had already returned home, I received a reply: the ship was making socially important voyages, so they couldn't provide one.' Incidentally, the governor was later jailed; they found a bunch of cash under his mattress [during a search of his house]. confiscated [one billion rubles in cash].
The following year, the ship carrying the walruses was not released due to a "political cooling." This arose because Russia refused to comply with an American court ruling and return the nationalized "Schneerson Library"—a collection of 12,000 books and 50,000 documents collected by Hasidic rabbis since the 18th century.
Ultimately, the swim across the Bering Strait was only successful on the fourth attempt—in August 2013, under the supervision of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Sixty-five people from 17 countries participated in the swim. They swam without safety harnesses, wetsuits, or fins. Since the water temperature ranged from 2 to 13 degrees Celsius, they worked as a relay race, spending 20 to 50 minutes overboard. Immediately afterward, they warmed up in a sauna located on the accompanying ship.
The distance from Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka to Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska is 86 kilometers as the crow flies. The planned 40-hour voyage was expected. However, due to the swimmers being constantly swept by the current and a storm, the route was extended to 134 kilometers and the voyage time to five days.
During the swim, Elena Guseva dove into the icy water 13 times. Periodically, she spotted a huge cuttlefish or whale swimming beneath her.
It was very difficult, and at the same time very cool, - she says. "My team included Americans, Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Italians, Argentines, Brazilians, South Africans, Estonians, Lithuanians, Chinese, and Russians from dozens of regions—we did it all together, in a relay race. It's moments like these that make you realize that all the world's problems can be solved if you work together."
It was scary. The cold was piercing. But it turned out the further I went, the easier it became. I listened to the rhythm and could guess which way the wave would come. I dove under it. I understood that you can't overcome the elements, but you can adapt to them. (From an interview with Argumenty i Fakty about a swim in the Bering Strait, 2014)
Political swim
Until 2017, Elena Guseva posted mostly photos from various swims on social media. She also posted photos with her children—she has three.
And then the gallery was filled with shots of political events. Judging by them, the record-holder began to support Alexey Navalny, demand free elections, speak out against lawlessness and the Tsar.
In 2020, Guseva ran for the city council elections as an independent candidate and received 49 percent of the vote in her district, but lost to her United Russia competitor, who received 51 percent.
I was 12 votes short at one polling station and 20 votes short at another, she sums up. — I didn't do a great job myself. I didn't have much confidence in myself.
Seventeen days after the war began, Elena Guseva went to the city's central department store with a poster reading, "Peace for Ukraine, freedom for Russia, a tribunal for Putin!"
She stood there for about an hour. According to her, some passersby stopped, took photos, and talked. Mostly, they approved.
Then a police van arrived and took me to the station.
There they waited a long time for the special "on-call witnesses" to be brought in. They wrote in the report that they were supposedly passing by, but were unable to get through: they were so outraged by what was happening, — Elena recalls.
She was released after an administrative protocol was drawn up under Article 20.3.3 (discrediting the Armed Forces).
Guseva called the court for three days straight to find out the date and time of the hearing. Information about the case's receipt only appeared on the court's website on the evening of March 16. There was no information about who would hear it or when.
The next day, the activist came to review the materials. However, she was informed that a decision had already been made and a fine of 40 rubles had been imposed.
Human rights activist Artem Fayzulin, who represented Guseva, is leaning toward falsification. This is supported by discrepancies between the figures on the court's website and the extract from the minutes of the case assignments among judges, which are compiled using a special computer program.
"The smart machine assigned the case to the judge on March 16 at 3:58 p.m.—almost an hour and a half after the judge had already reviewed it!" noted Fayzulin on his Telegram channel.
The electronic court file also shows that Judge Cherepanova heard two cases simultaneously: one against Guseva and another hooligan, to whom she gave three days.
The defense attempted to appeal the decision all the way to the Supreme Court, but no violations were found in the judge's actions.
I refused to pay this fine on principle because there was no trial on my case, says Elena. - In As a result, the bailiffs gradually pulled it out of my pension over the course of a year and a half.
They punished him in a godly manner
Elena Guseva was tried again in August 2022 for refusing to voluntarily pay the fine.
They could have doubled the amount, but they assigned a reasonable sentence – only 20 hours of community service. — she clarifies. — The decision went into effect immediately, but I wasn't called anywhere for a whole year. I think the cogs in this system have started to sabotage the process little by little. Everyone feels a little ashamed to be involved. And the bailiffs have a lot of work to do: the entire local population is deeply in debt.
Guseva received an official invitation to atone for her guilt through community service only a month ago. She was even given a list of places where she could do so. The athlete chose DOSAAF. She's been working four hours a day. She still has two more "trials" left.
When I arrived at DOSAAF, the staff there immediately began to seethe, argue, and split into conventional war and peace parties, — says Guseva. — However, those who support me are afraid to express their opinion. And the rest... It's so sad, so desperate, that good, kind people become monsters and, under the influence of very skillful propaganda, wish death on strangers.
Elena says she was initially sent to work in the city park. But management didn't like the sight of her performing her duties in a T-shirt and raincoat emblazoned with political slogans. So they put her out of sight and forced her to paint gates, doors, and a garage.
Previously, all this work was done by detained alcoholics, petty hooligans and drivers without a license, the record holder sums up. — But, as DOSAAF employees say, no one has been sent to them for a long time. They've even forgotten how to register.
