Ksenia Sobchak publishes Ivan Gudkov's pre-death message on emigration

Death of opposition figure's son

Ivan Gudkov, 20, the son of former Russian State Duma deputy and one of the leaders of the Russian anti-Putin opposition, Dmitry Gudkov, took his own life. Dmitry Gudkov himself announced the tragic event. According to him, his son had been struggling with severe internal problems for many years, which, unfortunately, he was unable to overcome.

Content of the pre-death text

Russian TV presenter and blogger Ksenia Sobchak revealed that Ivan had left a pre-death text. In this document, the young man described his difficult experiences related to emigration.

According to Sobchak, Ivan concluded that the only way to find happiness abroad was complete assimilation and the rejection of Russian identity in favour of a foreign one. However, such a path proved unacceptable to him.

Quote from the final message

«У моєму житті було два найкращі дари: народитися росіянином і жити в Росії. І хоча друге раптово перервалося, право на третє в мене вже ніхто не відбере — право померти росіянином» ("In my life, there were two greatest gifts: being born Russian and living in Russia. And although the second was abruptly cut short, no one can take away from me the right to the third — the right to die a Russian"), Sobchak quotes Ivan Gudkov's pre-death text.