How do we ensure the safety of our projects? What should you know about?

Too many people do not understand how serious and dangerous our work is. To speak the truth in the fight for wildlife, to achieve change, to stand up for the right of ecosystems to life. And above all, we are fighting against money! Against monopolization, colonization, destruction of wildlife for the sake of extracting momentary profit.

I devoted more than ten years to the fight for the Russian Taiga. We explored the most remote areas of wilderness, conducted hundreds of expeditions, raids, revealed violations and crimes. And we also openly spoke out and continue to oppose the lobbyists for the destruction of nature in power, against very influential people who personally promote projects for the destruction of ecosystems and the extermination of wild animals!

Today I want to tell you what security protocol we follow in our activities, how we ensure our protection, protection of projects, protection of activities.

My regular readers know that there is active activity against me! Hundreds of articles trying to “exposure”, paid programs to discredit our work, direct pressure and threats for speaking out against sport hunting. We are stepping on the heels of millions of people who support the destruction of nature! And we prevent wealthy bureaucrats from earning huge amounts of money from the paid killing industry, catastrophic logging, water, soil and air pollution.

Those who follow our work remember how in the Russian North they smashed our expedition car. Just to smithereens, we miraculously survived. We then checked the forests in the region, we were warned not to go, they said that “it’s better not to interfere in your own business.” But we leaned in, openly, and got hit hard.

It was winter. Terrible frost on the street, the extreme north, I remember how it is now. Truckers helped us collect thousands of children’s letters that I carried on the way to Veliky Ustyug from my readers to Father Frost. Here, on the road, there were hundreds of feeders for wintering birds and broken chickadees that we brought as a gift to the Russian Taiga.

Few people know what I experienced at that moment. A strong, hefty man, strong both in spirit and body! I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I always take care of myself, and emotionally I’m really restrained! But believe me, at that moment, I felt salty mean tears on my cheeks. The night frost burned me, and hot tears burned.

After that accident, I realized that my comrades-in-arms could have died because of me today.

Guys from my team! I saw fear in their eyes, saw pain, misunderstanding. It was also useless to contact the authorities at that moment, I know for sure who exactly was working against me and tried to remove me. We plunged into the struggle against the first persons in the regions. I decided to get out of there with clenched fists. And I also learned a huge lesson: do not risk the lives of your people! Never.

I can risk myself, but I have no right to risk those who trust me. After what happened, I developed an internal security protocol for projects! It includes a whole range of tasks and responsibilities that each project participant must follow.

In my memory, over the years of activity in defense of the Russian Taiga, many environmentalists were killed. Many were imprisoned, some cars and houses were burned, many were registered and pressured through their relatives, harassing, threatening, writing out huge fines for their position in protecting nature.

And now the pressure is only getting worse. You yourself know what is happening today in Russia and in the world. Confrontation, squabbling over a piece of land, instead of uniting and protecting wildlife, correcting mistakes, jointly solving environmental disasters by the whole world, clans in power simply tear each other’s throats for influence, power and control over territories. That’s all!

Today, it is much easier and easier to remove the defenders of nature.

Moreover, I have information that in 2023, for example, in Russia, they can completely liquidate any social activity, replacing real activists – pro-government people. For a long time, such people have been created by the authorities, they are public, they pretend to protect nature and help animals, that they are in solidarity with society! And such persons have already received the approval of society. The next stage is the replacement of real independent environmentalists with people who are loyal to the authorities and are part of it.

Therefore, you and I now have to adapt to changes, strengthen our own protection, the safety of projects and activities in defense of wildlife. Any wrong step and everyone who works closely with us on environmental projects is at risk.

I can’t voice the entire security protocol to you, for the sake of that same security, but I’ll tell you the main things. The fact is that people regularly appear who insistently ask to get in touch with them personally, there are still those who ask to tell them in detail everything about our team: what is their name, where do they live, how many of us are there.

People are not aware that the main risk is not the key people, but those who work with them.

If I am now protected by fame, my name, then my people are not protected by anyone except myself! And my mistake could cost them their lives. Putting pressure on my people can easily put pressure on me. Guys can be imprisoned for “left deeds”, they can be sent to “dig trenches”, their families can be threatened. And then, clinging to one, you can get all along the chain.

Therefore, the main aspects of the security protocol of our projects are as follows:

1. No personal meetings with unknown persons. If I need someone, I myself will get in touch, meet and tell you what I need! But if we are offered personal meetings by strange, dubious, unknown people about whom I know absolutely nothing, we will never go to a meeting. This ban is both for me personally and for the whole team. I know cases when from the “security agencies” they actively pretended to be someone, met with activists, “bred” on the necessary topics and then opened criminal cases based on fabricated data. There have been similar cases when “authorities” infiltrated various “parties”, “associations”, and so on, and no one could even think, until the very critical moment, that the members of the association were being constantly monitored.

2. Anonymity. The next most important aspect: Pavel Pashkov works alone. You can consider that I lead all projects alone and I am responsible for everything myself! Not a single member of my personal team or the team of the Russian Taiga project has been and will not be public. In various media, when they tried to discredit me, the emphasis was placed on the saying “where is his team?”. You know, it’s even cooler, imagine that I would do all these complex projects alone? Here is a man! But alas, I’m not that strong. We worked and are working as a team, in 2022 part of our team has been updated. The guys work on a fee basis, they ensure the constant work of projects. I will never be able to do this myself! The names of the personal team have never been announced and never will be. This is the only way to provide real protection to those people who trust me and sincerely want to help protect nature. Note that almost all associations that tried to oppose corruption, the destruction of nature, which said what it was impossible to talk about, were destroyed through the members of the association, when a vulnerable link was found in their ranks and the rest were taken out.

3. Allies. I communicate very closely with the regional authorities and with the Russian Government in Moscow. I’m not looking for confrontation, scandals, bickering with someone. I am exclusively for diplomacy and cooperation! Therefore, when the government offers me to jointly fight for wildlife, I agree. Suppose I am an official partner of the largest federal project “Ecodictation”, I am also familiar with top officials in ministries, law enforcement agencies, I keep in touch with our allies in power! And believe me, they are, they are not few. I am also known to a great many people in the government, with whom we do not personally know, but note the actions of each and follow the activities of each other. Alliance is the most important aspect of the security of our projects.

These are the “three pillars” of the security of Pavel Pashkov’s projects and activities. I want you to know and understand them, this is really important! In addition, we have a strict ban on any campaigning in anyone’s interests, a ban on lobbying the interests of political parties (although I was personally offered money). In principle, I don’t place any advertising on my projects, although thanks to my name I could make good money from this! I don’t do business, not at all. My books are sold by publishing houses and shops, from which we receive funding, albeit very small. The guys from “Russian Taiga” offered to launch a personal brand, things, open sales for profit.

All this creates leverage against me and my activities. Also, any commerce undermines the trust of my people: the activity itself becomes a point of interest, it is mixed with the need to protect wildlife and commercial interests. It distracts from the tasks set, prevents me from fighting, prevents me personally from putting my whole heart and soul into those most important projects to which I dedicate my life!

I want all my associates to know that the only possible line of funding for projects today is your personal support! If comrades-in-arms see that we are doing the right and right thing, they can support us. Details are all on the site, on the pages of projects. Anyone who sees our work and wants to take a direct part in our struggle can support financially and this will be an extremely important, perhaps even key, participation in projects. And believe me, I already know many of those who supported the projects by name! They are like a shield covering us in the difficult struggle for wildlife.

Despite the huge audience, in reality, only a few are ready to support. At times, in a month, you can count on the fingers of those who decided to personally take part, to support activities with donations.

Every time I tell my guys: “Here is another comrade-in-arms! So I have no right to give up!”.

My ill-wishers are trying to recoup even on donations, criticizing my right to receive support from readers. Therefore, every time I write: only for my own, only for ours, for those who consider our work necessary, important, necessary! And if people support, then they know why and why! And I know that next to me are faithful comrades-in-arms, strong shoulders, kind hearts.

Now we are starting the first international projects, expeditions! On behalf of the Russian Taiga, we are going to protect the ancient equatorial forests, the second lung of our Earth. In Russia, our project “Russian Taiga” remains to work. By the end of the year, the guys want to launch the project’s branches in the regions, but completely decentralized and independent. This will allow people within the regions to unite and fight for wildlife together!

In the meantime, I will be away from my native shores, while I will try to change this world, please remember about safety. I will try to control the Russian Taiga project, guide the guys, advise, provide financial support. But personal safety is in the hands of each of you! And if you decide to take part in the work of the project branches, remember this note. Through her, I tried to convey to you all the most important aspects of the personal safety of everyone who protects wildlife!

© PAVEL PASHKOV