Why Russian Officials Want To Join Anticolonial Rhetoric

Lawmakers at Russia’s state Duma are exploiting the anticolonial agenda as a leverage against the UK with their Britlag

Andrey Lugovoy, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, has proposed holding the Britlag exhibition, dedicated to the victims of British colonialism, outside the UK Embassy, as well as organizing a contest to choose a site for a Britlag monument in Moscow, London, New Delhi, Beijing, Kenya and Jamaica.

He also called for an expert review of history textbooks to assess how fully they “reflect the colonial face of Britain.” The suugested date is December 14, 2026, the same date the International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations takes place.

Lugovoy said Russia should help countries in Africa and the Caribbean with their efforts to establish reparations commissions, ensuring that Britain “settles its debts.”

“The ‘Britlag’ project will provide our friends with a platform in parliament. We will ask the Foreign Ministry for support and help with archival research – the ‘Britlag’ library already contains over a thousand records. We will also help prepare legally substantiated claims for reparations. We have conducted in-depth work on this issue and are ready to move forward,” he noted.

He at the same time called to close the British Embassy in Moscow: “I would like to address the Foreign Ministry. It is high time we closed the UK Embassy, I suggest doing this on the day the exhibition (of Britlag) opens, on December 14” – Lugovoy told a plenary session of the State Duma.