How can Russia climb out of the imperial mindset?

Question: There is not a single social group in Russia that clearly sees the imperial Russian matrix as the cause of all the suffering of Russians and their neighbors conquered by it. Russia cannot be a democracy as long as it remains an empire. But even the Russian opposition: Kara-Murza, M. Khodorkovsky, Navalny supporters, having fled from Putin to the West, prefers not to discuss this topic. Britain and France have freed themselves from their imperial heritage and have achieved democratic progress. To what extent would the rejection of the Russian imperial heritage by the Russian opposition and spiritual disciples accelerate the movement toward democracy and the approach of the golden age in Russia and the world?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2025 Ukraine Webinar.

Well, it is clear that what you have in Russia is a very difficult situation for those who are in opposition. Because of the immense suppression of dissenting views by Putin and his henchmen, there is a limit to what the opposition can do.

Now, it is clear that in an ideal situation, those who would see the imperial mindset, see the problem with it, and would free themselves from it, would of course be the best suited to lead Russia in the post-Putin era. But you have to be realistic and say that given the situation as it is in Russia today, whoever can take over when Putin falls must be somebody who is not too far ahead of the collective consciousness. Otherwise there will not be the backing of a sufficient number of people. In other words, Russia is today so deep into the downward spiral that it cannot be catapulted out of it in one big dramatic turnaround. There must be a gradual climb before Russia can reach the level that the Western democracies were at even decades ago. I am not looking for an ideal candidate or an ideal solution. I am looking for a practical, realistic solution. But of course, that is not thereby saying that any of the candidates you mentioned will be the one to take over in a post-Putin era.

There are certainly other candidates that have the potential to come up, and so it all remains to be seen how this plays out. But first of course, you have to remove a major obstacle to any progress, which is not just Putin himself, but also the entire power elite that is keeping him in power.