In 2012 he was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Opposition. In 2014 Piontkovsky signed a statement demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Ukraine and an end to “the annexation of Crimea”. Such a paragon of handshakeability is just a rank’n’file “non-systemic opposition” figure – a very typical representative indeed, but not on par with some of the more notorious ones.