Artyom's Views on Friendship, Nikita, and an Analysis of Nikita and Artyom's Codependency
This is a letter that I've been wanting to talk about for a while now, but didn't have the actual picture of the letter until Ruslan sent it to me (who is also the person who received the July 30th letter), so thank you again Ruslan :) This is also part two to this post, where I responded to an ask about Nikita's dependency on Artyom. Disclaimer, there will be a lot of quotes. So here it is:
"Where did you read that Nikita and I often argued? o.O That's total nonsense. He and I didn't argue at all." This is a pretty strange thing to say, considering this quote from Artyom's mother, Nina:
"When he fought with Nikita (Lytkin), I always told him: 'Make up, you don't want to lose your only friend.'" (source)
And this quote from Nikita's mother, Marina:
"Sometimes they quarreled," Lytkin's mother said at one of the court sessions, and this is recorded in the verdict. "When they argued, I usually said, 'You only have one friend, you need to make up somehow.' I was sincerely glad that Nikita wasn't alone, that he had Artyom. And Nikita once replied, 'If you only knew what kind of friend he is.'" (source)
So it's decently well-documented that they did, in fact, argue, and often enough for it to be brought up by both of their mothers. He could have a different definition of what 'arguing' means, or he could be lying, trying to rewrite the past. A way to paint their friendship in a better light than it truly was. Either way, I think it's weird considering both their mothers brought it up at the trial. I don't think that that's something you would just forget.
"Friendship just doesn't work out. The essence of this phenomenon is that you can't have many friends. You need to give a friend a lot of time, and if we try to give equal time to everyone we talk to, it won't amount to much if your social circle is too wide." Well, he is right about this, but based on what I've read throughout my research, I theorise that he might mean it differently. This brings me to the analysis of their codependency.
"When friends came to Nikita's birthday, Artyom was jealous. I treated this normally. But Nikita had fewer and fewer friends. He believed that past friends were childish, fake friendships. I tried to talk to Nikita, tried to instill in him that he should value the friendship with Artyom that he had left." (source) - Marina Lytkin
There was growing isolation on Nikita's part. Friends dwindled, problems at school worsened, loneliness grew, and the only constant in his life was Artyom.
This dependency on Artyom only worsened with time.
"In the summer of 2009, a few months before the start of the "hunt," Marina and Nikita gathered to go to the sea. Nikita promised that he would go. The closer the departure date got, the less he wanted to go. But he still boarded the train. However, once on the train, he began to sob. "He cried. He said he didn't want to go. It seems to me he was pulled back, to Artyom. When we got back, he immediately ran to his friend."" (source) - Marina Lytkin
This isn't normal behaviour for a 16-year-old boy. There's a difference between loving your best friend and being sad you'll be away from him for a bit, and sobbing, begging to not go and immediately running back to him.
"Artyom was essentially his only companion, in whom he found everything, both a comrade and an ideologue, and his psychotherapist, with whom he could spend his leisure time. He literally put everything on this person." (source) - Yevgeniya Smolenskaya, clinical psychologist
Considering Artyom's narcissistic tendencies and Nikita's deeply-rooted dependency on Artyom to the point that Nikita sacrificed a better life for himself by trying to murder a man to be sent to the same prison as Artyom.
"…using as a minor pretext, as a justification for the murder of B., the achievement of his goal—increasing the length of his sentence and a new conviction for the committed crime, which N.V. Lytkin deemed necessary for his transfer to another, more preferable correctional institution of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service…" (source)
"When Lytkin was serving his sentence, he repeatedly stated that he wanted to be in prison with Anufriev. Only with him." (source) - Svetlana Kokareva, Artyom's lawyer
"This naturally leads only to death. He then has no other options. This is their parting, let's say, of this couple. It was still fatal for Nikita because he couldn't find a person around him who would accept him as he was and help him live. This is a dependence of a certain kind. I think only this led to that action." (source) - Yevgeniy Karchevskiy, main investigator in the ACM case
"Two subjects met on the fact that one is clumsy, the second is more spirited. Well, they stuck to each other, created this ideal balance for themselves, and it went on and on." (source) - Yevgeniy Karchevskiy
I believe Artyom was aware of this severe dependency and weakness.
"Artyom once told me: "Lytkin won't survive in prison without me. He'll be lost without me. They will either kill him or do something else to him. We only need to be together."" (source) - Svetlana Kokareva
And I believe that not only was he aware of it, but he exploited it for murders and his own pursuit of power.
"And all the time, Artyom says to Nikita, "Come on, come on, you first, come on, come on, come on." That is, he pushed him."
"Artyom says, "Nikita, there, there comes the old woman, go ahead and attack her.""
"Artyom has always been the ideological inspirer and the leader. If Artyom had not inspired Nikita to do all these things, we would not have had this series. But at the same time, you need to understand that it was only together that they could commit these crimes. They would have never done it alone." - (source) Yevgeniy Karchevskiy
Nikita had always seemed to have two types of people in his life. Those who saw him as needing protection, and those who took advantage of him. I believe Artyom was the light at the end of the tunnel for him. Someone who didn't treat him like he was fragile and weak, but didn't overtly treat him as a plaything. Maybe, for once, he felt like an equal. While Artyom never truly saw him that way at all.
I see this as a deeply troubled codependency. Nikita needs Artyom. Artyom needs Nikita. They need each other to feel complete. Artyom helped Nikita feel like he was something. He wasn't a pushover, he wasn't weak, he could stand up to the world that he hated and feel powerful. He could finally prove himself. Nikita was fuel for Artyom's desire for power and control. Artyom wanted power, and now he had someone to help him get it. Extremist groups aren't enough, hating everyone isn't enough, even hating your own ethnicity isn't enough.
"We are gods, we decide who lives, and who dies." (source)
They both searched for the same thing. Power. And they matched in their desired form to find it. They just came to it from different directions. Like two equations coming to the same answer. I believe Nikita's desire for power came from a naturally submissive personality coupled with social isolation, and that Artyom's desire came from his mother's parenting, which I believe is the root cause for his narcissism. They wouldn't have done it without the other.
I think Nikita himself put it best.
"When I was in sixth grade, I met Artyom. This was the beginning of the end." (source)
So, that's the analysis. It's something I've thought about a lot during my research of this case. Again, this is just my view on it. This isn't definitive, I'm not claiming this is the correct interpretation, it's just my interpretation based on the information available to us. Make of it what you will.
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