Note: This is my 42nd special Window on
Eurasia about the meaning and impact of the planned Olympiad on the nations in
the surrounding region. These WOEs,
which will appear each Friday over the coming year, will not aim at being
comprehensive but rather will consist of a series bullet points about such
developments. I would like to invite
anyone with special knowledge or information about this subject to send me
references to the materials involved. My
email address is paul.goble@gmail.com Allow me to express my thanks to all those
who already have. Paul Goble
... Polish President Won’t Go Either ... Bronislav Komorovsky says he won’t be in Sochi because as a matter of policy, he does not attend sports competitions abroad (zarusskiy.org/world/2013/12/09/komorovskiy/?utm_medium=twitter).
... Nor Will Vice President of the European Commission. Vivian Redding, the vice president of the European Commission, announced that she is boycotting the Sochi Olympiad because of Russia’s anti-gay legislation (echo.msk.ru/news/1214837-echo.html).
Czech Republic President Says He’s Going for Athletes Not for Putin. Milos Zeman says that he will attend the Sochi Olympics because he was invited by his country’s national Olympic Committee but not because he was invited by Russian President Putin (nashidni.org/politika/346-prezident-chehii-edu-na-olimpiadu-a-ne-k-putinu.html).
More Boycotts by Officials Predicted. Russian commentators say that a boycott by athletes is increasingly unlikely but that many officials may choose to stay away either to avoid offending LGBT activists at home or for other reasons – although they said it was unlikely that the EU countries would adopt a common front on this issue (svpressa.ru/society/article/78967/ and notum.info/news/soczium/bojkot-olimpiadyi-v-sochi-istoriya-s-prodolzheniem).
Lady Gaga
Reiterates Call for Sochi Boycott.
Pop singer Lady Gaga said in London that “I don’t think that we should be
going to the Olympics at all. I mean, I would never take anything away from
[the athlete’s] hard work, I just think it is absolutely wrong for so many
countries to send money and economy in the way of a country that doesn’t
support gays ... It made me very sad to see the pain that some of the gay kids
are in in Russia, and for the world to send their finest for the Olympics … I
can’t, it just feels so wrong and sad. I hate saying that, because I’m so
excited for those like [gay athlete] Tom Daley to go and to win and to rejoice”
(huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/07/lady-gaga-olympic-boycott_n_4400899.html
).
Amnesty
International Won’t Call for Sochi Boycott.
The
human rights organization Amnesty International said that it would not call for
a boycott of the Sochi Games even though the situation with regard to rights
and freedoms in Russia is deteriorating (http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234651/).
Sochi Not Yet Ready for Games, IOC President Says. Thomas Bach,
president of the International Olympic Committee, says that the Russian
organizers of the Sochi games still have “a lot to do from the point of
infrastructure, facilities and other issues” before they will be ready. He added that the committee is not
“dissatisfied” with progress as of two months before the opening ceremony and
remains confident that everything will be finished in time for the competitions
(itar-tass.com/sport/824315).
One Reason for
Construction Delays: Some Russian Workers Aren’t Working. Sochi residents have commented that of every
five workers on construction sites in their city, only one appears to be
working at any particular time, a pattern all too typical across Russia and one
that makes the completion of Olympic projects ever more unlikely. Meanwhile,
some Sochi residents note that deadlines for the completion of this or that
project are coming and going with increasing frequency and that often when
journalists are shown into a completed facility, all the windows of that
building look out of places where construction is far from ended (blogsochi.ru/content/vse-uspevaem,
blogsochi.ru/content/sochi-park-60-dnei-do-olimpiady and privetsochi.ru/blog/auto_sochi/38796.html).
Sochi Residents
Continue to Document Difference between Official Claims and Reality. Sochi residents
are taking pictures showing that some of the facilities that officials say are
complete are in fact anything but and that the amount of work that will be
needed to finish them, if building codes are in fact followed, suggests at
least some won’t be ready on time (blogsochi.ru/content/akh-sochi-fotoreportazh-chast-1).
Sochi Residents
Lack Heat, Clean Water and Electricity as Temperatures Plunge. Now that
nighttime temperatures in Sochi are below freezing, residents who lack heat,
clean water, and electricity are suffering more than ever before. The number at any one time is in the hundreds
if not thousands, and some have been without these basic services for several
weeks. In addition, schools and hospitals are in some cases without heat and
light. The streets are icy making any venture out dangerous. Trash continues to
pile up. Even internet connectivity has been sporadic in some sections of the
city. And some residents say that what with the construction effort, which in
many cases has led to the breaking of pipes and power lines on which they
depend, their city has been thrown back to “the stone age” after a single
winter storm. Some are even taking things into their own hands and building
sewer lines away from their homes (blogsochi.ru/content/v-gorode-sochi-temnye-nochi,
privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/38821.html,
privetsochi.ru/blog/Wailing_wall/38988.html,
privetsochi.ru/blog/Wailing_wall/38933.html,
blogsochi.ru/content/sanatorii-zapolyariya-v-sochi-bez-sveta-i-goryachei-vody,
sochi-24.ru/ekonomika/ceny-na-proezd-v-obshestvennom-transporte-sochi-vyrosli.2013129.71647.html,
sochinskie-novosti.com/%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83%D0%BF%D0%B0/
and privetsochi.ru/blog/Wailing_wall/38790.html).
Sochi Mayor Says
People Aren’t Unhappy Despite Problems.
Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov denied that people in his city are dissatisfied
and unhappy, although he conceded that “there are problems,” something he hasn’t
always done (blogsochi.ru/content/anatolii-pakhomov-obeshchayu-obeshchat).
Another Storm
Hits Sochi and Raises Questions about Preparedness. A winter storm, much less strong than the one
that hit Sochi in September, has downed hundreds of trees, flooded numerous
streets and underpasses, damaged containment walls, contributed to mudslides,
and left thousands without heat, light, or even water. Clean up efforts have
been intense but so far not terribly successful, and many residents say they do
not expect their city to be “back in operation” anytime soon. The impact of this storm was intensified by
falling temperatures. If a similar storm
hits the region before or during the Olympics, the recent events suggest that
there would be chaos (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234967/,
blogsochi.ru/content/gorod-katok-sochi,
sochi-24.ru/proishestviya/likvidaciya-posledstvij-snega-v-sochi-prodolzhayutsya-.20131212.71789.html, sochi-24.ru/proishestviya/osadki-vyveli-iz-stroya-zhizn-sochi.20131211.71711.html,
blogsochi.ru/content/pyatiballnyi-shtorm-v-imeretinke,
blogsochi.ru/content/negozhe-palmam-razdetymi-stoyat, privetsochi.ru/blog/sitiproblem/38983.html,
privetsochi.ru/blog/sitiproblem/38981.html,
privetsochi.ru/blog/sitiproblem/38971.html,
sochi-24.ru/proishestviya/osadki-vyveli-iz-stroya-zhizn-sochi.20131211.71711.html,
http://www.yuga.ru/news/316336/, blogsochi.ru/content/ostorozhno-padayut-derevya,
blogsochi.ru/content/novyi-fontan-v-khoste, privetsochi.ru/blog/pogoda_sochi/38942.html, privetsochi.ru/blog/auto_sochi/38924.html, sochi-24.ru/obshestvo/gidrometcentr-v-sochi-projdet-ochen-silnyj-sneg.20131210.71673.html,
sochi-24.ru/proishestviya/snegopad-v-sochi-stal-prichinoj-mnogochislennyh-dtp.2013129.71623.html
and sochiadm.ru/press-sluzhba/23765/).
Ever Fewer
Russians View Sochi Games with Pride.
A new Levada Center poll shows that the share of Russians who view the
Sochi Games as a source of pride has fallen from 68 percent a year ago to 61
percent now, with the number who say they do not view it that way rising fom 22
percent to 29 percent. More are worried
about the cost: In 2011, only 32 percent said the games were costing too much;
now 44 percent do. Moreover, 65 percent
are now sure that money is being wasted, and 19 percent say at least some of it
is being stolen (slon.ru/fast/russia/grafik-rossiyane-vse-menshe-gordyatsya-olimpiadoy-959100.xhtml).
IOC Sends
Warning Letter to National Olympic Commitees about Protests. The International Olympic Committee has sent
a letter to the various national Olympic committees remind them of their
responsibility to ensure that athletes to not engage in any demonstrations or
political gestures during the games. IOC
President Thomas Bach used the occasion to say that he had full assurances from
Russian President Vladimir Put that the Russian authorities would not discriminate
against any athletes or spctators during the games. He said that he welcomed a
Russian plan which he indicated had been under discussion with the IOC for some
time to set aside a special place for others who want to demonstrate (vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1165577
and reuters.com/article/2013/12/10/olympics-sochi-protests-idUSL6N0JP3Z620131210).
Creation of
Protest Zones in Sochi Gives FSB a Veto.
The FSB proposed and Moscow accepted what the IOC may have proposed in
private: Beijing-like protest zones in which activists could demonstrate if
they gain the approval of the security agencies. The FSB cast this as a security measure, but
activists said it almost certainly will be used to prevent any demonstrations
or if that proves impossible to isolate them from most of the visitors to the
games (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234967, en.rsport.ru/olympics/20131206/706072172.html,
kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234656/
and privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/38752.html).
Russian PM
Criticizes Russian Anti-Gay Law as ‘Exotic’... Dmitry Medvedev says that Russia’s anti-gay
legislation is a piece of “exoticism” that reflects the current trend of the
Russian parliament to focus on the wrong issues. He said the Duma “may offer
eotic initiatives but that does not mean that they should be supported.” Medvedev’s comment is the clearest indication
yet that he does not agree with the law that President Vladimir Putin has made
a centerpiece of his policies and that continues to cause so much trouble
abroad in the run-up to the Sochi Games (lgbtqnation.com/2013/12/russian-prime-minister-criticizes-duma-gay-propaganda-law/).
... But Defends
Sochi Spending While Acknowledging Corruption.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says that the money spent on Sochi is
fully justified because of the need to transform what had been “a very average
resort” into a world-class one. At the same time, he acknowledged that whenever
large amounts of money are being spent, some people will try to skim off funds
for themselves corruptly (itar-tasskuban.ru/news/article?type=city2014&i=50763).
Bloomberg
Columnist Blames IOC for Not Blocking Russia’s Anti-Gay Law. Jonathan Mahler says that “the IOC probably
could have stopped Russia from introducing its anti-gas legislation with a
single threatening phone call from IOC President Thomas Back to Putin.” He added that the latest plan by Moscow which
the IOC has “welcomed” is setting aside small spaces for any demonstrators. “This is how the IOC plans to deal with a 2014
Winter Games host country that treats gay people like drug dealers. If the
concept sounds familiar, that's because we've seen it before -- no, not in the
Warsaw Ghetto -- at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.In order to protest, you had
to obtain a government permit. Guess what? Not one of the dozens of
applications filed by Chinese citizens was accepted ... Even if protesters don't wind up in a Siberian
gulag, the zones aren't exactly an invitation to free expression: ‘Come on out
and be heard before we round you up!’” (newsday.com/opinion/oped/mahler-gays-and-gulags-at-the-2014-sochi-olympics-1.6589914).
Protest Space to
be in a Park in Khost, Sochi Administation Announces. Now that the
FSB has secured a change in Vladimir Putin’s directive banning all
demonstrations during the Olympiad, protesters who get the approval of the FSB,
MVD, and the city administratio will be allowed to use a small park in Khost.
Activists note that this arrangement is very much like that which the Chinese
used at Beijing, when they denied almost all applications, and that it is up to
100 kilometers from where most fans will be (sobkorr.ru/news/52A9A3BBDC536.html).
US to Send
Official Delegation to Sochi But Probably Not Obama. Michael McFaul, US ambassador to Moscow, says
that there is a 100 percent probability that the US will send an official
“presidential” delegation to the Sochi Games but that its exact composition is
still being discussed and that President Barack Obama is unlikely to be among
the dignitaries (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234949/, en.rsport.ru/olympics/20131211/707084079.html, ria.ru/sochi2014/20131211/983412582.html and www.yuga.ru/news/316297/).
US Fund Managers Urge Sochi Sponsors to Speak Out on
Russia’s Gay Law. New York State Comptroller Thomas
DiNapoli, who oversees the state’s $160 billion retirement fund, along with 20
other officials who oversee such funds, send a letter to the major corporate
sponsors of the Sochi Games wrote in a letter this week to sponsors of the
Sochi Games asking them to speak out about Russia’s anti-gay law Russian
commentators have denounced this as an unacceptable effort by the American
government to put pressure on the Russian government and one intended to
disrupt the games (v1.livejournal.com/122304.html and
Navalny Points
to Obviously Corrupt Contract ... Russian opposition leader Aleksey
Navalny has identified a Sochi contract that would have given its signatory 604
million rubles (20 million US dollars) for a job to be completed in seven days
and pointed out how impossible it would be for the work described to be done in
that time frame (sochi-24.ru/ekonomika/navalnyj-rasskazal-ob-ocherednom-raspile-v-sochi-.20131211.71728.html,
blogsochi.ru/content/aleksei-navalnyi-pochemu-razvalivayutsya-obekty-dlya-olimpiady and echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/1215271-echo/).
... Authorities Say They’ll Look for ‘Doubtful’ Contract.
After Navalny made his charge on the basis of
official documents, the Russian authorities said that they would look into the
manner, identify the prople involved, and rescind the contract. So far, they have made no announcement of any
progress on any of these things (sochi-24.ru/ekonomika/navalnyj-rasskazal-ob-ocherednom-raspile-v-sochi-.20131211.71728.html).
IOC President Says He’ll Forgo Five Star
Hotel and Live in Olympic Village. Thomas Bach said
that he would live in the Olympic Village rather than in the five-star hotel
set aside for the International Olympic Committee. He noted that “the rooms [in
the village] are in certain respects even better thaan the hotel apartments” as
“the uality of the Olympic village is at the highest level” (news.sport-express.ru/2013-12-09/646983/).
EWNC Says Moscow
Failing to Keep Its Ecological Commitment. Ecological Watch on the North
Caucasus says that the organizers of the Sochi Olympics have failed to live up
to their pledges to the IOC to reduce trash and sort it before disposal. The
EWNC said that it has evidence that construction waste is being disposed
improprerl and that Russian officials are simply lying about what is going on (sobkorr.ru/news/52A85E6C24E09.html
and ewnc.org/node/13161).
FSB Officers Harass Czech Journalist.
Officers of the FSB border guards detained Czech journalist Miroslav
Karasi for four hours before they were released at the insistence of the press
service of the Sochi city government. Karasi and his cameraman were slated to
meet with Russian ecological activist Yevgeny Vitishko who himself continues to
be the object of official and judicial attack (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234841/ and ewnc.org/node/13147).
Moscow Replaces Kabadino-Balkaria
Head. Contrary to expectations, Moscow replaced the
head of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic in advance of the Sochi Games, and that
has sparked suggestions that more changes be ahead in the North Caucasus in the
next few weeks. But it is possible that
the changes in Kabardino-Balkaria were made precisely because of the Circassian
connection of that republic – Kabardins are a subgroup of the Circassian nation
– rather than the launch of a housecleaning that could destabilize the
situation (jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=41734&tx_ttnews[backPid]=7&cHash=bafeb92490f4bf3aed8bdf04515e7aaa#.UqcK3-JcUUN
, politcom.ru/16868.html and kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234862/).
International
Circassian Council Appeals to US Congress on Sochi. Iyard Youghar, chairman of the International
Circassian Council, has sent a letter to all the members of the US Congress
stating that “The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi – [Circassia’s] historical
capital – gives the Russian government an opportunity to repair its
relationship with Circassians. Out people declared 2014 The Year of Grief,’ the
150th anniversary of the Circassian Genocide ... We ask you to
appeal to the Russian Federation and the International Olympic Committee to
hold a moment of silence for the millions of Circassians who lost their lives
in Sochi. We also request that a memorial dedicated to the 1.5 million
Circassian victims be built in Sochi” (from the author; full text available on
request).
|
Circassian
Protests Against Sochi Games Dying Out, Abkhaz Expert Says. The protest
campaign the Circassian launched in earlier years against Sochi has “almost come
to nothing,” Mamuka Areshidze says. Some Circassians always favored the
games, and “the Russian authorities have been able to divide Circssian
organizations” so that they cannot speak in a unified fashion. As far as
Sochi itself is concerned, Areshidze says, “verey few Circassians live there.
They remain in mountain auls, and t the Olympics any large rotets or
disorders are excluded. The Circassian tribes of the extreme western portion
of the Caucasus, the Ubykhs and Shapsugs, who lived along the sea coast were
particularly destroyed” and on’t engage in any protests. They prefer to
engage in “a struggle by documents” to impress international organizations (abkhazeti.info/abkhazia/2013/1386792727.php).
Caucasus
Riviera Resort Being Torn Down.
A resort that symbolized Sochi for many since it was built in 1905 is
being torn down, producing anger among many residents and visitors. “We always said that the Riviera is the heart
o the resort” and cannot imagine why it had to be destroyed, one resident
said. He added that he had heard but
could not confirm that contractors seeking to make even more money decided
they could get away with destroying the lovely old building under cover of
Olympic construction because that would be quicker and easier than refurbishing
it (blogsochi.ru/content/snosyat-%22kavkazskuyu-riveru%22).
Roof of Bobsled Track Partially Collapses Under Snow. Russian
officials spent much of the week denying reports that part of the roof
covering the bobsled run in Sochi had collapsed under the weight of newly
fallen snow, despite the posting of pictures online which clearly show that
part of the roof had in fact collapsed. Some of the Russian denials denied
what those reporting had not said, while others failed to address the problem
at all. By week’s end the pictues had been taken down from the web, but no
journalists had been allowed to see what the situation actually is (echo.msk.ru/news/1214795-echo.html, kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234843/ and
Abkhazia Which Had Hoped to Benefit from Sochi Likely
to Suffer.
Abkhazia had high hopes that the Sochi Olympics would bring visitors
and cash to that breakaway republic and attract attention to its status. But
the IOC refused to allow it to field a team, and Russia for security reasons
is imposing during the games an almost complete ban on traffic across the
Russian-Abkhaz border. Indeed that ban is so comprehensive that officials
fear it will prevent the delivery of food and other goods to Abkhazia. They
are opening talks with the Russians in the hopes of allowing the needed
delivery trucks in (mobile.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/world/europe/close-to-the-olympics-far-from-the-bounty.html?emc=edit_tnt_20131211&tntemail0=y and news.sport-express.ru/2013-12-10/647239/).
Sochi Organizers Say Internet Will Be Accessible
Everywhere But Problems Remain. Rostelekom and its regional affiliate say
that visitors to Sochi will have reliable internet access throughout the city
and Olympic competition sites. There are two problems, however. On the one
hand, Moscow has already announced that it will carefully monitor all such
traffic so that no one sends out moving pictures of the competition. And on the other, there have been problems
with this network even in the last week. After the most recent storm, there
was no Internet access in parts of the city, and for whatever reason, the
site of the city government is now down “for reconstruction” (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234983/
and privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/38821.html
|
Russian Military
Moves Anti-Aircraft Unit to Sochi. The Russian military has put a special group
of anti-aicraft forces in Sochi armed with 3-300B4, S-300PS, S-300PM, Buk-M1,
and M22 guns and missiles. Photographs of these armaments are no online (blogsochi.ru/content/olimpiada-2014-v-sochi-razvernuta-spetsgruppirovka-voisk-pvo
and mignews.com/news/photo/world/081213_131738_91612.html).
Sochi
Gives the World ‘Potemkin Trees.’
Because so many trees have been cut down during Olympic construction and
because others have been blown down by recent storms, officials in Sochi have
created special mobile trees and planters to hide the most unsightly gaps. People in Sochi are now calling these
planting “Potemkin trees” (sochi-24.ru/obshestvo/urodlivye-konstrukcii-nazvali-mobilnymi-derevyami.20131210.71683.html and privetsochi.ru/blog/bred_sochi/38895.html).
Energy Ministry
Rebuffs Efforts to Move Power Station from Kudeptsa. Despite
protests and appeals from local residents,the energy ministry says it will not
move the power station it has built there because that would impose undue costs
on its investors (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234986/).
Olympic
Organizers Deploy Snow-Making Equipment Even as First Storm Hits Region. Sochi organizers are installing 400 snow
canons and other snow-making equipment to supplement the snow that they have
saved from last winter and the snow that they hope will fall this one. Some competitors have expressed concerns that
the man-made snow will be of a different density than natural snow and thus
affect the outcomes of certain sports (rg.ru/2013/12/10/reg-ufo/pushka-anons.html,
firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=2913246155001&odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|featured
and sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20131211/winter-olympics-sochi-snow-technology/).
Olympic Torch
Travails Continue. As it continues its passage through the
Russian Federation, the Olympic torch went out unexpectedly at least three
times, sparking derision from some spectators and observer. Some torchbearers
used their time in the sportlight to make political points. And some residents along the way were angry
when officials imposed restrictions on the sale of alcohol at the time of the
torch’s passing (news.sport-express.ru/2013-12-10/647212/,
sibinfo.su/news/omsk/2/45532.html, nazaccent.ru/content/9968-omskij-fakelonosec-posvyatil-svoj-etap-estafety.html and sobkorr.ru/news/52A84844B6C32.html).
Olympics Should
Never Have Come to Sochi, Resident Says. The way in which construction for the Games
has been carried out and the amount of money that has been spent on facilities
that may never be used again, a Sochi resident says, mean that it would have
been far better if the Olympics had never come to Sochi. Their arrival has transfored the resort into “hell.”
Moreover, Moscow’s argument that the games are bringing investment to the
region is at a minimum disingenuous: if the region needed investment, it could
have been made far more efficiently without the Olympic costs (privetsochi.ru/blog/sochi2014/39061.html).
Homeless Animals
in Sochi Continue to Suffer. City
officials have not lived up to their promises to build a pound – they are
simply rounding up and euthanizing homeless animals – and many workers on
Olympic sites when they leave are simply leaving their cats and dogs in trash
heaps to die. A local woman has appealed
to all concerned to stop “throwing animals on the street” where they will not
long survive and to show by their compassion that they are almost as decent as
the animals they have been mistreating (privetsochi.ru/blog/helpanimals/39055.html
Помощь бездомным животным ).
Bad Weather and
Bad Roads Mean Construction Workers Must Navigate Icy Roads. Workers employed on several Olympic sites
have to walk three kilometers on icy roads because there is no longer any
public transportation available to them. Not only is this leading to delays,
but it is also puttiing these workers at serious risk of accidents (facebook.com/SochiWatch/posts/265965960224144).
Moscow Winning
Over Circassian Young, Russian Expert Says. Aleksey Vlasov, deputy dean of
the historical faculty of Moscow State University, says that unlike a year ago,
most young Circassians now reject the history of their nation offered by activists
rather than real historians. As a result, they are more supportive of the
holding of the Olympics in Sochi (dontr.ru/vesti/obshchestvo/3718704-uchenye-raznykh-stran-obsuzhdali-v-rostove-cherkesskij-vopros).
Sochi
Airport Opens VIP Terminal. To no one’s surprise, the Sochi airport
has opened a special VIP terminal more or less on time and apparently finished
to handle important visitors to the Games (kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/234932/).
Sochi Residents
Prepare for Mass Protest Against Mayor Pakhomov. The city’s
residents have announced plans for a demonstration this coming Sunday against
the Sochi mayor because of his failure to do anything about the shutting off of
water, heat, and electricity or about protecting them and their interests
against the big Olympic contractors (blogsochi.ru/content/pakhomov-chemodan-vokzal-anapa).
Sochi Residency
Restrictions May Keep Students from Completing Their Work. Many students at Sochi State University do
not have local registration, preferring to go home every two to three months
rather than go through the cumbersome process of obtaining official status.
That has been no problem in the past, but now with the draconian restrictions
on entering Sochi, some of them may face problems in completing their school
work without a major break during the time of the Olympiad (privetsochi.ru/blog/school_sochi/39023.html).
Another Drug Den
Closed Down in Sochi. Officials say
they have closed down a drug den in the city. Apparenty, the operators of this
one were selling hard drugs that they had manufactured themselves (sochi-24.ru/proishestviya/zhitelnicy-sochi-ustroili-priton-na-ulice-plastunskoj.20131211.71742.html).
Will Circassians
Be Represented in Olympic Ceremonies? Sochi Olympic officials say that there will be
Chukchis, Daghestanis, and Kuban Cossacks at the opening and closing
ceremonies, but so far, they have given no indication that the Circassians will
be represented despite the fact that Sochi was at one time the capital of
Circassia and that Olympic rules require host countries to acknowledge the
contibutions of the local indigenous population (sochi-24.ru/kultura/vo-vremya-olimpiady-na-ulicah-stancuyut-lezginku.20131211.71721.html).
Tkachev Convenes
Another Anti-Terrorist Meeting in Sochi.
Aleksandr Tkachev, the governor
of Krasnodar kray, convened another session of his anti-terrorist commission to
discuss new steps in providing security for the Games. Press reports gave no
details on what they discussed or decided (admkrai.kuban.ru/content/section/11/detail/33062/).
Moscow Agency
Warns of Avalanche Threat in Sochi. Russian
officials often worry that there won’t be enough snow, but with the first
serious snowfall of the winter, Rssi’s emergencies situation ministry said that
avalanches are now possible and that “there is a likelihood of problems with
energy supplies, communications, housing services, and transport routes” (indrus.in/news/2013/12/10/sochi_2014_russia_issues_avalanche_warning_in_sochi_mountains_31517.html).
IOC, FIFA Should
Take Gay Rights into Consideration in Awarding Sports Venues, Activists Say. Former
professional basketball player Jason Collins and tennis champion Martina
Navratilova told a UN meeting on the occasion of International Human Rigts Day
that international sports organizations should take the state of gay rights in
a potential host country into consideration when choosing where to hold
competitions (www.startribune.com/world/235258541.html).
Gay Skater May
Not Make It to Sochi. Openly gay New Zealand speed skater Blake
Skjellerup who had promised to speak out on gay issues at Sochi may not be at
the games atall. He finished 33rd
in the international ranks and thus failed by one spot to qualify for an automatic
invitation. He could be asked later. LGBT and rights groups are disappointed
because at present, no other male athlete has committed himself to speaking out
on Russia’s anti-gay legislation (edgeonthenet.com/news/international/152895/out_gay_skater_on_thin_ice_for_sochi_olympics).
Moscow Will
Oppose Any Reference in UN Documents to Rights of Sexual Minorities. In a clear indication that Moscow has a
broader agenda than just protecting children from gay propaganda, the line that
President Vladimir Putin has put out, Russian Deputy Foreign Minsiter Gennady
Gatilov says that the Russian Federation will oppose the inclusion in UN
documents ofany reference to seual orientation. He said that “the term ‘sexual
orientation’ does not have a definition in international law” and its use thus
opens the way for various interpretations, incuding support for pedophilia (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=53730).
British Foreign
Office Advises Gay Actor Not to Travel to Russia. The British foreign office advised Sir Ian
McKellen, who is openly gay, not to travel to Russia because of that country’s
anti-gay laws (grani.ru/Culture/Cinema/m.222148.html).
Russian
Meteorologists Now Forecasting Demonstrations.
In one of the more perverse moments on Russian television recently, a
meteorologist has said that the weather explains the demonstrations in Kyiv
because research has shown that “bad wweather incites people to conflict.” One wonders what such forecasters will
predict for Sochi, a city which often is the site of serious storms (bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-25234506).
‘Russia Today’
Will Fulfill Novosti’s Commitments at Sochi, Kiselev Says. Dmitry Kiselev who heads the agency that
Russian President Vladimir Putin created in place of RIA Novosti says that his
group will fulfill all the commitments that its predecessor made to the
International Olympic Committee (rsport.ru/news_company/20131210/706813427.html).
‘Survival Games’
in Sochi for Some Residents. Yury
Prygunov, a 75-year-old resident of Krasnaya polyana, is featured in a new film
about how difficult life has become for Sochi residents since the start of
Olympic construction. The film’s maker
says that Prygunov, like many other people there, is engaged in “survival games”
and can hope for little more anytime soon (sochinskie-novosti.com/%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D1%8B-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE/).
Rounding Up of
Illegals Continues; More Seized at Borders. Russian officials continue to seek out, detain
and expel illegal gastarbeiters in Sochi, and border guards continue to arrest
some who try to sneak back in because there is still a demand for their work as
contractors race to try to complete the Olympic infrastructure (sochinskie-novosti.com/2013/12/10/%D0%B2-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5-%D0%B2-%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B8-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8-%D0%B2%D1%8B%D1%8F%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8-50-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2/).
Stratfor
Publishes Assessment of Sochi Security. Stratfor, the
US-based analytic center, has pubished an assessment of security challenges at
Sochi and the moves that Moscow has taken to meet them (stratfor.com/sample/analysis/sochi-2014-security-challenge).
Sochi’s Problems
Aren’t So Bad Compared to Other Winter Games, Moscow Analyst Says. Every Winter Olympics has had difficultie,
including overspending and other scandals, and consequently Aleksandr
Klyuchnikov suggests, no one should see what is taking place in Sochi as
unusual or especially bad (versia.ru/articles/2013/dec/09/proklyatie_beloy_olimpiady).
Moscow Steps Up Pro-Sochi Propaganda among
North Caucasians. Russia is trying to generate additional support for the
Sochi Olympics by conducting propaganda among North Caucasians and their
diaspora communities suggesting that they should take pride in the fact that
the games are occurring in their homeland both broadly and narrowly conceived,
according to two Russian journalists (rus.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/104022426/255115083/).
Russian Says
Circassian Bands ‘Killed for Inependent Circassia’ in 1979. Circassians pressed for the return of their
diaspora populations from the early 1970s, but Soviet officials were reluctant
to agree because they feared an influx of Islamic radicals. The Soviets were right, a Russian writer says
in criticizing Circassian aspirations now and calls for allow Circassians to
return to the North Caucasus from Syria and Jordan, because as early as 1979,
an illegal armed formation “killed [people in the North Caucasus] in the name
of independent Circassia” (rusplt.ru/society/osmanov_kavkaz.html).
One Circassian
in Four Opposes Sochi Games, Poll Shows.
A Russian scholar says that polls in Adygeya suggest that a majority of
Circassians support the Sochi Olympiad but that one in four opposes it, a
number that he suggested will decline if Moscow makes a concerted effort to explain the real history
of the Circassians and thus dispel the ideas being put out about “a genocide”
in 1864 (vestikavkaza.ru/articles/CHerkesy-metamorfoz-vs-transformatsiya.html).
Russian
Skier Banned for Two Years Because of Drugs.
Anna Orlovskaya, 18, who was a Russian champion last year and a
contender for medals at Sochi, won’t be at the games because she has been
banned from competition for two years for breaking anti-doping rules (en.rsport.ru/other_sports/20131209/706669002.html).
Film
Documents How Sochi Woman Lost Her Home and Land. A Russian documentary shown in Moscow traces
the sad history in which a Russian woman in Sochi not only lost her home but
the land under it as a result of the machinations of Olympic builders and the
collusion of officials in violation of Russian law (blogsochi.ru/content/dokumentalnyi-film-ob-olimpiiskom-snose-pokazali-na-vserossiiskm-festivale).
Sochi
Official Admits Footbridge in Center of Town Unsafe. A Sochi official acknowledges that a
footbridge in the center of the city should not be used because it was
improperly constructed and is unsafe. He said that official had given orders
for it to be fixed but thatthese had not been fulfilled and consequently Sochi
would soon have no choice but to close down this much-used but unsafe bridge (blogsochi.ru/content/eshche-raz-pro-riverskii-peshekhodnyi-most).
Sochi Residents
Continue Fight to Save Their Green Spaces.
Despite games played by Sochi officials, Sochi residents have succeeded
in achieving a few victories through a clever use of the courts, the media and demonstrations. They have not won all their battles, but their leaders believe that
they are going to win more of them, at least in part because officials do not
want to face the bad publicity that the activists are capable of generating
about them (blogsochi.ru/content/pamyatniki-prirody-istoriya-voiny-za-natsionalnoe-dostoyanie).
Sochi Defender
Admits High Costs but Says City Better for Winter Games than Russian North. A blogger who often writes in defense of the Sochi
Olympics says that it is true that the road built to carry peopllel from Sochi
to the Olympic venue in Adler did cost more than the flight to Mars, but he
says that that is all right because “this is not a normal road,” but one with
tunnels and bridges. In another comment,
he says that the subtropical city is the perfect site for a Winter Olympiad
because places in the Russian North would simply be too cold for competitions (ruxpert.ru/Мифы_об_Олимпиаде_в_Сочи).
Despite Gaps,
Sochi Now More Accessible than It Was, Paralympic Officials Say. Sochi is far better prepared to receive
people with physical handicaps for the Paralympic Games than it was only a year
ago, despite “numerous and at times even curious” gaps and shortcomings in the construction
program. Given the base from which that
program started, officials say, Sochi is a model for other Russian cities which
have done far less (privetsochi.ru/blog/photo/38846.html ).
Sochi Orthodox
Church, Built at Top Speed with Taxpayer Funds, to Open on Christmas. A new Russian Orthodox Church that officials originally
claimed was being finance by private contributors but in fact has been paid for
by the government will open by the end of December because of a special “shockwork”
program of construction, officials say.
Many residents are angry that their taxes are going for this and that
the Church is being finished even though many of the facilities they use are
not (sochi-24.ru/obshestvo/pervaya-sluzhba-v-olimpijskom-hrame-sostoitsya-v-rozhdestvo.2013129.71640.html and sochi-24.ru/ekonomika/byudzhetnyj-hram-rpc-stroitsya-udarnymi-tempami.2013816.66811.html).
Georgian
Airlines to Resume Tbilisi-Sochi Flights Before Olympiad. Airzena has announced that it will resume
flights between the Georgian capital and the Olympic city on February 4 to
accommodate Olympic visitors (sochi-24.ru/turizm/tbilisi-i-sochi-vozobnovlyayut-pryamoe-aviasoobshenie.2013129.71645.html).
Russian
Ambassador to Canada Says He Hopes Canadian Hockey Team Loses at Sochi. Georgy Mamedov, Russian ambassador to
Ottawa, says that he is “quite confident” that Russia will win the gold in hockey
at Sochi and consequently he said he “vehemently wish[es] you failure” in that
competition (calgarysun.com/2013/12/07/russian-ambassador-wishes-team-canada-failure-at-olympics).
Ukrainian
Biathlon Winners Put ‘For the Maidan!’ on Their Flag. Having won a biathlon competition in Austria,
Ukrainian athletes wrote “For the Maidan!” on the Ukrainian flag they
carried,an indication of their support for the demonstrations that seek a
European orientation for their country (tatar-centr.blogspot.com/2013/12/blog-post_5090.html).
Sochi Olympics
May Not Be Able to Attract Enough Doctors.
Officials say they will pay doctors who come to Sochi a total of only
11,750 rubles (400 US dollars) a day for salary and expenses if they come to the
games to help out. Given that a
mid-range hotel costs 9,000 rubles (300 US dollars) a day, many may decide that
this is not worth their time. What this
highlights is the proclivity of Russian officials to pay for glitzy things that
will show up well on television but neglect essential services (blogsochi.ru/content/prozhorlivye-vrachi-ili-gostepriimnye-rvachi).
Tkachev Offends
Sochi Residents with Slighting Remarks.
Krasnodar Governor Aleksandr
Tkachev said that Sochi and environs were “unpromising places” and “unattractive”
until Olympic construction began, words that have offended many longtime Sochi
residents who have always insisted that their city is beautiful (blogsochi.ru/content/aleksandr-tkachev-na-otkrytii-%C2%ABazimut-hotel-sochi%C2%BB).
Film Kremlin
Tried to Block Shown Only Once in Russia.
The film, “Putin’s Games,” which documents corruption, waste, and
authoritarian methods in the lead up to the Sochi Games and which the Kremlin tried
to buy off its producers in the hopes that it would never be shown, has in fact
been screened in Russia but so far only one time (m.si.com/3663337/film-casts-harsh-light-on-putin-build-up-to-sochi/).
Putin ‘Playing
with Fire. Olympic Fire,’ KPRF Commentator Says. Russian President Vladimir Putin is “playing
with fire. Olympic fire,” something that everyone knows is dangerous, Aleksey
Parfyonov says. As the Olympiad shows,
the Kremlin leader is creating “two Russias,” one wealthy and cossetted and a
second and much larger one whose needs and rights are ignored by the first. Although he says he doesn’t want to draw a
parallel between Sochi 2014 and Berlin 1936, the commentator suggests that
there are some ways in which one cannot avoid doing so (gazeta-pravda.ru/content/view/16535/34/).
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