Staunton, August 12 -- The flood of news stories from a country as large,
diverse and strange as the Russian Federation often appears to be is far too
large for anyone to keep up with. But there needs to be a way to mark those
which can’t be discussed in detail but which are too indicative of broader
developments to ignore.
Consequently, Windows on Eurasia presents a selection of 13 of these
other and typically neglected stories at the end of each week. This is the 44th
such compilation. It is only suggestive and far from complete – indeed, once
again, one could have put out such a listing every day -- but perhaps one or
more of these stories will prove of broader interest.
1. Putin Losing ‘Sympathy’ of Russians. A new poll shows
that Vladimir Putin is losing the sympathy he has enjoyed with Russians, an indication
that his political support is softening even if other polls show it to remain
at high levels (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=57A82C4574598). But the promotion of a Putin cult continues, with
tours now being offered to “Putin places” in his native St. Petersburg (nr2.com.ua/publications/Putinskie-mesta-Peterburga-122743.html). And there are reasons to think that his strongman
tactics will continue to garner him the backing of many Russians. After all,
according to some surveys, one Russian in five thinks even Putin’s regime is
too weak (forum-msk.org/material/news/12096846.html).
2.
How
Bad is the Russian Economy? Russians Again Stealing Power Lines. In
the 1990s, some Russians stole power lines to earn money for food. Now that
practice is back (znak.com/2016-08-05/v_podmoskove_ukrali_4_kilometra_kabelya_specsvyazi_fso). Other economic news is equally bleak: Russia is
exporting 45 percent less electric power than a year ago (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=57A4D78F10595),
trade with China in which Putin has placed such hopes continues to fall (svpressa.ru/economy/article/153976/),
migrants are bringing more money to the Russian budget than are oil and gas
revenues (polit.ru/article/2016/08/08/budget/), Russia pumping more oil even though prices have
fallen – just as Soviets did in 1987 (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=57A8CEEDAA0DC),
Moscow can find only 16 percent of money needed to prevent disaster in company
towns (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=57A83921CC8CC), foreigners are pulling money out of Russian stock
funds at an unprecedented rate (rufabula.com/news/2016/08/08/outflow),
the North Caucasus has sunk into an economic depression (kavpolit.com/articles/karachaevo_cherkesija_kak_zerkalo_obschekavkazskog-27469/),
and sales of apartments in new Moscow highrises have stopped because there is
no money and no demand (vedomosti.ru/realty/articles/2016/08/10/652407-novostroiki-prodayutsya).
3.
Is Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Revealing Everything but the Truth? Some Russians are outraged that Maria
Zakharova, Sergey Lavrov’s spokesman, has appeared in a fetching pose in an
American fashion magazine, something they suggest does little or nothing to
improve Moscow’s image, although it might improve hers given her track record
as far as truthfulness is concerned (forum-msk.org/material/fpolitic/12102812.html).
4.
First Russian Gold
Medal Winner at Rio Doesn’t Sing National Anthem. Beslan Murdanov, a judoist from the North
Caucasus, infuriated many Russians when he failed to sing the Russian national
anthem after winning gold at Rio games. He explained that he simply doesn’t
know how to sing but some suspect more is involved (asiarussia.ru/news/13208/). In other
sports news, officials in St. Petersburg have changed the construction company
responsible for building the delay-plagued facility there so that it may be
ready for the 2018 World cup (echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/1817940-echo/).
5. Another New Crime in Russia: Sitting Too Long on a
Public Toilet. Russian officials seem committed to finding
new things to criminalize perhaps to display their loyalty to the Kremlin with good
and easy to boost anti-crime statistics but also to extract bribes from the
population. The latest move in this
direction was the detention of a woman for allegedly remaining in a public
toilet too long (ruposters.ru/life/04-08-2016/toilet-prisoner).
6.
Two-Thirds
of Russia’s HIV Infected Not Receiving Treatment. According to experts, two out of every three
of the 1.3 million Russian infected with the HIV virus are not receiving
treatment, either because the authorities no longer have sufficient supplies of
medicines or because those who suspect they are infected are afraid to apply
for them (ej.ru/?a=note&id=30034). That failure to treat what could be
controlled points to an explosion of full-blown AIDS cases in the future as
does the increasing hostility, in the name of the defense of “Russian national
values,” against the use of condoms (forum-msk.org/material/region/12105574.html).
7.
Russians Upset by False
Report that Moscow has Blocked Access to ‘Protocols of Elders of Zion.’ Russians turned to the Internet to complain
about the decision of Russian officials to block access to sites featuring the
notorious anti-Semitic forgery, the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” The rumors proved untrue. Russian officials have blocked access to many
sites, including those promoting democracy; but they haven’t blocked those
carrying this infamous work (versia.ru/ox-uzh-yeti-sionskie-mudrecy).
8.
Three Russians in
Four Favor Limiting Religious Freedom to Combat Terrorism. A new poll shows
that Russians are quite prepared to sacrifice religious freedom if the
authorities tell them that that is the only way to combat the spread of
radicalism and terrorism (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=64034).
9.
Yabloko Party
Criticism of Islam Prompts Ingush Officials to Defend It. Religion has
entered the Duma campaign but in a somewhat unexpected way. The liberal Yabloko
Party has criticized Islamic leaders for failing to condemn terrorism. That has
prompted officials in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia to come to the
defense of Islam far more than they ever have in the past (onkavkaz.com/news/1174-islamofobija-jabloka-neozhidanno-prevratila-chinovnikov-ingushetii-v-zaschitnikov-islama.html).
10.
‘I’m Siberian’
Brand Denounced as Separatism. Russian officials have accused those who
sell or display the “I’m a Siberian” brand of promoting separatism, something
that the latter absolutely deny. They argue that they are doing no more than
Russians elsewhere who want to boost the status of their regions (ulanmedia.ru/news/society/10.08.2016/523728/v-propagande-separatizma-obvinili-izvestniy-sibirskiy-brend-obschestve.html).
But this could lead to serious consequences: SOVA reports an ethnic Russian was
found guilty in 2015 of promoting separatism in the Komi Republic (sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2016/08/d35153/).
11.
Some Extremists
Escape Punishment by Paying Off Officials.
Russian police and siloviki have long profited from Russian laws against
this or that phenomenon, extracting bribes from those against whom they might
bring charges in order to ignore what the latter have done. This week, a case
was opened in Samara against officers responsible for fighting extremism who
agreed to look the other way after being paid off (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=57AC2DEF24832).
12.
Another
Russian Official with a Geography Problem. A senior Russian official visiting
Kazan referred to Tatarstan three times as Kazakhstan, to the amusement and
anger of many Tatars who are definitely not Kazakhs (business-gazeta.ru/news/319394).
13.
‘Pokemon Raped Me,’
Moscow Woman Says.
The Pokemon Go craze continues to sweep through Russia with millions of people
now playing the game. For some, it has had some bad consequences, including
arrests for trespass and the like. But perhaps the worst case, if true, is a
report by one resident of the Russian capital that she had been “raped by
Pokemon” (pda.ura.ru/news/1052257782).
And six more from countries near
Russia:
1. ‘If You Think It’s Hard to Be a Russian in Kyrgyzstan,
Try Being a Kyrgyz in Russia!’ Infuriated by a rising tide of Russian
articles complaining about how Russians are mistreated in their country, some
Kyrgyz have responded by pointing out just how difficult life is for Kyrgyz who
live and work in the Russian Federation (fergananews.com/articles/9050).
2.
Central
Asian Governments Putting Internet Access Out of Reach by Price. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have found a way
to restrict the access of their populations to the Internet that is less likely
to be criticized by Western governments and rights activists: they have raised
the price of Internet access to the point that most of their citizens can’t afford
it (podrobno.uz/cat/tehnp/uzbekistan-popal-v-pyaterku-stran-s-samym-dorogim-internetom/ and turkist.org/2016/08/internet-prices-turkic-countries.html).
3.
A New and Welcome Form
of Friendship of the Peoples. In Soviet times, it was sometimes said
that friendship of the peoples meant that representatives of two or more
nationalities would come together to beat up a third. Now, in Kazakhstan, there
is a new form: Kazakhs have come to the aid of a Ukrainian being beaten up by
Russians (politinfo.com.ua/stop-war/3766-v-alma-ate-kazahy-pryshly-na-pomoshh-ukrayntsu-y-razmazaly-predstavytelej-russkogo-myra-po-asfaltu.html).
4.
Kazakhs
Say They Too Were Victims of a Terror Famine.
Angering some in Russia, Kazakhs are now insisting that like the Ukrainians,
they were victims of a terror famine, and they are demanding that Moscow
recognize and apologize for that action as well as for the tsarist government’s
brutal suppression of the 1916 risings (stoletie.ru/politika/golodomor_i_v_kazahstane_202.htm).
5. Russian Occupiers Tell Crimean Imams Even Their
Traditional Prayers May Be Illegal. The Russian occupation has told leaders
of the Muslim communities on the Ukrainian peninsula that even the prayers they
have long offered may be declared illegal, an indication that the Russian
authorities there are imposing a system of controls over religious life that
increasingly recalls one of the worst features of the Soviet system (avdet.org/ru/2016/08/07/krymskih-imamov-predupredili-chto-traditsionnye-molebny-mogut-okazatsya-vne-zakona/).
6.
For
Lukashenka, No Polls Means No Problem. The
government of Alyaksandr Lukashenka is moving to close down the last
independent sociological service in Belarus apparently on the principle that if
there are no polls, there is no public opinion and thus no problem from the
population for the regime (belaruspartisan.org/politic/351757/).
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