Staunton, December 2 -- 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 60th 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.
Is Putin Brezhnev
or St. Matthew?
Many Russian critics suggest that Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation speech
showed that he is becoming more like Leonid Brezhnev every day, presiding over
a country that is in stagnation or worse but insisting without evidence that
things are getting better and better (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=58404AE8DE8B9).
But Putin’s biker buddy “The Surgeon” suggested that those who listened to the
speech were hearing something like the Gospel of St. Matthew, elevating the
Kremlin still higher in the pantheon of heroes (ura.ru/news/1052269703). Others said
that the most important thing about the speech was what Putin didn’t say: chaos
isn’t needed domestically so the speech was the most boring of his 13 such
addresses to date, according to one (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=584123BD0A906);
and others noting that he refrained from the anti-Ukrainian and anti-American
rhetoric that had informed his earlier remarks (meduza.io/feature/2016/12/01/o-chem-vladimir-putin-skazal-v-poslanii-k-federalnomu-sobraniyu-tolko-samoe-glavnoe).
But if Putin said little in his address, the Kremlin was busy in another way:
the Duma was scheduled to take up 140 different bills, the largest daily number
ever (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=58413B598153F),
and the Kremlin released two strategy documents including one on foreign
affairs (apn.ru/index.php?newsid=35756).
2.
Russians See Trump
Pushing Cuba Back Into Moscow’s Embrace. Officials in Moscow and around the country have raced to put up statues or rename things in
honor of Fidel Castro (thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2016/11/fidel-castro-could-get-avenue-murmansk,
govoritmoskva.ru/news/100880/,
region15.ru/news/2016/11/27/21-04/
and wordyou.ru/175803-v-rossijskoj-stolice-mozhet-poyavitsya-ulica-fidelya-kastro.html).
But several commentators have focused this week on US President-Elect Donald
Trump’s promise to get tough with Havana as presaging a return of Cuba to
Moscow’s embrace (svpressa.ru/politic/article/161586/).
There was some informal criticism of the late Cuban dictator: some Russians
read placards saying that this one has died (Castro) as meaning that others
(like Putin perhaps) eventually will (facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1259182480808013&set=a.101327323260207.1676.100001488186583&type=3&theater). And a
Moscow paper has had fun with the fact that one Russian company named after
Trump went bankrupt (themoscowtimes.com/news/the-strange-fate-of-one-russian-trump-company-56298).
3.
Russian Economy
Hits Bottom and Keeps On Digging. Russian officials now insist that the
economic crisis in Russia has bottomed out, but there are ever more reports
that it is now headed even lower. Among the stories pointing to that conclusion
this week were the following: Russia’s production per person has fallen from 51st
in the world to 71st now and is currently behind the figures for
Lithuania and Latvia (ng.ru/economics/2016-11-29/4_6872_mvf.html),
Moscow is spending less on roads and they are getting even worse than in the
past (apn.ru/index.php?newsid=35739,
echo.msk.ru/blog/varlamov_i/1882857-echo/themoscowtimes.com/news/russian-car-disappears-completely-after-being-eaten-by-sinkhole-56334 and
http://echo.msk.ru/blog/varlamov_i/1882857-echo/),
Chinese tourism isn’t boosting the Russian economy because the Chinese are
arranging to organize things so Chinese firms service Chinese visitors to
Russia (lenta.ru/articles/2016/11/29/china_down/),
Moscow kills metro construction plans over the next three years for all cities except Moscow (regnum.ru/news/society/2211153.html),
Moscow eliminates all subsidies for Russian railroads thus sending prices up (regnum.ru/news/economy/2211124.html),
children and pensioners now outnumber workers 11 to 10 (polit.ru/article/2016/11/27/rosstat/),
Russian prisons cut spending on food for the incarcerated (newizv.ru/society/2016-11-30/249680-v-rossii-umenshat-rashody-na-pitanie-osuzhdennyh.html)
and some Russian restaurants put rat meat on the menu (volkskrant.nl/4424006). But there
were two pieces of “good” news this week: the government has been able to find
more money for war and propaganda (themoscowtimes.com/news/rt-channel-gets-additional-12-bln-rubles-56375),
and the departure of Central Asian gastarbeiters and the Russian demographic
collapse have combined to push wages up for some low-skilled Russians (rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=76575).
Not surprisingly under the circumstances, Russians overwhelmingly favor more
restrictions on the entrance of foreign workers even though such things will
hurt the economy over all (echo.msk.ru/news/1882885-echo.html
and
4.
Russia Far Less
Free than Most Other Former Soviet Republics. Russia is slipping ever further
behind on international rankings of freedom and now lags behind most former
Soviet republics on the Human Freedom Index (rufabula.com/news/2016/11/29/human-freedom-index).
One measure of that is that over the last eight years, experts say, the number
of Russians convicted of Internet extremism has gone up 6400 percent (communitarian.ru/news/v-rossii/chislo-osuzhdennykh-za-ekstremizm-v-internete-uvelichilos-v-rf-za-8-let-v-64-raza_29112016).
5.
Fights Over Memory
and Memorials Intensify Across Russia. Even as Russia prepares to enter 2017,
the centennial of two revolutions whose commemoration is certain to split that
society further, Russians were very much divided by history this week. Children
of NKVD officials and committed Stalinists sought unsuccessfully to block
access to a new list of Stalin’s executioners (znak.com/2016-11-28/potomki_sotrudnikov_nkvd_trebuyut_zakryt_dostup_k_baze_dannyh_sobrannyh_memorialom).
Other “monument” controversies included: a statement by a senior Moscow
Patriarchate official that is all right to put political figures of today on icons
(forum-msk.org/material/news/12532291.html),
a decision by the Russian defense ministry to put up a statue not to real
heroes but rather to how they were shown in a Russian film (vm.ru/news/2016/11/30/pamyatnik-geroyam-filma-oni-srazhalis-za-rodinu-ustanovili-u-zdaniya-ministerstva-oboroni-342020.html),
a decision in Nizhny Novgorod to put up a monument to murdered Russian opposition
figure Boris Nemtsov (worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/russia-first-official-tribute-boris-nemtsov),
an attack on a monument to Stalin’s victims in Magadan in which vandals wrote “Stalin
lives” over and over its sides (echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/1884162-echo/),
another delay in erecting a statue to the reindeer herder heroes of World War
II (nazaccent.ru/content/22495-pamyatnik-olenno-transportnym-batalonam-ne-mogut-ustanovit.html and severpost.ru/news.php?id=48680), and complaints
by one Russian nationalist that a Karelian town’s new coat of arms is too like
that of Finland (forum-msk.org/material/news/12543563.html).
6.
Ignorance and
Obscurantism on the March. In a week
during which Moscow Patriarch Kirill collected his 35th honorary
degree (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=583D7E284101F), it should come as no surprise that ignorance and
obscurantism were on the march in various places in the Russian Federation.
Among the clearest indications of that are the following stories: the culture
ministry says that scholars who are worried only about accuracy will “burn in
hell” (theins.ru/news/37576),
the archbishop of Kazan says that dinosaurs walked the earth at the time of
Jesus (themoscowtimes.com/news/russian-archdiocese-publishes-article-saying-dinosaurs-walked-the-earth-with-jesus-56351),
and the social chamber has turned to a clothing firm to prepare a human rights
report even though the latter has no expertise on such questions (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5838315BB9227).
Also this week, debate raged about expanding Orthodox religious instruction in
the schools, with supporters saying that such a move was necessary to save
Russia from extremism and decay and opponents arguing that it will take time
away from more important subjects and promote intellectual decay (regnum.ru/news/society/2211103.html,
kommersant.ru/doc/3156063, newsru.com/russia/29nov2016/pravoculture.html, sobkorr.ru/infopovod/583D503D61A16.html,
and ruskline.ru/news_rl/2016/11/30/uchebniki_po_istorii_formiruyut_potencialnyh_ekstremistov/).
A second major debate arose when Putin ordered Russian officials to choose
between becoming academics or keeping their government jobs. The officials now
as in Soviet times view academy positions as a kind of insurance in case they
lose their other positions; the Kremlin opposes this because it can make
officials more independent-minded. But this debate also had the effect of
highlighting that many who are elected to the Academy of Sciences don’t really
deserve to be there (republic.ru/posts/76643).
But perhaps the final indignity for Russian scholarship this week is that science
ceased to be a budget line in the Russian state budget document, even as
reports surfaced that nationality policy is to get one in its stead (mk.ru/social/2016/11/29/iz-byudzheta2017-naproch-ischezla-stroka-na-nauku.html
and polit.ru/article/2016/11/28/nationalities_policy/).
7.
One in Six Pregnant
Women in Some Russian Regions HIV Infected. Even though Russian officials are
downplaying the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their country, statistics
show that in some Russian regions as many as 15 percent of all pregnant women
are now infected with HIV (newsland.com/community/4765/content/v-nekotorykh-rossiiskikh-regionakh-15-beremennykh-zarazheny-vich/5575719
and snob.ru/profile/30866/blog/117340).
Tragically, ever fewer of them are getting the medicines they need to survive
because Moscow as an economy measure has cut back in the amount of such drugs
for their treatment (newizv.ru/society/2016-11-30/249662-pacienty-s-vich-pozhalovalis-na-minzdrav-za-ogranichenie-dostupa-k-lekarstvam.html).
8.
2018 World Cup
Faces a New Problem: Russian Hotels Refusing to Host Fans. Even though
Moscow is pressing the cities where the 2018 World Cup is slated to be held to
finish their stadiums and even though Vladimir Putin this week said Russia was
introducing the most modern anti-doping program ever, Russia faces two new
obstacles to successfully hosting that competition. Hotels in a number of competition cities say
they won’t host World Cup fans because of government interference int their
operations (ura.ru/news/1052269406);
and FIFA officials are certainly aware that Russian police are blocking
Russians who want to complain to them from demonstrating when the
representatives of the international football association come to Russia for
negotiations (idelreal.org/a/28141219.html).
9.
A Sign of Danger
Ahead: More Red Ink in North Caucasus
Budgets than Elsewhere. Because of cutbacks in Moscow subsidies and because of
rising social costs, almost all Russian regions have ever larger budget
deficits. But the largest shortfalls are now in the North Caucasus, where
Moscow has bought a kind of peace by using force and spending money. Now, the
money is running out, and that raises the question whether Moscow will have to
use more force in the future (kavpolit.com/articles/kavkazskie_bjudzhety_v_dolgovoj_trjasine-29998/).
10.
‘We Haven’t Seen
Any Beatings,’ Russian Penal Authorities Say. Russian penal officials deny that
there have been any “violations” of the law in dealing with prisoners; but they
have shown that they have an addition way of hiding that reality: any prisoner
who complains is certain to be punished and possibly subject to a new prison
term (echo.msk.ru/blog/alasta/1882204-echo/).
11.
Russians Now
Drinking More Medicinal Alcohol than Major Brands of Vodka. Moscow has been
celebrating a decline in vodka sales as an indication that Russians are drinking
less, but there are two reasons to doubt that claim: Sales of equipment for
distilling samogon have surged, as have purchases of medicinal alcohol that many
say isn’t being used as intended and that now exceed vodka sales (themoscowtimes.com/articles/report-russias-illegal-pharmacy-alcohol-industry-growing-56313
and rbc.ru/investigation/business/24/11/2016/5836fabd9a7947f82e05d12b).
12.
‘Should Russia
Annex Khakasiya?’ Muscovites Asked. Russians don’t know the geography of
their country all that well. When journalists asked Muscovites this week
whether they favored annexing Khakasiya, many said they did, even though that
Turkic republic in Siberia has been part of Russia for centuries (sib.fm/news/2016/11/25/ikh-zhe-nado-kak-to-kormit-moskvichi-o-prisoedinenii-khakasii). But Russians aren’t the only ones who have
trouble with Russian geography: Czech airlines recently identified in one of
its ads the city of Ufa as Moscow, prompting some to ask: does Yoshkar-Ola
really look like the Russian capital? (mariuver.com/2016/11/25/jola-mosk/).
13. You Can Now Drink a ‘Represso’ While Contemplating
Whether USSR is Russia’s Past or Russia’s Future. A Rostov café is
now selling some new coffee creations: kaPutino, Rossiano, and Represso (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=583BF0CCC690E).
That means it is now possible to drink a represso while contemplating whether
the USSR is part of Russia’s past or about to become part of Russia’s future (newsland.com/community/4109/content/sssr-nashe-proshloe-ili-budushchee-poprobuem-razobratsia/5576437).
And six more from countries in
Russia’s neighborhood:
1.
Central Asian
Dissidents in Trouble Even If They Escape Abroad. Human rights and
democracy activists not only have a bad time in the autocratic countries of
Central Asia, but they increasingly are targeted by those regimes even if they
manage to cross the borders into other countries, according to a new study (rus.ozodi.org/a/centralnaya-azia-dissidenty/28146516.html).
2.
Is a Personality
Cult the Only Thing Holding Tajikistan Together? In a commentary
with clear application to a number of other countries, a Lenta.ru analyst says
that the only thing holding Tajikistan together is the cult of personality that
its leader is promoting around himself. Without it, he suggests, that Central
Asian land would descend into chaos (lenta.ru/articles/2016/11/30/tadzhikistan/).
3.
Tajik-Kyrgyz
Border Now the Hotspot in Central Asia. Now that Uzbekistan has moved to improve
relations with all of its neighbors, the latest being Turkmenistan (ru.sputniknews-uz.com/politics/20161127/4231127/Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-mosti.html), the border within the region along which tensions
are greatest is that between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan where new violence has
broken out (fergananews.com/news/25678).
4.
Three Signs
Central Asia is Moving Away from Russia and One that It Isn’t. Kyrgyzstan calls for the closing of a Russian
military base on its territory (charter97.org/ru/news/2016/12/1/232938/),
Tajikistan changes the names of 16 streets in its capital to eliminate the
Soviet inheritance (news.tj/ru/news/tajikistan/power/20161129/v-stolitse-tadzhikistana-pereimenovani-16-ulits-s-sovetskim-nazvaniem),
and experts in Kazakhstan urge that Kazakhs drop the –ev and –ov endings of
their family names that Russians and Soviets insisted on (ratel.kz/raw/kak_dolzhna_zvuchat_kazahskaja_familija);
but in Aktyubinsk, a Kazakh court has convicted a man for criticizing Vladimir
Putin (ratel.kz/raw/aktjubintsa_sudjat_za_kritiku_vladimira_putina).
5. Ukraine to Honor James Mace, US Historian of the Holodomor. Ukrainian officials say they plan to erect a
memorial to James Mace, the executive director of the US Commission on the
Ukrainian Famine (1986-1990), who did so much to promote international
attention to Stalin’s act of genocide against the Ukrainian people (day.kyiv.ua/uk/news/261116-u-kyyevi-vstanovlyat-pamyatnyk-doslidnyku-golodomoriv-dzheymsu-meysu-ukaz).
6.
More Latvians
Watching Russian TV than Did Three Years Ago. Latvian television has suffered
from a collapse in advertising revenue, and because of what some see as a
decline in the quality of programming as a result, surveys show that more
Latvians are watching Russian television than did three years ago (rubaltic.ru/article/politika-i-obshchestvo/301116-rossiyskiy-televizor/).
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