Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 23 -- 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 each week
presents a selection of 13 of these other and typically neglected stories at
the end of each week. This is the 88th such compilation, and it is
again a double issue. Even then, it is only suggestive and far from complete,
but perhaps one or more of these stories will prove of broader interest.
1.
Putin’s ‘All Wet,’
Russian Bloggers Say.
The Russian blogosphere has had a field day with pictures showing Putin
standing in the rain when placing flowers on the eternal flame in Moscow. That
he is “all wet” is one of the more charitable comments on the Russian net (forum-msk.org/material/news/13363668.html). Russian media have also devoted a lot of time to
reports that the Kremlin leader is about to get remarried, an election move in
the minds of many designed to silence those who suggest he has homosexual
inclinations (govoritmoskva.ru/blogs/968/?utm_source=infox.sg). Other Putin developments this week: He declared
that promoting patriotism is a more important task for the schools than
spreading knowledge (newsru.com/russia/21jun2017/patriotismaboveall.html).
He called for re-introducing Soviet-style labor training in the educational
system (snob.ru/selected/entry/126078). He began using VKontakte to greet students, raising
the possibility that the world may soon have another leader who tweets his
messages (ura.news/news/1052294513). Russian
commentators compared him to Kim Jong Un and to Stalin (newsland.com/community/4765/content/putin-izobrazhalsia-kak-uchenik-kim-chen-ira/5880998
and newsland.com/community/1920/content/putin-idushchii-putiom-stalina/5878279).
Putin icons are now available for home use for 10 US dollars (newsland.com/community/129/content/v-rossii-prodaiut-ikony-putina-za-600-rublei/5876456). The US has now sanctioned a company operated
by Putin’s cook, bringing the noose inside the Kremlin as it were (snob.ru/selected/entry/126010). And polls show that Putin’s support among
Russians is gradually but consistently declining (rosbalt.ru/russia/2017/06/21/1624756.html).
2.
Russians’ Real
Incomes and Employment Continue to Fall and Wage Arrears to Rise. Despite some
positive figures in May, the real incomes of Russians continued to decline (rosbalt.ru/business/2017/06/20/1624619.html),
unemployment and underemployment to rise (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5947B3A755A6C), and wage arrears to grow (ng.ru/economics/2017-06-20/1_7011_naselenie.html). The shadow
economy is growing again and few see a way out of that anytime soon (newsland.com/community/5325/content/chtoby-38-millionov-tenevykh-trudiag-legalizovalis-im-nuzhno-sozdat-rovno-stolko-zhe-rabochikh-mest/5880634 and ng.ru/economics/2017-06-20/1_7011_naselenie.html). Few Russians believe official statistics on
inflation (newsland.com/community/6437/content/ne-menshe-10-rossiiane-ne-veriat-v-nizkuiu-infliatsiiu/5878474).
They can see fewer new stores and more that have closed for lack of business (dom.lenta.ru/news/2017/06/22/shoppingfailure/?utm_source=from_lenta). Bank supervision has been rated as inadequate, and
Russia’s banks are now running out of hard currency, an indication that
Russians are buying more of it as a hedge (rusjev.net/2017/06/23/banki-rf-poteryali-polovinu-zapasov-valyutyi-i-ispyityivayut-defitsit-dollara/).
3. Half of Russians Say They Don’t Like Government’s
Social Services – and Half Say They Can’t Get Them. The Russian
government’s support for social services like health care has declined so far
that Russians are about equally divided on whether they are any good at all or
even accessible (iz.ru/609688/nataliia-berishvili/sotcialnym-obsluzhivaniem-ne-udovletvoreny-pochti-50-naseleniia and newsland.com/community/4765/content/rossiiskoe-zdravookhranenie-rushitsia-na-glazakh-u-vsego-tsivilizovannogo-mira/5880776). In other health-care-related news, Russia has
firmed up its leadership in the number
of abortions per capita (newsland.com/community/5392/content/rossiia-lidiruet-po-chislu-abortov/5878984),
it has cut spending on cancer treatments across the board (themoscowtimes.com/news/russian-regions-slash-cancer-spending-amid-rising-costs-58231),
it faces syphilis, HIV and tuberculosis epidemics among immigrant workers (forum-msk.org/material/news/13355239.html).
Russian school children are increasingly rated as unhealthy (newsland.com/community/5325/content/sredi-rossiiskikh-starsheklassnikov-net-polnostiu-zdorovykh-liudei/5884505).
One Russian in five doesn’t have enough money to buy prescribed medicines (iz.ru/609107/daria-filippova/rossiianam-ne-khvataet-deneg-na-tabletki). And government efforts to reduce competition in
cemetery services mean that when Russians die, their relatives will have to pay
higher prices to have them interred (newizv.ru/news/society/22-06-2017/kladbischenskaya-renovatsiya-v-moskve-horonit-konkurentsiyu-97c82947-8c49-4a8d-b74c-5a766e1890cd). There was
one amusing development in this sector, however. Last week, the head of a
psychiatric hospital in Pskov called the police to suppress a protest at his
facility that in fact had never happened, something that raises questions as to
who has been properly admitted to that facility (takiedela.ru/news/2017/06/22/miting-psih/).
4.
Class Distinctions
Growing and Becoming More Irritating. A
third of Russian young people say they would like to leave the country but many
can’t because of debt – 1.6 million Russians are now banned from leaving
because they owe money (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=594B7B307D38F). Moreover, many
young people can’t find jobs in Russia in the fields for which they were
trained (ttolk.ru/2017/06/19/китаю-и-россии-избыточное-число-студе/).
And that makes reports that wealthy Russians now not only move abroad whenever
they live, including to avoid taxes, and that such parents send two-thirds of
their children to foreign universities increasingly infuriating (rns.online/finance/CHetvert-rossiiskih-millionerov-gotovi-na-vremya-uehat-iz-strani-2017-06-23/?utm_source=push). Many poorer Russians are also less than pleased by
reports that those who can afford it are choosing to travel to Turkey rather than
to go to Crimea or the Caucasus as Moscow recommends (svpressa.ru/society/article/175195/).
5.
Two-Thirds of All
Official Alcohol Substandard and Ten Percent of Moscow Apartments ‘Unsuitable
for Habitation.’
Russians drink an enormous amount of samogon, but even those who consume only
officially registered alcohol get in trouble as 65 percent of that does not now
meet Moscow’s health standards (iz.ru/609620/evgeniia-pertceva/bolshe-poloviny-prob-alkogolia-ne-sootvetstvovali-gostam-v-2016-godu). Meanwhile, officials report that one in every ten
rental apartments in Moscow are not fit for human habitation (realty.rbc.ru/news/594a36329a79476c74b2cebe). These two problems may be coming together:
officials plan to open more alcohol stores in the neighborhoods to which those
who had been living in khrushchoby are scheduled to be shifted (znak.com/2017-06-21/pochemu_obitatelyam_novyh_rossiyskih_spalnikov_grozit_alkogolizm_i_mozhno_li_s_etim_borotsya).
6.
LGBT Repression on
Rise in Russia.
Although it hasn’t received the attention Chechnya’s attacks on gay people did,
Russian actions promoting homophobia and even direct attacks on gays have
increased in recent weeks. Russian orthodox priests are now telling Russian men
to grow beards to protect themselves from homosexuality (themoscowtimes.com/news/religious-leaders-in-russia-want-men-to-stop-shaving-to-protect-themselves-from-homosexuality-58213), Russian parents and teachers are opposing sex education
because they say it propagandizes gay life styles (regnum.ru/news/society/2291882.html), and gangs in major cities are now targeting LGBT
people for attack (meduza.io/feature/2015/07/24/ocherednye-uspehi-obschestvennosti
and meduza.io/feature/2016/05/23/nadoelo-dokazyvat-chto-ty-chelovek).
7.
Russian Landlords
Increasingly Racist. Many
non-Russians now face open and completely illegal discrimination by landlords when
they try to rent rooms, something the authorities are doing almost nothing to
stop and that many non-Russians now view as a fact of life they must accept at
least for now (themoscowtimes.com/articles/new-research-reveals-moscows-most-racist-landlords-58240). Other ethnic
news that attracted little attention this past week: There was a mass fight between
Uzbek and Tajik gastarbeiters in Sakha (nazaccent.ru/content/24414-massovaya-draka-mezhdu-uzbekami-i-tadzhikami.html), a Zhirinovsky candidate running for head of the
Buryat Republic called for eliminating it and all other non-Russian republics
as well (baikal-media.ru/news/elections/341824/), and officials in the North Caucasus say that
beating wives is not contrary to law (islamio.ru/news/policy/na_severnom_kavkaze_ofitsialno_razreshili_bit_zhyen/).
8.
Russian Regions
Want Flights that Don’t Require Going Through Moscow. The collapse in
the number of commercial airports in Russia since Soviet times from 1200 to 200
and of regional carriers means that those who want to travel from one region to
another often have to go through Moscow even more often than before 1991. That
is hurting the economy and officials in the regions are calling for change (newsland.com/community/7268/content/priamoi-pereliot-mozhno-li-sozdat-v-rossii-sistemu-aviasoobshcheniia-v-obkhod-moskvy/5882519).
Officials in border regions are also seeking direct flights to neighboring
countries: an airlink between Buryatia and Mongolia has now been resumed after
a 91-year hiatus (asiarussia.ru/news/16729/).
9.
Protests Spread
Geographically, Numerically, and in Terms of Subject. Much attention has focused on the fact that
the June 12 demonstrations were twice as large as the March 26 ones and that
they involved people in 187 cities, the largest number ever (worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/russian-opposition-s-double-size-march). But that is just part of a broader trend, and
despite the holiday, it continued to spiral: More than 200,000 Rusisans signed
a protest against the government’s desire to make the decisions of police
presumed correct (newsland.com/community/4765/content/bolee-200-tysiach-chelovek-vystupili-protiv-prezumptsii-doveriia-k-politseiskim/5880840), workers struck over wage arrears in Yamal (rosbalt.ru/russia/2017/06/19/1624348.html),
Rostov residents picked over the actions of the Russian Guard there (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/304549/
and over the illegal actions of banks against those who have taken out loans (.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/304515/),
Muscovites continued to protest about plans to demolish the khrushchoby (newizv.ru/news/society/20-06-2017/ekologi-predupredili-sovet-federatsii-ob-opasnosti-renovatsii
and rbc.ru/society/16/06/2017/594250d39a794721a2c315ea?from=center_36),
medical students protested conditions of their training (versia.ru/studenty-mediki-vzbuntovalis-protiv-novyx-pravil-priyoma-v-ordinaturu),
and Daghestani parents travelled to Moscow to protest the continued existence
of two and three-shift schools in their republics (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=594930BAC94C5).
10.
Uralvagonzavod
Workers Told to Submit to Psychiatric Exams or Lose Their Jobs. The factory that five years ago was a symbol
of support for Putin was the site this week of a classical example of the kind
of repression he has visited on Russians: workers there were told to submit to
psychiatric exams about their protest attitudes or face dismissal (politsovet.ru/55668-oficialno-psihiatry-proveryat-2-tysyachi-rabotnikov-uralvagonzavoda.html).
Elsewhere, Soviet norms are returning to Russian workplaces (ura.news/news/1052293927), the Duma
has agreed to keep secret the property holdings of senior officials, opening
the way to repression of any who reveal such information (snob.ru/selected/entry/126035),
Moscow has rejected European Court’s finding that its anti-gay propaganda law
violates international norms (lenta.ru/news/2017/06/20/klish/),
Russia’s extradition system has been found in violation of international law (advgazeta.ru/blog/posts/710),
some Duma members want to make cursing in the family a crime (versia.ru/komitet-gd-podderzhal-ideyu-vvedeniya-administrativnoj-otvetstvennosti-za-mat-v-seme), and the Russian authorities displayed the level of
their competence when they briefly blocked Google because they entered the
wrong code (versia.ru/kak-roskomnadzor-xotel-zablokirovat-bukmekerov-no-vnes-v-reestr-poiskovik-gugl).
11.
Regions Want
Control over Monuments So They Can Decide Which to Destroy. Voronezh deputies are pressing Moscow to
allow regional governments to decide which monuments can go up and which not
rather than having this process centralized (regnum.ru/news/cultura/2291054.html). Meanwhile, battles over monuments continue in
Tambov, St. Petersburg, Karachay-Cherkessia, Buryatia, Kaliningrad, Ufa, Moscow
and in the Russian Orthodox Church (ng.ru/regions/2017-06-19/100_tambov190617.html,
12.
sova-center.ru/religion/discussions/authorities/2017/06/d37303/
and newizv.ru/news/society/19-06-2017/novyy-direktor-isaakiya-vystupil-protiv-ego-peredachi-rpts,
newsland.com/community/6399/content/peterburzhtsy-pereimenovali-most-kadyrova-v-akhmatovskii/5881621,
kavkazr.com/a/kongress-i-cerkov/28572589.html,
nazaccent.ru/content/24460-luchshij-eskiz-pamyatnika-buryatskomu-yazyku-i.html, echo.msk.ru/blog/varlamov_i/2004430-echo/,
rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=78334,
ruskline.ru/analitika/2017/06/17/kak_v_kaliningrade_pamyat_nacistov_uvekovechivayut/,
regnum.ru/news/polit/2289664.html,
rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=78310
and rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=78307).
13. Russian Military Retirees Say High Inflation Crushing
Them.
Retired officers and non-coms say that high rates of inflations are eating away
at their inadequate pensions, complaints that may have an impact on currently
serving personnel as well (militariorg.ucoz.ru/publ/publ_1/realnaja_infljacija_v_rossii_sostavljaet_31/15-1-0-73646). Meanwhile, in an admission that draft
avoidance is a bigger problem than Moscow typically admits, the Duma is
considering lifting restrictions for hiring such people to work for the
government (iz.ru/609072/tatiana-berseneva-marina-iurshina/uklonistam-ot-armii-gossluzhba-stanet-dostupnee).
But three other problems that surfaced this week may be even more immediately
threatening: Russia now has twice as many police per capita as does the US (newsland.com/community/129/content/v-rossii-na-kazhdogo-zhitelia-vtroe-bolshe-politseiskikh-chem-v-sshak-chemu-by-eto/5878410), the GRU and FSB are now locked in what looks like
almost open conflict (openrussia.org/notes/710602/),
and gun violence is now such a problem in Russia that even the Moscow
Patriarchate is calling for gun control (newsland.com/community/4590/content/v-rpts-prizvali-ogranichit-v-rossii-pravo-khraneniia-i-nosheniia-oruzhiia/5882121).
14.
Russia’s Arms
Build Up Faces Serious Obstacles.
Many of the tanks Moscow is now producing are outdated before they leave
the factory, Russian experts say (glavred.info/zhizn/noveyshiy-rossiyskiy-tank-armata-uzhe-rzhaveet-esche-ne-soydya-s-konveyera-442728.html), and Moscow is having problems developing new
military transport aircraft because the components for such planes were made in
what are now independent and often hostile foreign countries (regnum.ru/news/polit/2291941.html). Given
Russia’s continuing problems with its military, it is perhaps no surprise that
it is increasingly relying on covert methods to kill its opponents abroad and
spread fear beyond Russia’s borders (buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/from-russia-with-blood-14-suspected-hits-on-british-soil).
15. IOC to Impose
Harsh Sanctions on Russia for Doping. Moscow has
claimed that it has cleaned up its act, but the International Olympic Committee
says it must be punished for its past actions and that the body will announce
new and broader sanctions against Russian athletics this fall (profile.ru/obsch/item/118042-thomas-bach). Meanwhile, problems continue with preparations for
the 2018 World Cup with Russians increasingly angry about how much money is
going to this event when they don’t have enough for basic needs (regnum.ru/news/society/2291092.html
and nakanune.ru/news/2017/6/20/22473674/).
And while FIFA officials praised Russia’s operation of the Confederation Cup
this year (newsland.com/community/7451/content/glava-fifa-pokhvalil-rossiiu-za-fantasticheskuiu-organizatsiiu-kubka-konfederatsii/5878135), there were problems with both security and fan
violence (newsland.com/community/7268/content/putin-smutil-nemetskikh-futbolistov-merami-bezopasnosti/5883886 and life.ru/t/спорт/1018332/diesiatki_rossiiskikh_fanatov_lishieny_prava_posieshchieniia_kubka_konfiedieratsii).
16. Russian
Officials have Failed to Build Roads or Other Infrastructure for Free Land in
Far East.
Despite Vladimir Putin’s support for handing out free land to Russians
in the Far East in order to hold that country in the face of a Chinese
challenge and to boost its economy, Russian officials have made it very
difficult for those who decide to take up this offer. They haven’t built any roads linking the
land to the weak road network of the region, meaning that anyone who does go
can’t move around easily, and they haven’t built basic infrastructure like
water and sewer lines, let alone communications links either (fedpress.ru/article/1808692).
17.
Murder
Rate in Russia Now Three Times Greater than in US. Moscow has made a veritable cottage industry
talking about how violent the United States now is, but an international
comparison shows that in per capita terms, Russians are killing each other
three times as often as Americans are. Compared to Japan, Russians are 40 times
more likely to murder one of their compatriots (newizv.ru/article/general/19-06-2017/v-rossii-ubivayut-v-40-raz-chasche-chem-v-yaponii).
18.
Birthrates in
Rural Russia Now Well Below Replacement Levels. Russian officials are worried that falling
birthrates now threaten the country’s territorial integrity (newsland.com/community/129/content/putin-schel-uroven-rozhdaemosti-v-rossii-katastroficheskim/5880494
and stoletie.ru/obschestvo/_demograficheskaja_jama_433.htm), but they have comforted themselves that this is
simply a worldwide trend and the result of urbanization. But new demographic
figures show that Russia’s rural population now has a birthrate below
replacement levels, something that means that people there can’t hope to make
up for the even lower rates in the cities (demoscope.ru/weekly/2017/0731/tema05.php).
19.
China Does What
Moscow Can’t: Build Roads in Russia East of the Urals. Because of economic problems, Moscow has
almost completely stopped highway construction east of the Urals (regnum.ru/news/economy/2290250.html). China is stepping in to fill the void,
financing a high-speed highway between Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk, a move
that will help residents but disturb many Russians because of its geopolitical
implications (ng.ru/economics/2017-06-21/4_7012_pekin.html).
20.
China
Challenging Russia on Northern Sea Route.
China is now challenging Russia’s dominance of the shipping on the Northern Sea
Route and is building icebreakers at a rate that suggests Beijing, not Moscow,
will be the dominant player there within a decade (asia.nikkei.com/magazine/20170615/Politics-Economy/Six-centuries-later-China-rekindles-its-Arctic-ambitions?page=1).
21. 4500 Russians Now Studying Theology, Ever More Want to
Become Priests.
Moscow’s recognition of theology as an academic discipline has sparked enormous
interest in it, with 4500 Russians having signed up to study theology in 51
universities around the country (portal-credo.ru/site/?act=monitor&id=25684). This is the tip of a larger iceberg: ever more Russians are showing an interest in
becoming Russian Orthodox priests (politsovet.ru/55656-v-rossii-rastet-chislo-zhelayuschih-stat-svyaschennikami.html).
22.
Kremlin Now
Focusing on Pre-Schoolers to Promote Patriotism. Worried about
the participation of young people in anti-government demonstrations, the
Kremlin has stepped up its patriotic education programs for school and
university-age youth; but now the Presidential Administration has acknowledged
that it must intervene with children far earlier to ensure that they grow up
loyal Russian citizens and has launched programs to reach pre-schoolers (iz.ru/607094/elena-ladilova/letom-eisi-zaimetsia-detskoi-politikoi-i-turizmom and profile.ru/economics/item/117944-patriotizm-dlya-samykh-malenkikh).
23.
Kremlin Restores
Soviet-Style Committee for Solidarity with Asia and Africa. The Russian
government has restored the old Soviet committee for solidarity with Asian and
African countries, a body that played a major role as a pass through and cover
for Soviet involvement in the third world during the Cold War. The renewed group
can be expected to do the same for Russians today (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59496A6FEE661).
24. Medvedev’s Plan for Building Arctic Islands Seen Creating
New Opportunities for Corruption. Dmitry Medvedev’s announcement that
Russia will follow China and create islands in the Arctic Sea is unlikely to
work, experts say, but it will become a new center for corruption, allowing the
government to hand over even more money to its cronies (newsland.com/community/6808/content/arkticheskie-ostrova-medvedeva-milliardy-na-dno-moria/5882132).
25.
Baikal Water Begins Flowing to China. Despite Russian protests and fears of its implications,
water from Russia’s sacred Lake Baikal has begun to flow to parched Chinese
consumers. Moscow is getting paid, but the lake is now under ever-increasing
pressure as a result (newsland.com/community/8171/content/pervuiu-partiiu-baikalskoi-vody-iz-buriatii-otpravili-v-kitai/5884943).
26. Dozens of Languages in Russia Under Threat of
Extinction. Despite Moscow’s repeated insistence that no
non-Russian language has died in the Russian Federation, UNESCO experts say
that more than a dozen have and that more than four times that number are
threatened with extinction in the coming decades (unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php).
And 12 more from countries in Russia’s
neighborhood:
1.
Ethnic Kazakhs
Often Feel Like Second-Class Citizens in Their Own Country. Because of the
dominance of Russian speakers among them, ethnic Kazakhs who speak Kazakh often
feel like second-class citizens in their own country (asiarussia.ru/blogs/16683/).
2. Turkmenistan has Gone Further in Demolishing
Soviet-Era Social Supports than Any Other Country. Although Turkmenistan remains extremely
authoritarian, it has gone further in demolishing the social supports that had
characterized the entire Soviet Union and thus has left its population not only
with no influence on the state but few protections either (newsland.com/community/4489/content/turkmeniia-lider-v-demontazhe-sotsialnykh-zavoevanii-sssr/5877657).
3.
Belarusian
Foreign Ministry Agrees to Cooperate with Russian Counterpart on Social Network
Messenging.
The Belarusian foreign ministry will now work closely with the Russian
one in putting out common messages on social networks, something that will make
it easier for Moscow to spread its position and harder to trace back to the
Russian side (camarade.biz/node/25888).
4.
Despite Withering
Away of Kyrgyz Abroad, Bishkek Opposes Re-Immigration. Many Kyrgyz
communities outside of Kyrgyzstan such
as the Kyrgyz of Afghanistan’s Pamir Region (24.kg/obschestvo/55351_pamirskie_kyirgyizyi_cherez_1015_let_oni_mogut_ischeznut/)
are at the edge of extinction, but Bishkek opposes setting up a program for
their repatriation because of the costs involved (centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1498110660).
5.
Georgian Patriarch
Proposes Restoring Monarchy. The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church has
suggested restoring the monarchy in his
country (newsland.com/community/7935/content/patriarkh-gruzii-predlozhil-podumat-o-konstitutsionnoi-monarkhii/5879865).
6. Finnish Alcohol Tourists Shift from Estonia to Latvia. Tallinn’s
decision to increase taxes and thus prices on alcohol has caused Finns who have
long travelled there to drink or buy alcohol to shift their trips to Latvia (nr2.lt/News/Lithuania_and_Baltics/Finskie-alkoturisty-iz-Estonii-potyanulis-v-Latviyu-125665.html).
7.
Kyiv
Hosts Gay Pride Parade, Rejecting Homophobia.
The Ukrainian government allowed an LGBT march to take place in its capital,
thus underscoring its commitment to breaking away from the homophobia of Russia and many other
post-Soviet states and its commitment to adopting European standards (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5948DDE990FA6).
8.
Ukraine to Set Up
Institute to Promote Country Abroad. Kyiv has announced that it is setting up
a special institute which will be charged with promoting Ukraine in foreign
countries (euromaidanpress.com/2017/06/21/ukraine-announces-launch-of-ukrainian-institute-to-represent-country-abroad/).
9.
Ukrainians have
Revolutions, Russians have Coups. A
major difference between the two Slavic countries, some experts say, is that
the population of Ukraine feels itself as the source of power in the country and thus is prepared to rise
against its government, unlike in Russia where deference to state power is far
greater (segodnya.ua/world/v-rossii-ukazali-na-razlichiya-mezhdu-rossiyanami-i-ukraincami-1032130.html).
10. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Tighten Controls over Haj. Dushanbe has
announced that it will permit only those of its citizens who are over 40 to go
on the haj to Mecca (ansar.ru/rfsng/v-hadzh-tolko-posle-40-vlasti-vveli-novye-ogranicheniya), and Tashkent has announced that it is setting up a
computerized data base to track those who make the Islamic pilgrimage and what
they do afterwards (ansar.ru/rfsng/vseh-palomnikov-zaregistriruyut-onlajn).
11.
Pictures
Reveal Growing Contrast Between Estonian and Russian Border Cities.
Many people say that it is inappropriate to compare Russian cities with those
in any other country because of climatic conditions and other reasons, but
pictures of Estonia’s Narva and Russia’s Ivangorod, two cities separated only
by a river, quite similar in Soviet times, and both populated largely by
ethnic Russians show just how different
the two have developed under the very different conditions in the two countries since 1991 (newsland.com/community/4765/content/ivangorod-narva-evrosoiuz-na-tom-beregu/5883550).
12.
Georgia Only
Former Soviet Republic to Be Listed Among Top Ten Safest Countries. Despite problems,
Georgia is today the only former Soviet republic now listed among the top ten safest
countries for its citizens and visitors in the world (agenda.ge/news/81878/eng).
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