Paul
Goble
Staunton, September 30 -- 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 these other and typically
neglected stories at the end of each week. This is the 102nd such
compilation, and it is again a double issue with 26 from Russia and 13 from
Russia’s neighbors. Even then, it is far from complete, but perhaps one or more
of these stories will prove of broader interest.
1.
Putin Views
Instability as Boost for His Return as Savior of the Nation. In the view of
an increasing number of analysts, Vladimir Putin welcomes the instability that
the Mathilda film and the anonymous calls have produced as well as the threat
of more clashes between liberals and nationalists in the months ahead as
setting the stage for him to return as savior of the nation next spring (dsnews.ua/world/da-duraki-oni-kogda-putin-otsenit-matildu--16092017140000 and newsland.com/community/5392/content/nenavist-k-putinu-liberaly-i-natsionalisty-gotoviat-moskve-krovavuiu-osen/6014000). Another Russian scholar says that Putin
has succeeded in returning Russia to what it traditionally has been, a country at war with the rest of
the world (profi-forex.org/novosti-rossii/entry1008310406.html). In
other Putin news, some Russians are planning a Soviet-style subbotnik on
Putin’s upcoming birthday (newizv.ru/news/society/26-09-2017/vopros-dnya-komu-nuzhen-subbotnik-k-yubileyu-putina), and another analyst says that Putin must
look to Russia’s school teachers as his chief defense given that the media is
losing influence on the population (ej.ru/?a=note&id=31594).
2. Putin Will Never Forgive Trump for Attack on Russian
General in Syria. While it has not attracted as much attention
as many other aspects of the Syrian campaign, Moscow analysts say that Putin
will “never forgive” US President Donald Trump for the attack on Russian forces
in Syria that cost the life of one of his generals (newsland.com/community/5625/content/putin-ne-prostil-ssha-napadenie-na-rossiiskii-spetsnaz-i-gibel-russkogo-generala-v-sirii/6009469 and https://cont.ws/@akbar/724000). Russians are
also celebrating what they see as the low price Putin paid to install Trump in
the White House – only 150,000 US dollars for ads on social media (ria.ru/analytics/20170929/1505833693.html)
and suggest that Putin has outplayed the American president ever since (http://politikus.ru/events/print:page,1,99521-vladimir-putin-udelal-donalda-trampa.html).
3.
Putin
May Eliminate Position of Prime Minister.
Gazeta reports that some in the Kremlin are considering moving Russia formally
to where it already is: a purely presidential regime without a prime minister (.gazeta.ru/business/2017/09/28/10908932.shtml).
If so, that would likely be the end of Dmitry Medvedev’s political career, and
Putin would stop trying to emulate him or putting up with his sometimes over
the top statements (babr24.com/msk/?IDE=165368
and meduza.io/shapito/2017/09/25/medvedevu-rasskazali-chto-u-nego-bolshe-podpischikov-v-instagrame-chem-u-navalnogo-on-obradovalsya). Meanwhile,
LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has called on the leaders of Russia’s other
major political parties to retire and give way to younger people (newsland.com/community/4109/content/zhirinovskii-prizval-ziuganova-mironova-i-iavlinskogo-ustupit-mesto-molodym/6013863),
a Russian politician has lost his job for being “excessively pro-Kremlin” (newsland.com/community/5652/content/smi-glavu-samarskoi-oblasti-smestili-za-izlishne-prokremlevskuiu-pozitsiiu/6010573), the Putin regime has deployed prostitutes against
the Navalny campaign (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C9FC5FDE22F),
the quasi-feudal nature of the Putin regime has been highlighted by a hit and
run crime in which the suspect fled in an FSB car (themoscowtimes.com/news/hit-and-run-suspect-fled-in-fsb-car-59082), the finance ministry has again boosted the share
of the state budget that is classified as secret (rbc.ru/economics/27/09/2017/59cbe0f99a79475fda89dd0d?from=newsfeed),
a study has found that Russians pay more to support their deputies than does
any other people (newsland.com/community/8137/content/rossiiskii-deputat-samyi-ekonomicheski-uspeshnyi-v-mire-narod-naoborot/6007561),
more reports about the falsification of the recent elections have been
surfacing (newizv.ru/news/politics/28-09-2017/vopros-dnya-chemu-nauchit-uchitel-kotoraya-falsifitsiruet-vybory-1df42940-358e-460f-8e0b-2a6eadc5fd5e,
idelreal.org/a/28757738.html
and liberal.ru/upload/files/Kak_rossya_vibirala_2016.pdf),
and a poll has found that most Russians would like to see the direct election
of mayors restored (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C8EA277B5CD).
4.
Russia’s Rich Get
Richer, Its Poor Poorer, and Only the Regime Says Everything is Better. Because of income growth at the top of the
pyramid, Russia now has 182,000 dollar millionaires, and the top one percent is
getting fat while the rest of the population is suffering (rbc.ru/business/28/09/2017/59ccd1d89a794748c2c7b766?from=center_4
and newsland.com/community/6437/content/odin-protsent-rossiian-zhiruet-za-schet-vsei-strany/6014369).
Meanwhile, pensions are being cut and one in every seven Russians live in poverty: with those
just above the poverty line doing so almost exclusively by going into debt (ng.ru/economics/2017-09-29/1_7084_pensia.html,
ng.ru/economics/2017-09-26/4_7081_poverty.html
and iz.ru/647249/grigorii-kogan/potrebitelskie-raskhody-rossiian-vyrosli-za-schet-kreditov). Dumpster diving for food is spreading even as the
authorities spend fabulous amounts of money taking care of members of the elite (rusjev.net/2017/09/26/rossiyane-vyinuzhdenyi-pitatsya-musorom/
and politsovet.ru/56672-gosduma-potratit-166-tysyach-na-bezopasnoe-pitanie-volodina.html).
And one thoughtful analyst has warned that among the most important lessons of
1917 that Russians and others haven’t learned is that radical income
differentiation will ultimately lead to revolt (ng.ru/stsenarii/2017-09-26/13_7081_zakon.html). Other distressing economic news includes: Russian banks are running out of hard
currency (rosbalt.ru/business/2017/09/27/1649205.html),
major firms are going bankrupt (rusjev.net/2017/09/28/krupneyshiy-mashinostroitelnyiy-kontsern-rossii-budet-obyavlen-bankrotom/
and https://takiedela.ru/news/2017/09/26/vim-avia-zakryvaetsya/), the banking system may be renationalized (profile.ru/economics/item/119800-garegin-tosunyan),
and the Russian government is looking for money in all the wrong places (gazeta.ru/column/vladislav_inozemcev/10898948.shtml).
But Rosstat and Russian officials say that life is getting better and better in
Russia (svpressa.ru/economy/article/182062/).
5.
Kremlin Allowing
for Outbursts of Aggression to Distract Russians, Some Say. The readers of the
opposition Kasparov portal say that Putin is permitting the manifestation of
aggression in Russian society as a way of distracting people from their
problems (sobkorr.ru/news/59CB514909F72.html). Russians are indeed focusing on crime and violence (newsland.com/community/4765/content/tsel-aue-ugolovniki-khotiat-chtoby-my-zhili-po-ikh-zakonam/6000218,
volgograd.kp.ru/daily/26731/3758287/
kp.ru/daily/26731.4/3757797/, https://www.kp.ru/daily/26731/3758287/,
regnum.ru/news/accidents/2325870.html,
sobkorr.ru/news/59C62E6F11708.html,
versia.ru/v-chite-nochyu-sgoreli-bolee-15-marshrutnyx-avtobusov, newsland.com/community/289/content/pensioner-rasstrelial-iz-avtomata-troikh-chuzhakov-prishedshikh-ego-ograbit/6012585 and lenta.ru/news/2017/09/27/budanov/). But they may be drawing very different conclusions
than the regime would like, concluding that security under Putin is
increasingly illusory and that the authorities themselves are to blame for many
of the problems (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59CABB36BF4C4 and
ura.news/articles/1036272371).
6. European University Too European for Russia. The Russian authorities
have taken another step to shutter St. Petersburg’s European University, an
institution that has proven “too European” for Putin’s Russia and one whose
closure reflects the growing crisis in Russian higher education (zaks.ru/new/archive/view/170879
and newsland.com/community/700/content/vuz-obshchestvo/6009255).
Meanwhile, repression of LGBTs continues to spread across the country (newsland.com/community/5652/content/transseksual-iz-permskoi-glubinki-prosit-kongress-ssha-pomoch-ei-stat-prezidentom-rossii/6006652,
properm.ru/news/society/144002/
and thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2017/09/pride-parade-participants-stopped-fsb-return-russia). And in another social development that highlights
the gap between the megalopolises and the rest of the country: there are only
17 crematoria in Russia and most are in Moscow and St. Petersburg (iq.hse.ru/news/209621989.html).
7.
Electronic
Media Spreading into Russia’s Hinterland.
Two developments this week, however, show that with regard to access to
electronic media, Russia’s hinterlands are rapidly catching up with Moscow. The
largest city in the Arctic now has fiber optic cable (thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2017/09/largest-city-russias-arctic-tundra-gets-fiber-optic-internet),
and Muslim cable television, which focuses on the lives of Muslims around the
world, is slated to come to Tatarstan and the Middle Volga by the end of the
year (idelreal.org/a/28762134.html
and nazaccent.ru/content/25506-islamskoe-tv-vozmetsya-za-populyarizaciyu-nackultur.html).
8.
Russians Can’t Afford the Medicines They Need. Fifty
percent of Russians say they have cut back their spending on medications, and
most now buy them only if they are in extremis (rosbalt.ru/russia/2017/09/28/1649315.html
and ng.ru/economics/2017-09-28/4_7083_lekarstva.html). Residents in some parts of Russia are again
suffering from iodine deficiency, the result of the still-widespread use of
non-iodized salt (politsovet.ru/56712-zhitelyam-sverdlovskoy-oblasti-ne-hvataet-yoda-eto-grozit-kretinizmom.html).
And financial problems are now so severe that Russians have cut back on the
bribes they give to doctors (newsland.com/community/8171/content/v-rossii-stali-menshe-davat-vziatki-vracham/6010266). Another cutback is that 78 of the country’s
federal subjects do not bother to keep track of alcohol purchases, thus missing
a great deal of revenue and failing to see where they need to intervene to
prevent deaths from alcoholism (business-gazeta.ru/article/358617).
9. Ever More Non-Russians Say ‘A Nation without Schools
in Its Language Sooner or Later Dies.’ Vladimir Putin’s campaign against
non-Russian languages is sparking a sharp reaction in ever more non-Russian
areas with people seeing the Kremlin leader’s action as a direct threat to
their national survival and choosing to protest or to subvert his orders (business-gazeta.ru/article/358364,
regnum.ru/news/society/2326290.html,
nazaccent.ru/content/25514-v-bashkirii-budut-proveryat-soblyudenie-yazykovogo.html
and ruskline.ru/news_rl/2017/09/28/tatarstan_sabotiruet_slova_prezidenta/).
And as for Putin’s suggestion that studying a non-native language should be
voluntary, many non-Russians are pointing out that we don’t make the study of
math or biology “voluntary” (ru.wikinews.org/wiki/Якутия:_Мы_же_не_требуем_согласия_родителей_на_изучение_математики_или_биологии). But worse seems likely to be ahead now that the education
ministry has said that it won’t allow for the study of two “foreign” languages
because that would cut into other subjects too heavily (meduza.io/news/2017/09/27/ministr-obrazovaniya-vasilieva-my-ne-mozhem-pozvolit-sebe-dva-inostrannyh-yazyka-vo-vseh-shkolah).
10. New Push for a New Ministry for Nationality Affairs. Duma deputies and outside experts have again
called for the establishment of a ministry for nationality affairs to replace the
Federal Agency that they do not believe has enough bureaucratic clout to deal
with the situation (islamrf.ru/news/russia/rusnews/42506/). Other developments this week on the nationalities
front include: a call for a new census of indigenous peoples (nazaccent.ru/content/25513-v-rossii-hotyat-provesti-perepis-korennyh.html),
new problems among Meskhetians who have resettled in Turkey (kavkazr.com/a/dilemma-turok-meskhetintsev/28758179.html),
increasing outrage among Circassians over the Gvashev case and Moscow’s efforts
to obliterate Circassian history (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/310281/),
and widespread concern that new clashes between Russians and Central Asians in
Moscow have entered a dangerous stage beyond the control of the authorities (newsland.com/community/7552/content/sharipov-ugrozhaet-100-tysiachnym-tadzhikskim-maidanom-v-moskve/6005843,
newsland.com/community/5625/content/aktivnost-migrantov-v-rossii-perekhodit-v-novoe-kachestvo/6005582,
newizv.ru/news/incident/21-09-2017/bolee-250-tadzhikov-gastarbayterov-zaderzhany-v-hode-konflikta-v-moskve,
vsenovosti.com.ua/novosti-politiki-ukrainy/5416-Moskva-plavno-prevrashaetsya-v-Moskvabad.html and regnum.ru/news/accidents/2325358.html).
11.
Rights
Activists Fear Kremlin Will Now Target Scientologists.
Having gone after the Jehovah’s Witnesses who are now appealing the decisions
against them, the Kremlin, according to human rights activists, is likely to
target Scientologists. They have appealed to Vladimir Putin not to do so (sova-center.ru/misuse/news/persecution/2017/09/d37929/
and kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C8C4C3E1BB1). Orthodox Russian nationalists are outraged by
suggestions that there is such a thing as “an Orthodox Jihad” (ruskline.ru/news_rl/2017/09/25/kto_zachem_i_pochemu_fabrikuet_mif_o_pravoslavnom_igil/).
Meanwhile, the Moscow Patriarchate has adapted its missionary work to conform
to the Yarovaya package of restrictive measures (sclj.ru/news/detail.php?SECTION_ID=484&ELEMENT_ID=7687).
But all has not gone will for the church: its effort to recover three buildings
in Yekaterinburg has been turned down by the courts (politsovet.ru/56698-sud-otkazalsya-peredat-rpc-zdaniya-treh-kolledzhey-v-ekaterinburge.html).
Perhaps as a result and to show itself more royalist than the king, the church
ahs called for “nationalizing” Soviet songs (politsovet.ru/56699-v-rpc-predlozhili-nacionalizirovat-sovetskie-pesni.html).
12.
Catalonia,
Kurdistan Inspire Russia’s Regionalists. Efforts by the Catalans and the Kurds to
achieve independent statehood have inspired many regionalists in Russia. some
have even travelled to Catalonia (rosbalt.ru/blogs/2017/09/21/1647877.html
and freeingria.org/2017/09/nablyudateli-iz-ingrii-rasskazhut-o-katalonskom-referendume/).
But Moscow has responded even more harshly to their efforts, an action that is
only further radicalizing the regionalists (afterempire.info/2017/09/28/free-ingria/
and regnum.ru/news/polit/2325552.html).
Meanwhile, contributing to regionalist activism are declining populations and
failing infrastructure in many places (thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2017/09/murmansk-and-arkhangelsk-population-continues-decline and classic.newsru.com/russia/28sep2017/vethoejilie.html).
But the most powerful stimulus is the behavior of Moscow: the city and oblast
now buy 20 percent of the hard liquor in Russia (regnum.ru/news/economy/2327802.html),
and the city leads in almost all categories of crime despite having far higher
incomes (forum-msk.org/material/news/13747163.html
and ria.ru/society/20170925/1505459859.html).
13.
Moscow’s Fear:
Social and Regional Protests Could Combine with Navalny Campaign. Many in the Russian government are now
worried that Aleksey Navalny’s travel around the country may allow him to tap
into social and regional protests in order to power his campaign (echo.msk.ru/programs/personalno/2063312-echo/).
Such concerns only grew when the Navalny
campaign said it would ignore illegal rulings against its right to hold
meetings (ng.ru/politics/2017-09-28/1_7083_navalny.html
and sobkorr.ru/news/59CCAB186B9D0.html).
Other protests of note this week: an anti-Putin picket in Voronezh (ixtc.org/2017/09/antiputinskiy-piket-v-voronezhe/), Circassian demonstrations in support of Gvashev (kavkazr.com/a/piket-v-zashchitu-gvasheva/28755713.html),
more protests by debtors and those owed back wages (newsland.com/community/4788/content/obmanutye-dolshchiki-v-sankt-peterburge-perekryli-suzdalskii-prospekt/6009240 and rosbalt.ru/russia/2017/09/29/1649583.html),
and an actors’ protest against theater managers in Irkutsk (babr24.com/irk/?IDE=165271).
14.
‘Repression is
Increasing Because Propaganda No Longer Works,’ Navalny Says. Opposition presidential candidate Aleksey Navalny
says that the Putin regime is increasing repression because it has discovered
that its propaganda no longer has the impact it once did (golos-ameriki.ru/a/navalny-interview/4045048.html). Repression
is on the rise in prisons where a new site allows outsiders to track official
abuse (vturme.info/ru/o-proekte), officials are now reading Russians’ letters
and not just their electronic posts (profile.ru/obsch/item/119839-ostorozhno-vas-chitayut),
Mosow says it may block Facebook in Russia (snob.ru/selected/entry/129445),
the Central Banks wants to block employees of banks in trouble from leaving the
country (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C8F8BC45F93),
Russians abroad must now register more things with consular officials (zimamagazine.com/2017/09/zhivushhie-za-rubezhom-grazhdane-rossii-dolzhny-budut-otchity-vat-sya-o-vstupleniyah-v-brak-i-razvodah-v-rossijskie-konsul-stva/),
and the number of paintings that educators can’t reproduce in textbooks has
expanded (chaskor.ru/article/russkaya_dejstvitelnost_42480).
15.
Matviyenko Says
Russia Faces Destabilization Efforts in Coming Months. Federation
Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko says that outside forces are planning to
try to destabilize Russia in the run up to the elections and that the
government must take measures to block them (echo.msk.ru/news/2063056-echo.html). The FSB announced
that it has broken up an underground arms trading organization that had been
operating in 21 federal subjects (rbc.ru/society/29/09/2017/59cde9059a7947d968f79fb1?from=main). Putin’s Russian Guard wants to block arms
sales to “potential” criminals and to impose the same rules on pneumatic
pistols that now exist for regular weapons (lenta.ru/news/2017/09/29/rosgvard/
and polit.ru/news/2017/09/29/firearms/).
But the siloviki have suffered some embarrassment this week: the Russian Guard
was discovered to have spent fabulous sums for shoulder boards for its officers
and a defense ministry official was charged with taking the largest bribe on
record (newsland.com/community/5652/content/rosgvardiia-kupit-generalam-khrustalnye-pogony/6012120 and rosbalt.ru/moscow/2017/09/26/1648738.html).
16.
Zapad Exercise
Appears to Have Cost Senior Officer His Job. The Zapad-2017 exercise may not
have gone as well as Moscow hoped: at least one senior general has been fired
in its wake (tass.com/politics/967588
and there has been much speculation about why Putin didn’t travel to Belarus
during the event (newsland.com/community/5206/content/pochemu-putin-ne-priekhal-na-belorusskii-poligon/6014088).
Meanwhile, in other defense news, it has been reported that Russia’s heavy
rockets have not been functioning well in recent trials (newsland.com/community/4109/content/rossiiskie-tiazhelye-rakety-perestali-letat/6011549) and that the US purchased Russian rocket engines
not because they were better but because they were cheaper (newsland.com/community/5206/content/ssha-ispolzuet-rd-180-tolko-iz-za-deshevizny/6008432). There has
been much discussion as well about the length of time the refitting of capital
ships is taking and about the US report on the Russian military that suggests
draftees are less than fully motivated (newsland.com/community/5234/content/remont-atomnogo-raketnogo-kreisera-admiral-nakhimov-zavershat-k-2021-godu/6012907, belsat.eu/ru/news/ssha-vydali-posobie-po-protivostoyaniyu-rossii-na-osnove-ukrainskih-sobytij/ and znak.com/2017-09-24/v_obchem_dostupe_poyavilos_posobie_dlya_armii_ssha_po_vozmozhnoy_voyne_s_rossiey).
Meanwhile, there are indications that Moscow is still trying to conduct foreign
policy on the cheap, not only backing Catalonian independence (versia.ru/rossiya-obeshhaet-vsestoronyuyu-podderzhku-katalonskim-separatistam-v-ispanii and versia.ru/kto-i-zachem-dobivaetsya-nezavisimosti-v-starom-svete), but not even bothering to update old Russian
slogans like “worse thana Tatar” in its
campaign efforts in Germany (facebook.com/groups/418134964913502/?multi_permalinks=1561908413869479¬if_t=group_activity¬if_id=1506190805217090).
17. Russians Almost Equally Divided on
Whether They’ll Go to See Mathilda. Only slightly more
Russians say they won’t go to see the controversial film than say that they
will (regnum.ru/news/polit/2328332.html).
The Moscow Patriarchate has refused to issue a blanket prohibition on attending
but it has put up 300 billboards in Moscow celebrating the love between
Nicholas II and his wife Aleksandra (echo.msk.ru/blog/echomsk/2062960-echo/, echo.msk.ru/news/2063060-echo.html and politsovet.ru/56664-rpc-otkazalas-trebovat-zapreta-matildy.html). The Mathilda director has declared that the use of
religion to oppose something opens the door to opposing almost anything (crimea.kp.ru/daily/26734.4/3761336/).
And in the latest twist of the Mathilda saga, a Russian pornographer says he
plans to make a porno version of the film and is ready to emigrate if he has to
(ura.news/news/1052306013).
18. Kalashnikov
Statue Keeps Giving Moscow Problems.
The German gun that was mistakenly portrayed on the Kalashnikov statue has been
removed, but careful observers have noted that there are masonic symbols
elsewhere that haven’t been touched (politsovet.ru/56695-na-pamyatnike-kalashnikovu-ostavili-masonskie-simvoly.html). In addition, the statue has become the focus of
anti-war protesters (sota.vision/ne-strelyay-u-pamyatnika-kalashnikovu-poyut-antivoennyie-pesni/).
The authorities are trying to hold the line,
arresting those who pointed out the mistakes (novayagazeta.ru/news/2017/09/22/135507-stolichnaya-politsiya-zaderzhala-ustranivshih-oshibku-na-pamyatnike-kalashnikovu-rabochih). Two other monument stories of note: the largest
memorial to Stalin’s victims in Russia opened in the Butovo polygon (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=68256), and a Perm statue showing a bear and a panda to
celebrate Russian-Chinese friendship has been criticized for its depiction of the
Russian side (afterempire.info/2017/09/29/panda/).
19.
US, Ukraine
Anti-Doping Agencies Say Russia Shouldn’t Be at Next Olympics. The US and the
Ukrainian anti-doping organizations say that Russia has failed to address its
doping problems and that Russian athletes should be banned from the Olympics
until they are (ekhokavkaza.com/a/28753863.html
and newsland.com/community/5512/content/ukraina-prizvala-zakryt-olimpiadu-2018-dlia-rossii/6009674). FIFA has inspected the Yekaterinburg stadium and
reports it is 90 percent ready (nakanune.ru/news/2017/9/27/22484168/). More racist behavior among Russian football fans
takes place (versia.ru/stalo-izvestno-o-proyavlenii-rasizma-vo-vremya-matcha-mezhdu-spartakom-i-liverpulem). Feeling under pressure from foreign countries,
Russian officials are beginning to consider that Russian athletes may be
blocked from participating in the Olympics and to argues that the world has
launched a conspiracy against Russia (islamrf.ru/news/russia/rusnews/42506/
and ria.ru/analytics/20170927/1505643693.html). And the Kremlin has lashed out, issuing an Interpol arrest warrant for
the man who informed WADA about Russian doping (ekhokavkaza.com/a/28762150.html).
20.
Moscow Offers
Citizenship to Anyone Investing 10 Million US Dollars in Russian Far East. In yet another
effort to stem the depopulation of its Pacific rim, the Russian government has
offered to give citizenship to anyone who agrees to invest ten million US
dollars or more in the region (themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-promises-citizenship-to-foreigners-if-they-invest-in-the-far-east-59106).
21.
Russians Can’t Get
Enough of Krasnodar Cannibal Story.
Other issues may be more important, but Russian readers and television
viewers have been focused this week on the story of two Krasnodar cannibals for
have killed, eaten, and offered for sale the flesh of many Russians over the
last 20 years (apn.ru/index.php?newsid=36686
and newsland.com/community/7285/content/v-rossii-poimali-semiu-kannibalov/6009064).
22.
Only 423 Russians
Visited North Korea Last Year. Despite efforts by Pyongyang and new
transportation connections between North Korea and the Russian Federation, only
423 Russians, most from the Far East, visited the outlaw country last year (gorod-812.ru/dlya-chego-koze-bayan-nam-phenyan/).
23.
Russian Officials
Not Only Killing Homeless Animals But Want to Fine Those Who Feed Them. In advance of
what they hope will be the hosting of the World Cup next year, Russian
officials have launched a major campaign to get homeless animals off the
streets. But now some of these officials have gone further and are seeking to
fine those who feed homeless animals or birds as well (newizv.ru/news/society/24-09-2017/eto-ne-shutka-v-rossii-mozhet-razgoretsya-voyna-sobachnikov-s-koshatnikami,
newsland.com/community/8029/content/ogon-po-vorobiam/6009344
and novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/09/24/73964-ogon-po-vorobyam).
24.
Burger King Russia
Gets into the Censorship Business. The owners of Burger King restaurants in
Russia have gone to court to demand that Russian officials ban a film featuring
a clown they say looks like Ronald McDonald and thus constitutes an
advertisement for their competitors (spektr.press/news/2017/09/22/burger-king-potreboval-zapretit-v-rossii-film-ono/).
25.
‘Are You a Real
Journalist or from Russia Today?’ Russian opposition groups increasingly
are confronting those who question them with a question of their own: “are you
a real journalist or are you from Russia today – and thus something else
entirely?” (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C8B15A6CAB4).
26. Urals City Residents Fill Potholes with Mayor’s
Picture. Residents of a small city in the Urals have
found a way to make use of campaign pictures of the local mayor: they are using
them to fill potholes that the official has failed to repair (ura.news/news/1052305477). Meanwhile, a
study concludes that the city with the worst roads in Russia is Makhachkala,
the capital of Daghestan (onkavkaz.com/novosti/3183-gorodom-s-hudshimi-dorogami-v-strane-stala-mahachkala-v-chislo-dorozhnyh-autsaiderov-popal-i-na.html).
And 13 more from countries in
Russia’s neighborhood:
1.
Belarus is No
Longer the Worst Police State in the World. Minsk scholars say that there are
now a number of other countries around the world with more police per capita
than Belarus (thinktanks.by/publication/2017/09/23/belarus-ne-samoe-politseyskoe-gosudarstvo-v-mire-no-v-chisle-liderov.html). But if it is
not the worst, it is among the leaders; and it is also among the leaders of the
most unhealthy countries as well (thinktanks.by/publication/2017/09/27/belarus-okazalas-v-pervoy-chetverke-samyh-nezdorovyh-stran-mira.html). Meanwhile, its leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka
told visiting Roman Catholic prelates that Belarus’ position at the center of
Europe was “ordained by God” (belsat.eu/ru/news/lukashenko-katolicheskim-ierarham-belarus-ne-prosto-geograficheskij-tsentr-evropy-eto-prednachertano-gospodom/), but a
Belarusian religious leader says no more than one percent of the country’s
residents are truly Orthodox (charter97.org/ru/news/2017/9/29/264369/).
2.
Not Only Did
Russia Leave Behind Troops in Belarus After Zapad-2017 But It has Stepped up Training
of Belarusian Youths. Moscow introduced troops into Belarus that it
did not announce and has left some behind, Belarusian and Ukrainian officials
say (belsat.eu/ru/news/v-minsk-pribyl-rossijskij-spetsnaz/). Perhaps more
worrisome, the Russian authorities appear to have stepped up their paramilitary
training of Belarusian youths at what Belarusians describe as “neo-Nazi” camps
in Russia itself (belsat.eu/ru/news/pravoslavie-s-granatoj-v-rukah-belorusskih-podrostkov-snova-vozili-k-neonatsistam-v-rossiyu/).
3. Russian Drugs, Prostitutes Behind Explosion in
HIV/AIDS in Belarus.
Russia has introduced more drugs and prostitutes into Belarus, officials say,
sparking a dramatic increase in HIV infections and full-blown cases of AIDS (belsat.eu/ru/in-focus/epidemiya-vich-v-belarusi-prichina-rossijskie-narkotiki-i-prostitutki/).
4.
Belarusians
More Passive than Active, Minsk Scholars Say. A
study of popular attitudes finds that Belarusians tend to be more passive than
active and thus are less inclined to join protests or even to defend their own
immediate interests (thinktanks.by/publication/2017/09/28/issledovanie-pochti-polovina-naseleniya-belarusi-skoree-passivnye.html).
5.
UN Report Says
Human Rights have Deteriorated in Crimea Since Russian Occupation. A United Nations
study concludes that the Russian occupation has led to a serious deterioration
in the state of human rights on the Ukrainian peninsula (ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Crimea2014_2017_EN.pdf).
6.
Russian Occupiers
in Crimea Add Karaim and Krymchaks to List of Numerically Small Peoples. The Russian
occupation authorities, despite their well-documented mistreatment of ethnic
Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, have added two small nations there, the Karaim
and the Krymchaks, to the Russian list of numerically small peoples whose
members are entitled to special benefits (nazaccent.ru/content/25463-fadn-poprosyat-vnesti-karaimov-i-krymchakov.html).
7. Lithuania Agrees to Call Georgia by Its Own Name. Vilnius officials
have announced that they will join other countries who call the country known
to most as Georgia by its Georgian name, Sakartvelo (baltnews.lt/lithuania/20170925/1017616156.html).
8. Anti-Russian
Campaigns Spread in Armenia. Armenian
activists are campaigning for Yerevan’s exit from Moscow-dominated
institutions, an action that has stirred concern in Russia (kavkazoved.info/news/2017/09/25/elk-pytaetsja-nachat-kampaniu-za-vyhod-armenii-iz-eaes.html and kavkazoved.info/news/2017/09/27/metody-nagnetania-antirusskih-antirossijskih-i-antievrazijskih-nastroenij-v-armenii.html).
9.
More Central Asian
Women Accompanying Their Husbands to Russia. In the past, most gastarbeiters
in Russian from Central Asia were unaccompanied young men who either were
unmarried or had left their wives behind, thus indicating that they planned to
return relatively quickly. But now, new data published by Rosstat suggest that
ever more wives are accompanying them, a pattern that implies many may be
planning to remain for the long haul (migrant.ferghana.ru/newslaw/analyze/женская-трудовая-миграция-из-таджики.html and
gks.ru/free_doc/doc_2017/rusfig/rus17.pdf).
10. Transition to Latin Script in Uzbekistan Far from Complete. Even as
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are debating if and when to introduce a Latin script,
Uzbekistan shows that even if a decision is made to do so that doesn’t end the
fight. Many who have grown used to the Soviet-imposed Cyrillic alphabet will
continue to use it, and publications will reflect that fact for many years (theopenasia.net/articles/detail/opyt-uzbekistana-6-faktov-o-perekhode-strany-na-latinitsu/).
11.
Cotton
Harvest Again Claims Victims in Uzbekistan. Several Uzbeks who were forced to harvest
cotton died as a result, sparking complaints given that Tashkent had suggested
that it would no longer require anyone to do so against their will (fergananews.com/articles/9567).
12.
Beijing
Establishes Center for Study of Kazakhstan. Reflecting China’s expanding
interest in Central Asia, Beijing has now set up a special center for the study
of Kazakhstan, an indication that Astana more than any other capital in the
region is the focus of Chinese attention (ratel.kz/kaz/v_kitae_otkrylsja_tsentr_izuchenija_kazahstana).
13.
Kazakhstan Now
Imprisons Half as Many People Per Capita as Russia Does. Central Asian countries have the reputation
for being more repressive than the Russian Federation, but new data show that
Kazakhstan currently imprisons people at a rate half that of Russia (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59C8F42C1612D).
