Friday, December 7, 2018

Five Dangerous Developments in Putin’s Russia This Week


Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 7 – Each day seems to bring news of developments in the Russia of Vladimir Putin that are either dangerous in and of themselves or presage an ever worse future for Russians and Russia’s neighbors.  Five of the most obvious of these to have emerged in the last few days are the following:

·         United Russia has adopted a code of ethics for its members which includes among other things the notion that the party should follow the principles of democratic centralism that Lenin introduced into the Bolshevik Party and that critics noted ultimately meant a dictatorship (sobkorr.org/news/5C0A6B9361731.html).

·         The authorities in St. Petersburg have declared that the signs activists have been putting up on the former residences of those who were victims of Stalin’s crimes are in and of themselves illegal, yet another step toward whitewashing the past (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0A506906916).

·         In yet another sign that those who do not vote for Putin’s chosen candidates will suffer, observers are noting that Putin is ignoring those governors Russians voted for but that he did not favor, a sure sign that their regions and republics will be ignored or face cutbacks in aid from the center as well (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0A573A47AD4).

·         Now, those who laugh at Putin can be brought up on charges, the latest step away from a time when puppeteers could make fun of him and a move that will likely lead to more Putin jokes rather than fewer although those that do emerge will have to be told only to those people can trust (meduza.io/feature/2018/12/07/smeyatsya-nad-putinym-eto-uzhe-ekstremizm).

·         And in perhaps the best indication of how bad things are in Russia and how Putin hopes to use some move against Ukraine to distract the attention of Russians from that reality, Ukrainian news, which had receded in importance in recent months on Moscow television, is now dominating broadcasts once again (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C0944C5DBE55).

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