Kyiv has Achieved Its Goal: Russians Now Entering Crimea as If It were Foreign Territory, Russians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 6 -- According to the latest informal Russian commentary on events in their country, “Ukrainians have achieved their goal as far as Crimea is concerned given that Russians going there now face controls and delays like those they would encounter entering any foreign territory.

            In fact, the situation is even worse for the Russian side, Russians say. Now, “brave FSB officers at the Crimean Bridge have to do the work both of themselves and of Ukrainian border guards and customs officers. Does anyone really want such a Crimea? they are now asking one another.

            Other Russian anecdotes that have been collected and posted by Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/46220/-) include:

·       To deal with the traffic jams at the Crimean Bridge, Putin orders that Russian tourists be carried to the Ukrainian peninsula on Russian navy vessels and tanks. He specifies that the cost of cremation must be included in the cost of vouchers for these trips.

·       Grozny said that the cars carrying those who attacked the two Russian journalists were of Western make, but what would anyone expect Russian siloviki to drive?

·       Reacting to the beating of the two journalists, Putin reportedly said that “normal people don’t go to Chechnya. Only suicides make that choice. And the fact that the two were not beaten to death but only half way there shows just how humane the Chechen leadership is.”

·       Tell me who your chef is and I’ll tell you who you are.

·       When Putin can’t sleep, his prime minister comes as tells him tales about how well the Russian economy is doing.

·       According to Rosstat, Muscovites are now much more likely to land at Lefortovo and Butyrskaya where prisons are located than they are at Sheremetyevo airport.