Russian Group Behind Attacks on Western Vaccines has Close Ties to Putin

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 29 – One of the groups behind attacks on Western vaccines has close ties to Vladimir Putin and the ruling United Russia Party, a new investigation has found, the latest indication that the Russian government and not some independent operation is behind these attacks (idelreal.org/a/31277284.html).

            Today, the Russian authorities reported registering 9289 new cases of infection and 401 new deaths from the coronavirus as the pandemic ebbed and flowed across Russia. Particularly hard hit were the two capitals, which together with their environs, accounted for half of the cases (t.me/COVID2019_official/2992 and regnum.ru/news/society/3277253.html).

            Under pressure from Moscow, regional governments are expanding their efforts to vaccinate people, including opening vaccination centers in places like zoos and dacha settlements to reach people whom they had earlier missed (newsib.net/novosti/novosibircev-nachali-vakcinirovat-na-dachax-i-v-zooparke.html).

            Moscow and Tashkent announced an agreement under which Uzbek pharmaceutical companies will begin producing the Russian Sputnik-5 vaccine (ria.ru/20210528/uzbekistan-1734639393.html).

            One new development in the pandemic in Russia is this: As overall numbers have fallen in certain areas, people are focusing on specific cases of infection and death more than they did and raising questions about both the healthcare system and the official reports about losses (sovsekretno.ru/articles/khronika-pikiruyushchego-kovida/ and newizv.ru/news/science/29-05-2021/posledstviya-vaktsinatsii-chto-stoit-za-zagadochnymi-smertyami-uchenyh).

Soviet Borders in Central Asia Failed to Consider Impact of Nomadic Groups, Baysalov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – Moscow’s national delimitation of Central Asia in the 1920s suffered from many defects, Ermek Baysalov says; but one of its most serious shortcomings was the failure of the Bolsheviks to consider now nomadic groups changed the ethnic make up of the populations of particular places over the course of each year.

            The Soviets drew lines and promoted linguistic developments to form separate nations out of a population lacking these characteristics in the past. That effort was not always successful, but it laid the basis for the borders and border problems that exist up to now, the Bishkek researcher says.

            But at the time, the Bolsheviks utterly failed to consider one of the specific features of the area: the continuing presence of large numbers of nomads. As a result of their existence, “one and the same territory at various times of the year could vary by number and ethnic composition” (cabar.asia/ru/territorialnye-spory-v-tsentralnoj-azii-na-poroge-30-letiya-nezavisimosti).

            Nomads from one nation often moved onto territories the Soviets defined as belonging to another for part of the year and then moved back, a situation which meant that the nomads and their descendants viewed places they lived in for only part of the year as theirs given that they lived in their “own” national territories only part of the year as well.

            Such historical memories matter and continue to divide the region, blocking efforts at broader cooperation needed for modernization, Baysalov says. Consequently, it is important to go back and examine what happened a century ago if one is to have any hope of overcoming border disputes now.

            In the wake of the 1917 revolution, many in Central Asia wanted to form a Turkic Soviet Republic, but Moscow opposed what it saw as a pan-Turkic threat to Soviet rule. It thus proceeded with a policy that some continue to describe as “divide and rule,” separating peoples along linguistic and cultural lines to prevent them from coming together.

            The truth of the matter, the Kyrgyz researcher says, is “more trivial: “the centralized Soviet planning system started obviously from economic and transportation-logistical considerations than from ethno-demographic ones.” That meant that borders weren’t considered all that important and that territories were shifted from one republic to another in Soviet times.

            Baysalov provides a review of the border clashes which have taken place in Central Asia over the last 30 years since the countries there became independent. According to him, the chief sources of problems are in ethnically mixed areas like the Fergana valley, the enclaves all but Turkmenistan have in other countries, and the politically febrile capital cities.

            The Central Asian countries missed a chance to fix their borders quickly in the 1990s and now have more neuralgic problems, the researcher says. But “unlike the case in many other territorial disputes and conflicts such as Qarabagh, Kashmir or Palestine, the leaders of Central Asia publicly have remained attached to peaceful rhetoric.”

            That provides some basis for hope that they will be able to negotiate settlements and accept the idea of trans-border economic zones, open borders or even the re-articulation of “super-national identities” and thus end this troubled period by taking all the various factors involved into account.

Tatarstan to Have a Muslim Holiday in Memory of Those who Fell Fighting Ivan the Terrible in 1552

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – During Russian Imperial and Soviet times, Kazan marked the anniversary of the occupation of Kazan by the forces of Ivan the Terrible in various ways, including with the erection of a monument to Russians who died in that fighting. But those who resisted his advance were largely ignored.

            With the weakening and then collapse of the Soviet empire, Tatar activists began to mark the event with a memorial day of their own on October 15^th each year. But in the last decade, officials have tried to ban it lest such actions anger Moscow. Last year, city officials banned a demonstration on that date but a court overruled them.

            Now, the Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of Tatarstan has entered the fray. Its aksakals have announced that they will annually hold prayers in memory of those who died fighting the Russian force. The event will take place on the 13^th day of the Muslim month following Ramadan.

            This action has drawn support from Tatar officials who see it as a way for Muslims to take control of a holiday that had been dominated by Tatar nationalists and thus give it more a religious than a political meaning. But others are worried that the two forces are coming together in this way.

            Many in Moscow are anything but happy about this development. Andrey Medvedev, a Moscow city deputy, argues that the new holiday will spark tensions between Tatars and Russians who he says “already for five centuries have lived peacefully in one country”  (politnavigator.net/v-tatarstane-utverzhden-den-skorbi-po-pavshim-pri-vzyatii-kazani-russkim-vojjskom.html).

            Nationalism and separatism are dangerous, he says, and what is happening in Tatarstan is the appearance of “a new, completely anti-government discourse. Who needs this? And the main question: why are the government bodies [in Tatarstan] reacting so slowly to all this?” Is this the result of Turkey’s effort to create a Turkic world in opposition to the Russian one?

            And Roman Silantyev, a notorious critic of all things Islamic, says that the new holiday raises many other questions, in large part because Muslims and Christians fought on both sides in 1552. How is that going to be remembered? Will the Muslim holiday recall the Christian defenders of Kazan? If not, why not? (ng.ru/faith/2021-05-26/3_8157_muslims.html).

            Neither Medvedev nor Silantyev, however, refer to what is almost certainly their greatest fear, that the transformation of 1552 from a narrowly Tatar national holiday to a broader Muslim one is likely to mobilize more Muslim groups in the Russian Federation and boost the status of Tatarstan as an increasingly Muslim center as their leader. 

Plan for Fiber Optic Cable along Northern Sea Route Put on Hold

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – Earlier this year, Moscow announced plans to lay a fiber optic cable from Japan to Finland that would not only support the development of the Northern Sea Route but provide high-speed internet service to isolated parts of the Russian North (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/03/northern-sea-route-to-connect-not-only.html).

            This project, which some called “the second Northern Sea Route,” was to link 11 regional centers in Russia’s Far North into a fiber optic cable to be laid by an international consortium of companies between Helsinki and Tokyo and to be build by an Arctic Connect consortium of Russian, Finnish, Japanese and Scandinavian companies.

            But those plans have now been frozen, backers say, because of problems finding sufficient financing, especially in Japan, thus putting at risk both Moscow’s aspirations for projecting power into the Arctic in this way and developing its own regions along the Arctic littoral (vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2021/05/26/871515-megafon-zamorozil).

            This is no small thing. Given the lack of fiber optic cables in this region, those who want to go online there have had to use more difficult and expensive satellite links, something that has put a crimp on shipping as well as on the development of shore facilities including Russian government operations.

            Sources involved in the program tell Vedomosti that they hope to resume work on the project at some point in the future, but in contrast to their bold statements earlier, they are now not giving any timeframe for work on the project to start let alone be completed. 

Russia’s Territorial Integrity Threatened by Any Internationalization of Northern Sea Route, Sivkov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – The passion with which Moscow commentators defend the idea that the Northern Sea Route must remain under exclusive Russian control reflects not just geopolitical and geo-economic calculations but also the central role that route plays in linking together the thinly populated Russian North to the rest of the country.

            “For Russia,” Konstantin Sivkov argues, “the Northern Sea Route has particular significance as an internal line of communications linking sparsely populated territories along the shore of the Arctic Ocean with the well-developed eastern and western regions of our country” (vpk-news.ru/articles/62275).

            In addition, he says, the Route is the shortest waterway communication connecting the Far East of Russia with its main economic districts in the western portion of the country.” Were this link to be compromised, there would be a very real danger of “the separation from Russia” of an enormous number of resource rich but population poor regions.

            Most foreign governments focus on the benefits to international shipping that could accrue if there were international arrangements governing the Northern Sea Route, ignoring the fact that Russians do not that their country does not have a developed transport network in the North on land and thus must depend heavily on the sea.

            The Russian military specialist casts his argument in terms of what is required to operate in an area in which some country must provide the basis for free navigation. According to him, as long as ships can make the passage without the need for icebreakers, no one needs to control the Northern Sea Route more than anyone else.

            But when ice appears which is every year for significant periods, “it is not Russia but nature herself which blocks free sailing on the Northern Sea Route without Russian support.” That simply has to be recognized, and those who talk about “internationalizing” the route are really talking about something much bigger.

            “International control would lead us to the loss of a significant part of Russian territory,” Sivkov says. “Russia would have to give up its sovereignty over the ports of the Northern Sea Route, including Murmansk and Arkhangelsk which have most important economic and military-strategic importance.”

            “We woull.d have to allow foreign control and administration at our airports of polar aviation by giving others the right to run their activity. Our icebreaker fleet also would have to be handed over to foreign masters.” And foreign control would not be limited to these technical locations but would extend over much of the Russian North, he insists.

            “Is this acceptable for Russia? Obviously not! It would be unacceptable for the US if there were a requirement to place under international control its largest ports, scientific centers, airports, and other objects, which allow for sailing through the use of their communications nets,” Sivkov concludes.

After Kazan School Shooting, Much Talk but Little Action

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – Just as in the United States, in Russia, after every mass school shooting, officials propose a variety of steps to tighten control over guns in order to prevent a repetition; but after expressions of support for such moves even at the presidential level, not much happens.

            What is striking about this similarity is how two such different systems which react so differently to most issues react in much the same way to this one, a reflection of both the difficulties of regulating weapons and the remarkable political strength of hunters and gun owners generally in both. (On this, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/05/russia-now-has-not-only-columbines-but.html.)

            But what is striking as time passes from the latest Russian “Columbine” as its commentators have taken to describing school shootings in the Russian Federation is how much information is coming out about the complexities and loopholes in Russian gun law, a segment of governance that many in the West tend to assume includes only bans.

            In fact, as an article in Kazan’s Business-Gazeta points out, Russian laws governing ownership of guns are a hodgepodge of rules, some of which are quite restrictive but easily avoided while others are even less strict than those which exist in other countries including the United States (business-gazeta.ru/article/510945).

            There are a large number of paths to gun ownership in the Russian Federation depending on the kind of guns involved. Many of these are filled with obstacles, but the obstacles are easily overcome by anyone who wants to take the time to navigate them. What is striking is that it is easier for ordinary Russians to get a handgun for personal use than it is for siloviki to do so.

            According to the Kazan portal, “every third siloviki does not get permission” for personal weapons when he applies, but the share of ordinary Russians who do is much larger. That is because the siloviki operate under tighter control in this respect than do other Russians who often can pick and choose how to apply for weapons.

            One of the most striking gaps in Russian gun laws is that there are absolutely no limits on  how many bullets anyone can purchase at any one time. People can buy a handful or “an entire carload,” Business-Gazeta says. There are even procedures for getting permission for importing ammunition on an individual basis.

            All this means that once an individual does have a gun, he is likely to be able to stockpile an enormous quantity of ammunition he can then use without any supervisions, thus creating a situation where mass violence becomes more rather than less likely.

            The portal notes that after every mass shooting in Russia in recent years, politicians have called for tighter controls; but despite their calls, almost nothing has happened. In the weeks since the latest “Columbine,” even President Vladimir Putin has called for changes. But they haven’t happened at least not yet.

            Indeed, the only change that has occurred is in the city where the shooting happened, officials have purchased more street cameras to monitor people. There hasn’t even been a willingness to put more guards at the schools because there is a raging controversy over whether Moscow or the localities should pay for this.

A Baker’s Double Dozen of Other Notable Stories from Russia This Week

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 28 – Below are 26 more stories from Russia this week that deserve to be noted because they shed significant light on Russia, its government and its people, but that I was unable to write up as full-scale Windows:  

1.      British Cleaner Company Sponsors Contest for Worst Bathroom in a Russian School. Domestos, a British cleaner company, has announced a competition to find the worst bathroom in a Russian school. Pictures of some of the horrors in that category are already pouring in (promonado.ru/domestos-schools/).

2.      When Putin-Era Archives are Opened, They may Be Empty. Russia’s Archive Watch says officials in that country are destroying many things that had been saved in the archives in the past, making it likely that future historians will not find what they are looking for (sovsekretno.ru/news/arkhivnyy-dozor-obvinil-federalnye-vedomstva-v-unichtozhenii-arkhivov/).  

3.      Climate Change Puts More than 40 Percent of Roads and Buildings in Russian North at Risk. Natural Resources Minister Aleksandr Kozlov says that the melting of permafrost as a result of global warming is putting “more than 40 percent” of all roads and structures in Russia’s North at risk of collapse and that the country will have to spend some five trillion rubles (70 billion US dollars) over the next 30 years to fix or replace them (tass.ru/ekonomika/11490969).

4.      Corruption in Russia Returns with a Vengeance as Pandemic Eases. Russia’s loss from corruption has risen 28 percent over the last four months, an indication that as the population has become more active, it has also returned to corrupt practices (vedomosti.ru/society/news/2021/05/27/871651-uscherb-ot-korruptsii-v-rossii-viros-na-28-za-chetire-mesyatsa).

5.      Russians Say Moscow Shouldn’t Send Peacekeepers Anywhere Unless Russia’s National Interests Clearly Involved. A new VTsIOM poll finds that Russians are anything but enthusiastic about having their country get involved in the peacekeeping business as it now is in Qarabagh. Russians say Moscow should dispatch such forces only if it can show that the country’s national interests are directly involved (wciom.ru/analytical-reviews/analiticheskii-obzor/mirotvorcy-rossii).

6.      Idea that Soviets Didn’t Care about Ethnicity Absurd, Dragunsky Says. Commentator Denis Dragunsky says that those who say that no one in Soviet times cared about ethnicity have either forgotten or are lying. People cared a lot, especially in large and ethnically mixed cities (echo.msk.ru/blog/dragunsky/2844668-echo/).

7.      85 Percent of Russian Commanders have Served in Syria. Vladimir Putin told a meeting of the defense ministry that the preparation of commanders had improved because 85 percent of them had served at least one tour in Syria in recent years (kremlin.ru/events/president/news/65653).

8.      Four Out of Five Russian Businessmen Don’t Feel Safe against Baseless Criminal Charges – and One in Four Prosecutors Agrees with Them. A survey of Russian business leaders found that “almost 80 percent” say they feel defenseless against baseless criminal charges; and when prosecutors were asked if this was the case, 18 percent of them agreed with 6.6 percent saying the arrests for economic crimes were unjustified (rbc.ru/society/26/05/2021/60abbad69a794710f338fb83).

9.      Putin Again Delays the Census. This Time to Avoid Conflict with Duma Voting. Last year, Vladimir Putin delayed the 2020 census to this year because of the pandemic; now, he has postponed it again so that it won’t conflict with the Duma elections, a move necessitated by the fact that many officials are involved in both (znak.com/2021-05-25/v_glubinke_ne_ponimayut_kak_vypolnit_volyu_moskvy_i_provesti_perepis_naseleniya_reportazh).

10.  Two Out of Three Russian Marriages End in Divorce. Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union, says that almost two out of every three marriages in Russia ends in divorce, ranking Russia second only to Ukraine on the continent (https://www.kp.ru/daily/27282/4418491/).

11.  Ufa Artist Forms Putin Bust Out of Pulled Teeth. Yevgeniya Khaybullina, an Ufa artist, has modeled a bust of the Kremlin leader out of 500 teeth. She did so after Putin declared that he would knock the teeth out of anyone who tried to take Siberia away from Russia (sibreal.org/a/31273053.html).

12.  Duma Moves to Prevent Lawyers from Taking Mobile Phones or Other Recording Devices into Prison. The Duma has passed on third reading a bill that will block lawyers from carrying mobile telephones, cameras, or other recording devices when they visit their clients in prisons or camps (sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/1166183-7).

13.  Russia Rail Closing Most Restaurant Cars. Russia Rail says it will eliminate restaurant cars on most runs to save money. Passengers will be expected to bring food with them or purchase it at stops (rbc.ru/society/26/05/2021/60ad51319a7947964807df5f).

14.  Moscow Wants State Media Except from Possible Infringement of Foreign Agent Law. The Russian government says that state media should be exempt from financial examinations to determine whether they receive money from abroad because such outlets are not subject to foreign influence (regulation.gov.ru/projects#npa=116235).

15.  Russia’s Caspian Flotilla Fitted with Anti-Drone Weaponry. In an indication that Moscow wants to be prepared for any use of drones in its southern region, the navy has fitted the Caspian Flotilla with drone killers, a step it has taken in the wake of Azerbaijan’s successful use of drones in the fighting with Armenia (casp-geo.ru/v-morskoj-pehote-kaspijskoj-flotilii-rossii-sozdali-otryady-borby-s-bespilotnikami/).

16.  Muscovites Remain Divided on Fate of Lenin. Residents of the Russian capital are divided almost by exactly the same percentages as they were four years ago, with 45 percent who want to see the Bolshevik leader buried as to the 42 percent who want to keep him in the mausoleum (levada.ru/2021/05/25/moskva-zahoronenie-tela-lenina/).

17.  Russian Government Boosts Salaries for Siloviki. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed an order that will raise the salaries of military contractors, siloviki and law enforcement personnel by 3.7 percent on October 1 (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/mishustin-podpisal-postanovlenie-o-povyshenii-okladov-silovikov-1030467889).

18.  First Contingent of Prisoner Ready to Be Sent to Work on BAM Next Month. The Federal Prison System has organized a continent of 600 prisoners who will work on the Baikal-Amur Mainland (kommersant.ru/doc/4827428). Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin says Russia needs many more workers than the prisons and camps can currently supply (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/85660).

19.  Moscow to Use AI to Monitor Internet. Roskomnadzor says it will use artificial intelligence to monitor the Internet for prohibited information but that human beings will make the final decisions on bans (kavtoday.ru/article/6018). Russian parents tells pollsters that they intend to limit their children’s use of the Internet this summer (stoletie.ru/lenta/bolshinstvo_rossijan_namereny_ogranichit_detam_dostup_v_internet_vo_vrema_letnih_kanikul_410.htm).

20.  Russia’s Search for Minerals in Arctic Falling Short. A third of the 60 surveys Moscow has made of the Arctic seabed for mineral wealth have not found any (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/85618).

21.  Construction Ministry Wants to Introduce a Real Death Tax. The construction ministry is calling for the imposition of a 1.5 percent a year tax on Russians so that their heirs will be able to bury them appropriately. The idea has been savagely attacked and may not be going anywhere (krizis-kopilka.ru/archives/85600).

22.  All Components of Russians’ Breakfasts Jumping in Price. The components of an ordinary Russian breakfast are increasing in price far beyond the average of inflation and eggs are on the verge of disappearing altogether (vtimes.io/2021/05/28/podorozhal-vash-zavtrak-a5291 https://svpressa.ru/economy/article/299759/).

23.  Russians Running Short of Samogon. Because of the rise in the price of components and a crackdown against it in some places, Russians are finding it more difficult than at any time since Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign to find and purchase samogon, the Russian word for moonshine (svpressa.ru/economy/article/299759/).

24.  Ever More Activist Groups Shutting Down. Open Russia and Gulagu.net both shut down this week after pressure from the authorities, and their leaders moved abroad. There was even a report that the Russian government may declare Wikipedia a foreign agent (sibreal.org/a/как-активистов-вынуждают-уезжать-из-россии/31273271.html, znak.com/2021-05-27/otkrytaya_rossiya_obyavila_o_samolikvidacii_iz_za_davleniya_gosdumy and znak.com/2021-05-28/vikipediyu_mogut_obyavit_inoagentom).

25.  Petersburgers Outraged by Gazprom’s Plan for 703-Meter Skyscraper. Gazprom plans to build a 703-meter skyscraper in St. Petersburg to house its main offices. Residents are outraged not only by its location but by the fact that it will overwhelm the city’s existing skyline (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2021/05/26/dryn-marzhovyi).

26.  Toliatti Teacher Forced Out for Refusing to Campaign for Ruling Party. Alena Skvortsova, an English-language teacher in Toliatti, was told to write a letter of resignation after she refused to vote for United Russia and campaign for it among the parents of her pupils (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=60AE3B68F13FA).