Paul Goble
Staunton, December 25 -- 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
will present a selection of 13 of these other and typically neglected stories
at the end of each week. This is the sixteenth such compilation. It is only
suggestive and far from complete – indeed, this week once again, one could have
put out such a listing every day -- but perhaps one or more of these stories
will prove of broader interest.
1. A Christmas Tree for the Putin Era. Charter 97 has posted a picture of what is
truly symbolic of the Putin era: a Christmas tree decorated not with lights and
ornaments but rather wrapped in barbed wire (charter97.org/ru/news/2015/12/19/183513/).
2. Orwell’s ‘1984’ One
of Top Ten Sellers in Russian Book Market in 2015. Russians
purchased more copies of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, “1984,” in 2015 than
all but a handful of other books. Some may have bought it because of its
warnings about what happens when big media trumps everything else; others in
contrast may have seen it as a road map for their future under Vladimir Putin (meduza.io/news/2015/12/23/v-top-10-samyh-populyarnyh-knig-v-rossii-popal-dzhordzh-oruell).
3.
Another ‘Solution’ for Russia’s Nationality
Problem. Moscow scholars have suggested that there
should not be any reference to “majority” or “minority” nationalities in
Russia, although it is unclear whether this will change the power balance
between the two or only, as seems more likely, obscure what is in fact
occurring (nazaccent.ru/content/18842-eksperty-zadumalis-stoit-li-upotreblyat-terminy.html).
4.
United Russia
Deputy Says Studying Foreign Languages ‘Harmful.’ In another
indication of what Putin’s “Russian world” means, Irina Yarovaya says studying foreign languages
is “harmful” (facebook.com/PartiyaNarodnoySvobody/photos/a.314957628686321.1073741828.314941655354585/513586322156783/?type=3&theater).
5.
Evenk Reindeer
Herder Shoots and Kills Drunken Gazprom Agents Invading His Land A member of one of the numerically small
peoples of the Russian North has shot and killed two Gazprom agents who were violating
his space, a reminder if one is needed that small peoples have options even
against the most powerful company in Russia (vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2701727,
echo.msk.ru/news/1682396-echo.html
and grani.ru/Events/m.247255.html).
6.
When There is No
Money for Food or Heat, Build a Church, Arkhangelsk Governor Says. People in Russia’s regions are running out of
money for food, healthcare, orphans, heat and other basic needs, but the governor
of one region says that building a Russian Orthodox church must have priority
over all these other concerns (dvinaland.com/4881).
7.
Russians Cutting
Back Plans for New Years’ Celebrations.
As the economic crisis deepens, Russians are cutting back not just their
travel plans for the upcoming holiday but also spending on celebratory meals
and drinks. Faced with rising prices and falling incomes, they tell journalists
they won’t be doing as much this year as in any recent one (echo.msk.ru/news/1680216-echo.html).
8.
Is There a Bright
Side to Official Indifference and Neglect?
The failure of Russian officials to take care of basic needs such as
highway repair is leading some Russians to take action on their own, a
development that some observers say could become the basis for increased civic
activism or even the rise of the first flowerings of civil society (newizv.ru/society/2015-12-22/232510-don-kihoty-nashego-dvora.html).
9.
Another Restriction on Public Activism: No
Demonstrations During Church Fasts.
Officials in one Russian region have come up with another way to block
protests. They say that there can be no demonstrations during church fasts
because such things would disturb the faithful (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=567914E1E3A4F).
10.
40 Percent of
Russian Men Don’t Live to Current Retirement Age. As Russian
officials debate raising the retirement age to help cope with demographic
problems, there is another one they have tended to neglect: At present 40
percent of ethnic Russian men don’t live to the current retirement age, a
horrific number but one that in fact is a slight improvement on a decade ago (ng.ru/economics/2015-12-21/4_pensia.html).
11.
A New Russian ‘Secret’
Weapon? A picture has been posted on Facebook of what
its authors say is a new “secret” Russian weapon: a car on which guns are
mounted being pulled by horses (facebook.com/nashacanada/photos/a.509413365742598.132225.509387469078521/1227112733972654/?type=3&theater).
12.
Russian Prisoner
Doused with Really Cold Water. Not only has the
Russian Duma given the siloviki the right to shoot at crowds, but Russian
police are coming up with new ways to brutalize those under arrest. In one
place, the police have doused those detained with icy water as a way of
extracting confessions or simply inflicting pain (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=56751B74B6916).
13.
Presidential
Grants Go to Russian Orthodox Church and Eurasianist Ideologues. The Kremlin has sent a clear signal
concerning its ideological priorities: Most presidential grants to public
organizations this year have gone to groups affiliated with the Moscow
Patriarchate and the Eurasianist movement (grani.ru/Society/ngo/m.247152.html).
And five more from countries neighboring
Russia:
14.
No More Soviet
Champagne in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have moved to ban “Sovetskoye”
champagne, long a staple of celebrations in that country (forum-msk.org/material/news/11247493.html).
They have also suggested that Father Frost is a legacy of Soviet communism and
therefore should be ignored as well (forum-msk.org/material/news/11244562.html).
On a more serious note, Ukrainians now remember the two years when they didn’t
mark the New Years’ holiday: during the terror famine of the early 1930s (nv.ua/opinion/bogomolets/est-li-u-ljudej-korni-86980.html).
15. Tajikistan, Having ‘Killed Father Frost,’ Now Bans
Christmas Trees.
Dushanbe prohibited the appearance of Father Frost three years ago; now it has
declared that no one must put up a Christmas tree (islamsng.com/tjk/news/10166 and
rus.ozodi.org/content/article/27435309.html).
16. Belarusians Angry
that Russian Propaganda Replacing Belarusian Books. Some Belarusians are upset that bookstores in their
capital city have replaced Belarusian language materials with Russian language
propaganda (charter97.org/ru/news/2015/12/18/183439/).
17.
Moscow Says It Must have a Say on Ukraine-EU Visa Free
Regime. In an indication of just how imperialistic
the Russian authorities now are, Moscow says it should have a voice and even a
veto on plans to have a visa free regime between Ukraine and the European Union
(oinfo.ua/politic/1119047_MID-Rossii-trebuet-soglasovat-RF-bezvizoviy.html).
18. Some Latvians Fear a President Trump Would Give
Baltics Back to Putin. Some Latvians are afraid that if Donald Trump
were to become US president, he would give Latvia and its two Baltic neighbors
back to Russia as a present to his friend Vladimir Putin (webkamerton.ru/2015/12/v-latvii-schitayut-chto-tramp-podarit-putinu-pribaltiku/).
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