Paul
Goble
Staunton, September 18 – In an
action yesterday explicitly timed to coincide with the start of the Zapad-2017
military exercise, a group of anti-war activists dressed as clowns made their
point by satirizing Vladimir Putin’s focus on enemies and war to the neglect of
the needs of the Russian people at home.
On the decks of the Avrora
battleship whose guns signaled the start of the Bolshevik revolution, the
activists declared that “it is unjust that schools, hospitals and pensioners
still have some support while for the money being spent on them, we could hold military
exercise and then kill!” (sobkorr.ru/news/59BF75952E1D8.html).
“It isn’t important,” they continued, “who
the enemy is; it is only important that war is something joyous!” The
demonstrators carried placards reading “We need enemies,” “We need traditional
values” and “imaginary enemies,” “A clown state,” and “I didn’t serve, I’m not
a clown” (graniru.org/Politics/Russia/activism/m.264047.html).
According to local television which
covered the action, the clowns were quickly driven off the ship. No one was
arrested but the guardians of public order seemed especially concerned that there
be no photographs. Nonetheless, many have been posted online (rtvi.com/news/4234-v-peterburge-antivoennyie-aktivistyi-ustroili-aktsiyu-na-kreysere-avrora_-fotoreportaj
and newizv.ru/news/society/18-09-2017/antivoennye-aktivisty-naryadilis-v-klounov-i-proveli-aktsiyu-na-kreysere-avrora).
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