Paul
Goble
Staunton, October 7 -- 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 each week presents a selection of these other and typically
neglected stories at the end of each week. This is the 103rd such
compilation, and it is again a double issue with 26 from Russia and 13 from
Russia’s neighbors. Even then, it is far from complete, but perhaps one or more
of these stories will prove of broader interest.
1. Putin Turns 65 While Fewer than Half of Russian Men
Will Reach that Milestone. October 7 is Vladimir Putin’s 65th
birthday, but because of super-high mortality among Russian males, only 43
percent of the men in his country will still be alive at that age, a sad
reality Moscow outlets have pointed out in advance of Putin’s birthday (takiedela.ru/news/2017/10/06/muzh-smertnost/). Putin’s day was greeted in many ways by both
those who wish him well and those who don’t. The most prominent action
consisted of the anti-Putin Navalny demonstrations across Russia (echo.msk.ru/news/2069216-echo.html), but others spoke out against the proposal
from some to make Putin’s birthday a state holiday (newsland.com/community/6437/content/pochemu-den-rozhdeniia-prezidenta-ne-stoit-prevrashchat-vo-vsenarodnyi-prazdnik/6025142), complained that
Putin is giving billions to foreigners but not helping Russians (newsland.com/community/4109/content/putin-i-ego-priiateli-proshchaiut-milliardnye-dolgi-komu-ugodno-no-tolko-ne-naseleniiu-rf/6024861), speculated
about the future including perhaps ominously where Putin will eventually be
buried (thequestion.ru/questions/317915/gde-pokhoronyat-vladimira-putina), discussed the
ways in which Putin memes have passed into the culture (newsland.com/community/4711/content/v-moskve-proidet-vystavka-internet-memov-s-putinym/6023451), worried about
the equation of Putin with Stalin (ng.ru/ideas/2017-10-05/5_7088_putin.html), and came up
with various pro- and anti-Putin graffiti, signs and slogans (dsnews.ua/world/kak-sotsseti-privetstvuyut-putina-s-dnem-rozhdeniya-fotozhaby--07102017114000).
2.
West Should Fear Russian Money, Not Russian
Hackers, Bershidsky Says. Leonid Pershidsky, a prominent Russian journalist who
now works for Bloomberg News, says the West is making a big mistake by focusing
on the work of Russian hackers. Far more serious, he says, is the impact of the
enormous flows of Russian money abroad, clean and otherwise, on businesses and
governments abroad (republic.ru/posts/86829 and bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-10-06/the-russia-collusion-you-should-care-about).
3.
Despite
Hyper-Centralization of Political System, Regions Playing Large Role in
Campaign.
Both despite and because the Russian political system is so centralized,
opposition leaders and Vladimir Putin himself are devoting more attention to
the country’s regions and republics.
Yabloko’s Grigory Yavlinsky has followed Aleksey Navalny and Vladimir
Putin in travelling beyond the ring road (sobkorr.ru/news/59D24BFB8C7DD.html), and Putin is
currying favor in the regions by writing off the debt of hard-pressed regions (babr24.com/irk/?IDE=165805 and svpressa.ru/economy/article/182788/). Other political
developments of significance this week included a poll showing 67 percent of
Russians are ready to vote for Putin, nearly 20 percent fewer than say they
support him (newsland.com/community/129/content/sotsiologi-soobshchili-skolko-rossiian-gotovy-golosovat-za-putina/6017076), the Kremlin has
imposed a spiritual test on those it may appoint as governors (politsovet.ru/56729-buduschih-gubernatorov-proveryayut-na-duhovnye-cennosti.html), the fraudulence
of any investigation involving Chechnya was thrown into high relief (themoscowtimes.com/news/two-men-shown-as-proof-by-officials-were-actually-missing-chechens-brothers-59152), the Supreme Court called for a massive
overhaul of the judicial system to make precedents more important and judgments
more consistent (znak.com/2017-10-04/verhovnyy_sud_predlozhil_masshtabnuyu_processualnuyu_reformu), Navalny says
that nothing has changed in the Russian political system except that the regime
doesn’t shoot people anymore (znak.com/2017-10-02/v_neftekamske_yunoshu_grozyat_otchislit_iz_kolledzha_za_mitingi_navalnogo_i_oskorblenie_er), the
Nationalities Agency reorganized perhaps in advance of becoming a ministry (nazaccent.ru/content/25528-obshestvennyj-sovet-fadn-podelili-na-pyat.html), the Kremlin said that there is no reason
to fire the culture minister despite the finding that he plagiarized his
dissertation (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D5EEC0D4D6D and nakanune.ru/news/2017/10/3/22484847/), and a study has
found that Russian athletes who enter politics are even more inclined to be
repressive than others (kavkazr.com/a/atlety-politiki/28760842.html).
4.
Putin Achieving
What Brezhnev Did: Russia as Upper Volta With Missiles. Numerous
commentators described the Soviet Union in its last years as “Upper Volta with
Missiles.” Now, scholars at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics say that under
Putin, Russia has been declining to the point that it is now at the level of a
third world country, except of course for its military (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/vshe-predskazala-rossii-skatyvanie-do-urovnya-stran-tretego-mira-1002994788). Even Vladimir Putin acknowledged that
poverty has increased in Russia, although he blamed what has happened in the
last several years on events in the 1990s (newsland.com/community/4109/content/putin-nazval-prichinu-razryva-v-dokhodakh-bogatykh-i-bednykh/6022155 and newsland.com/community/5652/content/putin-bednykh-liudei-v-rossii-za-poslednie-dva-goda-stalo-nemnozhko-bolshe/6021988). Other figures released this week also
highlight Russia’s decline: the number of Russians in all key categories of the
economy have declined (svpressa.ru/blogs/article/182846/), rising incomes
have occurred only in the capitals and oil and gas centers (https://versia.ru/rabotat-v-rossii-negde-i-ne-za-chto), and Russians in
many places have concluded that there is no money and therefore no reason to
produce anything (newsland.com/community/4765/content/grudinin-u-liudei-deneg-net-proizvodit-chto-libo-bessmyslenno/6022102). Those close to
Putin and at the very top, of course, continue to do well just as some elites
in the Third World do. The 28 Russian billionaires have seen their wealth
increase by 24 billion US dollars since the start of 2017 (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D3271F44D8E).
5.
Russian
Finance Ministry Says Ruble Will Decline Through 2035. Finance ministry officials project that the
ruble will decline against other currencies for the next 18 years (rusmonitor.com/rubl-budet-padat-do-2035-goda-prognoz-minfina.html). A commentator says sanctions have held
Russia back for 20 years (facebook.com/haytrdo/), and other
experts say that the Russian government will soon run out of all reserves (newsland.com/community/4765/content/analitik-fnb-povtorit-sudbu-rezervnogo-fonda/6023837). Western banks are leaving Russia (versia.ru/pochemu-iz-rossii-uxodit-bank-nordea-i-kakuyu-rol-v-yetom-sygrala-yelvira-nabiullina and snob.ru/selected/entry/129579). Russian farms
and farmers are disappearing (ng.ru/omics/2017-10-04/4_7087_agro.html). Statistics
suggest that Russia has fallen behind the West at an increasing pace over the
last ten years (newsland.com/community/4765/content/analitik-fnb-povtorit-sudbu-rezervnogo-fonda/6023837). Company towns
are still dying as is the market for real estate (polit.ru/article/2017/10/04/city/ and newsland.com/community/5652/content/rynok-zhilia-skoro-rukhnet/6020170). And nearly
three Russians out of four say that privatization was carried out in the wrong
way and should be revisited or even reversed (nakanune.ru/news/2017/10/2/22484710/).
6.
Russians
Fight to Get Into Jail, Use Sex to Pay for Rent, and Turn to Fortune Tellers.
There are many ways to measure the
desperation of a population, but three reports this week suggest that an
increasing number of Russians feel that way: some are attacking police in order
to get arrested and be sentenced to prison where at least they will be fed (newsland.com/community/5652/content/sibiriak-razbil-litso-politseiskomu-chtoby-popast-v-tiurmu/6024004), Russian women are
increasingly offering sexual favors to pay for rent (svpressa.ru/society/article/182408/),
and Russians are now spending two billion rubles (30 million US dollars) on
forture tellers who they hope can tell them something good is coming (svpressa.ru/society/article/182427/).
Ever more Russians are homeless, many are living on their credit cards, and all
are facing rising prices for basic commodities like fish (echo.msk.ru/blog/venoru/2065542-echo/,
newizv.ru/article/general/06-10-2017/zhizn-vzaymy-pochemu-kreditnyy-bum-idet-v-samyh-bednyh-regionah,
newsland.com/community/4701/content/v-rossii-v-dva-raza-vyroslo-chislo-zlostnykh-neplatelshchikov-za-uslugi-zhkkh/6022293
and newsland.com/community/8211/content/v-rossii-rezko-podorozhaet-ryba/6019035).
7.
Transportation Network Collapsing. The failure of many of the so-called “baby
Aeroflots” has allowed the surviving company to cut routes and raise fares thus
making it more difficult for people in many parts of Russia to travel (versia.ru/ayeroflot-pogryaz-v-skandalax-raschishhaya-sebe-mesto-pod-solncem).
Even worse at least in terms of the number of people affected, budgetary
stringencies have led to the collapse of public transportation of all kinds in
cities and regions throughout the country (agonia-ru.com/archives/11758 and
newizv.ru/news/city/01-10-2017/moskvichi-vystupili-protiv-unichtozheniya-trolleybusov).
This collapse is especially significant because Russian roads remain among the
worst in the world, ranked 114th among all countries and worse than
those in neighboring Mongolia or in the African country of Burundi (newsland.com/community/6638/content/kachestvo-dorog-v-rossii-khuzhe-chem-v-svazilende-i-burundi/6023294
and asiarussia.ru/news/17907/).
Teachers, once a highly respected and relatively well paid group in Russia,
have lost their status and pay advantages and now are thinking about a mass
strike (snob.ru/selected/entry/129776
and takiedela.ru/news/2017/10/04/vciom-uchitelya/).
8.
Putin’s Health
‘Optimization’ Program Killing People Now and Setting Stage for More Deaths in
Future. Vladimir Putin’s cutbacks in spending on
healthcare, reductions that are slated to remain in place for years (gazeta.ru/business/2017/10/04/10917476.shtml), are
killing people right now by depriving them of access to needed care and setting
the stage for more deaths later because they are leading to reductions in the
training of needed specialists (regnum.ru/news/polit/2328887.html). The elderly and those living in rural areas are
being especially hard hit (rbc.ru/society/06/10/2017/59d71ba29a794779b25168e2?from=main
and gazeta.ru/business/2017/10/04/10917476.shtml).
But mortality among adult males is high and in many areas even rising (newsland.com/community/33/content/v-rossii-pugaiushchimi-tempami-umiraiut-muzhchiny/6024722),
and the only reason the country’s demographic numbers aren’t worse is to be
found among the predominantly Muslim gastarbeiters and non-Russian nations
within the Russian Federation (iz.ru/651768/v-rossii-rastet-chislo-detei-i-podrostkov).
9. Muscovites Divided on Whether Gastarbeiters Should
Assimilate or Remain Distinct. A new study concludes that residents of
the Russian capital are deeply divided between those who would like to see the
predominantly Muslim gastarbeiters there assimilate to the Russian nation or
remain completely distinct (iq.hse.ru/news/210250319.html). There is also controversy over groups like
Kamchatka’s Chamadaltsy that are formally part of the numerically small peoples
of the North but who speak Russian and are heavily intermarried with ethnic
Russians (nazaccent.ru/content/25522-zhitelnica-kamchatki-dokazala-v-sude-prinadlezhnost.html).
In other news from the nationalities front, a Buryat region is in almost open
revolt against its rulers (ulan.mk.ru/articles/2017/10/04/v-barguzinskom-rayone-buryatii-nazrel-bunt-protiv-glavy-izza-povalnykh-uvolneniy.html),
the Agin district which Putin amalgamated with a neighboring Russian region is
promoting its distinctive idenetity with statues of Kobzon and other prominent
native sons and daughters (nazaccent.ru/content/25537-k-yubileyu-buryatskogo-okruga-v-aginske.html),
Karachayevo-Cherkessia marked the anniversary of the day it elevated itself to
the status of a republic and not to the earlier one when it became an ASSR (kavpolit.com/articles/karachaevo_cherkesija_otmechaet_25_letie_obrazovan-35927/),
tensions between the Avars and Kumyks of Daghestan are heating up (kavkazr.com/a/zemlya-mezhnatsionalnyh-protivorechiy/28775269.html),
Russia’s Roma are now involved in trading counterfeit crypto money (rusmonitor.com/obninskie-cygane-naladili-vypusk-poddelnojj-kriptovalyuty.html),
and Ruslan Gvashev, the Shapsug activist, has ended his hunger strike as his
court date has been postponed (nazaccent.ru/content/25595-cherkesskij-aktivist-ruslan-gvashev-prekratil-golodovku.html).
10.
Russian Officials Struggle to Define Putin’s Language
Policy. Facing resistance from non-Russians to any
change, pressure from Russian speakers for immediate action, and the absence of
guidance from the Kremlin on exactly what Putin wants, Moscow officials are
struggling to come up with a policy that will guide language policies in the
schools, with some urging that two languages be taught at one and the same
time, a major immediate concession to the non-Russian republics but one that
could carry with it a threat to their languages over time (nazaccent.ru/content/25525-nacionalnym-smi-predlozhili-spasatsya-bilingvalnostyu.html,
nazaccent.ru/content/25550-barinov-predlozhil-prepodavat-v-nachalnoj-shkole.html,
business-gazeta.ru/article/358986
and https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/358868).
11.
‘All Separatism is Good Unless It Touchers
Russia which is Always About to Fall Apart,’ Nevzorov Says. Moscow
commentator Aleksandr Nevzorov gives that as an explanation why Moscow is
always promoting separatism in other countries but opposing it in Russia (echo.msk.ru/programs/nevsredy/2066748-echo/).
Moscow is clearly ever more worried about regionalism and separatism be it in
the non-contiguous Kaliningrad where Germans are ever more active (nazaccent.ru/content/25572-v-kaliningrade-nachal-rabotu-novyj-centr.html
and afterempire.info/2017/09/30/alimpieva/)
or in the Russian Far East where neighboring China currently accounts for 80
percent of foreign direct investment (newsland.com/community/7268/content/kak-kitai-spasaet-otstalyi-dalnii-vostok/6018368).
Russian commentators also are concerned about people in the regions complaining
about funding Crimea by taking money away from them and about unfunded
liabilities that the center imposes without checking with them (polit.ru/article/2017/10/02/crimea/
and afterempire.info/2017/10/01/spb-bomb/).
12.
Russian Officials
Step Up Repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Experts say that Russian officials are increasing their repression
against the Jehovah’s Witnesses and may begin to increase it against other
religious minorities, a step especially dangerous because many police do not
understand critical distinctions among the various faiths (portal-credo.ru/site/?act=authority&id=2274,
ru.rfi.fr/rossiya/20170929-nedelya-v-rossii-svideteli-iegovy-saientologi-kto-sleduyushchii,
openrussia.org/notes/714204/
and newsland.com/community/4765/content/gosduma-rf-obsudit-zakonoproekt-ob-obiazatelnom-chtenii-molitv-na-zasedaniiakh/6021265). In other religious news, the Muslims of
Kaliningrad are being offered a new place for their mosque (interfax-religion.ru/?act=print&div=20401), Middle
Volga Muslims push for gender equality (znak.com/2017-10-05/v_ekaterinburge_musulmanki_so_vsey_rossii_zayavili_o_tom_chto_ravny_muzhchinam),
the Moscow Patriarchate says attacks on theology as a scientific discipline are
a survival of the Soviet past (interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=68329),
and Patriarch Kirill says the world does not need to fear strong Islam but rather weak Christianity (rusk.ru/st.php?idar=79131).
13.
Navalny
Protest This Week Only One of Many. The Navalny demonstrations attracted the
most attention, but there were numerous other protests in Russia. Among the
most interesting were a demonstration in Sakha against extending the boundaries
of a national park (regnum.ru/news/society/2331041.html),
a memorial on the 11th anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder (echo.msk.ru/news/2069230-echo.html),
a Russian nationalist gathering which demanded the closing of the Yeltsin Center
(newsland.com/community/4043/content/na-mitinge-pamiati-zhertv-oktiabria-1993-goda/6022829),
a protest against government censorship of Youtube (ixtc.org/2017/10/v-moskve-razognali-miting-protiv-tsenzury-u-zdaniya-youtube/), a Karelian
democracy gathering (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D2771EC383F),
a Karelian action against a wealthy Russian who bought a farm and then allowed
its animals to starve (forum-msk.org/material/news/13774601.html),
a Moscow demonstration in support of Crimean Tatar political prisoners (ekhokavkaza.com/a/28767085.html),
eight social actions (openrussia.org/notes/714244/),
a protest in Cherkassk against official neglect of the Holocaust (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/310342/),
and a Nizhny Novgorod demonstration in support of freedom of assembly (afterempire.info/2017/09/30/pokrovka/).
14. Russians’ Ignorance of Stalinist Past
Opens Way for a Stalinist Future. A quarter of all
Russians and half of younger ones say they do not know anything about Stalin’s
repressive policies, although 53 percent of the total sample say innocent
people suffered under the Soviet dictator (thinktanks.by/publication/2017/10/03/46-molodyh-rossiyan-vpervye-uslyshali-o-repressiyah-stalina.html,
takiedela.ru/news/2017/10/02/repressii-dlya-nevinnyh/
and znak.com/2017-10-02/vciom_24_rossiyan_nichego_ne_znaet_o_stalinskih_repressiyah). That they know so little is the result of official
policy designed to conceal his crimes, including closing archives, editing
books, and stripping some of those who investigated the crimes of his period of
academic degrees ria.ru/religion/20171004/1506128121.html,
newsland.com/community/5392/content/nostalgiia-po-stalinu-v-nashei-strane-vyzvana-toptaniem-sobstvennoi-istorii/6022808,
and rosbalt.ru/piter/2017/10/03/1650396.html).
Moscow is increasingly targeting repressive measures at the Navalny campaign (ixtc.org/2017/10/deputaty-gosdumy-razrabotali-zakon-protiv-navalnogo/,
kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59CFAE6E77953
and meduza.io/slides/kak-ne-soglasovat-miting-navalnogo-instruktsiya-dlya-chinovnikov).
The Russian law banning mirror sites has entered into force (echo.msk.ru/news/2065224-echo.html),
the agency overseeing the media has set up a special blocking laboratory (iz.ru/651853/vladimir-zykov/roskomnadzor-sozdal-sobstvennuiu-laboratoriiu-blokirovok),
the Duma is planning to increase penalties on those who make false reports
about terrorist acts (novayagazeta.ru/news/2017/10/05/135879-gosduma-planiruet-uzhestochit-sanktsii-za-lozhnye-soobscheniya-o-terakte), the Russian government is increasing penalizing
people for intentions without any action (forum-msk.org/material/news/13785731.html), some Duma members want to give the authorities
power to block sides without waiting for a court ruling (newsland.com/community/1039/content/oppozitsionnye-saity-budut-blokirovat-bez-suda-i-sledstviia/6016761)
and to block websites that call for people to attend meetings the authorities
haven’t given clearance for (echo.msk.ru/news/2064938-echo.html),
and the authorities are increasingly taking actions against foreign
corporations and especially foreign news agencies operating in Russia (meduza.io/news/2017/10/06/interfaks-genprokuratura-mozhet-priznat-nezhelatelnymi-v-rossii-neskolko-amerikanskih-smi, themoscowtimes.com/news/cnn-warned-by-roskomandzor-59120 and kommersant.ru/doc/3427423).
15.
A Million Russians
have Been Evacuated as Result of Bomb Scares. Over the last month, more than a
million Russians have been evacuated from buildings in which, anonymous
telephone callers say, bombs have been planted. No bombs have been found but
the authorities have little choice but to take these warnings seriously (graniru.org/Politics/Russia/FSB/m.264487.html and polit.ru/article/2017/10/07/explosion_wave/).
The FSB says it has identified four Russians who have made the calls from
abroad (echo.msk.ru/news/2068398-echo.html
and fedpress.ru/news/77/society/186903a6). Despite
this, a poll shows that Russians are less worried about terrorism now than they
were earlier in the year (themoscowtimes.com/news/russans-less-aftaid-of-terrorism-59132). There is growing concern among officials,
however. A court has ordered a newspaper to suppress an article about how to
make bombs from readily available materials (versia.ru/nizhegorodskij-sud-zapretil-statyu-ob-izgotovlenii-dinamika-iz-podruchnyx-materialov),
and the defense ministry has ordered soldiers not to use their cellphones to
take selfies (bbc.com/news/world-europe-41510592).
There has been a wave of retail violence against businessmen and by older people
(meduza.io/news/2017/10/05/v-tsentre-moskvy-soversheno-pokushenie-na-biznesmena
and newsland.com/community/8211/content/v-moskve-zaderzhali-75-letniuiu-pensionerku-s-revolverom/6022064).
In other domestic security news, articles appeared about how young men are
avoiding the draft by posing as gays (thequestion.ru/questions/42635/kak-proveryayut-geev-na-prizyvnoi-komissii and thequestion.ru/questions/192810/pochemu-muzhchiny-tak-chasto-pytayutsya-otkosit-ot-armii),
treatment of prisoners is deteriorating now that officials are blocking rights activists
from visiting places of confinement (lenta.ru/articles/2017/10/03/fsin/),
some media outlets are suggesting that the Daghestani soldier who killed three
of his comrades in the Far East was interested in ISIS (ura.news/articles/1036272474),
visitors to cemeteries count more combat deaths than Moscow is reporting (newsland.com/community/8211/content/statisticheskii-paradoks-c-obeliskami-na-rossiiskikh-kladbishchakh/6021022), an ISIS
cell was unmasked in Moscow (echo.msk.ru/news/2065934-echo.html),
and police without housing complained to Putin that this was the direct result
of his spending on Crimea (newsland.com/community/5862/content/politseiskie-bez-zhilia-napomnili-putinu-o-milliardakh-na-krym/6016912).
16.
Russians Training
Swedish Nazis at Camp Near St. Petersburg. Swedish media are reporting that
members of Swedish Nazi groups are being trained at a camp near St. Petersburg
in Russia (inosmi.ru/social/20171002/240415093.html and svd.se/har-tranar-svenska-nazister-krig-i-ryssland),
reports that seem especially ominous because Russian outlets are reporting that
Alland Islanders want independence from Finland (centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1507184340).
Russian commentators say Moscow should be upset by the second season of “Occupied”
about a supposed Russian occupation of Norway (svpressa.ru/society/article/182467/).
Meanwhile, the European Human Rights Court has ruled against Moscow on coverage
of the Kursk incident (novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/10/03/74057-signaly-kotorye-ne-hoteli-uslyshat).
17.
Moscow Hiding More
of Its Defense Spending. According to RBC, Russia has classified nearly 40
percent of its military spending, the highest level in the 12 years the agency
has monitored it (rbc.ru/economics/05/10/2017/59d4fde09a7947e9e7dff121?from=main).
Meanwhile, Aleksey Kudrin says that the militarization of the budget is harming
the Russian economy (newsland.com/community/4109/content/kudrin-otsenil-ushcherb-dlia-rossii-ot-voenizirovannogo-biudzheta/6023403). Another way
Moscow is hiding its military activities is by using various mercenary groups
in Syria (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D6208A93A07).
The Russian government has also thumbed its nose at the US over North Korea,
allowing Pyongyang to link to the Internet via Russia and doubling its trade
with that country (newsland.com/community/politic/content/rossiia-podkliuchila-severnuiu-koreiu-k-internetu/6019739
and rusjev.net/2017/10/06/rossiya-udvoila-torgovlyu-s-kndr-vopreki-sanktsiyam/).
Meanwhile, officials report more problems with Russian rockets (lenta.ru/articles/2017/10/04/yura_prosti_nas/
and newsland.com/community/4109/content/zapuski-protonov-zamorozili-na-polgoda-iz-za-togo-chto-kladovshchitsa-ushla-na-bolnichnyi/6021321), and serious
shortcomings in Russia’s research fleet and the navy’s global communications
system (polit.ru/article/2017/10/03/fleet/
and kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D33F257AD62).
And an independent analysis suggests the Kremlin’s much-ballyhooed Young Army
is largely useless (meduza.io/feature/2017/10/05/budut-nastoyaschih-muzhchin-delat).
18. Russia Still has 6559 Lenin Streets. Russia’s cities
and towns still have 6559 Lenin Streets, far outstripping anyone else (yandex.ru/company/researches/2017/streets).
Stalin busts are faring less well: one was put in a parking lot, and other is
being challenged by city officials (thebarentsobserver.com/en/life-and-public/2017/10/stalin-placed-parking-lot-arkhangelsk
and newsland.com/community/7231/content/novosibirskie-vlasti-protiv-stalinskogo-biusta/6021312).
In Tobolsk, activists are building a museum on the Imperial Family (newsland.com/community/7231/content/v-tobolske-zavershaetsia-rabota-nad-sozdaniem-muzeia-tsarskoi-semi/6023309).
Other monument news this week of note: Sverdlovsk oblast has put up a monument
to the natural and technological disasters of Russian history (e1.ru/news/spool/news_id-478265.html),
the Udmurts have put up a monument to their pagan groves (nazaccent.ru/content/25592-pervym-pamyatnik-etnologii-udmurtii-stanet-svyashennaya.html),
and environmental activists succeeded in putting a respirator on one statue but
were blocked from doing so on another (takiedela.ru/photography/ and novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/10/05/74076-nasmerdeli-gady-aktivisty-greenpeace-nadeli-protivogazy-na-pamyatnik-georgiyu-pobedonostsu).
19.
Western Special
Services Said Working to Exclude Russian Athletes from Competitions. Despite upbeat statements by FIFA and Vladimir Putin (regnum.ru/news//2330662.html and business-gazeta.ru/article/359650),
Russia faces uphill problems in preparing for the 2018 World Cup and has
selected its usual tactic in such situations: it is blaming Western
intelligence services for what is happening. These services, some Russians say, are working
within Russia to delay completion of venues and abroad to blacken the reputation
of Russian athletes and fans (vlg-media.ru//chm-2018-zapadnye-specsluzhby-v-volgograde-voyut-protiv-chempionata-65889.html).
In fact, Russian athletes may be excluded from international competitions and
Russia may be stripped as a host not by a concerted international effort but by
the actions of individual sports organizations (profile.ru/obsch/item/119993-prizrak-pkhenchkhana,
newsland.com/user/4295013867/content/otkrovennyi-sgovor-pochemu-mir-ne-khochet-videt-rossiiu-na-zimnei-olimpiade/6015205 and newsland.com/community/politic/content/kto-reshaet-poedet-li-rossiia-na-zimniuiu-olimpiadu/6014856). But there
are plenty of problems inside Russia as well: the Nizhny Novgorod venue stadium
suffered a major fire (lenta.ru/news/2017/10/05/nnstadium/),
one venue had to be partially destroyed to allow for more seats to be added (twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/915598299129946114/photo/1),
doping issues continue to be much discussed (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=59D3B7C0C5EAE),
and Moscow is trying to figure out how to make Russian football fans more
tolerant and polite (ng.ru/moscow/2017-10-02/5_7085_moscow.html).
Russia did make one announcement this week that will reassure some and frighten
others: If the World Cup does take place in Russia next year, Cossacks will
guard the venues and protect visitors (nazaccent.ru/content/25599-kazaki-prosledyat-za-poryadkom-vo-vremya.html).
20.
Navalny is Exactly
Where Putin is on the Nationality Question. Aleksey Navalny has positions on
the nationality question, including the statue of republics and language use in
schools, that are identical to those of Vladimir Putin. While those views may
win support among ethnic Russians, they are one of the reasons why Navalny has
attracted fewer people to his cause in the North Caucasus, the Middle Volga and
in other non-Russian areas (kavkazr.com/a/strana-bez-alternativ/28773637.html).
21.
Invalids Can’t
Attend Roundtable on Accessibility Because There’s No Elevator. Russian officials continue to do things that
undercut whatever message they are trying to send. In a case this week, they
scheduled a meeting on accessibility issues but held it in a room on the upper
floor of a building without an elevator (takiedela.ru/news/2017/10/05/lift-dlya-invalidov/).
22.
IMF Says Russia
Will Benefit from Global Warming. The International Monetary Fund says
that Russia will be among the countries that benefit from climate change, with
more land being available for agriculture and human residence and the Northern
Sea Route more open to shipping (themoscowtimes.com/articles/russia-to-reap-benefits-from-climate-59145).
If Moscow believes that, it may be less willing to support efforts to limit
global warming. Meanwhile, other experts are less sure: they think that the
situation in Russia may deteriorate with the melting of permafrost and note
that Russia’s northern location means that it really should have only 57
million residents and not the 140 million it has now (ccas.ru/manbios/tsirel.html).
23.
Was Russia’s Civil
War in Fact Red, White and Blue?
Attention to the Russian Civil War which followed the Bolshevik
revolution is bringing to the fore many events of that conflict that few had
ever paid much attention to. Most people know that the war was between the Reds
(Bolsheviks) and the Whites (anti-Bolshevik groups of various stripes). A few
know that there were also the Greens, peasant uprisings against rule by either
of these. But now historians are talking about the Blues, a group that wanted
to overcome all these divisions (cont.ws/@colonel-cassad/729589).
24.
Russian Media
Coverage of Playboy Founder’s Death Decried.
Russian traditionalists have denounced the mainstream Russian media for
giving almost as much attention to the death of Hugh Hefner as did their
Western counterparts. Not only did he do nothing good for Russia, they say; but
all his actions undermined traditional values (stoletie.ru/vzglyad/chtivo_globalistov_894.htm).
25.
Kirov Businessman
Comes Up with New Way to Make Money – Selling Air. Capitalism unrestrained by any judgment or
values other than the pursuit of money certainly encourages inventive
ideas. Now a Kirov businessman is
seeking profit by trying to sell air in bottles (newsland.com/community/4109/content/nabzdeli-kak-na-vsenoshchnoi/6017290).
26.
Are Russians about
to Adopt a WASP-Like Identity? Some
Americans identify themselves as White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or WASPs. Now a
Russian commentator has proposed that Russians identify as RISPs, an acronym
which stand for “Russian Imperial Soviet Orthodox” (facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1833665520220201&id=100007303111542).
And 13 more from
countries in Russia’s neighborhood:
1.
Russia
Disappearing from Radar Screen of Young Ukrainians, Moscow Observer Says. Young Ukrainians are no longer fixated on
Russia as their parents often were and instead look to Europe and other parts
of the world, a shift that will make it far harder to restore the kind of
relations the Kremlin wants than any particular policies Kyiv adopts (charter97.org/ru/news/2017/10/4/264910/).
2.
48 Political
Prisoners in Russian-Occupied Crimea. The Russian occupation forces have
incarcerated at least 48 people whom international rights groups now identify
as political prisoners (ru.krymr.com/a/28777538.html). Another plague spreading on the Ukrainian
peninsula since the Russians came is diptheria (ru.krymr.com/a/28777789.html).
3.
Moscow Selling
Coal from Donbass on International Markets. In yet another violation of
international law, the Russian government is selling coal mined in the
Russian-occupied portions of the Donbass to international customers (thinktanks.by/publication/2017/09/30/rossiya-prodaet-na-mezhdunarodnyh-rynkah-ugol-iz-okkupirovannyh-rayonov-donbassa-bloomberg.html).
4.
As Ukraine’s Fall
Draft Opens, 54 Percent of Ukrainians Say They’re Ready to Defend Their Country
with Arms in Their Hands. Ukraine has now begun its fall draft, and a new poll
shows that more than half of the people of Ukraine are quite prepared to take
up arms to defend their country against the aggression of others (dsnews.ua/society/sotsiologi-uznali-skolko-ukraintsev-gotovy-zashchishchat-stranu-05102017155800).
5.
Hungary, Angered
by Kyiv’s Language Law, Backing Separatism in Western Ukraine. The Hungarian authorities are furious at
Ukraine for a new law that will reduce Hungarian-language instruction in
Ukrainian schools and are providing ever more encouragement to ethnic
Hungarians in Ukraine to demand special rights for their region (versia.ru/zakarpate-mozhet-stat-ochagom-separatizma).
6.
Estonia Set to
Become First Country in the World to Adopt Law on Robots. Estonia which has taken the lead in many
high-tech fields is now set to become the first country in the world to adopt a
law governing what robots can and can’t do, an action that will not doubt be
followed with interest by other countries facing the robotics revolution (vz.ru/world/2017/10/4/889387.html).
7.
Sheikh ul Islam
Under Fire in Azerbaijan. Allashakyur Pashazade, the Shiite sheikh ul Islam
and head of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of the Caucasus, is coming under
increasing fire not only for his personal behavior but for his Shiite faith and
Lezgin ethnic roots, something that could presage his replacement and send
shockwaves through the Shiite communities not only of Azerbaijan but throughout
the former Soviet space (ng.ru/ng_religii/2017-10-04/12_429_azerbjan.html).
8.
Baku Arrests 61
Gay Rights Activists.
The Azerbaijani government has arrested 61 LGBT rights activists, thus becoming
the latest post-Soviet state to follow the Chechen and Russian pattern of
repression against “non-traditional” sexual behavior (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/310356/).
9.
25 Percent of
Those Infected with HIV in Central Asia Avoiding Treatment. Because of the
stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in Central Asia, experts say that one in every four
of those infected in that region is avoiding medical treatment and thus setting
the stage for a new epidemic (fergananews.com/news/26957).
10.
Ashgabat Restricts
to 100 US Dollars Amount Turkmens Can Take Abroad. In yet another
action by what is the most repressive regime among the post-Soviet states,
Turkmenistan’s government has decreed that no Turkmen may take more than 100 US
dollars abroad without special permission, thus giving the authorities there
yet another means to keep their population in line (habartm.org/archives/7827).
11.
Bishkek Talking to
Moscow about Second Russian Base. Talks are proceeding between Kyrgyz and
Russian officials about the establishment of a second Russian military base in
that Central Asian country, a new military facility that reports say would be
located in the troubled southern portion of the country (regnum.ru/news/polit/2328996.html).
12. Kazakh Scientists Come Up with Reusable Toilet Paper. Scientists in Kazakhstan have come up with what they
say is an environmentally friendly product: toilet paper that can be used again
and again by simply washing it each time it is used. There is no word yet on
whether this is likely to catch on (centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1506856920).
13. Bigamy on the Rise in Tajikistan. The increasing influence of Islam on social
practices in Tajikistan is manifested in a rising tide of bigamy and even
polygamy among people there, sociologists say (currenttime.tv/a/28762833.html). That is part of a broader struggle in
Central Asian countries between modernists and traditionalists, with each of
those groups now split over such questions (camonitor.kz/29085-nashe-obschestvo-kak-dvulikiy-yanus-modernisty-i-tradicionalisty.html).
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