Paul Goble
Staunton,
February 20 – Day in and day out, Russia continues to generate remarkable
stories that taken together help to form a picture of that country as it is
rather than how many would like it to be. They point in various directions,
reflecting the enormous diversity of all kinds there. Below is a selection of
13 instructive stories from the last week alone:
1.
Lenin Making a
Comeback in Yekaterinburg. Most of the stories about monuments
in Russia concern the demolition of Soviet-era ones or the erection of
memorials to those the Soviets would never have honored. But this week, in the
center of Yekaterinburg, a city most associate with Boris Yeltsin, officials
announced plans to erect three memorial centers in which Lenin will figure
prominently (politsovet.ru/61876-v-centre-ekaterinburga-stanet-bolshe-lenina.html).
2.
Two-Thirds of
Russians Don’t Believe You Can Do Business in Russia Honestly. More than 60
percent of Russians say that it is impossible to do business in Russia and
remain honest and almost exactly the same number declare that they have no
interest in going into business as a result
(kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C6CE51D329DC
and politsovet.ru/61884-bolshinstvo-rossiyan-ne-hochet-zanimatsya-biznesom.html).
3. Russian Soldiers
Banned from Using Smart Phones. In the
name of national security, Russian commanders have banned soldiers from having
smart phones with which they might take selfies or pictures of military
equipment (newizv.ru/news/society/19-02-2019/voennosluzhaschim-zapretili-ayfony-i-smartfony).
4.
Highest Paid
Russian Rector Paid 370 Times What Lowest Receives. Income inequality has hit
Russian higher education at least as hard as other sectors. According to a new survey, the highest paid
rector in the country, in St. Petersburg, currently receives 370 times as much
as the lowest paid, in the provinces (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C6BB6F22BD97).
5.
Two Russian Cultural
“Ties” for the Price of One. An enterprising alcohol producer has come up with a
way to offer Russians two “ties” of their national life together all at once.
In Krasnoyarsk, he is selling vodka in church-shaped bottles, to the anger of
some in the church but to the amusement of many others who see this as an
oblique comment on the church and on Putin’s talk about cultural “ties” (trk7.ru/news/92562.html).
6.
Environmental
Contamination in Russia has Soared Under Putin. Ecological activists say that
the level of air, water, and land contamination in Russia has soared under
Vladimir Putin with dangerous chemicals now to be found at levels several
orders of magnitude higher than before he came to office (graniru.org/Society/ecology/m.275195.html).
7. Fearful Russians Increasingly Turn to Fortune Tellers
for Reassurance.
As Russians have lost confidence in the future, ever more of them are turning
to fortune tellers to provide them with some reassurance that the future is not
as uncertain as they feel it to be (lenta.ru/photo/2019/02/15/witch/).
8. A Statistic a Stalinist
Could Love: 97.5 Percent of Russians Weren’t Ever Repressed. Defenders of the Soviet dictator love to argue that only
a very few people were actually victims of Stalin’s repressions. The latest
offering in this regard is by one who insists that 97.5 percent of Soviet
citizens weren’t ever repressed or related to anyone who was. That isn’t true – the real share of victims
was far higher – but it is the kind of statistic that tends to have a life of
its own (zergulio.livejournal.com/6206070.html).
9.
KPRF Wants Law Punishing Officials for Insulting the
Population. In response to a United Russia drive to
impose penalties on those who criticize the government, the KPRF has come up
with an alternative proposal: it wants a law banning any criticism by the authorities
of the Russian population (https://meduza.io/en/news/2019/02/14/communist-party-deputies-respond-to-russia-s-proposed-ban-on-insulting-the-government-by-proposing-a-ban-on-insulting-voters).
10.
Stavropol Police
Set Up a Bordello and Make a Fortune. Russian investigators have finally
caught up with a group of policemen in Stavropol kray who are supplementing
their income by operating a bordello. They have done so well, one can guess,
because unlike others who operate such facilities, they can be sure there won’t
be any police raids (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C6C50697D830).
11.
Head of Academy of
Sciences Wants Russians to Take IQ Tests When They Get Physicals. Aleksandr Sergeyev, the president of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, says that IQ tests should become a required part of the
medical examinations Russians normally undergo (rbc.ru/society/13/02/2019/5c6454119a794769248b5f18?from=main).
12.
More than Half of
Russians Say They’ve Been Threatened with Offensive Pictures of Themselves Online. The spread of
the Internet in Russia has created a new class of victims in that country: more
than half of Russians say that they have been threatened with the posting of
offensive pictures of themselves unless they meet the demands of those making the
threats (ura.news/articles/1036277546).
13.
Grozny Now a
Medical Mecca for Russia’s Muslims. Ramzan Kadyrov may choose to go abroad
for treatments, but over the last few years, officials say, some 1.5 million
Muslims from various parts of the Russian Federation have made their way to the
Chechen capital to get medical care (caucasustimes.com/ru/groznyj-stal-centrom-islamskoj-mediciny-ego-posteli-1-5-milliona-chelovek/).
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