Kremlin Pollsters Now Saying Russians Back War Earlier Said Ukrainians Would Welcome Russian Forces, Russians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 17 – The Russian people appear to be displaying more wisdom than many so-called experts. After all, Russians observe in a new anecdote, the Kremlin pollsters now insisting that Russians back the war in Ukraine are the very ones who not many months ago said Ukrainians would welcome Russian invaders with bread and salt.

            That is just one of the new anecdotes Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova offers in her latest collection (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/43192/-). Among the best of the rest:

·       Moscow’s efforts to insert an agent on the staff of the International Criminal Court in the Hague shows that some in Moscow assume Russia will lose the war in Ukraine and Russian leaders will face trial there. Having an agent inside might give them some advantages in defending themselves.

·       Russia has the chance to become a world leader in an unexpected technology: the manufacture of electric chairs. After all, the country has plenty of electricity, a commitment to restoring the death penalty, and a belief that “a quick and painless death” is better than a long and painful one people still refer to as “life.”

 ·       Russian elites have made a horrific discovery: with all that Putin has done, they may still be able to steal in rubles but won’t be able to live on dollars.

·       Putin says he wants technological sovereignty in the transportation sector. Does that mean he plans to go back to Soviet-era Zhigulis or directly to the use of horse-drawn carriages?

 ·       Kremlin propaganda is now featuring a woman who says Russians must stay happy despite everything because the country’s enemies want them to be grim and mournful. Everyone should go on picnics rather than standing around in cemeteries.

 ·       Nikolay Patrushev says that Russians returning from studying in the US come back as agitators for a color revolution. That is the real reason why members of the Russian elite are displaying real patriotism by keeping their children in foreign schools rather than bringing them home.

 ·       Putin has observed that “all parties are similar; they are cut off from the population; and this leads to degradation.” He was of course talking about parties in other countries. In the Russian Federation, everything is exactly the reverse.