Monday, August 1, 2022

Kremlin Now So Unpopular Anyone in CIS can Regain Popularity by Making Anti-Moscow Moves, Russians Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 8 – Uzbekistan President Mirziyoyev has suffered a decline in popularity in recent weeks because of his poorly designed constitutional reform, but he shouldn’t worry, Russians say. All he needs to do is follow the course of his Kazakh counterpart: Any CIS leader can regain popularity by attacking Russia, which has become toxic for people everywhere.

            That is just one of the anecdotes collected and published by Moscow journalist Tatyana Pushkaryova (publizist.ru/blogs/107374/43358/-). Among the best of the rest are the following:

·       It is almost Biblical that Russia has the right to bomb anything it wants in Ukraine, but Ukraine has no right to bomb anything connected with Russia, including the Crimean bridge.

·       Moscow’s ban on performers who have spoken out against the war in Ukraine is backfiring: Only a flimsy system needs to focus on such people, and by doing so, the Kremlin is only showing how weak it has become.

·       Putin and the leaders of the Duma exchanged compliments but not much else when they met in the Kremlin.

·       Foreign Minister Lavrov responded to a question as to why Russia had invaded Ukraine by walking out without a word. A truly courageous act!

·       Leningrad Oblast is almost in revolt: it has refused to eliminate term limits on its governor and declared that such limits are a basic requirement of democracy. Clearly, it is time to start a de-Nazification program there.

·       Moscow can take pride in the fact that Russia’s borders are now under lock and key. Unfortunately, it has to recognize that other countries have the only keys.

·       Few seemed to have noticed that Putin’s declaration that he’s “only just begun” in Ukraine is a trial balloon for the slogan he will undoubtedly use when he runs for re-election as Russian president in 2024.

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