This is Not an Anecdote! Moscow Mayor’s Office Refuses to Tell Residents of Russian Capital Where Bomb Shelters Are

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 11 – One of the reasons that Windows on Eurasia so frequently reproduces the anecdotes that Natalya Pushkaryova collects is that they better reflect reality in the Russian Federation than do the words of officials or even independent commentators, many of whose words sound like anecdotes themselves.

            A clear example of this form of convergence of the two rhetorical forms is the statement of officials in the Moscow mayor’s office that they have no intention of telling residents of the Russian capital where bomb shelters are located because that is “a state secret” (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=62CD6664DDD07).

            Given how often Vladimir Putin has talked about nuclear war and about the need for Russia to be ready for a Western attack, one might have assumed that the Russian authorities would be happy to tell Russians where the bomb shelters are. But the reverse is true; and this is not an anecdote.

            Perhaps the powers that be fear that someone will try to steal supplies from the existing bomb shelters; but more likely, they don’t want it to be revealed how few such shelters there are and how they are more concentrated in areas populated by the elites who support the Kremlin than by others who may be less so inclined.