Paul Goble
Staunton, Feb. 19 – Two articles today throw into harsh relief the tragic but fundamental reality that those in the republics who are closely connected with the Putin regime are benefiting from corrupt arrangements the Kremlin supports while those not so connected are fighting and dying in Putin’s war in Ukraine.
An article jointly prepared by the Metla and EkhoFM news portals shows just how corrupt the family of Ingush head Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov has become since the start of the war (metla.press/2025/obul-armiyu-kak-glava-ingushetii-zarabatyvaet-na-voyne/ and echofm.online/stories/obul-armiyu-kak-glava-ingushetii-zarabatyvaet-na-vojne).
It appeared even as the republic newspaper carried an interview with Vladimir Slastenin, the republic prime minister, who said 2,000 Ingush were now fighting in Ukraine, the first time officials there have given a figure (fortanga.org/2025/02/vlasti-vpervye-priznalis-skolko-ingushej-uchastvuyut-v-vojne-protiv-ukrainy/).
According to the independent news portal Fortanga, which Moscow and Magas have both tried to shut down, a minimum of 129 Ingush have died so far in the fighting in Ukraine (fortanga.org/2025/02/vlasti-vpervye-priznalis-skolko-ingushej-uchastvuyut-v-vojne-protiv-ukrainy/).
This juxtaposition of reports about who is benefiting and who is suffering because of Putin’s war in one of the poorest republics of the Russian Federation is something that authorities there have tried to prevent; but as the current case shows, they aren’t always successful – and that will likely have consequences for both the beneficiaries and the victims of Kremlin policies.
No comments:
Post a Comment