'..a Russian government which claims that it is acting on behalf of ethnic Russians and what it calls “the Russian world” in Ukraine will be harming ethnic Russians at home in the most serious and immediate ways.'<blockquote>'Only 10 of Russia’s federal subjects are completely making up these shortfalls, the railways continued, while 22 of 73 are paying less than half of what is needed to meet them. Among the hardest hit are
Transbaikal kray, and
Vologda,
Tver,
Tambov,
Pskov and
Belgorod regions, all of which are predominantly ethnically Russian.
The importance of local and regional train service in Russia is far greater than in almost any other country, given the lack of decent roads in much of the country and the availability of critical services only in the region capitals. Without train service, for example, diabetics who need insulin face enormous difficulties in getting it in a timely fashion.
Indeed, in some cases, as in Pskov region over the last two decades, the increasing difficulty rural residents face in getting to the capital – there the authorities earlier cut back bus service and then snow removal efforts – has sent mortality rates skyrocketing, reducing life expectancy among rural residents by a decade or more.
Now that Russian Railways is posed to cut back rail services elsewhere, a similar pattern is likely to obtain, and a Russian government which claims that it is acting on behalf of ethnic Russians and what it calls “the Russian world” in Ukraine will be harming ethnic Russians at home in the most serious and immediate ways.'
-
The Train Won’t Stop Here Anymore – the Sad Fate of Russian Regions, January 6, 2015</blockquote>
Context<blockquote>
To Nikolai Patrushev: '[Gaidar] warns Russia..''I have said it so often: if the West does not stabilize the East, the East will destabilize the West.' - Václav Havel'..late 2016 .. Russian politics.' - '..an insipid colonel's panic-stricken fear of losing his power..'</blockquote>