'..The government wants to control not only what people think about current events but also what they think about the past — and how they think in general..''In other end-of-the-year Moscow news, the economist Konstantin Sonin left his post as provost of the Higher School of Economics, a public university, after just under a year and a half. Mr. Sonin is one of Russia’s small cohort of internationally renowned economists, and after his colleagues Sergei Guriev and
Sergei Aleksashenko emigrated in 2013, he became by far the most prominent economist still working in the country. The fact that he held a high post at Moscow’s most prestigious university seemed to signal the university’s continued quality even as other Russian institutions of higher education kept slipping.
The president of the Higher School of Economics, Yaroslav Kuzminov, is married to the head of Russia’s Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, and this connection seemed to offer the university some protection from government meddling. But as the Russian currency tumbled in December, Mr. Sonin may have made one too many statements criticizing the government’s and the central bank’s policies — and he was promptly forced out of his job.
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The onslaught on what remains of Russia’s media, academic institutions and historical groups sends a clear message: The government wants to control not only what people think about current events but also what they think about the past — and how they think in general. As President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric has grown more ideological, he has begun relying more heavily on history to make his point and affirm his own legitimacy.
His message puts forward a vision of a great Russian Empire under the czars and a great U.S.S.R. under Joseph Stalin and others — followed by a great Russia under himself. None of these earlier historical periods or political leaders is to be questioned. Anyone who dares criticize any of them, or the current government, must be a “foreign agent.” That’s the Putin-era equivalent of what Stalin used to call “enemy of the people.” '
- Masha Gessen,
Putin and His New Year’s Resolutions, January 8, 2015
'And now, rather than doing everything in their power to achieve the lifting of sanctions, Russia's leaders are doing their utmost to make those sanctions even harsher. That in turn has made them fantasize, like their Soviet predecessors, that such measures can actually benefit the economy...''As much as 10 years ago, perceptive commentators warned that Russia had embarked on a course "taking it back to the Soviet era." At that time, memories of the bleak and difficult final years of the Soviet Union were still fresh, and even those who pushed the country backward in history disavowed their role in the process. Now, officials recall those closing years with fondness and even pride.
At first it all seemed harmless, especially because the authorities took each "step backward" in pursuit of specific goals. Apparel industry representatives pushed for the introduction of school uniforms and senior education officials lobbied for "standardized textbooks."
Then it became increasingly dangerous: The return to centralized management of the economy and the massive financial commitments for modernizing the military could lead to a disastrous recession — albeit not as bad as the 1990 to 1992 downturn — once budgetary funds are exhausted.
Strangely, the authorities even want to revive this country's former political and economic isolation, even though nothing good can come from this. Sure, a 5 percent drop in Russia's gross domestic product — like a 5 percent drop in a person's monthly salary — is not fatal, but is it good? Of course not.
And yet there is a growing impression that leaders actually see some benefit in this "reconstruction" of the Soviet Union's past. One of the main reasons that Russia failed to significantly close the gap that developed between the Soviet Union and developed countries was the economic isolation into which Soviet leaders had driven the country.
And now, rather than doing everything in their power to achieve the lifting of sanctions, Russia's leaders are doing their utmost to make those sanctions even harsher. That in turn has made them fantasize, like their Soviet predecessors, that such measures can actually benefit the economy. They might as well fantasize about how Napoleon could have won the Battle of Waterloo.
This "reconstructionist" approach is evident everywhere. State-controlled television is now incapable of producing anything but bogus news with the adroitness of Soviet-era spin doctors. Government officials clearly believe that a lie told "in the interests of the country" is not really a lie and now hawkish writers are crawling out of the cracks in their eagerness to spread Kremlin falsehoods.
Ironically, today's officials refer to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a "weak" leader. Of course, Gorbachev had no qualms about firmly using the military, intelligence agencies and the Interior Ministry anywhere in the country when he saw cause to, even while the "reconstructionists" of the time whined that he was not showing a strong enough hand against their perceived enemies.
But state violence isn't the Moscow leadership's best imitation of the Soviet period. Their best imitation of that era's leadership is the way they engender feeling of utter helplessness and hopelessness.'
- Konstantin Sonin,
Moscow's Soviet Dress-Up Game Must End, July 23, 2014
'..an editorial that suggested that “the biggest problem of Russian leadership is inability to admit mistakes” ''In other words, Russia has serious financial problems that Putin had not anticipated. It is something for which he is to blame, however.
“It is a completely new reality for him,” said Sergei M. Guriev, an economist who chose exile last year.
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Vedomosti, Russia’s most respected business daily, last week published an editorial that suggested that “the biggest problem of Russian leadership is inability to admit mistakes” and declared that “the economy is seriously ill, and the ruble rate is one of the indicators crying about the illness.”
And it added this potent comment: “Russia’s leadership refuses to admit there is an illness, and pushes it into the depths.” '
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..Russia a nation in decline, December 14, 2014
'..the director in Moscow of the Red Cross, Igor Trunov, says the dispatch of Russian "humanitarian convoys" to Ukraine is a violation of international humanitarian law, and says the "Putin convoys" are likely to have carried weapons to the [separatist] militia-controlled area of Donbas.''In an interview published the day after Yefimov’s, the director in Moscow of the Red Cross, Igor Trunov, says the dispatch of Russian "humanitarian convoys" to Ukraine is a violation of international humanitarian law, and says the "Putin convoys" are likely to have carried weapons to the [separatist] militia-controlled area of Donbas.
“I do not want to throw stones in the garden of our institutions, of our state.... But there is international law. What is the Ministry of Emergency Situations? It’s a paramilitary organ of the Russian state. And as a paramilitary structure it entered the territory of another state? ... This is an invasion. This is a violation; it cannot be done.”
With Yefimov’s interview, “a Russian has confirmed what Russia has done,” writes Eurasia scholar Paul Goble, noting “the level of detail he provides, the photographs of those involved, and the reproductions of the forms he and his comrades use” in running their operation.'
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How Russians Are Sent To Fight In Ukraine, January 7, 2014
'The Russian military under Vladimir Putin is responsible for the downing of MH17. The Russian military destabilized east Ukraine; it provided the separatists with troops and the equipment needed to kill the passengers aboard MH17.. President Putin is primarily responsible.''This witness completes the picture: it was a BUK M1 rocket that brought the passenger plane out of the sky – brought into position by soldiers of the 53rd air defense brigade from Kursk who were in the city of Snizhne without national markings to protect Russian tank units.
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The Russian military under Vladimir Putin is responsible for the downing of MH17. The Russian military destabilized east Ukraine; it provided the separatists with troops and the equipment needed to kill the passengers aboard MH17.. President Putin is primarily responsible.
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Eventually a businessman puts us in contact with a government official; if anyone knows something about the missile brigade’s movements, then it is him and his colleagues.
We meet Sergej – also an alias – in an almost empty restaurant. We speak in whispers. We fall silent when the waitress approaches the table, but we have permission to record the conversation on tape.
For a long time the official talks about his work, his former colleagues, the missile brigade. Suddenly he remembers something unusual. “You know, I have many friends who are fighter pilots, and I know from them that the Russian air force has a tradition: they celebrate military victories with wild air acrobatics.” The pilots are allowed to have some fun.
On July 17th he looked out the window and saw something incredible. “A Russian Su fighter jet was going crazy in the sky. The pilot was making the most daring stunts. It was magnificent.”
Sergej watched the air show go on and on. “I figured they must have some reason to celebrate,” he continues. Shortly after that he saw the news about MH17 on TV. “That shocked me. Was it a coincidence? I can’t say.” .
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Flight MH17 January 9, 2015
Context'..a Russian government .. will be harming ethnic Russians at home in the most serious and immediate ways.'BBC finds Russians fighting in Ukraine, January 9, 2015
'..Russia[n] .. Anti-Aircraft Weapons..' - 'Ukraine Separatist Leader Boasts Of Downing Plane' - '..Putin .. ICC..'