A federation that no longer exists. Brainwashing’s results. Out of two evils, which one?
December 15, 2021
A federation that no longer exists
Although the official name of Russia includes the word “Federation,” probably no one takes it seriously anymore. In its third and final reading, the State Duma passed a law on a unified system of public power in Russian regions, which continues the destruction of federalism in the country. Under this law, the President of Russia receives the right to dismiss regional governors, even though they come to office through elections. The President’s decision cannot be challenged in court because it does not require any argumentation—loss of trust is sufficient.
The law closes off political career opportunities to those undesirable to the Kremlin. Suppose a former governor loses his position by presidential decree. In that case, he will not be allowed to run for elections for such a position for five years in any other region of the country.
In addition, the law gives the federal government the right to veto appointments to regional administrations in the departments of education, finance, health, housing, and construction oversight. Thus, a provincial Finance Ministry or Health Ministry can be headed only by an official whose candidacy will be approved by the federal Ministry.
Don’t wait to hear from the police
The “Law on Police” (which I discussed yesterday) has not yet been enacted. Still, the Russian Interior Ministry has already prepared a draft order on informing owners of a break-in by the police if their home or car was broken into for inspection while the owners were absent. The police will have 24 hours for that and could do it “by mail, fax, voicemail messages (following by the written notification), email, or in person against a signature.”
I’m ready to assume that applying this law in practice will lead to most of the victims who suffered from the police not receiving any notification within the specified period. For one thing (I know from my own experience), it can take two to three weeks between signing a letter by a police officer and its delivery to the post office. To this, you need to add three to four days to deliver the letter within one city or seven to 10 days for intercity shipments. On the other hand, the actual place of residence (location) of the real estate or car owner may not coincide with the registration data, which is contained in the police database. Russian law requires citizens and companies to register formally but does not require them to inform the police (or any other government agency) of their actual place of residence.
However, this will be of little concern to the police, who will think nothing about human rights.
Annihilation is a goal
The Kremlin continues to attack freedom of speech in Russia using all available means of pressure. It seems that the goal is relatively trivial: Eliminate all media in Russia that criticize the Kremlin and its policies.
Another victim whose fate seems to have been sealed is the online publication The Insider, run by Roman Dobrokhotov. The Insider is one of Russia’s most vital investigative projects. It has investigated the poisonings of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Dmitry Bykov, and numerous cases of illicit enrichment of top Russian officials.
At the end of July, The Insider, registered in Latvia, was recognized by the Russian Ministry of Justice as a “foreign legal entity performing the functions of a foreign agent.” Media on such a list are obliged to mention this fact in each of their publications—the exact requirement applies to media that link these publications. After the Justice Ministry’s decision, Dobrokhotov publicly refused to comply with this requirement because The Insider is registered in Latvia and does not have a presence in Russia. Five days later, Dobrokhotov was summoned as a witness while his passports, phones, and computers were confiscated during a house search. After that, the journalist left Russia. According to the FSB, he crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border, and a criminal case was opened against him.
A few days ago, a court in Moscow fined The Insider a total of 1 million rubles ($13,500) for not marking its status as a foreign agent. If the fine is not paid, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet censorship agency, promised to block Russia’s publication access using technical means.
Today, the number of foreign agent media outlets in Russia has reached 103, with 36 organizations, including Voice of America, Radio Liberty, TV Dozhd, and Meduza, and 67 individual journalists.
COVID news
At a meeting with members of his government, President Vladimir Putin instructed that COVID medics be paid double the allowance for their work during the upcoming New Year’s holidays. Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov confirmed that is possible. According to him, just over 8 billion rubles ($110 million) will be needed for this. Such trifles as making changes to federal and regional budget laws were not discussed.
Russia has not yet provided the World Health Organization (WHO) with all the necessary information to certify the Sputnik V vaccine, said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. When asked if the Kremlin was concerned about the lengthy approval process for the drug, Peskov answered negatively. This is an unexpected change in the position of the Russian authorities, who until now have talked about political reasons for the WHO refusal to register the Russian vaccine and accused Western countries of unfair competition. After Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova announced the day before that the government was ready to recognize vaccination with foreign vaccines, Russia was left to take a small step and recognize all vaccines approved by the WHO.
The Russian Ministry of Education decided to demonstrate its optimism and show that COVID is behind us. The Ministry reported that in 2022. the unified state exam will be held in the traditional “pre-pandemic” format, including the early wave of exams in spring. Officials, however, are not entirely confident that the pandemic will be defeated, and they provided a caveat that things could change if “the epidemic situation worsens greatly.” It is impossible to understand what made the officials make such a forward-looking statement full of uncertainty.
Brainwashing’s results
TV is the primary source of information for older Russians. According to the Levada-Center, this statement is valid for 86% of Russians over 55, versus 44%-47% for those between 18 and 44. The Kremlin propaganda machine knows this well and uses it successfully.
According to a VCIOM poll, 42% of respondents over 60 “closely follow political events in Ukraine,” compared to 4%-5% of 18-to-34-year-olds and 9% of 35-to-44-year-olds. At the same time, in this age group, there is a much higher share of those who believe that “Ukrainians are a people with a hostile attitude toward Russians” (16% vs. 11% on average).
VCIOM did not provide an age breakdown of respondents who answered that Ukraine is “a source of threat to Russia” or “a hostile country.” Overall, the share of such answers was 22% and 9%, respectively.
The Levada-Center poll shows that half of Russians believe the United States and NATO countries initiated the escalation in Eastern Ukraine. In the age group over 55, this number is 61%; among respondents aged 18-24, 24%. Responsibility for Ukraine and Russia is attributed, respectively, by 16% and 3% of respondents, and these proportions are approximately the same for all age groups.
Almost half of young Russians (18-24 years old), apparently, take little interest in this issue: 20% respond that “no one is to blame,” while another 28% found it difficult to answer.
We’ll fight pollution through bans
At a meeting with cabinet members, Putin suggested that Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko consider introducing turnover-based fines and caps on dividend payments by businesses that don’t comply with requirements to reduce atmospheric emissions.
Not welcome
The government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District (Yugra)—more than 40% of Russian oil is produced here—has extended the ban on hiring foreigners to work in education, transportation, retail trade, cabs, and baby food production. The regional Department of Labor and Employment explained that the ban applies to citizens of five countries: Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Moldova, and Azerbaijan; however, the text of the governor’s order does not mention this.
Burned on milk...
After causing a panic in the bond market, the state corporation Rosnano decided not to scare anyone with its possible default. The company transferred the money in time to pay the coupon on the next issue of its bonds. In addition, the company said it continues to negotiate with key creditors to repay its debt obligations.