We'll freeze, but we won't forgive!

In the news...rallies against election fraud take place in Moscow.

Snow is on the news in Britain, which is once again paralised by the cold. With its love of talking about the weather, climatic conditions predictably colour the UK media’s treatment of Russia’s anti-election fraud protests, with every commentator pointing out that people are not afraid to leave their homes in minus 20. Indeed, ‘We’ll freeze, but we won’t forgive!’ is one of the many witty slogans seen at the Moscow protests yesterday. But February 4, 2012 was not a day to be proud of being Russian. Defying the consensus of the international community, including the Arab League, Russia and China vetoed the UN resolution that condemns President Bashar Al-Assad’s continued use of force against anti-government protestors. The vote took place on an understandably inconvenient day: thousands of Russians came out to demonstrate against what they consider to be rigged parliamentary elections and to demand a fair representation in the upcoming presidential vote on March 4^th this year.

As was expected, the state Channel 1 opened the February 4^th news bulletin with reports of the pro-Putin rally that took place along the anti-government protests. Well aware of the cynical suggestions voiced by most Western and opposition commentators that the demonstrators were either forced or paid to attend, people were interviewed countering the accusation. Putin himself claimed smilingly that it is impossible to pay 130,000 or 190,000 people to attend. Smug? Yes. But he’s got a point. Despite the fact that the government is becoming increasingly unpopular, it has a wide support base and Russia is genuinely split over Putin’s impeding presidency.

Russia’s liberal media, however, widely report on the non-committal atmosphere at the pro-Putin rally, with confirmed instances of incitements both monetary and alcoholic. Both Novaya Gazeta and Moscow Komsomolets emphasized a solemn attitude in the crowd, with people not paying any attention to the fiery, and at times manic speeches from the stage. Referring to the Ukrainian revolution of 2004, the pro-government journalist Aleksandr Prohanov bellowed: ‘Orange is the colour of piss on the snow!’ People shuffled silently, many of them drinking excessively to fight the -20 degree freeze. ‘Don’t photograph, please, or my pupils will see. This was not my choice’ Novaya Gazeta reports a teacher pleading.

One of Novaya’s leading journalists, Yulia Latinina, has controversially termed the government supporters ‘anchovies’ – marinated in the rich brew of government propaganda, unmoving in their barrels. This comparison is perhaps extreme, but one cannot underestimate the unwillingness of many Russians to demand change, which is potentially disruptive and promises no certain future. After all, few remember the lawless, economically chaotic Wild West years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union with much affection. But if her claims that most pro-Putin demonstrators were bussed in from outside Moscow are even partially true, it not only shows the government’s determination to misrepresent public opinion on a massive scale, but also demonstrates the mainstream media’s complete abnegation of its journalistic ethos. Hello, Democracy – maybe lunch sometime?

It is impossible to determine the number of protesters at either rally, as the suggested figures say more about the hopes of the sources quoting them rather than the reality. According to the BBC, the official figures number the protesters as low as 23,000, while claiming that it seemed more like the numerous December rally that attracted 120,000. The leading Moscow daily, Kommerstant, quotes the official figures at 33-34,000 for the opposition and 138,000 for Putin’s supporters, while unofficial figures are given at 120,000 and 35,000 – a diametric reversal in numbers. Channel 1 claimed 36,000 for the opposition, while the pro-Putin rally was estimated to draw 138,000. With the 15,000 anticipated, the organisers now face a criminal charge and a fine under the ‘disturbing the peace’ clause – which the prime minister told them on state TV not to worry about, as he is more than willing to chip in. Which, after the last year’s disclosures by Wikileaks which show Putin as the richest man in Europe with personal wealth of $38bn, he can clearly afford.

November 20^th, 2011 marked the first major public outcry against Putin when he was jeered at the ‘no rules’ heavyweight bout at the Olympic sport complex. The whistling and calls for the prime minister to resign were silenced on the state news report, but the video went viral on the internet. In Russia, where the electorate tends to be docile and apolitical, this was a worrying and promising sign. The world wide web is full of unpublishable calls for Putin to go, with websites such as protiv-putina.ru (against-Putin) and putinvotstavku.org (Putin resign) branding 156, 327 and 125,680 signatures respectively. Not an overwhelming number, perhaps, but the sentiment is telling: as Natalya from Pskov writes on protiv-putina.ru, ‘I wish Putin would live on my salary, 4,000 roubles!!!’ At least people were getting paid for protesting in Moscow, another commentator mourns.

Perhaps the bitterest blow to Putin’s image is the protest song by the Russian Union of the Airborne forces – an elite part of the military. Desantniki, as they are called in Russia, representing the veterans committee of the Airborne services, have in their own words become outraged by the lies and corruption of the government, saying that the ‘boys can’t take it anymore’. ‘Look us in the eye and close your mandate’ they sing. ‘You are just like me, a man, not a god, I am just like you, a man and not a fool’ is a line the prime minister hardly wants to hear. Especially given his projection of his tough man image – riding on horse back bare-chested, flying destroyers and attempting to bend an iron frying pan with his bare hands, this snub by the toughest military regiment in the Russian army, watched by hundreds of thousands on YouTube and receiving massive cheers from the protest crowd, is an indicator of just how deeply people’s disillusionment with the government has spread.

But the state media would not be state media if it did not try to brush over and under the carpet any visible inconvenience. In an unveiled attempt to both counter the protesters’ accusations and discredit the anti-Putin presence on the internet, the head of the investigative committee announced in a public statement on February 4^th that the ministry of internal affairs had conducted an investigation into the videos showing blatant proof of ballot stuffing abundant on YouTube and concluded that these videos carry ‘traces of editing’ and all originate from one server in the United States. The ministry is now determined to locate the producers of these libellous materials. One has to give credit to Channel 1 for admitting that YouTube offices, responsible for publishing the content, are located in California, thus explaining their US origin. But still. One only has to remember Putin’s bizarre statement that Hilary Clinton was largely responsible for inciting election protests in December to wonder just how many complete idiots the Russian government thinks make up its electorate.

If he is worried, however, Putin’s inscrutable face, made ever more enigmatic by botox, gives little away. ‘I don’t think he cares about what people think of him in the West’ his spokesman Dmitri Peskov has told the New Yorker. ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune.’ These cynical words describe the current political climate in Russia more eloquently than any lengthy political analysis. Russia’s position on democracy is clearly stated in Vitaly Churkin’s speech at the UN, where he claimed that ‘many influential members of the international community…undermined attempts at a political solution, calling for regime change, setting the opposition on the government, unashamedly provoking and fuelling armed resistance’. What in the words of William Hague ‘marked an hour of shame’, claiming more than 5,000 Syrian lives to date, Russia views as hypocritical pressure on the Assad regime. Understandably nervous about the Arab Spring, the Russian government’s attitude to civil disobedience is not promising for the protesters. His public snub of the white ribbons worn by the opposition as ‘unwrapped condoms’ is a shocking disrespect of his own people, who are tired of living in a country of outlandish corruption, repression and election fraud. One can only hope that the people, like the elderly lady who came wearing three layers of newspapers wrapped around her feet to protect her from the cold, will not give up any time soon.

It's not easy being gay

In the news...Moscow banns gay pride...California upholds ban on gay marriage.

The term ‘gay’, and we don’t mean ‘jolly’, like any other word, bears a different meaning for different people. Some think of men in flamboyant clothes dancing along to Wham! records. Some think of women with short hair and no make-up. Some envision skimpily dressed men and women dancing on top of trucks at the height of Berlin summer. Some, like myself, don’t think it is any more important than other aspects of everyday life. Some, like the Moscow government, think it’s Devil’s spawn. 

May 27th is Russia’s national Anti-Homophobia Day. Well, not really national. But it sounds more important that way. And honestly, it really should be. 

This year, in an attempt to get more publicity, the Gay Pride parade was scheduled to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest on May 16th. No major news-networks paid any attention. Not because it is a well-known procedure, like it is in Germany or Canada, but because most people in Russia would rather think it does not exist. Much like cannibalism, according to one online, liberal newspaper. 

Reading the online publications is truly chilling. Most of Europe bans anti-gay discrimination, by law. Of course the world wide web is a free-agent, but brutal anti-homosexual rhetoric hardly makes it into the first page of Google search results when you type in the word ‘gay parade’. Writing on the Russian Political News Agency website, one author claims that he has nothing against gays per se, but he feels that their life style has a ‘breath of hell’ in it. He also doesn’t believe in biological determination of homosexuality; young men are attracted to it because of it’s orgies, multiple sexual partners, and - hold your breath - drug-like sexual intensity. Doesn’t he sound convincing? And all the bright-coloured robes and loud parties where gay men go mad are just the result of inner degradation. Either way, you get the picture. 

What really happened on Saturday afternoon is not exactly clear. The press has no clear number of protesters, or how many of those present were actually part of the parade and who’s come to beat them up. Journalists and the Moscow special forces police - OMON, seemed to outnumber the gay rights protesters by about ten to one, judging by the photographs of the event. According to various news agencies, including the New York Times and Associated Press, some 40 to 80 people were arrested, among them a dozen or so foreigners. What happened to the detainees, is not reported.

Today, the California High Court upheld the ban on gay marriage, which it allowed a year ago. People took to the streets. No one stopped them. Not because they couldn’t, but...well, who cares why. Anti-gay supporters probably could give you an interesting array of speculations. A handful of countries in the world, among them Holland and Canada, have fully equated same-sex relationships in the law statutes. The rest of the world is still trying to decide how it should feel about homosexuality. Like in the Seychelles, where sexual relations between men are considered illegal, but not between women. Why? Go figure. But can you imagine if the mayor of say, New York or London, openly described homosexuality as satanism? No, didn’t think so.

Russia’s recent campaign to establish itself as a modern, progressive nation is under way. Many of the above-mentioned critics, who befoul homosexuality, admit that Russia would be chastised for it’s old-fashioned treatment of the issue.  From where I’m sitting, if Russia really wants an upgrade from the  dark ages, it might want to consider, well, I don’t know...No, sorry. This is all a bit too sad for jokes.

The illusion of well-being

In the news...Eurovision 2009, Sochi 2012, World Cup 2018.

Russia has great plans. Well, it had. While the oil prices were high, so was the government. Among Putin’s last contributions as president was securing Sochi as the host of the 2012 Winter Olympics. Recently, suggestions have circulated about Russia hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the meantime, it is planning to stun everyone with the most expensive, most extravagant Eurovision Song Contest competition. World economic crisis? What crisis? 

While Europe and the rest of the world are struggling with the credit crunch, Russia refuses to let the cracks show. Last year, hosting Eurovision cost Serbia around 24 million Euros.  Moscow’s preliminary estimate is $42 million. Ambitious. While Ireland admitted that it would prefer its contestant not to win considering that in the current economic situation the country would not able to sustain the costs of staging such an event, Russia is nonplussed. If there’s one thing it could always do well, even in the darkest communist times, was put on a show. And everyone seemed happy.

The critics have voiced concerns that Eurovision is only a prelude to the 2012 inevitable failure. Optimism is not one of Russia’s natural strengths. To prove everyone wrong, the production utilised twice the lighting and 10 times the video equipment for the largest stage Eurovision has ever seen. And, if you watched the semi-finals, it shows. 

Accordnig to Artur Gasparyan, the music editor at the Moscovskij Komsomolets, grand does not mean beautiful. In an interview with Radio Echo Moscow, he complained about neglecting little details that are all so important. For example, the organisers have secured a 6 million Euro lighting set from China, which is to rival the Beijing Olympics show, but the press-packs were laughable. And who needs a 26-meter long bar, the longest in Europe? However, he might have missed the point there. When you can get a drink any time of day or night, surrounded by young fashionable people (of whom there are many), who cares about details? Or about anything, for that matter? 

And, of course, there had to be a scandal about the Russian contestant. Anastasia Prihodko, from the Ukraine, has spent the last months defending herself against accusations of racism. She was stressed, she protested. However, footage of her saying that black people can be bought is circulating all over the internet. She also refused to sing with the Russian Jewish choir. Her brother has been photographed at the Ukrainian Nationalists meeting wearing their arm-band. He denied any affiliation. Is there a shame if you don’t like the Chinese? Well, if you are a national figurehead, maybe there is. Too bad no one told her. 

While Moscow is getting ready to, well, rock you, the rest of the country is, well, rocking. In a somewhat different way. Russian Channel 1 news, after running the cheerful Eurovision story, had a nasty counter-balance: the cardiological center, unveiled less than a year ago as part of the national health program in Penza, has been shut down temporarily because of the lack of government subsidies. According to an online newspaper, FORUM.msk.ru, the ministry of health has planned 881 heart surgeries for the cardio-center in the year 2009. So far, 820 surgeries have been performed and the doctors are being forced to take a break. The ministry did not appreciate the doctors complaining to the papers. But what the hell, now they are pushing the numbers up to 1881 treated patients. Per year. In a country, where one in a thousand people need some sort of heart surgery every year, this sure does sound...promising. 

The citizens of Sochi are losing their homes because people have a tendency to live where new grandiose stadiums would look better. At least five new sports facilities would have to be built to house the 2012 Olympics, along with new roads and a new airport. They might as well budget in the price of snow, because Sochi is a sea-side resort famous for its mild climate. That’s where Putin has his summer residence. The logic of choosing it as a capital for the Winter Olympics is indeed overpowering. And the current mayor, of the government party, still manages to get over 70% at the recent election. Out of forty-odd contestants. Miracle?

So Russia is desperate to prove to the world that it is developed country with stable economy. And it’s ready to cash out for the status update. The estimate is, again according to Moskovkij Komsomolets, that if Russia does indeed host the World Cup, it would cost between $12 and $15 billion on top of the Sochi expenditure - compared to $400 million Germany had spent recently. Godspeed. Maybe, while Russia is kicking the ball around listening to cheap Europop, it should consider simply buying a whole new country instead. It’s easier than rebuilding the old one.