[RD] The Russia News Thread

[Agent327]

Intended for news and discussion of news from Russia. Feel free to post articles from Russia, but be advised that most readers cannot read Russian. So if you do, post an English language version or a translation.

This is not intended to post videos, unless they are part of an article. If you are interested in videos on Russia, go to youtube. Similar for tweets and such. A tweet is not news: an article on a subject (political, economic, social, etc) is. Such an article may contain one or more tweets as quotes.

If you post an article, add the source. Also, do not post random articles without comments or introduction. An article should be a starting point for discussion. If an article is long, quote the introduction with a link to the article in full.

Here are some starting points:

On the economic situation, a social background story from the New York Times:

Russians'Anxiety swells as Oil Prices Collapse

by Neil MacFarquhar, January 22

KRASNODAR, Russia. Last year was bad enough for Sergei and Viktoria Titov, both music teachers getting along in years. Her government salary was slashed by one third, and rampant inflation put some basic groceries like eggplant and cucumbers out of reach.

Then came Jan. 1, and the abrupt decision by the local government here in Krasnodar, the regional capital of Russia's southern agricultural heartland, to chop transportation subsidies for older Russians, forcing the couple to limit their trolley rides.

Indignant and fearing worse amid Russia's accelerating economic problems, Sergei joined an unauthorized demonstration last week by hundreds of older Russians who gathered under the bronze statue of a Cossack horseman on the main square and chanted, "Return our benefits!"

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/w...llapse.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&src=trending&_r=0

On corruption, a comical view:

Putin resorts to vengeful cartoons to combat corruption

President Putin personally takes care of corruption. That is the message of a series of cartoons made by his political movement. The cartoons by the All-Russian People's Front show how Putin crushes officials caught for corruption, like by flushing them through the toilet.

[...]

The cartoons are meant to convince the Russian people that the Kremlin takes corruption seriously. On the list of least corrupt countries in the world of Transparency International Russia ranks 119, just above Sierra Leone. Putin declared the fight against corruption a priority in 2000, but not much seems to have changed. On the internet the cartoons are criticized as 'propaganda'. One website called it 'examples of what happens when people steal without Putin's approval'.

Source (in Dutch, but with video examples): http://www.volkskrant.nl/media/poetin-zet-wraakzuchtige-tekenfilms-in-tegen-corruptie~a4236241/

 

[Kyriakos]

Is it wise to start an RD thread on Russia when the OP is known to be anti-Russia on all things? Seems to have the potential to be problematic use of RD tag in this case, for it likely was meant to deter from honest arguments. The bulk of the opening post also doesn't seem to be particularly RD-material either, including a cartoonish presentation of Putin.

 

[Silurian]

Is it wise to start an RD thread on Russia when the OP is known to be anti-Russia on all things? Seems to have the potential to be problematic use of RD tag in this case, for it likely was meant to deter from honest arguments. The bulk of the opening post also doesn't seem to be particularly RD-material either, including a cartoonish presentation of Putin.

I agree.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Is it wise to start an RD thread on Russia when the OP is known to be anti-Russia on all things? Seems to have the potential to be problematic use of RD tag in this case, for it likely was meant to deter from honest arguments. The bulk of the opening post also doesn't seem to be particularly RD-material either, including a cartoonish presentation of Putin.

If we require each poster to be impartial towards the topic of the RD thread, there'd be no RD threads.

Still, I agree - perhaps the anti-Putin bits should be cut off..

 

[Phrossack]

We allow people who are always 100% in support of all things done by the Russian government and against anything done by their opponents to create and post extensively in threads about Russian affairs, and we allow anti-American conspiracy theorists to make multiple threads on American "conspiracies," so why not? If anything, the rule against video spam is a step in the right direction.

 

[REDY]

I am trying to learn Russian now through RT http://learnrussian.rt.com, however I still havent got email for registration, even when I put Yandex email. Its not in spam/trash etc category, just no email. Any suggestion?

Otherwise I think that RT is awesome Russia news site for english speakers and these who want to improve their Russian. Little biased ofc.

 

[Aea]

Okay those cartoons are quite hilarious.

Edit: Take that back. First one is good, the other two are quite bad.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I am trying to learn Russian now through RT http://learnrussian.rt.com, however I still havent got email for registration, even when I put Yandex email. Its not in spam/trash etc category, just no email. Any suggestion?

Otherwise I think that RT is awesome Russia news site for english speakers and these who want to improve their Russian. Little biased ofc.

Just discovered some days ago while surfing channels in my brand new TV that there is a spanish version of Russia Today, with spanish anchors and all and "little biased" is a bit of an understatement. Anyway it is nice to have all points of views and i find it much more interesting that any spanish news channel.

 

[Cutlass]

OK. I'll play:

ne measure of an economically secure homeland is women’s willingness to raise children with the expectation of opportunities for good health, education and livelihoods. On that front, Russia confronts a perfect storm – as fertility rates plummeted to 1.2 births per women in the late 1990s and now stand at 1.7 births per women. “Russia’s population will most likely decline in the coming decades, perhaps reaching an eventual size in 2100 that’s similar to its 1950 level of around 100 million,” write demographers Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin. The country has high mortality rates due to elevated rates of smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity. Investment on healthcare is low. Over the next decade, Russia's labor force is expected to shrink by about 15 percent. Other countries with low fertility rates turn to immigration to pick up the slack. While immigrants make up about 8 percent of Russia’s population, the nation has a reputation for nationalism and xenophobia, and fertility rates are even lower in neighboring Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania, all possible sources of immigration. – YaleGlobal

Russian Demographics: The Perfect Storm
High mortality, low fertility and emigration of the well-educated are shrinking Russia
Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin
YaleGlobal, 11 December 2014

NEW YORK: So much attention is focused on the Russian Federation’s plummeting ruble, evaporating investments and looming recession, following its land grab in Crimea and intervention in Ukraine that most are overlooking the perfect storm brewing within Russia’s borders: its demography.

The perfect demographic storm of comparatively high mortality, low fertility and emigration of well-educated professionals is increasingly burdening Russian society and its deteriorating economy. In addition to a shrinking labor force, mounting costs for its aging population and troubling premature deaths, especially among men, Russia is facing difficulties in filling critical jobs with largely unskilled non-Russian migrants, many working illegally in the country.

Throughout most of the second half of the 20th century, Russia’s population increased. Whereas the Russian population was slightly more than 100 million in 1950, it peaked at nearly 149 million by the early 1990s. Since then, the population has declined, and official reports put it at around 144 million.

The shrinking population is the result of deaths outnumbering births for nearly two decades without sufficient immigration to compensate for the deficit. The increasing number of deaths reflects the persistence of comparatively high mortality. The decreasing number of births is due to the prevailing low fertility, which plummeted to 1.2 births per woman in the late 1990s and now hovers at 1.7 births per woman. That rate is still about 20 percent below 2.1 births per woman, the level necessary to ensure population replacement.

High rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, obesity, heart disease, violence, suicide and environmental pollution contribute to Russians’ poor health. Russia’s current male life expectancy at birth of 64 years is 15 years lower than male life expectancies in Germany, Italy and Sweden.

Rest of the story can be found here.

The takeaway of this is that Russia's long term future is bleak. Forget the BRICs. Russia's not playing in the future of the world economy. Russia's relative standing in the world is going to constantly diminish. They don't just have both births and deaths in bad places, but their out migration is largely their best people. While their in migration is unskilled.

 

[REDY]

The Russian population and life expectancy are growing. Regards economy Russia is most wealthy on resources. And this all despite incompetent governship. If will not happen something like Chinese invasion or complete fall of resources importance the Russian prospects are very good.

 

[FriendlyFire]

The Russian population and life expectancy are growing. Regards economy Russia is most wealthy on resources. And this all despite incompetent governship. If will not happen something like Chinese invasion or complete fall of resources importance the Russian prospects are very good.

Brain and money drain to the west, estimated 250,000 westerns living in Russia also fled / left
Please do not ban me for mentioning Russian racist stereotype because of actually real factual problem with Russian culture of drinking
Also as discussed Russians seem to pride themselves with ruthless but effective dictatorships, its kinda sad to see the long list of bad governments

The risk of dying before age 55 for those who said they drank three or more half-litre bottles of vodka a week was a shocking 35%.

Overall, a quarter of Russian men die before reaching 55, compared with 7% of men in the UK and about 10% in the United States. The life expectancy for men in Russia is 64 years, placing it among the lowest 50 countries in the world in that category.

Alcohol has long been a top killer in Russia and vodka is often the drink of choice, available cheaply

Drinking is so engrained in Russian culture there's a word that describes a drinking binge that lasts several days: zapoi.

"It's not considered out of order to drink until you can't function in Russia," Leon said. "It just seems to be part of being a guy in Russia that you are expected to drink heavily."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/russian-men-losing-years-to-vodka

 

[FriendlyFire]

Russia defaulting ?
I didnt think things were that bad.

Signs of panic and dysfunction are everywhere. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has demanded yet another round of 10 percent budget cuts. Otherwise, Siluanov warns, Russia faces a repeat of the 1998-99 financial crash and possible default — not exactly reassuring words from the man in charge of Russia’s economic policy.

The 2016 budget, meanwhile, already includes catastrophic reductions in education, health care and social spending. How will the Russian public react to additional cuts? No one knows. To raise revenues, the Kremlin is considering selling off shares in large state companies, including Rosneft, Sberbank and Aeroflot, while still maintaining majority control. Moscow has long vowed never to sell these shares in a depressed market, but that is exactly what would happen under current economic conditions.

What the Russian elite fears most is that the economic problems will spill over into politics. Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the Russian parliament, issued a less-than-subtle warning to Duma deputies who will be facing re-election in September 2016. He cautioned that the elections should not serve as a “detonator for a social explosion.” In other words, candidates should not compete by criticizing the state, and political debate cannot serve as a safety valve to lower social tensions.

Both Secretary of State John Kerry and French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron have hinted that sanctions against Russia could be lifted in the next few months if the Minsk 2 agreements are fully implemented.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-...rther.aspx?pageID=449&nID=94866&NewsCatID=396

 

[classical_hero]

http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/migrants-in-murmansk-go-too-far-with.html

Migrants from the Middle East, hitting a night club in the Murmansk region, started harassing the Russian young women, and realized too late that they were not in the EU.

Though the police authorities have no wish to talk about it, in effect denying mass injuries to a group of migrants, all the same, local social network users are happy to share their commentaries on the incident.

Later on, the media were reporting that Norway expelled about 50 Middle Eastern and Afghanistan migrants for “bad behavior” back into Russia. Once there, the refugees decided to go out for some fun at the local "Gandvik" discotheque, and oblivious of where they were, decided to mash the Russian girls.

The problem came down to the fact that in Murmansk, there just isn't the tolerance of enlightened Europe. Judging from the comments of local social network users, they tried to run away and hide, even in the private sector, but they were found and "educated." If entire squadrons of police hadn't arrived, the situation would have gotten really bad, especially in view of the frosts of Murmansk.

Still and all, judging by the identical reactions, the agents of law enforcement did not differ in tolerance level and while exhorting not to resort to lynching, secretly assisted in the educational process, news.li reported.

Results: 18 in the hospital, 33 in the local detention center, and a great desire to go back home. Official confirmation by law enforcement authorities is not forthcoming, as they have no desire to feed the West with any more fodder for the "Wild Russia" line.

"Welcome to Russia. We're delighted to have visitors, but you mustn't forget, you are guests here."

Apparently the Russians said to the "migrants" that Cologne is 1550 miles south of here.

 

[Agent327]

I would call this a sub par article: 'the media were reporting', but no link to such media. The only sources mentioned are 'social media' and a news snippet from RT. Also, the article seems to have no author, only a translator. In short, I'm not sure what's to discuss here or what exactly the news is. An article detailing a survey of such migrant incidents would be more useful - or simply an article from an actual news medium, such as RT.

Is it wise to start an RD thread on Russia when the OP is known to be anti-Russia on all things? Seems to have the potential to be problematic use of RD tag in this case, for it likely was meant to deter from honest arguments. The bulk of the opening post also doesn't seem to be particularly RD-material either, including a cartoonish presentation of Putin.

Released by Putin's party, a rather relevant detail. And I've no clue what is meant by 'when the OP is known to be anti-Russian on all things'. I see nothing 'anti-Russian' in the OP. Kindly don't make things up to fit your own preconceived ideas.

Secondly, and more importantly, this is a news and news discussion thread. You are posting or discussing neither. Kindly observe the rules or refrain from posting period.

I agree.

Is that news?

If we require each poster to be impartial towards the topic of the RD thread, there'd be no RD threads.

Still, I agree - perhaps the anti-Putin bits should be cut off..

Why? Should there be a rule that only pro-Putin bits are news?

 

[plarq]

Brain and money drain to the west, estimated 250,000 westerns living in Russia also fled / left
Please do not ban me for mentioning Russian racist stereotype because of actually real factual problem with Russian culture of drinking
Also as discussed Russians seem to pride themselves with ruthless but effective dictatorships, its kinda sad to see the long list of bad governments

It does not take brains to exploit natural resources. However, selling resources will not remake an empire that Putin pretends to recreate.

Putin is a poor man's Stalin: he has Stalin's pragmatism to not anger the big enemy, while bullying weak, powerless and friendless regimes. However, he does not process the will of steel and totalitarian regimes to do really difficult things, such as 5yr plan or massive purges. What makes Stalin great is not annexing Baltic states, Polish, Romanian and Finnish territories, but building a military powerhouse and defeating Hitler. Putin had done nothing materialistic to rebuild an empire.

 

[Daw]

I am trying to learn Russian [...] Any suggestion?

At you service there.

Specifically:

Check this site, may be it will help:
http://www.russianlessons.net/verbs/verbs_index.php?sort=russian_imperfective

 

[hobbsyoyo]

OK. I'll play:




Russian Demographics: The Perfect Storm
High mortality, low fertility and emigration of the well-educated are shrinking Russia
Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin
YaleGlobal, 11 December 2014



Rest of the story can be found here.

The takeaway of this is that Russia's long term future is bleak. Forget the BRICs. Russia's not playing in the future of the world economy. Russia's relative standing in the world is going to constantly diminish. They don't just have both births and deaths in bad places, but their out migration is largely their best people. While their in migration is unskilled.

Population growth issues aside, I don't think the global slump in oil prices will continue indefinitely. When prices rise again, Russia is once again going to have a booming economy and that's even putting aside all of the other resources they have that the rest of the world covets.

 

[LamaGT]

Population growth issues aside, I don't think the global slump in oil prices will continue indefinitely. When prices rise again, Russia is once again going to have a booming economy and that's even putting aside all of the other resources they have that the rest of the world covets.

The low oil prices should favor some investment into other sectors. The Russian industry never really moved on from 1990 level technology. Lately there have been a few upgrades but still, I'd say that's one of the main problems of the Russian economy. You can even see that in its main non-resource exports, military and space equipment. Both of them have no high tech demand.

 

[Agent327]

Some more news, published by BBC:

Chechnya's Kadyrov puts Putin critic Kasyanov in gunsights

Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov has posted an Instagram video showing Russian opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov in a sniper's crosshairs.

Mr Kasyanov, a former prime minister, is a high profile critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin. in the opposition RPR-Parnas party.

Recently Mr Kadyrov called Mr Putin's critics "enemies" and "traitors".

Russian opposition politicians have described the posting as a murder threat.

The Chechen leader said Mr Kasyanov was seeking cash in Strasbourg for the opposition. "Whoever doesn't get it will get it!" he warned.

Last March Mr Kadyrov spoke out on Instagram about the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. That message defended one of the Chechens charged over the shooting.

A day later President Putin gave Mr Kadyrov a top award.

Continued here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35459613

Obviously not one of the most subtle of men, this Mr Kadyrov. The award mentioned was the Order of Honour, which president Putin awarded the same day as well to Andrey Lugovoy, one of the suspects in the Litvinenko murder case.

 

[Daw]

You mean that Mikhail Kasyanov?

Allegations that Kasyanov took a two percent commission in exchange for ignoring bribes and illegal business ventures whilst he was working at the Ministry of Finance between 1993 and 1999 led to him being dubbed as "Misha 2 percent" in the Russian media. In Russia's uncertain economic future, written for the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, the allegations are described as credible, and a Spiegel article from 2007 notes that Kasyanov insists that his only earnings as a public servant was his government salary and he was only involved in one private business venture since leaving the post of prime minister. The same article also claims that Kasyanov purchased the state-owned dacha of former Communist Party of the Soviet Union ideologue Mikhail Suslov which was worth several million euros.

(wikipedia)

Oh yes, he's a prominent freedom fighter. And an economical think tank. Sadly, his potential of economist was mostly aimed at his own prosperity, and the fight for freedom apparently rates the freedom to steal among the first. But I assume some people would love to see the guy in charge of Russia, why not.

After all, he's a patriot:

November 2014: Appeared before the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee in London Houses of Parliament to be questioned regarding his opinion as to how the European Union should best respond to alleged Russian actions in Ukraine.

(from the same wiki page)

Frankly, I am not a fan of Kadyrov. By any standards. But if I had to pick between these two guys... yeah, Kadyrov would seem to be relatively harmless, I guess.