August 10, 1997  
This Date's Issues: 1113•1114 •1115

Johnson's Russia List
#1114
11 August 1997
djohnson@cdi.org

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Mikhail Poltoranin: the Dachas of 
Politburo Members Are Barns Compared to the Palaces of 
the Present Powers. (DJ: Stop. This is as good a point as
any to insert a request for discussion. Don't we really
need to confront the massive evidence that Russia in 
1997 is in almost every respect a degeneration from the
Russia of ten years ago? And isn't that an appropriate
time of comparison--rather than the Russia of Stalin's
gulag? For those who have supported the Yeltsin regime
with words and money, isn't it time to sum it all up
and reflect upon what has been wrought? Is anyone embarrassed?
Is anyone responsible? While we may not be dealing here with
a phenomenon identical to the myopic perceptions of certain
Western leftists vis-a-vis "The Great Experiment," perhaps 
we are in the same ballpark. Partisan, ideological 
self-identification. I exclude all readers of JRL from
guilt by association.)
2. Pravda 5: The Military Secret from One's Own Parliament.
3. Sankt-Petersburgskye Vedomosti: Three Zeros as a Symbol of the 
Good Life.
4. Smena (St. Petersburg): Russia's Impoverished Justice System.
5. From the eXile: Coin-Op Articles Aplenty. Press Review by Abram 
Kalashnikov.
6. Dev Murarka in Moscow: Rowny.
7. RIA Novosti: SATAROV PRESENTS BOOK "RUSSIA IN SEARCH OF 
AN IDEA."
8.Komsomolskaya Pravda: WE OFTEN TRY TO FOOL OUR PEOPLE AND 
THIS IS A COLOSSAL MISTAKE, GEORGY SATAROV. (Presidential advisor).
9. The Sunday Times (UK): Mark Franchetti, Bardot snaps at 
Moscow mayor.
10. RIA Novosti: ZYUGANOV: OPPOSITION WILL LAUNCH AUTUMN 
OFFENSIVE, IF POWERS THAT BE DO NOT HEED ITS DEMANDS.
11. Toronto Sun: Matthew Fisher, The Bad Guys Wear Uniforms.
12. Liz Fuller (RFE/RL): Moscow's Ostrich Policy In North 
Caucasus.
13. Sydney Morning Herald: Robyn Dixon, Mr Clean falls foul of 
media elite.]

********

#1
>From Russia Today press summaries
http://www.russiatoday.com
Komsomolskaya Pravda
11 August 1997
Mikhail Poltoranin: the Dachas of Politburo Members Are Barns Compared to
the Palaces of the Present Powers 
Summary
The daily interviewed Mikhail Poltoranin. former deputy premier and
information minister, who spoke about the privileges and corruption among
Russian officials. 
He said he first met Yeltsin 10 years ago, when Yeltsin was the head of
the Moscow Communist Party organization. Poltoranin was then
editor-in-chief of Moskovskaya Pravda, and they agreed to start a public
campaign, fighting the privileges of Communist officials. 
Poltoranin said the campaign against privileges in the late '80s was
only a means for Yeltsin to achieve his own political goals and that the
new "democratic" power are enjoying luxury the Communists could hardly
dream of. 
Ministers and other officials in Russia have huge palaces, he said,
which some businessmen built for them. Very often these residences formally
belong to the ministers' mother-in-laws or to other such people. He said
senior officers at natural gas giant Gazprom also own villas worth tens of
millions of dollars. He said a public watchdog system must be set up to
keep an eye on officials. 

********

#2
>From Russia Today press sunmmaries
Pravda 5 
August 11, 1997
The Military Secret from One's Own Parliament 
Summary
Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev has sent the government his proposals on
national defense expenditures for 1998. On Aug.15 these proposals, together
with other budget clauses, will be drafted into a budget bill and should be
submitted to the Duma on Aug.24. *
The daily said an analysis of the proposal shows that the 3 percent to
3.5 percent budget limit set by the president for the Russian army would be
observed. Pravda argued that in no country was military reform ever
conducted with a military budget of less than 5 percent of the GDP. The
daily said one cannot speak about military reform in Russia but rather
about the accelerated destruction of the armed forces, as Duma Defense
Committee head Gen. Lev Rokhlin recently said. 
Besides, said the daily, the budget proposal of a couple of pages,
submitted to the Duma from the Defense Ministry, does not contain concrete
information about the future composition of the army. 
The daily said the U.S.'s open military budget contains hundreds of
pages. In Russia, a possible reason for keeping the details of the national
defense budget secret from the public is that it is easier to steal money
allocated for the army that way. 
RUSSIA TODAY Notes:
The government aims to turn the army into a smaller professional force. The
changes will mean drastic cutbacks in personnel, including among top brass,
and the reorganization of the troops. The defense minister also plans to
target waste and focus on training and re-equipping the forces. Recently,
the Yeltsin government has come under attack, led by Rokhlin, for the
current sad state of the army. Officials have dismissed the critics, but
Yeltsin has ordered the defense chief to embark on a media campaign to
explain the planned changes to the servicemen and the public.

********

#3
>From Russia Today press summaries
S A N K T - P E T E R B U R G S K Y E V E D O M O S T I 
August 11, 1997
Lead story
Three Zeros as a Symbol of the Good Life 
Summary
How great it would be for the government to accomplish some great feat
now that it has a team of "young reformers," wrote the daily. 
And it seems that they are doing it, it said. Grandmas and grandpas....
do you want your pensions on time? Presto! Pensions on time! What about an
end to corruption? Coming soon, they tell us. And what about army reform?
No problem! But the biggest surprise was the announcement this week that
three zeros will be taken off the Russian ruble. The government tells us
that means victory over inflation, the daily said. 
But it added that all these great accomplishments of "reform" are not
spectacular for the millions of working Russians who are unemployed or
remain unpaid. It is offensive that the government claims victory over
inflation, said the daily, while the common man pays the price for that
victory when state support is cut for everything from culture to science to
the military. 
President Boris Yeltsin has appeared agitated recently, often showing
aggressive behavior. The daily said this indicates the frustration which is
eating him as his policies come to naught. The autumn will bring him more
headaches, and all of these "zeros" will be more difficult to erase than
the ones from the ruble banknote. 

********

#4
>From Russia Today press summaries
S M E N A (St. Petersburg)
Russia's Impoverished Justice System 
Summary
According to Vladimir Poludnyakov, head of St. Petersburg's city court,
Russia's court system has undergone genuine reform. Judges now have more
independence than in Soviet times, and they have legal immunity and
guarantees that they cannot be dismissed. 
However, it often happens that their decisions cannot be fully
implemented. Society is so criminalized now that judges cannot keep up with
the number of court cases, which increase by 15 percent to 20 percent each
year. From 1992 to 1996, the number of criminal cases rose from 12,000 to
28,000. Many judges have already scheduled court hearings until the year
2000. 
The lack of financing is a big problem. Most world governments spend 1
percent to 2 percent of the state budget on the justice system, but Russia
spends only 0.5 percent of its budget on this. Many accused spend years in
crowded remand prisons awaiting trial. The state needs to build more
prisons, but there is no money. In this case, judges should not bother to
sentence criminals because there is no place to send them. 
RUSSIA TODAY Notes:
Unlike the West, the legal profession has hitherto not been very
prestigious in Russia. Throughout its history, Russia has not had much
respect for a system based on the rule of law, as either an autocratic czar
or the dictatorial Communist Party were in power. However, this is slowly
changing. Sergei Servgenin, a legal advisor to Leningrad Governor Vadim
Gustov and a professor of jurisprudence in St. Petersburg, told RUSSIA
TODAY that the prestige of the law profession has increased tremendously in
the past few years, as it has become an interesting profession and salaries
for lawyers are quite high. Many of the finest students are trying to enter
law schools, he said. 

*********

#5
From: "Mark" <exile.taibbi@matrix.ru>
Subject: eXile contribution
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 1996 13:36:36 +0400

Dear David,

Welcome back, we missed you for a week.

Here's the press review from our last issue; we'll be sending some other
things, including a review of Jennifer Gould's book, in the near future. 

Thanks again and best of luck,
Matt Taibbi
the eXile


Coin-Op Articles Aplenty

Press Review
by Abram Kalashnikov
the eXile

Years ago, when I first began studying in the United States, I saw a
program that had rightfully been consigned to UHF called "Mazes and
Monsters." It was a stale docudrama about American teenagers who got so
caught up in Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy games that they all lost
their minds. One lost touch with reality to such an extent he spent the
rest of his life wandering around his parents' luxury summer home wearing a
cloak and claiming that he had been given a "reusable coin" by an elf.
Whenever he spent the coin, he said, he would reach in his pocket, and find
it there again. 

The sequel to this peculiarly American type of tragedy could be filmed here
in Moscow today. Here there is not one deranged individual, but a whole
army of respectable Westerners wandering around with reusable coins in
their pockets. They are the Western press corps, and their coin is a thing
I call the "Times Have Changed Since Communism" lead. 

Here's an example. I offer my entire collection of die-cast Dungeons and
Dragons action figures to any reader who can find something in this
paragraph that would stand out as unusual in any story written by any
Western writer for any publication about any place in Russia today:

"The Communist rituals are gone now. No more ideology classes or marches
through the potato fields in gas masks. Instead of hoping to listen as a
powerful party boss from Moscow describes the next wave of history,
children now have the opportunity to take classes in management, marketing
and sales."

The author, Bureau Chief Michael Specter of the New York Times, was not
ashamed to use his reusable coin twice in the same article, about a
revamped Pioneer camp in Yalta. Fearing that his audience might not have
gotten the point, he added another long illustrative graph before heading
off to unburden himself of his expense account in a Yalta bar:

"Socialist theme songs no longer thunder across the four miles of
coastline. The open-air auditorium where Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Yuri
Gagarin, the first man in space, spoke now offers film festivals and rock
groups. The yacht slip is manned by a paid staff. T-shirts by Calvin Klein
have appeared among the usual uniforms of blue and white."

Many attentive people, and probably Specter himself, have noticed that
communism died in this country six years ago. For journalists, however, it
still lives to breathe life into their stagnant careers. We have had six
years now of reports that pioneer uniforms are being replaced by Calvin
Klein shirts. We will have six more. And unless Klein and all of his
t-shirts follow Giannini Versace into the netherworld, we will likely have
six more after that. 

That's because the "Times Have Changed" coin is infinitely reusable. When
the chips are down and the ideas aren't coming, every journalist in this
town knows he can always pull yet another one of those stories out of his
cloak-- and his editors at home will buy it.

The "Times Have Changed" lead is not only a life-saver for journalists,
it's a time-saver for readers. After reading thousands of similar stories
already, a reader confronted with a fresh 2,000-word piece by usual Press
Review suspect Carol J. Williams of the Los Angeles Times can save time by
reading the lead paragraph only, and guessing the rest:

"AKADEMGORODOK, Russia--After long days in the emptying institutes of this
birch-shaded Siberian enclave, the academic elite of post-Communist 
Russia can be seen loosening their ties and reaching for buckets and 
shovels."

Be honest now--do you really need to read on? Or can you guess that
Williams will go on to show how funding for academic reasearch has been cut
severely since the pre-perestroika days (more than ten years ago!), how
many of the older scientists find this humiliating and depressing, and how
many of the younger ones, despite it all, still, gosh darn it, find reason
to hope that science will be revived? 

If you guessed that, then you've saved yourself a lot of trouble, because
before she gets to her point, Williams pads her piece with an dizzying
array of Specter-style "Times Have Changed" illustrative comparisons:

"In those days, shops in this prestigious research enclave were better
stocked than those in Moscow and the cosseted residents had priority for
purchasing everything from plane tickets to televisions. Today, about the
only perks that survive are the fresh air and country atmosphere that
distinguish this settlement from the sooty centers of industrial
production."

There is a flip side to the "Times Have Changed" coin that Western
reporters are often compelled to use. This is the "Times Have Not Changed"
angle. 

It is handiest in explaining difficulties experienced by Westerners here;
obviously, since the possibility that new democratic Russians simply
dislike Westerners/Americans is excluded on principle, Russian churlishness
must be explained by the fact that communism actually never died.

A recent print story by NBC's Preston Mendenhall, about Americans
attempting to adopt Russian children, is a typical example. After suffering
through an array of "Soviet" creature discomforts, including rickety
Volgas, exhausting air travel, and the threat that their new baby will be
in poor health, the "Lirgg" family from Fayetteville, Arkansas found
themselves fortunate to escape Russia quickly after adopting [read: buying]
a Russian baby for the bargain price of $20,000:

"Two days later, Lirgg and the new parents were on their way back
to the United States. This group was lucky; they spent only five days in
Russia. Some parents spend weeks in a labyrinth of bureaucracy in far-flung
Russian regions stuck in a Soviet-era mentality."

Thank God they didn't have to spend any more time attempting to understand
the home country of their new child! And fortunately for the Lirgg child
and other Russian babies--and for Mendenhall, whose piece would not be
complete without a Specter-style plug for American products--their new
American parents brought a little piece of Arkansas--paradise--with them:

"Within minutes, the babies had been transformed from bundles of
worn, Russian cloth into Fisher-Price poster children. They were
entertained by dizzying array of toys dangled simultaneously by cooing
parents. Their Russian linens, and lives, were quietly pushed aside."

In place of an award this week, I am creating a club. I call it the "Flow
of Blood" club. Membership is offered to any journalist who takes the time
out in a story to explain, using exactly these words, that Russians beat
themselves with "freshly-cut birch branches" to "stimulate the flow of
blood." Last week the Reuters bureau won a membership for its coverage of
Boris Yeltsin in the banya: in this issue, I admit Richard Paddock of the
Los Angeles Times:

"Renat Akchurin, the surgeon who operated on Yeltsin in November,
joined the president in the banya, where they enjoyed the intense heat and
swatted each other with freshly cut birch branches to stimulate the flow of
blood."

That's two members already. Anyone else want to spend some coin?

*********

#6
From: "Dev Murarka" <devmur@centro.ru>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 10:34:00 MSK
Subject: Rowny

Dear David,
Welcome back.
One of the items in your list this morning has so infuriated me
that I felt compelled to let off steam.
With kindest regards,
Dev
----------------------------------

Apparently Mr. Edward L. Rowny is an intelligent man, having conducted
complicated negotiations on START 1. So his ignorant, and therefore stupid,
comments (JRL 1112, item 7, August 10) about Mr. Alexei Arbatov should not
be allowed to go unchallenged.
First, it is absurd to claim that Mr. Arbatov <is a mouthpiece of the
hardliners in the Russian Parliament>. On the contrary, Mr. Arbatov belongs
to the YABLOKO group of Grigory Yavlinsky's party, perhaps the most
intelligent and liberal of all political groups in Russia at present. It is
another matter that the group also views expansion of NATO as a negative
development, rightly or wrongly a view shared by almost all political
sections in Russia. Therefore, the Stalinist style use of the vituperative
"mouthpiece" hardly does any credit to Mr. Rowny's arguments or rather, the
lack of them.
Two, the statement that Mr. Arbatov <does not speak for the Russians>
is even more amazingly arrogant, considering that he is a member of a
democratically elected Russian Parliament, an institution called Duma, in
case Mr. Rowny has not heard of it. Since when does Mr. Rowny speak for
Russians?
Such careless statements cannot but make one wonder what kind of
information level about Russia does exist in the American administration and
military-political establishment.

********

#7
SATAROV PRESENTS BOOK "RUSSIA IN SEARCH OF AN IDEA"
MOSCOW, AUGUST 8 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENTS MARIA
BALYNINA AND LYUDMILA VANINA/ -- Elaboration of a national ideal
is central to the collection of articles, "Russia In Search Of
An Idea", issued by a group of the presidential office's
consultants under the direction of the president's aide Georgy
Satarov. He dwelt on the booklet today at the Russian
Information Agency "Novosti".
According to Georgy Satarov, the analysis of mass media
speculations on this subject has become an indicator how the
public and the intellectual elite treat the national idea. This
effort has shown that for the first time in many years ideology
has begun to rehabilitate itself as a manifestation of culture,
noted Satarov. No instructions concerning the formation of this
idea in society have been imposed upon the president's staff.
Alexander Rubtsov, a coordinator of the group's research
programmes, who took part in the press-conference, assumed that
generalizations offered in the book would help reveal correct
directions in the search for a national idea. "It is only in
this way shall we find integrating vectors of a national idea
which cannot be grown in a tube," he added. Rubtsov reported
that the president's office is planning to issue this September
a collection of materials on national idea discussion in the
opposition and regional press. A book summing up the relevant
world and historical experience is likely to come out
afterwards.

********

#8
>From RIA Novosti
Komsomolskaya Pravda
August 7, 1997
WE OFTEN TRY TO FOOL OUR PEOPLE AND THIS IS A COLOSSAL MISTAKE, GEORGY
SATAROV 
Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents interview presidential aide Georgy Satarov

Komsomolskaya Pravda's file: 
Georgy Satarov is 49 years old; in 1972 graduated from the
mathematics department of the Moscow pedagogic institute; Cand.
Sc. (Technology); in 1990 he left his previous profession and
became director of the Centre for Applied Political Studies and
general director of the Russian Public and Political Centre.
Georgy Satarov is married and has two daughters. 

Question: What are the realities of forthcoming September?

Answer: I don't have any feeling that this autumn will
differ significantly from the previous ones. 
Question: But this summer has not been quite ordinary in
terms of politics; it is characterised by increased activity.
To
call things by their proper names, at least several people,
including Lebed, Nemtsov and Luzhkov, have expressed their wish
to run for presidency. Isn't it a too early start for
presidential race? 
Answer: Yesterday I met with an old acquaintance of mine,
a renowned US analyst. He asked me: "Are you already preparing
presidential elections? No? It is time to start doing it: only
three years have been left!" But what are the criteria, according
to which it is early or it is time to start the preparation? 
Question: And what is your answer according to your
criteria? 
Answer: Time in Russia is compressed. My personal feeling
is that three years is still early for us. 
Question: Nevertheless, the three political figures we
mentioned have been active for a long time. Can we expect any
other candidates? 
Answer: The press has introduced at least two new
candidates: Rokhlin and Potanin. The possibility that new
figures will appear also exists. 
Question: Do these and new candidates have any chances for
success? At the last elections several candidates for presidency
gained votes far below 1 per cent of the electorate. It does
not look serious. 
Answer: The emergence of absolutely new and quite serious
candidates is hardly probable because image-making on the
national scope takes at least several years. 
Question: So, even in the Russian compressed time two
years and eleven months are not enough to promote someone? 
Answer: It is extremely difficult to make a publicity
campaign so quickly for a politician with real chances for
presidency. It is virtually impossible. 
Question: How do you assess the role of the President
after his heart surgery? Does he take decisions independently? 
Answer: This is a strange question. Boris Yeltsin is not
the person who would entrust someone with the main power function. 
Question: You frequently repeated in interviews with us
and other journalists the indisputable thesis: "To carry out a
sensible political struggle and rely on sensible political
organisations, it is necessary to create the same public
opinion." Has the desired public opinion been created and whom
can our President rely on in the political struggle? 
Answer: This is a colossal problem. In his political career
Boris Yeltsin skilfully relied on two absolutely contradictory
things: On the one hand, he always relied on the voters,
including the 1996 presidential elections. It was his direct
address to the electorate with the support of the press and
television that brought him victory in the end. Secondly, he
relied on the pragmatic part of society, on the political and
business elite. The problem is that neither the first nor the
second groups is organised. I would say like this: no serious
organised political forces exist. 
Question: What do you think about the current State Duma?
What events can you predict in this house? 
Answer: Our parliamentarians grow up rather quickly. In
this process we have the opportunity to analyse the experience of
other countries and now our own unfortunate experience. 
Question: What do you think about the periodic calls to
close down, disband or elect a new parliament? 
Answer: My point of view is as follows: we need to work
with those whom we have now. 
Question: Do you have to cooperate with Yeltsin's daughter,
Tatiana Dyachenko? What do you think in general about the now
fashionable institution of daughters in the capacity of aides
and counsellors? The daughters of Presidents Chirac, Yeltsin and
now Nazarbayev play a considerable role in the life of their
fathers and the countries. The most famous French political scientist
Helene Carriere d'Encausse spoke rather sharply on this issue.
Incidentally, Chirac lost the early parliamentary elections
which he called himself. Wicked tongues say that his daughter is to
blame for this. 
Answer: This is a difficult question. Let's consider it
with respect for our specific conditions. Probably, no one would
object if things remained as they were and Tatiana Dyachenko
were not appointed the President's adviser. Earlier she helped her
father as a member of the family and this was the internal
affair of the Yeltsins. 
But was does the appointment of a family member to an
official post mean? This means additional control over this
person because now all restrictions for state employees also
apply to Dyachenko. For instance, under the restrictions of the
Law on State Service she has to file a personal income
declaration. Given that so far the level of our political
culture is lower than that in the West, this option can be an optimal
one for our electors. What does she do unofficially? Who controls
her and how? Her undefined status could excite the public and
generate various rumours. Now she has been officially appointed
an adviser and must play according to the rules. In Russian
conditions this is justified. 
As for interaction, I don't have to interact with her much.
She is largely responsible for current image-making issues.
However, we regularly get in touch, although we sit in
different buildings. 
(Interviewed by Alexander BUSHEV and Nikolai DOLGOPOLOV) 

*********

#9
The Sunday Times (UK)
10 August 1997
[for personal use only]
Bardot snaps at Moscow mayor 
by Mark Franchetti 
Moscow 

REMOVING stray dogs from the streets of Moscow should have been a 
relatively simple matter for Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor, who runs the city 
like a dictator. Then up sprang Brigitte Bardot. 
Luzhkov has decreed that nothing should sully the glorious celebrations 
of Moscow's 850th anniversary this year. Having cleared the streets of 
prostitutes, pimps and other undesirables, Luzhkov was reported to have 
been considering an assault on the thousands of homeless dogs and cats 
prowling the capital. He had not reckoned with Bardot. 
Reports of the impending canine carnage sent the former French sex 
kitten turned animal rights activist into a frenzy of indignation. She 
wrote to Luzhkov to complain. 
She also launched a campaign against the mayor in the Russian press. 
"Animals are not things," Bardot was quoted as saying in one newspaper. 
"Muscovites, please protect your cats and dogs from Luzhkov. He wants to 
kill them! He must be stopped from shooting them down." 
This was not what Luzhkov had expected. The barrel-chested mayor enjoys 
rubbing shoulders with foreign celebrities ­ he once waltzed with Liza 
Minnelli ­ and had invited Bardot, along with dozens of other famous 
foreigners, to the Moscow celebrations. An immensely powerful figure 
used to fawning courtiers, Luzhkov is unaccustomed to criticism from 
anyone. 
His office has denied an assault on the animals is imminent. "The mayor 
has no intention of killing a single dog," it said. "He has churches to 
build and streets to pave before September. He hardly has the time to 
tackle Moscow's cats and dogs." 
No expense is being spared to make the party a success: a cathedral has 
been erected for the event. Luzhkov has invited Jacques Chirac, the 
French president, Luciano Pavarotti, who will serenade assembled 
dignitaries, and David Copperfield, the magician. Luzhkov, 
understandably, does not want any of the VIPs to be savaged by the packs 
of wild dogs that have taken up residence in some of the city's darker 
alleys. Bardot is urging him to send the animals to foster homes. 
"How can this event attract representatives and tourists from all over 
the world if, in complete ignorance, they will have been the cause of 
such barbarity?" wrote Bardot to the mayor. "It is my duty to alert 
public opinion so that this cruel project can be immediately curtailed." 
Luzhkov is said to be annoyed at the intrusion by Bardot and the 
negative publicity it may cause. He is suing one newspaper for 
publishing an open letter from her. 

*********

#10
ZYUGANOV: OPPOSITION WILL LAUNCH AUTUMN OFFENSIVE, 
IF POWERS THAT BE DO NOT HEED ITS DEMANDS
MOSCOW, AUGUST 8 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT ALEXNADRA
UTKINA - If, again, the demands of the Left-wing opposition
remain unheeded by the authorities, we shall launch our autumn
offensive. Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party
and the People's Patriotic Front of Russia said at a
press-conference on the occasion of the PPUR anniversary.
In his words, oppositionists have already raised 4 mln
signatures under the demands of the president's resignation, a
change in the course of reforms and the formation of a popular
confidence government. The Communists are going to sum up the
results of the subscription action this September and submit
certain official documents to the Kremlin and the Supreme Court.
They will also vote for a round-table discussion with leading
politicians to discuss the economic and social situation in
Russia. "If there is no response to this, we shall announce the
date of a general political strike," he warned.
Zyuganov urged the necessity of staging a political strike
before but extended no terms. He ignored the question pertaining
to whether the activities of the opposition were coordinated or
not. At a press-conference still earlier, Agrarian Party leader
Mikhail Lapshin named September 27 as the date of farmers' first
uproar.
Dealing with the PPUR anniversary, the Communist leader
asserted that the Front has turned into the only major
opposition force in Russia which has fulfilled most of the tasks
set. In his opinion, the PPUR has moulded a broad patriotic belt
of Russia and won in 36 out of 51 regions during the elections.
The PPUR is now busy preparing for the elections to the Moscow
City Duma and the Legislative assembly of St.Petersburg. "We
regard these elections as if being on a federal scale," he
said.
Alexey Podberezkin, a PPUR co-chairman and the leader of
the "Spiritual Heritage", who also appeared at the
press-conference, expressed hopes for the establishment of a
democratic-patriotic coalition in Moscow.
The press-conference also heard quite a number of critical
statements against the Administration and the president's recent
steps. Namely, Zyuganov disfavours the rouble's coming
depreciation by 1000 times. In his opinion, it is a premature
and ill-thought measure, leading to a mere price-rise. Another
negative moment, in his view, is the forthcoming coinage of new
money, which is a costly business.

*******

#11
Toronto Sun
August 4, 1997
[for personal use only]
The Bad Guys Wear Uniforms
By MATTHEW FISHER
Sun's Columnist at Large
 MOSCOW -- After a bite to eat, my chum David and I decided to walk a
kilometre or so down to the Moscow River from the huge Lenin monument on
Oktobraskaya Square. 
 It was a fine, slightly muggy Sunday evening and many families were out
for a stroll in the peaceful twilight. This being Russia, about 30 traffic
police were on duty between the monument and the river, stealing money from
drivers for offences most of them hadn't committed. 
  We stopped for awhile by the river to gawk at a hideous new statue
honoring Peter the Great and to admire the glittering dome atop the
capital's massive new Orthodox cathedral. We waved at four sailors out in a
rowboat celebrating Navy Day. The sailors doffed their caps in reply. 
 Ducking under the Krimsky Bridge we crossed to the far side of the
street and began to make our way back up a small hill towards Oktobraskaya
Square. 
  Just for fun I suggested to David that we stop for a few minutes
outside the popular Gorky Park to watch a cop shakedown a luckless Lada
driver. Their conversation began as they usually do in Russia. The
policeman opened negotiations with a salute. The driver responded by being
cheerful and obsequious as he handed over his papers. 
 After a few minutes of banter, the driver's demeanor changed completely.
He began to plead for help. 
  The cop had evidently told the driver that he intended to hold on to
his licence. This usually means a long wait at a police station for the
licence holder, a very stiff fine and a long spell in a driver re-education
class. Just when all seemed lost, the cop, who had become aware of our
presence, turned his body in such a way as to try to obstruct our view. 
  When the driver handed over what looked like 200,000 rubles (about
$50), his licence was promptly returned and this tawdry bit of street
theatre ended. 
  Shortly after resuming our walk a group of pie-eyed marines and
sailors, including one squat fellow who looked like Popeye, stopped us and
demanded that we congratulate them on Navy Day. Given that they probably
hadn't been paid in months, we figured they needed our best wishes. We gave
them the thumbs up. 
  Moments later the sailors and marines who were all in uniform, blocked
the way of two young men most probably from the Caucasus, the sort of
dark-skinned guys increasingly the target of police swoops on people
without documents which allow them to be in Moscow. 
  One of the men managed to escape. The other was shoved to the ground.
Led by a strapping blond sailor, who was so drunk he had trouble standing
up, about a dozen sailors and marines kicked their victim repeatedly in the
groin and kidneys and especially in the face. 
 MORE BRUTALITY 
  Blood pouring from the man's nose and mouth seemed to inspire the
military men to even greater brutality. It was clear that if this
piranha-like frenzy continued for much longer the man would die. 
  Three policemen watched the beating from a distance of perhaps 100
metres. Finally, after many shouted pleas from the victim's friend, the
cops sauntered -- there is no other word for it -- towards the action. One
by one the marines and sailors began to scatter. By the time the police
reached the scene only the blond thug was still at it. 
  Without evincing any interest in the wounded man lying under them they
grabbed the thug and held him until a nearby police captain drove up in his
car. A Russian babushka with gold teeth and bottle-blonde hair screamed her
contempt for the "black bastard" on the ground and patted the detained
sailor on the back as if he was a national hero. 
  After briefly listening to the sailor who seemed to be making the
outrageous claim that the men had insulted him and his mates, the police
captain ordered his colleagues to let the sailor go. A minute later and
without explanation the captain reversed himself and ordered his men to go
after the sailor and arrest him. After pushing and a lot of cursing the
sailor was eventually taken away in the police car. 
  The hundred or so mothers and fathers and children who witnessed the
attack seemed revolted by it. But no one intervened, nor did anyone offer
any assistance to the blood-soaked victim. 
 A few minutes later the sun set and fireworks lit the sky in honor of
Navy Day. 
  Half carried by his friend the man who had been beaten limped
grotesquely into the gathering night. 

********

#12
Russia: Moscow's Ostrich Policy In North Caucasus
By Liz Fuller

Prague, 11 August 1997 (RFE/RL) - Until recently, the 1994-96 war in
Chechnya and the uneasy peace that followed have eclipsed the unresolved
conflict between Chechnya's western neighbor, Ingushetia, and the Republic
of North Ossetia-Alania. The leaders of the two republics, Ruslan Aushev
and Akhsarbek Galazov, met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow
on 8 August in an attempt to forestall new violence in North Ossetia's
disputed Prigodonyi Raion. 
The conflict there, like so many on the territory of the former Soviet
Union, is the consequence of Stalin's nationality policy. When the North
Ossetian and Ingush autonomous oblasts were created in 1924, Prigorodnyi
Raion formed the westernmost district of Ingushetia. In 1936, Moscow merged
Ingushetia with Chechnya to form the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Republic.
This formation was abolished following the 1944 mass deportation of both
the Chechens and the Ingush to Central Asia under suspicion of
collaborating with Nazi Germany. 
At the same time, Prigorodnyi Raion was incorporated into North Ossetia.
Following Secretary-General Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 "secret speech" to the
20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, a green light was
given for the repatriation of the exiled peoples and for the reformation of
the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic, albeit within different borders.
Prigorodnyi Raion, however, remained part of North Ossetia. 
The return of the deported Ingush to Prigorodnyi Raion inevitably
created tensions between the Ossetians and the repatriates, many of whose
homes had been occupied by settlers from elsewhere in the North Caucasus.
The Ingush claim that they were routinely subjected to discrimination on
ethnic grounds. But with the exception of fighting in the North Ossetian
capital in late1981, tensions did not escalate into violence. 
In the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost created the
illusion that the Soviet leadership was prepared to redress the most
egregious injustices inflicted by Stalin on the non-Russian peoples.
Beginning in 1991, the Ingush staged repeated demonstrations to demand that
Checheno-Ingushetia again be divided into its two constituent parts and
Prigorodnyi Raion returned to Ingushetia. (In March 1991, Boris Yeltsin,
then chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet, endorsed the first of those
Ingush demands.) 
The Ossetian population, for their part, rallied to protest the proposal
to hand over the raion to Ingushetia. In April 1991, the RSFSR Supreme
Soviet adopted a law on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples that
implicitly promised territorial reparations, thereby fueling Ingush hopes.
But the Ossetians succeeded in pressuring Moscow to impose a five-year
moratorium on implementing the legislation. Checheno-Ingushetia was finally
divided into two republics in July 1992. 
Several months later, in October 1992, the accumulated tensions erupted
into fighting in Prigorodnyi Raion between Ingush informal militias and
North Ossetian security forces backed by Russian Interior Ministry and army
troops. In six days of violence, up to 700 people were killed, hundreds of
hostages taken by both sides, and thousands of homes (mostly belonging to
Ingush families) destroyed. Almost the entire Ingush population of the
district (estimates range from 34,000 to 64,000 people) were forced to flee. 
The Russian leadership responded by imposing a state of emergency in
Prigorodnyi Raion and adjacent areas of both North Ossetia and Ingushetia,
which remained in force until February 1995. But direct rule by Moscow has
failed to contribute significantly to defusing tensions and creating
conditions for the return of the Ingush. Most Ingush fugitives are living
in temporary accommodation in Ingushetia. Only an estimated 2,000 have
returned to Prigorodnyi Raion. 
Since early July, interethnic clashes in Prigorodnyi Raion have risen
dramatically, prompting Aushev to appeal to President Boris Yeltsin to
impose presidential rule there. Galazov, however, rejected that proposal as
potentially counterproductive, arguing instead for increased funding to
rebuild destroyed homes and create new jobs for both Ossetians and
returning Ingush. Yeltsin rejected presidential rule as unconstitutional
and "contrary to the direction in which Russian federalism should develop." 
Meeting with the two republican presidents on 8 August, Yeltsin proposed
tension-defusing measures similar to those agreed on last year in Chechnya.
Those measures include a moratorium of 15-20 years on territorial claims
and the creation of Ossetian-Ingush militia patrols to maintain the peace.
Moscow will allocate 200 billion rubles ($34.5 million) annually for the
next two years toward reconstruction in Prigorodnyi Raion. Galazov
expressed satisfaction with those measures, but Aushev warned the
moratorium is tantamount to "burying one's head in the sand." 
Nor do Yeltsin's proposals address two factors that Russian observers
identify as contributing to the recent upsurge in violence. First,
presidential elections are scheduled for April 1998 in North Ossetia and
Ingushetia, which means both the incumbents and their prospective rivals
risk alienating potential voters if they appear too conciliatory. Second,
the Russian government in early July abolished the special economic status
granted to Ingushetia in June 1994, whereby the republic is exempt from
federal taxes. That move threatens to undermine the republic's economy and
thus create new tensions. 

********

#13
Sydney Morning Herald
9 August 1997
[for personal use only]
YELTSIN'S SUCCESSORS 
Mr Clean falls foul of media elite 
By ROBYN DIXON in Moscow

There are two first deputy prime ministers in Russia, both at the top of
the political tree, both poised to pluck the fruit of power when the
question of Boris Yeltsin's successor comes up.
Of the two, Anatoly Chubais is perhaps more the natural leader, a driven
and ambitious man with a firm economic agenda who has hauled Russia through
a process of agonising change, including the often badly botched
privatisation campaign.
But Mr Chubais is a redhead - although his hair is actually more blond
than carrot-coloured. In a country where redheads are regarded as cunning,
untrustworthy and physical weaklings, the idea of a red-headed president is
worse than strange.
Add to this an unusual surname (a Baltic name, Russians mutter darkly)
and his deep unpopularity over privatisation, which many Russians see as
legalised theft of the nation's wealth. Mr Chubais may be highly regarded
in the West, but that is no advantage in Russia - in fact is a potential
liability in Russian politics. As things stand it is hard to see Mr Chubais
stepping into Mr Yeltsin's shoes. Then there is his partner, Boris Nemtsov,
a tall, dark, young and curly-haired leader, whose good looks and Mr Clean
manner seemed to mark him out for a big political future.
He came into office swearing never to tell a lie, and one of the first
things he did was to draw up a decree ordering Russian officials to sell
their government Mercedes, Audis and Saabs and switch to Russian cars. 
While many officials have been slow to embrace this reform, it indicated
that Mr Nemtsov at least understood the wrath of the people. In true
Yeltsin style, he announced the change with a flourish of self-importance,
but then neglected the nitty-gritty detail of implementation. With the
question of the Russian succession still hanging unanswered, Mr Nemtsov, to
many, suddenly seemed the man most likely to answer that question.
But lately several things have gone very wrong. 
First he got in an ugly brawl with the most powerful lobby in the
country - the banking and media clique. Then a series of allegations of
corruption surfaced, spattering his spotless image. After issuing several
writs, Mr Nemtsov retreated on holiday with an injured air.
Returning from his own summer break, Mr Yeltsin said Mr Nemtsov would
have to learn to be more dignified and calm about such insults to his
reputation.
"There will be some splashes, but Nemtsov will have to be tolerant in
this regard. The President is also being criticised, but he is taking it
calmly and decently," said Mr Yeltsin with regal use of the third person to
describe himself.
The real danger for Mr Nemtsov is the powerful enemies he has made in
the banking sector, who control the most influential television stations
and newspapers. 
With foes like this, Mr Nemtsov will have trouble getting the support he
would need across Russia's economic elite - the so-called "party of power"
- for any future bid to be their candidate to replace Mr Yeltsin when the
time comes.
Some of the changes Mr Nemtsov has introduced in his short term in power
will turn out to be extremely unpopular once they begin to bite. Under one
such reform, Russians will be paying twice their present rent by the end of
the century. Without powerful allies in the media to defend him, his image
will be further sullied as opposition to the rental increases grows.
The war between Mr Nemtsov and the banking moguls began over the recent
privatisation of Russia's telecommunications network, Svyazinvest. Mr
Nemtsov clashed with some powerful bankers and financiers who hoped to buy
a share of the company cheap, but missed out because they bid too low.
Among them was Vlad Gusinsky, head of the powerful Most group, with
interests in banking and the media, including the influential NTV channel.
In the frenzied media attack on Mr Nemtsov after the deal went through,
it seemed the media barons, angered about missing out on their share of the
deal, were using their media interests to attack Mr Nemtsov. In any case,
that is how Mr Nemtsov saw it.
Sounding a bit hysterical, he warned that a dangerous new alliance was
forming between the powerful bankers and the Communist and nationalist forces.
"We'll wait and see, but they will come after us," he said. "Right now
the situation is fairly dangerous, although from the outside things look
calm."
The response to his public attack was not long in coming. First one of
his former allies, a disenchanted businessman named Andrei Klimentyev,
surfaced from Mr Nemtsov's former political home base in Nizhny Novgorod,
where Mr Nemtsov was governor until he was made First Deputy Prime Minister.
At a packed press conference, Mr Klimentyev accused Mr Nemtsov of taking
bribes and stealing $40 million in government money.
Then a Moscow newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, published the transcript of a
bugged phone conversation between Mr Nemtsov and a Sergei Lisovsky. In the
purported transcript Mr Nemtsov tells Mr Lisovsky that he delayed a decree
forcing Russian officials to declare their wealth. He said the three-day
delay was for his personal convenience.
Mr Nemtsov admitted he had spoken to Mr Lisovsky, but he said he did not
remember what he had said.
With Mr Nemtsov out of Moscow, the scandal will die down.
Mr Yeltsin hinted that attempts are being made to mollify the powerful
figures behind the attacks on Mr Nemtsov. Without naming the people
responsible for the attacks, Mr Yeltsin said "An agreement has been
reached. There will be no more pressure."
This bizarre admission was evidence that infighting between Russia's
powerful and incestuous elite had got out of hand.
Probably the man behind this deal was Mr Chubais, who has strong links
with the financial sector. But the question which must be troubling both Mr
Nemtsov and Mr Chubais is what happens next.
Even if they do call off their dogs, the scars of the brawl will remain,
leaving a big question mark over Mr Nemtsov's chances of recovering and
gaining favour in future as the preferred presidential candidate of the
ruling elite.

********