Safronov had been Threatened by Kremlin Prosecutors!

Radio Free Europe reports:

Colleagues of a Russian journalist who died when he fell from a fifth-floor window say he had been threatened with prosecution over investigative stories he was writing about alleged Russian weapons deals with Syria. Ivan Safronov, who covered defense issues for the Russian daily “Kommersant,” died on March 2 when he fell from a window of his Moscow apartment building. “Kommersant” reports today that Safronov had told colleagues he had been threatened with criminal charges if his stories were published with allegations that Russia had made a deal to supply advanced missiles to Syria. The newspaper says Safronov also had been investigating alleged Russian plans to use Belarus as an intermediary in the sale of missiles to Iran and fighter jets to Syria. The Russian Journalists’ Union says it will conduct its own investigation into Safronov’s death. The group says its investigation will not hinder the official probe by Russian prosecutors.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Is Russian Indifference more Horrifying than the Gulag Itself?

The Moscow Times reports:

The barbed wire and watchtower visible through an archway across from the Marriot Hotel stand in stark contrast to the restaurants and upscale boutiques on Moscow’s fashionable Ulitsa Petrovka.They are part of one of the city’s most unusual, and neglected, museums, devoted to educating people about the horrors of the Soviet forced-labor camps.

LR’s Supporters vs. the Chekisti in the Russian Blogosphere

La Russophobe‘s translator has been visiting the Russian blogosphere to review its reactions to his translations published on this blog. Here is his initial report. Particuarly noteworthy is the ability of clever Russians to realize that this blog, far from hating Russians, loves them much more than the Russophiles who are trying to destroy them, led by the malignant little troll in the Kremlin; they are also clever enough to realize that belief in “russophobes” — like belief in Ded Moroz, the Easter Rabbit, and the democratic intentions of a proud KGB spy — is illusory, in an fact self-imposed flattery that Russians are important enough to be hated. Worst of all is the simply insane notion that criticism of Russians is racial. Dark-skinned people can be just as much “Russian” as the Slavs (at least in English they can).

The Chekisti Win Again… Or Maybe Not?

One Week on a RuNet Forum

On February 19, 2007 La Russophobe published a link to a list of suspected members of FSB Internet-harassment Brigades and their associates, located on a forum of the online journal Yezhednevniy Zhurnal (YeZh). Unbeknownst to LR at the time, however, just two days earlier the site administrator had terminated this forum with the following announcement:

17.02.2007, 21:09	#2992
Fea vbmenu_register(“postmenu_476075”, true); Administrator Регистрация: 22.09.2006 Сообщения: 286 Thanks: 1 Thanked 694 Times in 253 Posts Вес репутации: 100	Принято решение запретить юзеру zasdevushka публиковать сообщения и темы подобного характера. Тема закрыта.

Translation: “The decision has been made to prohibit user Zasdevushka from publicizing this information and topics of a similar character. This topic is closed.”

By way of background, the forum was titled, “Battle Without Rules” (Borba bez pravil), started by user “Zasdevushka”on January 10, 2007 when she posted her first “List of Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices”. At the time it was started, the thread enjoyed the full support of the YeZh site administrator, who gave Zasdevushka a “half smiley” grade for her first posting. As one might expect, Zasdevushka’s “modest undertaking” immediately drew an enormous number of responses, from both supporters and opponents — the latter including some of the nicknames that were on her list. As one can see from the final posting, over a five-week period the thread accumulated 2,992 postings, and was quite active to the last day of its existence.

In short, it looked like the “Commissars of the Internet” had won again.

The Pro-Democracy Partisans Fight Back

After the closure of Chekist Provocateurs List forum, Zasdevushka and her pro-democracy cohorts continued posting on other forums, more or less as if nothing had happened. On February 22, one of them, nicknamed “Korchagin”, posted the following congratulatory message on a different YeZh forum, noting that Zasdevushka’s list had been linked to by La Russophobe:

Zasdevushka can be proud.

Her list of “Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices” has attracted the interest of American Internet users. Here is what the popular American Internet site La Russophobe is saying:

The site also published an English translation of an article that had previously circulated on the RuNet, “Commissars of the Internet: The FSB at the Computer”.

The remainder of Korchagin’s post gave a condensed version of LR’s introduction to the “Commissars of the Internet” article and Zasdevushka’s list, including the note that one of the personalities on the list, “ENOT/EHOT”, has made regular, obnoxious appearances on American sites, and that another Russian-language site, had also linked to and commented on LR’s translation of the “Commissars” article.

Parrying the Foil

Over the next few days after Korchagin’s post, Zasdevushka and her fellow pro-democracy participants on the forum were attacked by several readers who claimed to be offended by the LR link. One reader, “Foil”, called her to task repeatedly for being proud to be associated with a site that called itself “La Russophobe”. Zasdevushka gave the following replies:

1.

Quote (from “Foil”):

How could any responsible person be gladdened by a favorable evaluation of their work from someone or something with the name “Russophobe”? If you were admired by a blog named “Cannibal” would you be proud of that too?

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Any information in this world should be evaluated by only one criterion: whether it is true or false. In this context, it is absolutely irrelevant who gave the information and under what name (“Russophobe”, “Cannibal”, “KGB Spy” or “Communist”).

But as long as we’re on the subject, if you would like to try and understand why the reference has the name “Russophobe”, you might acquaint yourself with the explanation (I too was at first shocked by this name, so I looked it up and found it)

2.

Foil seemed to concede Zasdevushka’s point about the name La Russophobe not necessarily being meant to betaken at face value. But he continued his attack nonetheless.

Quote (from “Foil”):

“It may be that the name ‘Russophobe’ or ‘Cannibal’ might not carry so much meaning, and in a certain sense might be taken ironically. But the point is that the reference was made to your ‘List’, and was given in a tacitly approving context. My view and the view of many other participants in this forum toward your brainchild is well-known. I think it was created on the basis of fascist principles. In this sense both the tacit approval of your work by the cited resource and your pride at this evaluation speak volumes about you and this resource.”

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Wonderful. Now we’re having a serious conversation. (Incidentally, it was immediately clear to me that the name of the site “Russophobe” is in fact an ironic usage and that they are in no way Russophobes. Such people don’t exist in the real world in any event, with the exception perhaps of a few really sick individuals, but these bugaboos are held up by our own more-or-less educated sick individuals (including one now-deceased mathematician) and picked up by our leaders to help them to pull the wool over our eyes – in the Soviet era they called it the “capitalist encirclement”.) I wanted you to say it, you said it, and it’s much to your credit that you did. Now further. You and a lot of other people may have had some very negative views of my list, but you couldn’t have helped but notice (unless you kept your eyes closed) that a significant number of participants had a distinctly favorable view of it as well. Hence, my take on your remarks about the “favorable” view of the site “La Russophobe” toward my list is only that it (like the view of many participants here) does not agree with your point of view, nothing more, nothing less. So allow me to continue to take pride in the positive view of my undertaking held by a large portion of readers “here” and the above-mentioned site “over there”.

P.S. – Incidentally, regarding your use of the term “fascist principles” with regard to my modest undertaking: In my view, the term “fascist principles” would incomparably better fit the practice of our ruling structures to mobilize, at taxpayers’ expense, a large number of personnel (the Web Brigade), who day and night , under the guise of being private individuals, try to beat over the head those they are ordered to beat by the authorities. Now that is a typical fascist practice.

Following the Money

After the above exchange, “Foil” went on to counter-claim, “Даже если допустить наличие бригад, оплата пиар-услуг по продвижению чего либо не может являться фашизмом ни по какому его пределению.” Essentially, Foil is here saying that there is nothing “fascist” about a Brigade receiving money for “PR services” – including, presumably (since this is what Zasdevushka was specifically talking about), posting messages on forums on behalf of government interests; pretending to be a private citizen; attacking the viewpoints and dignity of private individuals; and being paid for these “services” by the unwitting Russian taxpayer. Indeed, Foil’s outburst would seem to speak volumes about the values, mores and sense of entitlement of the Brigade and its supporters in Russian society.

Joining the Battle

Reading the YeZh forum, we can see that some things have in fact changed since the “Commissars of the Internet” article was first written in 2003. Most significantly, the pro-democracy forum participants are banding together and sticking up for each other. The day before Korchagin posted his congratulations to Zasdevushka, a brigadnik/accomplice, “RealDorum”, wrote an abusive piece in response to another mention of the Brigade, in which he asked, “Are you completely out of mind? Don’t you realize that your search for Brigades places you on the same list with searchers from the Washington Obkom?” (TN: “Obkom” is short for the Soviet “oblastniy komitet”, or regional committee/government; here, it appears to have taken on a slang meaning to refer to parts of the U.S. government that might be viewed as meddling in Russian internal affairs.) A different pro-democracy participant, Ommsi, responded immediately: “You listen up, fool, it’s by and large intelligent people who gather here. If you want to behave like a barbarian, do it in the space under the gate…”

Conclusion

So, which side is winning? Clearly, the pro-democracy side is losing battle after battle on the RuNet, as their threads are shut down, members are banned or censured by increasingly hostile site administrators, and the Kremlin ratchets up its spending on “PR services” (read: Brigade payrolls) ahead of the 2008 elections.

But the pro-democracy side is also forcing the Brigade and its supporters, bit by bit, to reveal their methodologies, as well as where their money is coming from, and the methods and justifications by which it is arriving. Somewhat to their credit, some of the brigadniki seem to believe they are doing nothing wrong, and even seem anxious to come in from the cold, perhaps as“PR professionals” of some sort. One can almost hear their Kremlin handlers wincing (“Doh!”) as these ingénue agents of influence try to explain themselves. But with every closed forum, every nakedly biased action by a site administrator, every abusive outburst by a Brigade member or supporter, every revelation of government “active measures” on the Internet, the Russian public cannot help but see more clearly that the Putin administration is taking them straight back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin PR strategists may yet find themselves quoting Hannibal: “Another such victory and I’ll be undone completely.”

* * *

P.S. — The date on which the “Battle Without Rules” thread was closed – one day before LR published her link to the list – is a little suspicious. There were no especially sharp exchanges on the site in the days before it was closed, and no new names had been added to the list in the previous few weeks. It might also be worth noting that LR was notified of the existence of the list via her Yahoo email account one day before the thread was closed. Considering Putin’s well-known paranoid complexes, would it be paranoid on our part to suppose he and his tribe might view LR as a growing threat?

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

LR’s Supporters vs. the Chekisti in the Russian Blogosphere

La Russophobe‘s translator has been visiting the Russian blogosphere to review its reactions to his translations published on this blog. Here is his initial report. Particuarly noteworthy is the ability of clever Russians to realize that this blog, far from hating Russians, loves them much more than the Russophiles who are trying to destroy them, led by the malignant little troll in the Kremlin; they are also clever enough to realize that belief in “russophobes” — like belief in Ded Moroz, the Easter Rabbit, and the democratic intentions of a proud KGB spy — is illusory, in an fact self-imposed flattery that Russians are important enough to be hated. Worst of all is the simply insane notion that criticism of Russians is racial. Dark-skinned people can be just as much “Russian” as the Slavs (at least in English they can).

The Chekisti Win Again… Or Maybe Not?

One Week on a RuNet Forum

On February 19, 2007 La Russophobe published a link to a list of suspected members of FSB Internet-harassment Brigades and their associates, located on a forum of the online journal Yezhednevniy Zhurnal (YeZh). Unbeknownst to LR at the time, however, just two days earlier the site administrator had terminated this forum with the following announcement:

17.02.2007, 21:09	#2992
Fea vbmenu_register(“postmenu_476075”, true); Administrator Регистрация: 22.09.2006 Сообщения: 286 Thanks: 1 Thanked 694 Times in 253 Posts Вес репутации: 100	Принято решение запретить юзеру zasdevushka публиковать сообщения и темы подобного характера. Тема закрыта.

Translation: “The decision has been made to prohibit user Zasdevushka from publicizing this information and topics of a similar character. This topic is closed.”

By way of background, the forum was titled, “Battle Without Rules” (Borba bez pravil), started by user “Zasdevushka”on January 10, 2007 when she posted her first “List of Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices”. At the time it was started, the thread enjoyed the full support of the YeZh site administrator, who gave Zasdevushka a “half smiley” grade for her first posting. As one might expect, Zasdevushka’s “modest undertaking” immediately drew an enormous number of responses, from both supporters and opponents — the latter including some of the nicknames that were on her list. As one can see from the final posting, over a five-week period the thread accumulated 2,992 postings, and was quite active to the last day of its existence.

In short, it looked like the “Commissars of the Internet” had won again.

The Pro-Democracy Partisans Fight Back

After the closure of Chekist Provocateurs List forum, Zasdevushka and her pro-democracy cohorts continued posting on other forums, more or less as if nothing had happened. On February 22, one of them, nicknamed “Korchagin”, posted the following congratulatory message on a different YeZh forum, noting that Zasdevushka’s list had been linked to by La Russophobe:

Zasdevushka can be proud.

Her list of “Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices” has attracted the interest of American Internet users. Here is what the popular American Internet site La Russophobe is saying:

The site also published an English translation of an article that had previously circulated on the RuNet, “Commissars of the Internet: The FSB at the Computer”.

The remainder of Korchagin’s post gave a condensed version of LR’s introduction to the “Commissars of the Internet” article and Zasdevushka’s list, including the note that one of the personalities on the list, “ENOT/EHOT”, has made regular, obnoxious appearances on American sites, and that another Russian-language site, had also linked to and commented on LR’s translation of the “Commissars” article.

Parrying the Foil

Over the next few days after Korchagin’s post, Zasdevushka and her fellow pro-democracy participants on the forum were attacked by several readers who claimed to be offended by the LR link. One reader, “Foil”, called her to task repeatedly for being proud to be associated with a site that called itself “La Russophobe”. Zasdevushka gave the following replies:

1.

Quote (from “Foil”):

How could any responsible person be gladdened by a favorable evaluation of their work from someone or something with the name “Russophobe”? If you were admired by a blog named “Cannibal” would you be proud of that too?

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Any information in this world should be evaluated by only one criterion: whether it is true or false. In this context, it is absolutely irrelevant who gave the information and under what name (“Russophobe”, “Cannibal”, “KGB Spy” or “Communist”).

But as long as we’re on the subject, if you would like to try and understand why the reference has the name “Russophobe”, you might acquaint yourself with the explanation (I too was at first shocked by this name, so I looked it up and found it)

2.

Foil seemed to concede Zasdevushka’s point about the name La Russophobe not necessarily being meant to betaken at face value. But he continued his attack nonetheless.

Quote (from “Foil”):

“It may be that the name ‘Russophobe’ or ‘Cannibal’ might not carry so much meaning, and in a certain sense might be taken ironically. But the point is that the reference was made to your ‘List’, and was given in a tacitly approving context. My view and the view of many other participants in this forum toward your brainchild is well-known. I think it was created on the basis of fascist principles. In this sense both the tacit approval of your work by the cited resource and your pride at this evaluation speak volumes about you and this resource.”

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Wonderful. Now we’re having a serious conversation. (Incidentally, it was immediately clear to me that the name of the site “Russophobe” is in fact an ironic usage and that they are in no way Russophobes. Such people don’t exist in the real world in any event, with the exception perhaps of a few really sick individuals, but these bugaboos are held up by our own more-or-less educated sick individuals (including one now-deceased mathematician) and picked up by our leaders to help them to pull the wool over our eyes – in the Soviet era they called it the “capitalist encirclement”.) I wanted you to say it, you said it, and it’s much to your credit that you did. Now further. You and a lot of other people may have had some very negative views of my list, but you couldn’t have helped but notice (unless you kept your eyes closed) that a significant number of participants had a distinctly favorable view of it as well. Hence, my take on your remarks about the “favorable” view of the site “La Russophobe” toward my list is only that it (like the view of many participants here) does not agree with your point of view, nothing more, nothing less. So allow me to continue to take pride in the positive view of my undertaking held by a large portion of readers “here” and the above-mentioned site “over there”.

P.S. – Incidentally, regarding your use of the term “fascist principles” with regard to my modest undertaking: In my view, the term “fascist principles” would incomparably better fit the practice of our ruling structures to mobilize, at taxpayers’ expense, a large number of personnel (the Web Brigade), who day and night , under the guise of being private individuals, try to beat over the head those they are ordered to beat by the authorities. Now that is a typical fascist practice.

Following the Money

After the above exchange, “Foil” went on to counter-claim, “Даже если допустить наличие бригад, оплата пиар-услуг по продвижению чего либо не может являться фашизмом ни по какому его пределению.” Essentially, Foil is here saying that there is nothing “fascist” about a Brigade receiving money for “PR services” – including, presumably (since this is what Zasdevushka was specifically talking about), posting messages on forums on behalf of government interests; pretending to be a private citizen; attacking the viewpoints and dignity of private individuals; and being paid for these “services” by the unwitting Russian taxpayer. Indeed, Foil’s outburst would seem to speak volumes about the values, mores and sense of entitlement of the Brigade and its supporters in Russian society.

Joining the Battle

Reading the YeZh forum, we can see that some things have in fact changed since the “Commissars of the Internet” article was first written in 2003. Most significantly, the pro-democracy forum participants are banding together and sticking up for each other. The day before Korchagin posted his congratulations to Zasdevushka, a brigadnik/accomplice, “RealDorum”, wrote an abusive piece in response to another mention of the Brigade, in which he asked, “Are you completely out of mind? Don’t you realize that your search for Brigades places you on the same list with searchers from the Washington Obkom?” (TN: “Obkom” is short for the Soviet “oblastniy komitet”, or regional committee/government; here, it appears to have taken on a slang meaning to refer to parts of the U.S. government that might be viewed as meddling in Russian internal affairs.) A different pro-democracy participant, Ommsi, responded immediately: “You listen up, fool, it’s by and large intelligent people who gather here. If you want to behave like a barbarian, do it in the space under the gate…”

Conclusion

So, which side is winning? Clearly, the pro-democracy side is losing battle after battle on the RuNet, as their threads are shut down, members are banned or censured by increasingly hostile site administrators, and the Kremlin ratchets up its spending on “PR services” (read: Brigade payrolls) ahead of the 2008 elections.

But the pro-democracy side is also forcing the Brigade and its supporters, bit by bit, to reveal their methodologies, as well as where their money is coming from, and the methods and justifications by which it is arriving. Somewhat to their credit, some of the brigadniki seem to believe they are doing nothing wrong, and even seem anxious to come in from the cold, perhaps as“PR professionals” of some sort. One can almost hear their Kremlin handlers wincing (“Doh!”) as these ingénue agents of influence try to explain themselves. But with every closed forum, every nakedly biased action by a site administrator, every abusive outburst by a Brigade member or supporter, every revelation of government “active measures” on the Internet, the Russian public cannot help but see more clearly that the Putin administration is taking them straight back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin PR strategists may yet find themselves quoting Hannibal: “Another such victory and I’ll be undone completely.”

* * *

P.S. — The date on which the “Battle Without Rules” thread was closed – one day before LR published her link to the list – is a little suspicious. There were no especially sharp exchanges on the site in the days before it was closed, and no new names had been added to the list in the previous few weeks. It might also be worth noting that LR was notified of the existence of the list via her Yahoo email account one day before the thread was closed. Considering Putin’s well-known paranoid complexes, would it be paranoid on our part to suppose he and his tribe might view LR as a growing threat?

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

LR’s Supporters vs. the Chekisti in the Russian Blogosphere

La Russophobe‘s translator has been visiting the Russian blogosphere to review its reactions to his translations published on this blog. Here is his initial report. Particuarly noteworthy is the ability of clever Russians to realize that this blog, far from hating Russians, loves them much more than the Russophiles who are trying to destroy them, led by the malignant little troll in the Kremlin; they are also clever enough to realize that belief in “russophobes” — like belief in Ded Moroz, the Easter Rabbit, and the democratic intentions of a proud KGB spy — is illusory, in an fact self-imposed flattery that Russians are important enough to be hated. Worst of all is the simply insane notion that criticism of Russians is racial. Dark-skinned people can be just as much “Russian” as the Slavs (at least in English they can).

The Chekisti Win Again… Or Maybe Not?

One Week on a RuNet Forum

On February 19, 2007 La Russophobe published a link to a list of suspected members of FSB Internet-harassment Brigades and their associates, located on a forum of the online journal Yezhednevniy Zhurnal (YeZh). Unbeknownst to LR at the time, however, just two days earlier the site administrator had terminated this forum with the following announcement:

17.02.2007, 21:09	#2992
Fea vbmenu_register(“postmenu_476075”, true); Administrator Регистрация: 22.09.2006 Сообщения: 286 Thanks: 1 Thanked 694 Times in 253 Posts Вес репутации: 100	Принято решение запретить юзеру zasdevushka публиковать сообщения и темы подобного характера. Тема закрыта.

Translation: “The decision has been made to prohibit user Zasdevushka from publicizing this information and topics of a similar character. This topic is closed.”

By way of background, the forum was titled, “Battle Without Rules” (Borba bez pravil), started by user “Zasdevushka”on January 10, 2007 when she posted her first “List of Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices”. At the time it was started, the thread enjoyed the full support of the YeZh site administrator, who gave Zasdevushka a “half smiley” grade for her first posting. As one might expect, Zasdevushka’s “modest undertaking” immediately drew an enormous number of responses, from both supporters and opponents — the latter including some of the nicknames that were on her list. As one can see from the final posting, over a five-week period the thread accumulated 2,992 postings, and was quite active to the last day of its existence.

In short, it looked like the “Commissars of the Internet” had won again.

The Pro-Democracy Partisans Fight Back

After the closure of Chekist Provocateurs List forum, Zasdevushka and her pro-democracy cohorts continued posting on other forums, more or less as if nothing had happened. On February 22, one of them, nicknamed “Korchagin”, posted the following congratulatory message on a different YeZh forum, noting that Zasdevushka’s list had been linked to by La Russophobe:

Zasdevushka can be proud.

Her list of “Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices” has attracted the interest of American Internet users. Here is what the popular American Internet site La Russophobe is saying:

The site also published an English translation of an article that had previously circulated on the RuNet, “Commissars of the Internet: The FSB at the Computer”.

The remainder of Korchagin’s post gave a condensed version of LR’s introduction to the “Commissars of the Internet” article and Zasdevushka’s list, including the note that one of the personalities on the list, “ENOT/EHOT”, has made regular, obnoxious appearances on American sites, and that another Russian-language site, had also linked to and commented on LR’s translation of the “Commissars” article.

Parrying the Foil

Over the next few days after Korchagin’s post, Zasdevushka and her fellow pro-democracy participants on the forum were attacked by several readers who claimed to be offended by the LR link. One reader, “Foil”, called her to task repeatedly for being proud to be associated with a site that called itself “La Russophobe”. Zasdevushka gave the following replies:

1.

Quote (from “Foil”):

How could any responsible person be gladdened by a favorable evaluation of their work from someone or something with the name “Russophobe”? If you were admired by a blog named “Cannibal” would you be proud of that too?

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Any information in this world should be evaluated by only one criterion: whether it is true or false. In this context, it is absolutely irrelevant who gave the information and under what name (“Russophobe”, “Cannibal”, “KGB Spy” or “Communist”).

But as long as we’re on the subject, if you would like to try and understand why the reference has the name “Russophobe”, you might acquaint yourself with the explanation (I too was at first shocked by this name, so I looked it up and found it)

2.

Foil seemed to concede Zasdevushka’s point about the name La Russophobe not necessarily being meant to betaken at face value. But he continued his attack nonetheless.

Quote (from “Foil”):

“It may be that the name ‘Russophobe’ or ‘Cannibal’ might not carry so much meaning, and in a certain sense might be taken ironically. But the point is that the reference was made to your ‘List’, and was given in a tacitly approving context. My view and the view of many other participants in this forum toward your brainchild is well-known. I think it was created on the basis of fascist principles. In this sense both the tacit approval of your work by the cited resource and your pride at this evaluation speak volumes about you and this resource.”

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Wonderful. Now we’re having a serious conversation. (Incidentally, it was immediately clear to me that the name of the site “Russophobe” is in fact an ironic usage and that they are in no way Russophobes. Such people don’t exist in the real world in any event, with the exception perhaps of a few really sick individuals, but these bugaboos are held up by our own more-or-less educated sick individuals (including one now-deceased mathematician) and picked up by our leaders to help them to pull the wool over our eyes – in the Soviet era they called it the “capitalist encirclement”.) I wanted you to say it, you said it, and it’s much to your credit that you did. Now further. You and a lot of other people may have had some very negative views of my list, but you couldn’t have helped but notice (unless you kept your eyes closed) that a significant number of participants had a distinctly favorable view of it as well. Hence, my take on your remarks about the “favorable” view of the site “La Russophobe” toward my list is only that it (like the view of many participants here) does not agree with your point of view, nothing more, nothing less. So allow me to continue to take pride in the positive view of my undertaking held by a large portion of readers “here” and the above-mentioned site “over there”.

P.S. – Incidentally, regarding your use of the term “fascist principles” with regard to my modest undertaking: In my view, the term “fascist principles” would incomparably better fit the practice of our ruling structures to mobilize, at taxpayers’ expense, a large number of personnel (the Web Brigade), who day and night , under the guise of being private individuals, try to beat over the head those they are ordered to beat by the authorities. Now that is a typical fascist practice.

Following the Money

After the above exchange, “Foil” went on to counter-claim, “Даже если допустить наличие бригад, оплата пиар-услуг по продвижению чего либо не может являться фашизмом ни по какому его пределению.” Essentially, Foil is here saying that there is nothing “fascist” about a Brigade receiving money for “PR services” – including, presumably (since this is what Zasdevushka was specifically talking about), posting messages on forums on behalf of government interests; pretending to be a private citizen; attacking the viewpoints and dignity of private individuals; and being paid for these “services” by the unwitting Russian taxpayer. Indeed, Foil’s outburst would seem to speak volumes about the values, mores and sense of entitlement of the Brigade and its supporters in Russian society.

Joining the Battle

Reading the YeZh forum, we can see that some things have in fact changed since the “Commissars of the Internet” article was first written in 2003. Most significantly, the pro-democracy forum participants are banding together and sticking up for each other. The day before Korchagin posted his congratulations to Zasdevushka, a brigadnik/accomplice, “RealDorum”, wrote an abusive piece in response to another mention of the Brigade, in which he asked, “Are you completely out of mind? Don’t you realize that your search for Brigades places you on the same list with searchers from the Washington Obkom?” (TN: “Obkom” is short for the Soviet “oblastniy komitet”, or regional committee/government; here, it appears to have taken on a slang meaning to refer to parts of the U.S. government that might be viewed as meddling in Russian internal affairs.) A different pro-democracy participant, Ommsi, responded immediately: “You listen up, fool, it’s by and large intelligent people who gather here. If you want to behave like a barbarian, do it in the space under the gate…”

Conclusion

So, which side is winning? Clearly, the pro-democracy side is losing battle after battle on the RuNet, as their threads are shut down, members are banned or censured by increasingly hostile site administrators, and the Kremlin ratchets up its spending on “PR services” (read: Brigade payrolls) ahead of the 2008 elections.

But the pro-democracy side is also forcing the Brigade and its supporters, bit by bit, to reveal their methodologies, as well as where their money is coming from, and the methods and justifications by which it is arriving. Somewhat to their credit, some of the brigadniki seem to believe they are doing nothing wrong, and even seem anxious to come in from the cold, perhaps as“PR professionals” of some sort. One can almost hear their Kremlin handlers wincing (“Doh!”) as these ingénue agents of influence try to explain themselves. But with every closed forum, every nakedly biased action by a site administrator, every abusive outburst by a Brigade member or supporter, every revelation of government “active measures” on the Internet, the Russian public cannot help but see more clearly that the Putin administration is taking them straight back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin PR strategists may yet find themselves quoting Hannibal: “Another such victory and I’ll be undone completely.”

* * *

P.S. — The date on which the “Battle Without Rules” thread was closed – one day before LR published her link to the list – is a little suspicious. There were no especially sharp exchanges on the site in the days before it was closed, and no new names had been added to the list in the previous few weeks. It might also be worth noting that LR was notified of the existence of the list via her Yahoo email account one day before the thread was closed. Considering Putin’s well-known paranoid complexes, would it be paranoid on our part to suppose he and his tribe might view LR as a growing threat?

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

LR’s Supporters vs. the Chekisti in the Russian Blogosphere

La Russophobe‘s translator has been visiting the Russian blogosphere to review its reactions to his translations published on this blog. Here is his initial report. Particuarly noteworthy is the ability of clever Russians to realize that this blog, far from hating Russians, loves them much more than the Russophiles who are trying to destroy them, led by the malignant little troll in the Kremlin; they are also clever enough to realize that belief in “russophobes” — like belief in Ded Moroz, the Easter Rabbit, and the democratic intentions of a proud KGB spy — is illusory, in an fact self-imposed flattery that Russians are important enough to be hated. Worst of all is the simply insane notion that criticism of Russians is racial. Dark-skinned people can be just as much “Russian” as the Slavs (at least in English they can).

The Chekisti Win Again… Or Maybe Not?

One Week on a RuNet Forum

On February 19, 2007 La Russophobe published a link to a list of suspected members of FSB Internet-harassment Brigades and their associates, located on a forum of the online journal Yezhednevniy Zhurnal (YeZh). Unbeknownst to LR at the time, however, just two days earlier the site administrator had terminated this forum with the following announcement:

17.02.2007, 21:09	#2992
Fea vbmenu_register(“postmenu_476075”, true); Administrator Регистрация: 22.09.2006 Сообщения: 286 Thanks: 1 Thanked 694 Times in 253 Posts Вес репутации: 100	Принято решение запретить юзеру zasdevushka публиковать сообщения и темы подобного характера. Тема закрыта.

Translation: “The decision has been made to prohibit user Zasdevushka from publicizing this information and topics of a similar character. This topic is closed.”

By way of background, the forum was titled, “Battle Without Rules” (Borba bez pravil), started by user “Zasdevushka”on January 10, 2007 when she posted her first “List of Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices”. At the time it was started, the thread enjoyed the full support of the YeZh site administrator, who gave Zasdevushka a “half smiley” grade for her first posting. As one might expect, Zasdevushka’s “modest undertaking” immediately drew an enormous number of responses, from both supporters and opponents — the latter including some of the nicknames that were on her list. As one can see from the final posting, over a five-week period the thread accumulated 2,992 postings, and was quite active to the last day of its existence.

In short, it looked like the “Commissars of the Internet” had won again.

The Pro-Democracy Partisans Fight Back

After the closure of Chekist Provocateurs List forum, Zasdevushka and her pro-democracy cohorts continued posting on other forums, more or less as if nothing had happened. On February 22, one of them, nicknamed “Korchagin”, posted the following congratulatory message on a different YeZh forum, noting that Zasdevushka’s list had been linked to by La Russophobe:

Zasdevushka can be proud.

Her list of “Chekist Provocateurs and Their Accomplices” has attracted the interest of American Internet users. Here is what the popular American Internet site La Russophobe is saying:

The site also published an English translation of an article that had previously circulated on the RuNet, “Commissars of the Internet: The FSB at the Computer”.

The remainder of Korchagin’s post gave a condensed version of LR’s introduction to the “Commissars of the Internet” article and Zasdevushka’s list, including the note that one of the personalities on the list, “ENOT/EHOT”, has made regular, obnoxious appearances on American sites, and that another Russian-language site, had also linked to and commented on LR’s translation of the “Commissars” article.

Parrying the Foil

Over the next few days after Korchagin’s post, Zasdevushka and her fellow pro-democracy participants on the forum were attacked by several readers who claimed to be offended by the LR link. One reader, “Foil”, called her to task repeatedly for being proud to be associated with a site that called itself “La Russophobe”. Zasdevushka gave the following replies:

1.

Quote (from “Foil”):

How could any responsible person be gladdened by a favorable evaluation of their work from someone or something with the name “Russophobe”? If you were admired by a blog named “Cannibal” would you be proud of that too?

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Any information in this world should be evaluated by only one criterion: whether it is true or false. In this context, it is absolutely irrelevant who gave the information and under what name (“Russophobe”, “Cannibal”, “KGB Spy” or “Communist”).

But as long as we’re on the subject, if you would like to try and understand why the reference has the name “Russophobe”, you might acquaint yourself with the explanation (I too was at first shocked by this name, so I looked it up and found it)

2.

Foil seemed to concede Zasdevushka’s point about the name La Russophobe not necessarily being meant to betaken at face value. But he continued his attack nonetheless.

Quote (from “Foil”):

“It may be that the name ‘Russophobe’ or ‘Cannibal’ might not carry so much meaning, and in a certain sense might be taken ironically. But the point is that the reference was made to your ‘List’, and was given in a tacitly approving context. My view and the view of many other participants in this forum toward your brainchild is well-known. I think it was created on the basis of fascist principles. In this sense both the tacit approval of your work by the cited resource and your pride at this evaluation speak volumes about you and this resource.”

Post (by “Vasdevushka”):

Wonderful. Now we’re having a serious conversation. (Incidentally, it was immediately clear to me that the name of the site “Russophobe” is in fact an ironic usage and that they are in no way Russophobes. Such people don’t exist in the real world in any event, with the exception perhaps of a few really sick individuals, but these bugaboos are held up by our own more-or-less educated sick individuals (including one now-deceased mathematician) and picked up by our leaders to help them to pull the wool over our eyes – in the Soviet era they called it the “capitalist encirclement”.) I wanted you to say it, you said it, and it’s much to your credit that you did. Now further. You and a lot of other people may have had some very negative views of my list, but you couldn’t have helped but notice (unless you kept your eyes closed) that a significant number of participants had a distinctly favorable view of it as well. Hence, my take on your remarks about the “favorable” view of the site “La Russophobe” toward my list is only that it (like the view of many participants here) does not agree with your point of view, nothing more, nothing less. So allow me to continue to take pride in the positive view of my undertaking held by a large portion of readers “here” and the above-mentioned site “over there”.

P.S. – Incidentally, regarding your use of the term “fascist principles” with regard to my modest undertaking: In my view, the term “fascist principles” would incomparably better fit the practice of our ruling structures to mobilize, at taxpayers’ expense, a large number of personnel (the Web Brigade), who day and night , under the guise of being private individuals, try to beat over the head those they are ordered to beat by the authorities. Now that is a typical fascist practice.

Following the Money

After the above exchange, “Foil” went on to counter-claim, “Даже если допустить наличие бригад, оплата пиар-услуг по продвижению чего либо не может являться фашизмом ни по какому его пределению.” Essentially, Foil is here saying that there is nothing “fascist” about a Brigade receiving money for “PR services” – including, presumably (since this is what Zasdevushka was specifically talking about), posting messages on forums on behalf of government interests; pretending to be a private citizen; attacking the viewpoints and dignity of private individuals; and being paid for these “services” by the unwitting Russian taxpayer. Indeed, Foil’s outburst would seem to speak volumes about the values, mores and sense of entitlement of the Brigade and its supporters in Russian society.

Joining the Battle

Reading the YeZh forum, we can see that some things have in fact changed since the “Commissars of the Internet” article was first written in 2003. Most significantly, the pro-democracy forum participants are banding together and sticking up for each other. The day before Korchagin posted his congratulations to Zasdevushka, a brigadnik/accomplice, “RealDorum”, wrote an abusive piece in response to another mention of the Brigade, in which he asked, “Are you completely out of mind? Don’t you realize that your search for Brigades places you on the same list with searchers from the Washington Obkom?” (TN: “Obkom” is short for the Soviet “oblastniy komitet”, or regional committee/government; here, it appears to have taken on a slang meaning to refer to parts of the U.S. government that might be viewed as meddling in Russian internal affairs.) A different pro-democracy participant, Ommsi, responded immediately: “You listen up, fool, it’s by and large intelligent people who gather here. If you want to behave like a barbarian, do it in the space under the gate…”

Conclusion

So, which side is winning? Clearly, the pro-democracy side is losing battle after battle on the RuNet, as their threads are shut down, members are banned or censured by increasingly hostile site administrators, and the Kremlin ratchets up its spending on “PR services” (read: Brigade payrolls) ahead of the 2008 elections.

But the pro-democracy side is also forcing the Brigade and its supporters, bit by bit, to reveal their methodologies, as well as where their money is coming from, and the methods and justifications by which it is arriving. Somewhat to their credit, some of the brigadniki seem to believe they are doing nothing wrong, and even seem anxious to come in from the cold, perhaps as“PR professionals” of some sort. One can almost hear their Kremlin handlers wincing (“Doh!”) as these ingénue agents of influence try to explain themselves. But with every closed forum, every nakedly biased action by a site administrator, every abusive outburst by a Brigade member or supporter, every revelation of government “active measures” on the Internet, the Russian public cannot help but see more clearly that the Putin administration is taking them straight back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin PR strategists may yet find themselves quoting Hannibal: “Another such victory and I’ll be undone completely.”

* * *

P.S. — The date on which the “Battle Without Rules” thread was closed – one day before LR published her link to the list – is a little suspicious. There were no especially sharp exchanges on the site in the days before it was closed, and no new names had been added to the list in the previous few weeks. It might also be worth noting that LR was notified of the existence of the list via her Yahoo email account one day before the thread was closed. Considering Putin’s well-known paranoid complexes, would it be paranoid on our part to suppose he and his tribe might view LR as a growing threat?

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

LR’s Supporters vs. the Chekisti in the Russian Blogosphere

La Russophobe‘s translator has been visiting the Russian blogosphere to review its reactions to his translations published on this blog. Here is his initial report. Particuarly noteworthy is the ability of clever Russians to realize that this blog, far from hating Russians, loves them much more than the Russophiles who are trying to destroy them, led by the malignant little troll in the Kremlin; they are also clever enough to realize that belief in “russophobes” — like belief in Ded Moroz, the Easter Rabbit, and the democratic intentions of a proud KGB spy — is illusory, in an fact self-imposed flattery that Russians are important enough to be hated. Worst of all is the simply insane notion that criticism of Russians is racial. Dark-skinned people can be just as much “Russian” as the Slavs (at least in English they can).

The Chekisti Win Again… Or Maybe Not?

One Week on a RuNet Forum

 

On February 19, 2007 La Russophobe published a link to a list of suspected members of FSB Internet-harassment Brigades and their associates, located on a forum of the online journal Yezhednevniy Zhurnal (YeZh). Unbeknownst to LR at the time, however, just two days earlier the site administrator had terminated this forum with the following announcement:

17.02.2007, 21:09	#2992
Fea vbmenu_register(“postmenu_476075”, true); Administrator Регистрация: 22.09.2006 Сообщения: 286 Thanks: 1 Thanked 694 Times in 253 Posts Вес репутации: 100	Принято решение запретить юзеру zasdevushka публиковать сообщения и темы подобного характера. Тема закрыта.

Translation: “The decision has been made to prohibit user Zasdevushka from publicizing this information and topics of a similar character. This topic is closed.”

On the Horror of Victory

Writing in the Moscow Times, Alexei Bayer explains how what appeared at first as the democracy’s “victory” in Russia has in fact proven to be its utter defeat. The West stopped fighting the Cold War when it should have been intensifying the pressure, and allowed Russia an “incomplete defeat” allowed it’s nefarious forces to consolidate themselves and return to power. And now we live with the consequences. Note Solzhenitsyn’s statement that “nations need defeats just as individuals need suffering and misfortunes, which deepen the inner life and elevate the spirit.” That’s a classic Russian maxim for failure if ever there was one. Bayer truly terrifies when he writes: “In the early 1990s, Russia’s incomplete defeat was often compared to Germany’s in 1918. Since then, Russian history has followed the German scenario very closely.”

In “The Gulag Archipelago,” Alexander Solzhenitsyn notes that Peter the Great’s victory over Sweden in 1721 brought the Russia people three centuries of misery and hardship while ushering in an era of peace, freedom and prosperity for the Swedes. “It is a simple truth, yet it is only absorbed through pain: It is not victory that is precious but defeat. Victories are good for governments, whereas defeats are good for the people. After a victory, new victories are sought, while after a defeat one longs for freedom, and usually attains it. Nations need defeats just as individuals need suffering and misfortunes, which deepen the inner life and elevate the spirit.”

Russia suffered a beneficial defeat in 1905, at the hands of the Japanese, which pushed the huge empire toward economic and political reforms. When I walk around Moscow, I never cease to wonder at the number of elegant, high-quality apartment buildings built before 1914 for Russia’s rapidly expanding urban middle class.

Solzhenitsyn’s historical observation needs to be qualified to include only incomplete defeats, those that leave the machinery of state intact and do not cost the country its independence. For example, Germany lost World War II, but the post-war impact on its two halves was different. The defeat benefited West Germany, but it was disastrous for the East, which fell under Soviet rule. Even now, nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former German Democratic Republic has not resolved its many intractable problems.

Incomplete defeats are associated with the modern era and the emergence of the nation-state. When Rome crushed Carthage, for example, the vanquished city was razed to the ground and its inhabitants put to the sword or enslaved. Ancient Carthageans had no reason to consider their defeat a blessing.

On the other hand, an incomplete defeat bears a dangerous seed of ambiguity. Its lessons can easily be misunderstood or distorted. Most famously, the German surrender in World War I created a variety of pernicious myths which the Nazis then skillfully exploited. The Kaiser’s exhausted army, facing an overwhelming force bolstered by freshly arrived U.S. troops, chose to sue for peace rather than fight on home soil and be annihilated. Later, however, democratic politicians were branded “November traitors” and accused of stabbing Germany’s fighting men in the back.

The United States lost a war in Vietnam, but the nature of the defeat began to be reinterpreted almost immediately. By the early 1980s, the county was re-fighting the war — at least in Hollywood. More deviously, the rightwing neocon press has managed to cast U.S. democratic institutions, notably Congress, as the villains of that war. Not surprisingly, Washington now finds itself in another mess, trying to avert a far more consequential disaster in the Middle East.

In Russia, too, the Cold War defeat has become shrouded in myths. The circumstances leading to the collapse of the Soviet empire have been expunged from the national memory. It is now hard to recall the disgust and shame that marked the final years of perestroika, as public debate on the communist regime became progressively more open. Nor can the sense of contrition that compelled Russia to seek Western-style democracy and attempt to rejoin the community of nations now be recaptured.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia has chosen stability over democracy. Having experienced an oil boom, it has seen the return of xenophobia and isolationism. The Soviet defeat is now habitually described as betrayal or sellout, while the Soviet Union and its leaders are being reassessed in a much more favorable light.

In the early 1990s, Russia’s incomplete defeat was often compared to Germany’s in 1918. Since then, Russian history has followed the German scenario very closely. This not in actual events or the personalities of its leaders, of course, but in what the Germans call Zeitgeist –the spirit of the time.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Last Nail in the 2012 Sochi Olympic Bid’s Coffin

One might have thought that the most serious threat to life and limb at the proposed 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would have been the multitude of nearby Chechen terrorists. Not necessarily so! Russian ski lifts may prove far more lethal, as the Moscow News reports:

An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, The Associated Press news agency reports quoting Russian Emergencies Ministry. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s best-known ski centers. Sergei Petrov, a spokesman for the emergency ministry’s southern district, said the avalanche swept the four people off a chairlift. About 60 other people were on the lift at the time. Krasnaya Polyana, in the Caucasus Mountains about 30 miles east of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, is visited annually by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a skiing holiday.

And if the ski lifts and terrorists don’t get you, the orange snow may well do.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Last Nail in the 2012 Sochi Olympic Bid’s Coffin

One might have thought that the most serious threat to life and limb at the proposed 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would have been the multitude of nearby Chechen terrorists. Not necessarily so! Russian ski lifts may prove far more lethal, as the Moscow News reports:

An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, The Associated Press news agency reports quoting Russian Emergencies Ministry. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s best-known ski centers. Sergei Petrov, a spokesman for the emergency ministry’s southern district, said the avalanche swept the four people off a chairlift. About 60 other people were on the lift at the time. Krasnaya Polyana, in the Caucasus Mountains about 30 miles east of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, is visited annually by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a skiing holiday.

And if the ski lifts and terrorists don’t get you, the orange snow may well do.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Last Nail in the 2012 Sochi Olympic Bid’s Coffin

One might have thought that the most serious threat to life and limb at the proposed 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would have been the multitude of nearby Chechen terrorists. Not necessarily so! Russian ski lifts may prove far more lethal, as the Moscow News reports:

An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, The Associated Press news agency reports quoting Russian Emergencies Ministry. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s best-known ski centers. Sergei Petrov, a spokesman for the emergency ministry’s southern district, said the avalanche swept the four people off a chairlift. About 60 other people were on the lift at the time. Krasnaya Polyana, in the Caucasus Mountains about 30 miles east of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, is visited annually by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a skiing holiday.

And if the ski lifts and terrorists don’t get you, the orange snow may well do.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Last Nail in the 2012 Sochi Olympic Bid’s Coffin

One might have thought that the most serious threat to life and limb at the proposed 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would have been the multitude of nearby Chechen terrorists. Not necessarily so! Russian ski lifts may prove far more lethal, as the Moscow News reports:

An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, The Associated Press news agency reports quoting Russian Emergencies Ministry. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s best-known ski centers. Sergei Petrov, a spokesman for the emergency ministry’s southern district, said the avalanche swept the four people off a chairlift. About 60 other people were on the lift at the time. Krasnaya Polyana, in the Caucasus Mountains about 30 miles east of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, is visited annually by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a skiing holiday.

And if the ski lifts and terrorists don’t get you, the orange snow may well do.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Last Nail in the 2012 Sochi Olympic Bid’s Coffin

One might have thought that the most serious threat to life and limb at the proposed 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi would have been the multitude of nearby Chechen terrorists. Not necessarily so! Russian ski lifts may prove far more lethal, as the Moscow News reports:

An avalanche swept into a chairlift Sunday at a ski resort that is part of Russia’s bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, killing a 10-year-old child and trapping at least three other people, The Associated Press news agency reports quoting Russian Emergencies Ministry. The avalanche took place at Krasnaya Polyana, one of Russia’s best-known ski centers. Sergei Petrov, a spokesman for the emergency ministry’s southern district, said the avalanche swept the four people off a chairlift. About 60 other people were on the lift at the time. Krasnaya Polyana, in the Caucasus Mountains about 30 miles east of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, is visited annually by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a skiing holiday.

And if the ski lifts and terrorists don’t get you, the orange snow may well do.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin Offensive Against Russia’s "Defense"

A reader writes about the valiant efforts of those who struggle anonymously for freedom in Russia. Write your elected representatives and ask them to throw their support behind these heroes, these true Russian patriots, before it is too late. The group described below, whose Russian name is “Oborona” (which means “Defense” — here, of civil liberties) is supposed to have a website located here. However, it was inaccessible when last checked and may be under KGB assault. They are quite decentralized, which is good protection from the authorities, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for them to communciate effectively with the outside world. We have emblazoned our sidebar with their emblem as a show of solidarity and welcome the opportunity to publish their writings or more information about them.

The Russian human rights organization “Oborona” has stepped out of the usual personality-driven system of Russian politics (yes it exists even in youth activism) by working as a coalition under joint leadership. They are being threatened and harassed on a constant basis by the FSB. They are very brave. They are true heroes who have thrown away much of their opportunities for future prosperity (the FSB won’t forget them) by committing themselves to radical (peaceful) activism in the cause of democracy in Russia today. Virtually no one in the West knows about them and quite a few Russians couldn’t care less either, sadly. That’s because they swallow the lies on TV, have their political consciences numbed by a bit of material prosperity, and are convinced that Putin does indeed need to bomb the hell out of the Chechens. They will be the leaders of the opposition of tomorrow. What we can do to support them today will build into Russia in the decades to come. As you will learn when I eventually write up my piece for you, even their protest action in Moscow last week (see February 21st report below) was kept from public view by a total lockdown of the city centre by the MVD. I couldn’t even get within sight of their (legally permitted) demo. No one could. It is an interesting take on “free speech” that they can say what they like but no one else is allowed to hear it, see it, or read about it happening.

On January 23rd, Prima News reported an attack on a leader of a Russian human rights group known as “Defense” (“Oborona“) as follows:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On January 17, three unidentified men in civilian clothes attempted to enter the apartment of Moscow Defense coordinator Mikas Murashev. After presenting themselves as police, they demanded that Murashev’s wife immediately open the door, without explaining why and threatening that if she refused “things could go badly”. Without having achieved their objective, the unidentified men ended their siege of Murashev’s apartment. The regional police told Murashev that they sent no one to his address, and recommended he not open the door. They suggested the men a the door might be from the UBOP (the organized crime unit), which actively opposes independent public organizations. Not long before this, Mikas Murashev was called by someone who identified himself as Lieutenant Police Colonel Kostikov, who proposed they “meet encountered and have a talk”, the subject of which is unknown. Since the policeman did not say what his agenda was, Murashev did not meet with him. This is not the first case of pressure on family members of activists of oppositional organizations in Moscow, notes “Defense”. Recently, the leader of the National Democratic Union of Young People Julia Malysheva and a lawyer for the Russian People’s Democratic Union were invited to Petrovka for the “friendly conversations”. A month ago, Moscow police blockaded the apartment of the parents of Alex Shonev, Politsovet member of the National- Bolshevik Party, and editor of site NBP-Info, for several days.

Next, on Feburary 21st, Prima reported:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On February 18th in Moscow, at the Ostankino television station, activists from the youth movement “Defense” conducted an unsanctioned action against censorship and lies on television. At 1:00pm, Oleg Kozlovsky, Yulia Malysheva and Anton Firsov handcuffed themselves to a fence at the main entrance to the television station and unrolled a sign reading “Enough lies!” They also gave out leaflets. The leaflets stated:

Television in Russia has for a long time been not media, but a propagandistic instrument in the hands of authority. We want to end the brainwashing of people by television. In order to do so, we must destroy monopoly access to television. Five years ago Putin and his ministers promised that there would be many general national television channels in Russia, and only one state station. But instead, they took control of many or destroyed many channels. Now all information on TV is checked by the president’s administration. The task of these television stations is to extol the authorities, to pour on mud on their enemies, and to convert spectators into idiots, and indeed idiots who are more easily manipulated. We have had enough!

We demand:

1. A return straight broadcasts of social and political information;
2. An end to “black lists” of people and organizations that cannot be invited on TV
3. An end to “topic selections” by the president’s administration, which decide what events will be covered
4. The sale of state television channels into the different hands (but not only to new Putin oligarchs), leaving only one government channel.

The direct action was a completely unexpected contingency for the television station’s security, which, in the confusion, could not undertake any action, noted “Defense”. At 1:30 the activists were approached by 12 policemen. At 2:10. the police took off their handcuffs. Participants in the action were detained and taken to the Ostankino OVD (Prospekt Mira, Building 3. OVD Phone Number 616-6306).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin Offensive Against Russia’s "Defense"

A reader writes about the valiant efforts of those who struggle anonymously for freedom in Russia. Write your elected representatives and ask them to throw their support behind these heroes, these true Russian patriots, before it is too late. The group described below, whose Russian name is “Oborona” (which means “Defense” — here, of civil liberties) is supposed to have a website located here. However, it was inaccessible when last checked and may be under KGB assault. They are quite decentralized, which is good protection from the authorities, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for them to communciate effectively with the outside world. We have emblazoned our sidebar with their emblem as a show of solidarity and welcome the opportunity to publish their writings or more information about them.

The Russian human rights organization “Oborona” has stepped out of the usual personality-driven system of Russian politics (yes it exists even in youth activism) by working as a coalition under joint leadership. They are being threatened and harassed on a constant basis by the FSB. They are very brave. They are true heroes who have thrown away much of their opportunities for future prosperity (the FSB won’t forget them) by committing themselves to radical (peaceful) activism in the cause of democracy in Russia today. Virtually no one in the West knows about them and quite a few Russians couldn’t care less either, sadly. That’s because they swallow the lies on TV, have their political consciences numbed by a bit of material prosperity, and are convinced that Putin does indeed need to bomb the hell out of the Chechens. They will be the leaders of the opposition of tomorrow. What we can do to support them today will build into Russia in the decades to come. As you will learn when I eventually write up my piece for you, even their protest action in Moscow last week (see February 21st report below) was kept from public view by a total lockdown of the city centre by the MVD. I couldn’t even get within sight of their (legally permitted) demo. No one could. It is an interesting take on “free speech” that they can say what they like but no one else is allowed to hear it, see it, or read about it happening.

On January 23rd, Prima News reported an attack on a leader of a Russian human rights group known as “Defense” (“Oborona“) as follows:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On January 17, three unidentified men in civilian clothes attempted to enter the apartment of Moscow Defense coordinator Mikas Murashev. After presenting themselves as police, they demanded that Murashev’s wife immediately open the door, without explaining why and threatening that if she refused “things could go badly”. Without having achieved their objective, the unidentified men ended their siege of Murashev’s apartment. The regional police told Murashev that they sent no one to his address, and recommended he not open the door. They suggested the men a the door might be from the UBOP (the organized crime unit), which actively opposes independent public organizations. Not long before this, Mikas Murashev was called by someone who identified himself as Lieutenant Police Colonel Kostikov, who proposed they “meet encountered and have a talk”, the subject of which is unknown. Since the policeman did not say what his agenda was, Murashev did not meet with him. This is not the first case of pressure on family members of activists of oppositional organizations in Moscow, notes “Defense”. Recently, the leader of the National Democratic Union of Young People Julia Malysheva and a lawyer for the Russian People’s Democratic Union were invited to Petrovka for the “friendly conversations”. A month ago, Moscow police blockaded the apartment of the parents of Alex Shonev, Politsovet member of the National- Bolshevik Party, and editor of site NBP-Info, for several days.

Next, on Feburary 21st, Prima reported:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On February 18th in Moscow, at the Ostankino television station, activists from the youth movement “Defense” conducted an unsanctioned action against censorship and lies on television. At 1:00pm, Oleg Kozlovsky, Yulia Malysheva and Anton Firsov handcuffed themselves to a fence at the main entrance to the television station and unrolled a sign reading “Enough lies!” They also gave out leaflets. The leaflets stated:

Television in Russia has for a long time been not media, but a propagandistic instrument in the hands of authority. We want to end the brainwashing of people by television. In order to do so, we must destroy monopoly access to television. Five years ago Putin and his ministers promised that there would be many general national television channels in Russia, and only one state station. But instead, they took control of many or destroyed many channels. Now all information on TV is checked by the president’s administration. The task of these television stations is to extol the authorities, to pour on mud on their enemies, and to convert spectators into idiots, and indeed idiots who are more easily manipulated. We have had enough!

We demand:

1. A return straight broadcasts of social and political information;
2. An end to “black lists” of people and organizations that cannot be invited on TV
3. An end to “topic selections” by the president’s administration, which decide what events will be covered
4. The sale of state television channels into the different hands (but not only to new Putin oligarchs), leaving only one government channel.

The direct action was a completely unexpected contingency for the television station’s security, which, in the confusion, could not undertake any action, noted “Defense”. At 1:30 the activists were approached by 12 policemen. At 2:10. the police took off their handcuffs. Participants in the action were detained and taken to the Ostankino OVD (Prospekt Mira, Building 3. OVD Phone Number 616-6306).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin Offensive Against Russia’s "Defense"

A reader writes about the valiant efforts of those who struggle anonymously for freedom in Russia. Write your elected representatives and ask them to throw their support behind these heroes, these true Russian patriots, before it is too late. The group described below, whose Russian name is “Oborona” (which means “Defense” — here, of civil liberties) is supposed to have a website located here. However, it was inaccessible when last checked and may be under KGB assault. They are quite decentralized, which is good protection from the authorities, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for them to communciate effectively with the outside world. We have emblazoned our sidebar with their emblem as a show of solidarity and welcome the opportunity to publish their writings or more information about them.

The Russian human rights organization “Oborona” has stepped out of the usual personality-driven system of Russian politics (yes it exists even in youth activism) by working as a coalition under joint leadership. They are being threatened and harassed on a constant basis by the FSB. They are very brave. They are true heroes who have thrown away much of their opportunities for future prosperity (the FSB won’t forget them) by committing themselves to radical (peaceful) activism in the cause of democracy in Russia today. Virtually no one in the West knows about them and quite a few Russians couldn’t care less either, sadly. That’s because they swallow the lies on TV, have their political consciences numbed by a bit of material prosperity, and are convinced that Putin does indeed need to bomb the hell out of the Chechens. They will be the leaders of the opposition of tomorrow. What we can do to support them today will build into Russia in the decades to come. As you will learn when I eventually write up my piece for you, even their protest action in Moscow last week (see February 21st report below) was kept from public view by a total lockdown of the city centre by the MVD. I couldn’t even get within sight of their (legally permitted) demo. No one could. It is an interesting take on “free speech” that they can say what they like but no one else is allowed to hear it, see it, or read about it happening.

On January 23rd, Prima News reported an attack on a leader of a Russian human rights group known as “Defense” (“Oborona“) as follows:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On January 17, three unidentified men in civilian clothes attempted to enter the apartment of Moscow Defense coordinator Mikas Murashev. After presenting themselves as police, they demanded that Murashev’s wife immediately open the door, without explaining why and threatening that if she refused “things could go badly”. Without having achieved their objective, the unidentified men ended their siege of Murashev’s apartment. The regional police told Murashev that they sent no one to his address, and recommended he not open the door. They suggested the men a the door might be from the UBOP (the organized crime unit), which actively opposes independent public organizations. Not long before this, Mikas Murashev was called by someone who identified himself as Lieutenant Police Colonel Kostikov, who proposed they “meet encountered and have a talk”, the subject of which is unknown. Since the policeman did not say what his agenda was, Murashev did not meet with him. This is not the first case of pressure on family members of activists of oppositional organizations in Moscow, notes “Defense”. Recently, the leader of the National Democratic Union of Young People Julia Malysheva and a lawyer for the Russian People’s Democratic Union were invited to Petrovka for the “friendly conversations”. A month ago, Moscow police blockaded the apartment of the parents of Alex Shonev, Politsovet member of the National- Bolshevik Party, and editor of site NBP-Info, for several days.

Next, on Feburary 21st, Prima reported:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On February 18th in Moscow, at the Ostankino television station, activists from the youth movement “Defense” conducted an unsanctioned action against censorship and lies on television. At 1:00pm, Oleg Kozlovsky, Yulia Malysheva and Anton Firsov handcuffed themselves to a fence at the main entrance to the television station and unrolled a sign reading “Enough lies!” They also gave out leaflets. The leaflets stated:

Television in Russia has for a long time been not media, but a propagandistic instrument in the hands of authority. We want to end the brainwashing of people by television. In order to do so, we must destroy monopoly access to television. Five years ago Putin and his ministers promised that there would be many general national television channels in Russia, and only one state station. But instead, they took control of many or destroyed many channels. Now all information on TV is checked by the president’s administration. The task of these television stations is to extol the authorities, to pour on mud on their enemies, and to convert spectators into idiots, and indeed idiots who are more easily manipulated. We have had enough!

We demand:

1. A return straight broadcasts of social and political information;
2. An end to “black lists” of people and organizations that cannot be invited on TV
3. An end to “topic selections” by the president’s administration, which decide what events will be covered
4. The sale of state television channels into the different hands (but not only to new Putin oligarchs), leaving only one government channel.

The direct action was a completely unexpected contingency for the television station’s security, which, in the confusion, could not undertake any action, noted “Defense”. At 1:30 the activists were approached by 12 policemen. At 2:10. the police took off their handcuffs. Participants in the action were detained and taken to the Ostankino OVD (Prospekt Mira, Building 3. OVD Phone Number 616-6306).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin Offensive Against Russia’s "Defense"

A reader writes about the valiant efforts of those who struggle anonymously for freedom in Russia. Write your elected representatives and ask them to throw their support behind these heroes, these true Russian patriots, before it is too late. The group described below, whose Russian name is “Oborona” (which means “Defense” — here, of civil liberties) is supposed to have a website located here. However, it was inaccessible when last checked and may be under KGB assault. They are quite decentralized, which is good protection from the authorities, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for them to communciate effectively with the outside world. We have emblazoned our sidebar with their emblem as a show of solidarity and welcome the opportunity to publish their writings or more information about them.

The Russian human rights organization “Oborona” has stepped out of the usual personality-driven system of Russian politics (yes it exists even in youth activism) by working as a coalition under joint leadership. They are being threatened and harassed on a constant basis by the FSB. They are very brave. They are true heroes who have thrown away much of their opportunities for future prosperity (the FSB won’t forget them) by committing themselves to radical (peaceful) activism in the cause of democracy in Russia today. Virtually no one in the West knows about them and quite a few Russians couldn’t care less either, sadly. That’s because they swallow the lies on TV, have their political consciences numbed by a bit of material prosperity, and are convinced that Putin does indeed need to bomb the hell out of the Chechens. They will be the leaders of the opposition of tomorrow. What we can do to support them today will build into Russia in the decades to come. As you will learn when I eventually write up my piece for you, even their protest action in Moscow last week (see February 21st report below) was kept from public view by a total lockdown of the city centre by the MVD. I couldn’t even get within sight of their (legally permitted) demo. No one could. It is an interesting take on “free speech” that they can say what they like but no one else is allowed to hear it, see it, or read about it happening.

On January 23rd, Prima News reported an attack on a leader of a Russian human rights group known as “Defense” (“Oborona“) as follows:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On January 17, three unidentified men in civilian clothes attempted to enter the apartment of Moscow Defense coordinator Mikas Murashev. After presenting themselves as police, they demanded that Murashev’s wife immediately open the door, without explaining why and threatening that if she refused “things could go badly”. Without having achieved their objective, the unidentified men ended their siege of Murashev’s apartment. The regional police told Murashev that they sent no one to his address, and recommended he not open the door. They suggested the men a the door might be from the UBOP (the organized crime unit), which actively opposes independent public organizations. Not long before this, Mikas Murashev was called by someone who identified himself as Lieutenant Police Colonel Kostikov, who proposed they “meet encountered and have a talk”, the subject of which is unknown. Since the policeman did not say what his agenda was, Murashev did not meet with him. This is not the first case of pressure on family members of activists of oppositional organizations in Moscow, notes “Defense”. Recently, the leader of the National Democratic Union of Young People Julia Malysheva and a lawyer for the Russian People’s Democratic Union were invited to Petrovka for the “friendly conversations”. A month ago, Moscow police blockaded the apartment of the parents of Alex Shonev, Politsovet member of the National- Bolshevik Party, and editor of site NBP-Info, for several days.

Next, on Feburary 21st, Prima reported:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On February 18th in Moscow, at the Ostankino television station, activists from the youth movement “Defense” conducted an unsanctioned action against censorship and lies on television. At 1:00pm, Oleg Kozlovsky, Yulia Malysheva and Anton Firsov handcuffed themselves to a fence at the main entrance to the television station and unrolled a sign reading “Enough lies!” They also gave out leaflets. The leaflets stated:

Television in Russia has for a long time been not media, but a propagandistic instrument in the hands of authority. We want to end the brainwashing of people by television. In order to do so, we must destroy monopoly access to television. Five years ago Putin and his ministers promised that there would be many general national television channels in Russia, and only one state station. But instead, they took control of many or destroyed many channels. Now all information on TV is checked by the president’s administration. The task of these television stations is to extol the authorities, to pour on mud on their enemies, and to convert spectators into idiots, and indeed idiots who are more easily manipulated. We have had enough!

We demand:

1. A return straight broadcasts of social and political information;
2. An end to “black lists” of people and organizations that cannot be invited on TV
3. An end to “topic selections” by the president’s administration, which decide what events will be covered
4. The sale of state television channels into the different hands (but not only to new Putin oligarchs), leaving only one government channel.

The direct action was a completely unexpected contingency for the television station’s security, which, in the confusion, could not undertake any action, noted “Defense”. At 1:30 the activists were approached by 12 policemen. At 2:10. the police took off their handcuffs. Participants in the action were detained and taken to the Ostankino OVD (Prospekt Mira, Building 3. OVD Phone Number 616-6306).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Kremlin Offensive Against Russia’s "Defense"

A reader writes about the valiant efforts of those who struggle anonymously for freedom in Russia. Write your elected representatives and ask them to throw their support behind these heroes, these true Russian patriots, before it is too late. The group described below, whose Russian name is “Oborona” (which means “Defense” — here, of civil liberties) is supposed to have a website located here. However, it was inaccessible when last checked and may be under KGB assault. They are quite decentralized, which is good protection from the authorities, but unfortunately it makes it difficult for them to communciate effectively with the outside world. We have emblazoned our sidebar with their emblem as a show of solidarity and welcome the opportunity to publish their writings or more information about them.

The Russian human rights organization “Oborona” has stepped out of the usual personality-driven system of Russian politics (yes it exists even in youth activism) by working as a coalition under joint leadership. They are being threatened and harassed on a constant basis by the FSB. They are very brave. They are true heroes who have thrown away much of their opportunities for future prosperity (the FSB won’t forget them) by committing themselves to radical (peaceful) activism in the cause of democracy in Russia today. Virtually no one in the West knows about them and quite a few Russians couldn’t care less either, sadly. That’s because they swallow the lies on TV, have their political consciences numbed by a bit of material prosperity, and are convinced that Putin does indeed need to bomb the hell out of the Chechens. They will be the leaders of the opposition of tomorrow. What we can do to support them today will build into Russia in the decades to come. As you will learn when I eventually write up my piece for you, even their protest action in Moscow last week (see February 21st report below) was kept from public view by a total lockdown of the city centre by the MVD. I couldn’t even get within sight of their (legally permitted) demo. No one could. It is an interesting take on “free speech” that they can say what they like but no one else is allowed to hear it, see it, or read about it happening.

On January 23rd, Prima News reported an attack on a leader of a Russian human rights group known as “Defense” (“Oborona“) as follows:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On January 17, three unidentified men in civilian clothes attempted to enter the apartment of Moscow Defense coordinator Mikas Murashev. After presenting themselves as police, they demanded that Murashev’s wife immediately open the door, without explaining why and threatening that if she refused “things could go badly”. Without having achieved their objective, the unidentified men ended their siege of Murashev’s apartment. The regional police told Murashev that they sent no one to his address, and recommended he not open the door. They suggested the men a the door might be from the UBOP (the organized crime unit), which actively opposes independent public organizations. Not long before this, Mikas Murashev was called by someone who identified himself as Lieutenant Police Colonel Kostikov, who proposed they “meet encountered and have a talk”, the subject of which is unknown. Since the policeman did not say what his agenda was, Murashev did not meet with him. This is not the first case of pressure on family members of activists of oppositional organizations in Moscow, notes “Defense”. Recently, the leader of the National Democratic Union of Young People Julia Malysheva and a lawyer for the Russian People’s Democratic Union were invited to Petrovka for the “friendly conversations”. A month ago, Moscow police blockaded the apartment of the parents of Alex Shonev, Politsovet member of the National- Bolshevik Party, and editor of site NBP-Info, for several days.

Next, on Feburary 21st, Prima reported:

RUSSIA, Moscow. On February 18th in Moscow, at the Ostankino television station, activists from the youth movement “Defense” conducted an unsanctioned action against censorship and lies on television. At 1:00pm, Oleg Kozlovsky, Yulia Malysheva and Anton Firsov handcuffed themselves to a fence at the main entrance to the television station and unrolled a sign reading “Enough lies!” They also gave out leaflets. The leaflets stated:

Television in Russia has for a long time been not media, but a propagandistic instrument in the hands of authority. We want to end the brainwashing of people by television. In order to do so, we must destroy monopoly access to television. Five years ago Putin and his ministers promised that there would be many general national television channels in Russia, and only one state station. But instead, they took control of many or destroyed many channels. Now all information on TV is checked by the president’s administration. The task of these television stations is to extol the authorities, to pour on mud on their enemies, and to convert spectators into idiots, and indeed idiots who are more easily manipulated. We have had enough!

We demand:

1. A return straight broadcasts of social and political information;
2. An end to “black lists” of people and organizations that cannot be invited on TV
3. An end to “topic selections” by the president’s administration, which decide what events will be covered
4. The sale of state television channels into the different hands (but not only to new Putin oligarchs), leaving only one government channel.

The direct action was a completely unexpected contingency for the television station’s security, which, in the confusion, could not undertake any action, noted “Defense”. At 1:30 the activists were approached by 12 policemen. At 2:10. the police took off their handcuffs. Participants in the action were detained and taken to the Ostankino OVD (Prospekt Mira, Building 3. OVD Phone Number 616-6306).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !