Moscow Times managing editor Carl Schreck has started a blog on the paper’s website called “Crime Watch.” It documents the more sensational aspects of Russian criminal life, including such items as:
- Russian rats chewing on Russian babies in a Russian hospital ward
- Russian “black realtors” who murder to acquire apartments
- Russian cannibals
- Various novel Russian forms of suicide, all involving getting somebody to kill you
- Russian boyfriend pouring gasoline on his Russian girlfriend and her daughter, then setting them both on fire
And then there’s this gem:
On the night of Jan. 18, a coat attendant was on duty at a bar when he asked a patron to remove his jacket. The response from the customer was swift: He punched the employee in the face. A scuffle ensued, and the customer eventually calmed down and left the establishment — not for long, as it turned out. The man returned two hours later, knocked the attendant off his feet with a “crushing” blow to his skull. He then began stomping on the man’s skull as employees and patrons looked on. There was no word on whether any of them tried to intervene. The victim, 38, was taken to the hospital with craniocerebral injuries and died two hours later. Tragically, he had a wife and children, who were “left without a breadwinner,” investigators said. Police have arrested the suspect, 27, who had served time for violent crimes but was paroled last year. He is being charged with aggravated manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
All’s right with the world in the paradise that is Vladimir Putin’s “resurgent” Russia!
La Russophobe 
This is an idiotic post. Crimes like that are commited in US everyday as well.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
How perfect! Because an idiotic reader like you deserves an idiotic post!
Meanwhile, in case you hadn’t noticed, the U.S. population grows larger every year, while Russia’s shrinks, so Russia can’t afford instances of high mortality like this. Russia has one of the world’s highest mortality rates (and highest murder rates), the U.S. doesn’t.
Moreover, the U.S. president for the last 8 years didn’t enjoy an 80% approval rating, as if he were perfect. Russia’s does.
Dude, your intelligence is rivaled by that of a lemon. You’re an illiterate unthinking lazy slob, and you defile this blog by “commenting” on it (thanks for linking to instances of similar American conduct).
I like this blog, but I have to agree with Jason on this one. Telling about individual horrible crimes without statistics to give a broader picture is something that belongs to tabloid newspapers and I think you undermine other posts with this.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
You’re missing the points: (1) This is not OUR coverage, it’s from the Moscow Times, not a tabloid. If you have a problem, it’s with the MT, not us. Please read a little more carefully. (2) We have ALREADY given statistics MANY times, now we flesh them out with details. (3) It’s not one or two sensational examples, but a DAILY review of Russian crime reports.
I stand corrected. It was just an impression I got since I’m a new reader.
Have to agree with Jason. You unnecessarily repeat the fact that the perpetrators and victims are Russians. The crimes take place in Russia, so we can assume their nationality. If one were to replace “Russian” with “African” in that list of crimes…I think you get the idea.
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
Dude, you’re babbling like an uneducated child. After we explode your first point, instead of apologizing and admitting your error now you change it to something completely different, apparently accusing us of racism for pointing out Russian faults. Is that really the best you can come up with?
Lame. Pathetic. Very, very, boring. Yawn. Can’t you see that your absurd “comments” merely serve to confirm for us that we hit the nail on the head? Can’t you see how totally ridiculous it is for you, a nobody, to give advice to the the most powerful and successful Russia bloggers on the planet about what we should and should not write about?
If you’d like to have some influence with us, how about actually doing something useful to help us. Do you publicize the posts we write that you DO like on Digg or Stumbleupon? Do you visit the blogs we link to and post supportive comments, Oleg Kozlvosky for instance?
The total emptiness of your “advice” simply makes us giggle.
Why not post it as there aren’t many crime blotter columns if any in Russia where crime is under-reported and rampant. It’s shocking and would be on Drudge in a heartbeat if infants in US hospitals were being attacked by rats. Sorry, but it’s a reflection of how rotten to the core Putin’s social services are.
Jason can whine all he wants.
I think LR is perfectly right with giving examples like the above, because it is representative for russian daily life.
Check out this:
Dagestani Leader’s Son Linked to Kidnapping (of a Moscow appointed top regional official)
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1010/42/374383.htm
The guy (tax service chief) was freed, but is quite literallly under siege and being forced to leave Dagestan (or else).
Penny there are numerous Russian blogs/crime blotter columns. I mean hundreds. Not less, or more than in US or anywhere else. You’re hallucinating.
John the reason MT unnecessarily repeats the fact that the perpetrators and victims are Russian, is because majority of crimes in Russia, especially recently in major cities, are committed by immigrants from central asia and caucases.
I can’t believe LR is tryign to deny that its racist and xenophobic….lol
Yes Jason. Crimes like this ARE committed in the United States every day but they are reported and more importantly, they are prosecuted. Criminals are tried before a jury and we have constitutional rights that protect us. Such is not the case in Russia. Victims have no voice, especially children and the disabled. Russia continues to be the number one exporter of child pornography and there are zero laws to stop it (as if it would matter if there were any written laws as ALL are completely subjective in Russia). Have you lived in Russia? If so, have you ever wondered why you never see any disabled people? Oh yeah, It’s because they’re tied up to beds in barred institutions which will most likely burn down to the ground in a mysterious fire eventually. No one fighting for the rights of Russian victims is anti-Russia or overly pro-America. It’s not a USA vs Russia thing. It’s a human rights ‘thing.’ And I really wish people with giant chips on their shoulders about Russia would figure that out and understand the difference. I care because my family is Russian NOT because I am anti- Russian or some crazed American patriot. The two are apples and oranges. No one has ever followed me, shut my water off or interviewed my friends in the United States because I was trying to film the living conditions of children with AIDS within state ‘institutions.’ And btw, in Russia, abandoned children who test positive for HIV (and there are more than Russia will admit) are moved to Detsky Doms for disabled children! It’s a dark scary place and one apparently Russia doesn’t want anyone else to see as was made very clear to me through extreme, typical, thug-like intimidation tactics.
If you are obsessed with comparing the USA with Russia then by all means go ahead. I think you’ll quickly find that reporting crime is not a crime punishable by death in the United States and there in lies one of the biggest and most obvious differences.
Bravo to anyone who risks their life by bringing the true life situation of many Russians to light!
rtyb have you done anything for those Russian children? Have you ever donated anything to a Russian orphanage? Check out this site. http://april-deti.ru/ These are ordinary Russians from Saint-Petersburg who quietly help disadvantaged Russian kids with all they got.
Really AKM “is because majority of crimes in Russia, especially recently in major cities, are committed by immigrants from central asia and caucases”.
That is very funny, as the skinhead & neo-nazi groups are all “proud Russians” and the overwhelming majority of Russian organised crime syndicates (Mafia) are ethnic Russians.
http://crimeandcriminalsblog.blogspot.com/2006_09_27_archive.html
Russian orphanages: Seriously asking, what is worse – being in an avarage Russian state-run orphanage, or being one of (over 1 to 4 million) street children?
Btw, one crime in four in Russia involves underage youths (official statistics).
Jason: you are a fool. Did you not read my comment? Yes, my life was and has been dedicated to those kids for years. I can’t be bothered with making you look like a total ass right now- I’m laughing at your link because you have no idea who I am, who I know and what I’ve accomplished. “What have YOU done?” is always the standard response/question from someone who has no legitimate response. And it’s a particularly amusing one to me…..;) Jason, just a little fyi: I am an adoptive parent of children from Russian Baby Homes, I continue to fight for the rights of children and the disabled in Russia. My inspiration, guide, 2nd father and mentor was a well-known Russian dissident. He passed away in March 2006. My family is Russian. My children are Russian. I have been threatened, chased and intimidated. But I won’t stop. I do not consider myself a hero or congratulate myself. I am nothing in comparison to people like Oleg Kozlovsky or my former mentor. I am just one person providing one more voice to those who don’t have one.
Thank you Andrew for pointing out what a racist, xenophobe AKM really is… (after he just accused La Russophobe of such).
A special link for Jason. It’s a new report on the tragedy of child exploitation in Russia. Enjoy-
http://www.buffalonews.com/339/story/182863.html
My pleasure rtyb, keep up your good work rescuing Russian kids, and God bless you and keep you.