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Dedicated Russian thread

As ratings drop, Putin defends record, says better life awaits Russians - Reuters
Putin's been 'bigging' his part up. Even saying things like 'it's better than it was in the '90's'. Reminds me of Harold Macmillan. 'Real incomes' have apparently been falling for years, with the biggest fall in '16, but they're now starting to recover, with 'National Projects' due to boost living standards which should be felt this year and next year:
“It’s true that real incomes have been falling for several years,” responded Putin. “The biggest fall was in 2016, but now incomes have gradually started to recover,” he said, blaming past volatility in energy markets.

A major public spending programme called National Projects would boost living standards, he said: “The results of this should be being felt this year and next year.”
Don't worry about your hardships Boxer. At least it's not like it was in the '90's and they don't have to rely on international help:
The Russian leader reminded voters that for all their problems they were better off now than in the 1990s, before he came to power, when the Soviet Union’s collapse sent incomes plunging and caused mass unemployment.

“We do not have anything like in the 1990s when wages could go unpaid for half a year,” said Putin.

“We do not have inflation that back then was over 30 percent, we do not have debts which went through the roof at that time, we do not depend on the International Monetary Fund. On the contrary, our gold and foreign currency reserves are rising, they have exceeded $500 billion and keep going up.”
It would appear not all citizens agreed with his views. Some asking when he was leaving. Others asking what's the point of the annual tv appearance if nothing has changed. Reference to being in power longer than Brezhnev and yet Russians still live in poverty (apparently):
Some Russians used Thursday’s session - broadcast live with some questions flashed on the studio screen - as an opportunity to criticise the Kremlin chief.

Though not put to Putin directly, some of those questions asked when he’d leave office, another what the point of his annual TV appearances was if nothing improved, while another complained Putin had been in power long than Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and yet Russians still lived in poverty.

The sharp tone reflects what pollsters say is deep disenchantment about the economy’s prospects.
The former Finance Minister is clearly out of step when saying there was the risk of a 'social explosion' if poverty levels weren't cut:
Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, now head of the Audit Chamber, said on Sunday he was concerned about the risk of “a social explosion” if poverty levels were not cut, a comment the Kremlin criticised at the time as emotional.
Anyway, all is well as the state pollster has now 'massaged' the figures. Trust in Putin was 31.7%. It's now 71.7% after introducing a new methodology of canvassing opinion after the Kremlin questioned earlier findings:
In a sign of Kremlin nervousness, Russia’s state pollster last month introduced a new methodology for canvassing opinion after the Kremlin questioned its earlier findings. They had shown trust in Putin falling to 31.7% - its lowest in 13 years.

Under the new methodology, VTsIOM, the state pollster, showed public trust in Putin surging to 72.3%, a figure it said dropped slightly this month to 71.7%.
 
Interesting (and short and easily digestible) paper by a Russian academic currently at a London-based think-tank called the European Leadership Network. It gives a good account of Moscow's point of view and seems reasonable enough. However when one looks more in-depth at what isaid, how it is said and moreover -what is left unsaid, it really does fall in line with the "Muscovite Mindset" that what Moscow does not control, it sees as a threat.
https://www.europeanleadershipnetwo...art-Russian-debate-on-Europe-Sergey-Utkin.pdf
 
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News
Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people
Even after extinguishing the fire, the soldiers died from smoke inhalation. Authorities have launched an investigation "to establish the cause of the incident."





The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said 14 people on board one of its deep-sea submarines were killed when a fire broke out.

"On July 1, a fire broke out during biometric measurements on a scientific research deep-sea submersible," the defense ministry said in comments carried by state media. "Work is underway to establish the cause of the incident."

The vessel was recovered and taken to the Russian Northern Fleet's base in Severomorsk on the Barents Sea, which is located off the northern coasts of Russia and Norway.

Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people | DW | 02.07.2019
 
View attachment 401858


News
Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people
Even after extinguishing the fire, the soldiers died from smoke inhalation. Authorities have launched an investigation "to establish the cause of the incident."





The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said 14 people on board one of its deep-sea submarines were killed when a fire broke out.

"On July 1, a fire broke out during biometric measurements on a scientific research deep-sea submersible," the defense ministry said in comments carried by state media. "Work is underway to establish the cause of the incident."

The vessel was recovered and taken to the Russian Northern Fleet's base in Severomorsk on the Barents Sea, which is located off the northern coasts of Russia and Norway.

Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people | DW | 02.07.2019

RIP to those who passed away.
 
Russia is a very rich country in natural resources, human capital. So why ordinary Russians are not rich enough but rather poor in comparison with many other countries.

Бандиты перестали признавать генерала
Recently 2 criminals were detained in Russia. It iself is not something outstanding but what exactly have they done? They captured retired FSB general Aleksandr Pastushkov and tortured him. The general had luxorious house near Moscow with cost estimated as $650,000 (it is much more than his whole salaries during years of service). Being tortured the general had to point to the exact place near his house where 7 plastic containers with money were hidden. The criminals got about $5,000,000. Of course, the case was opened against the general himself and the investigators have found additionally $1,100,000 in a bank cell that belonged to the general.
I strongly suspect that the general has much more that the criminals and investigators were able to found.

So why the Russians are not rich living in one of the most rich countries? Because some Russians (minority) are fantastically rich
 
Russia is a very rich country in natural resources, human capital. So why ordinary Russians are not rich enough but rather poor in comparison with many other countries.

Бандиты перестали признавать генерала
Recently 2 criminals were detained in Russia. It iself is not something outstanding but what exactly have they done? They captured retired FSB general Aleksandr Pastushkov and tortured him. The general had luxorious house near Moscow with cost estimated as $650,000 (it is much more than his whole salaries during years of service). Being tortured the general had to point to the exact place near his house where 7 plastic containers with money were hidden. The criminals got about $5,000,000. Of course, the case was opened against the general himself and the investigators have found additionally $1,100,000 in a bank cell that belonged to the general.
I strongly suspect that the general has much more that the criminals and investigators were able to found.

So why the Russians are not rich living in one of the most rich countries? Because some Russians (minority) are fantastically rich
That begs the question of to whether “rich” is an amount of money or a relative measure


I have £s in my wallet that put me as rich against the next man in the street, and a poor man on benefits here is a millionaire compared to others in the world

How ‘comfortable’ or ‘rich’ someone is in life is relative to their capacity to live
A country with all of the resources it requires has no worries about how it measures up against a different country thousands of miles away
 
The Muscovite Mindset enables corruption. This general was alllowed to do what he did because others above him - right to the very top are doing the same. It has been ever thus in Muscovy since when it was a petty little principality that made itself into the Mongol Khans' tax collector. The only difference during the rule of the Red Tsars was that all wealth was nominally state owned, but they apportioned access to the greater part of the riches to themselves and the Nomenklatura.
 
View attachment 401858


News
Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people
Even after extinguishing the fire, the soldiers died from smoke inhalation. Authorities have launched an investigation "to establish the cause of the incident."





The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said 14 people on board one of its deep-sea submarines were killed when a fire broke out.

"On July 1, a fire broke out during biometric measurements on a scientific research deep-sea submersible," the defense ministry said in comments carried by state media. "Work is underway to establish the cause of the incident."

The vessel was recovered and taken to the Russian Northern Fleet's base in Severomorsk on the Barents Sea, which is located off the northern coasts of Russia and Norway.

Russian deep-sea submarine fire kills 14 people | DW | 02.07.2019

Yet more reporting on the submarine fire:
Late Reports, An Article Scrubbed: Details Scant Following Deadly Russian Submarine Fire
 
Why so many senior officers onboard? Were they dead before they got on board and this was to cover it up?

Was it a reenactment of the potemkin that went pete tong.
 
Why so many senior officers onboard? Were they dead before they got on board and this was to cover it up?

Was it a reenactment of the potemkin that went pete tong.
I understand that the Russian tradition is to have Commissioned Officers in positions of trust and any position requiring advanced knowledge of anything. Bearing in mind the type of boat this was and the missions it carried out, I would not be surprised if all the crew were officers. Add a few visiting/ inspecting senior officers and there you have it.
 
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