Divorce or Parking, Which is Harder?

The awkward mise-en-scene of President Putin’s announcement that he and his wife Lyudmila are divorcing because they “practically don’t see each other” took most Russians by surprise. As pundits wracked their brains to interpret the news, Russians concerned themselves with more important things, namely coming up with dozens of анекдоты (jokes) to capture the political moment. In point of fact, divorce is now so common in Russia that it may actually make the Russian President seem more human in the eyes of voters.

A question for Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin:

“How will you divide the joint property?”

“We’ll use the Urals as the dividing line.”

After the divorce, Putin tells Lyudmila: “Don’t worry honey, you’ll marry Medvedev for four years, and then I will take you again as my wife.”

“Why didn’t you divorce earlier?”

“We had to wait for Medvedev to grow up.”

“The regional branch of the United Russia party in Dagestan has decided to follow the president’s example. All members filed for divorce from their wives.”

“The Investigative Committee is studying video of the ballet Esmeralda, after which the Putins decided to divorce. There are plans to search the apartments of the ballet’s authors, in particular the flat of writer Victor Hugo, who wrote the novel that the ballet is based upon.”

What do you consider grounds for divorce?

Domestic violence: 67%

Alcoholism: 60%

Infidelity: 49%

What are insufficient grounds for divorce?

Political disagreement: 63%

Dislike of in-laws: 62%

Religious disagreements: 53%

Russians who think divorce is:

unacceptable in any circumstances: 21%

in principle acceptable 67%

(Public Opinion Foundation, January 2013)

Moscow is combatting chaos with... a different kind of chaos. After years of parking anarchy, when drivers parked their cars on flower beds, sidewalks, and in fire lanes, city authorities are phasing in a system of paid parking in the center. Parking is no longer free along streets inside the Boulevard Ring. Drivers must pay about 50 rubles per hour (approximately $1.70) via a complicated text message, a parking meter, or a mobile application. The system is not working efficiently: in the first month since the change, drivers complained that there was only one payment terminal every five blocks, and that it frequently did not work.

When people started concealing their license plates with rags, to avoid being ticketed, City Hall asked bicyclists to help clear the plates in order to make drivers accountable. Meanwhile, disgruntled pedestrians launched a website to embarrass rude car owners. Pictures of cars parked illegally are being posted on autochmo.ru.

President Putin has no parking or commuting problem. The Kremlin has just finished construction of a helipad in the Kremlin, in the process destroying the historical Taynitsky Garden. The garden, named after the Taynitsky Tower, can be seen in nineteenth century etchings as a popular place for strolling the grounds. It has been closed to the public for years, but cosmonaut Yury Gagarin planted an oak there in 1961, after his historic space flight. Libyan leader Muammar Khadafi pitched his Bedouin tent there when he made a state visit in 2008.

The giant green helipad dominates the area, and its construction was apparently kept secret from UNESCO, which has classified the Kremlin a World Heritage Site.

View the BBC’s video report on Putin’s new “pad” at

bit.ly/putinhelipad