In an unusual development, public pressure has caused the Russian government to backtrack on a bill it proposed to parliament. The so-called QR Code Bill called for digital QR codes to be issued to all citizens upon proof of vaccination. The codes would then be used to access public venues and some modes of transportation.
Although vaccination QR codes are being required for access to restaurants or museums in some parts of Russia, including Moscow, the bill caused an outcry. Its implementation would have turned an emergency measure into a permanent national law – which critics saw as an attack on their freedoms.
A poll by the state news agency RIA Novosti, deleted soon after it was released on its website, showed that 80 percent of respondents are against the measure, and government social networking accounts were filling up with negative comments. Interestingly, many conservative and religious forces that the Russian government relies on for political support were the most vocal opponents. It didn’t help that some of these forces, for example the religious television channel Tsargrad, have been a platform for Covid dissidents and vaccine skeptics.
Though Russia has had a relatively high death rate during the pandemic,* it would be risky to use fear to motivate Russians to get vaccinated, political scientist Yekaterina Shulman told the BBC. “You can scare people and they will run to get jabs, or you can scare them and they will run to protest,” she said.
Opposition politician Lev Shlosberg expressed the belief that authorities were scared to push through the controversial bill on the heels of bloody protests in neighboring Kazakhstan, understanding that many of the people opposing mandatory vaccination are usually among Vladimir Putin’s most loyal supporters. “The authorities have no idea what they would do if this core constituency were to go out onto the streets, and they are terrified of this scenario,” he told the Semnasem news website.
Не забудем и о том, что американские официальные лица сказали насчет “вторжения” так называемого России на Украину, в частности, распространив полную дезинформацию о том, что мы готовим провокацию с нападением чуть ли не на русскоязычное население на Донбассе, чтобы получить предлог для того самого вторжения
Let’s not forget what American officials said about the so-called ‘invasion’ of Ukraine by Russia, in particular, their spreading of the utter disinformation that we are preparing a provocation involving an attack even on the Russian-speaking population of Donbass to create an excuse for said invasion.
After complaining for years about the growing use of cryptocurrencies, Russian officials are advocating an outright ban on their use or mining. The Central Bank warned that their rapid growth is akin to a financial pyramid scheme that threatens financial stability in the country, suggesting that banks block any operations that involve the exchange of cryptocurrencies for government-issued money.
Russians use about $5 billion in cryptocurrencies annually, and Russian hackers (as well as those from other countries) rely on cryptocurrency as an untraceable method of payment or payoffs. Bloomberg reported that the Central Bank was pushed into its announcement by Russia’s FSB security service, which is concerned that cryptocurrency is used to financially support undesirable organizations, including NGOs and media on the “foreign agent” list.
Russia has in recent years emerged as a top crypto-mining hub, thanks in part to its relatively low electricity costs and cold temperatures – both essential to creation of mining farms, which, like data centers, are prone to overheating.
The Tretyakov Gallery has opened a new affiliate in Moscow – art history lovers can now visit the restored building where Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov grew up.
The small, two-story house, typical of the capital’s Zamoskvorechye neighborhood, was divided into communal flats during the Soviet era and stood abandoned, and in a sorry state, for decades. Restoration was completed in 2020.
The museum had to be created from scratch: the first floor is devoted to a multimedia exhibit and the second floor includes paintings, period items, and the brothers’ two work rooms.
The Tretyakovs came from a well-known merchant family that owned paper and textile mills. Pavel became a well-known arts patron, collecting Russian paintings starting in the 1850s, a hobby that culminated in the construction of a gallery in 1874. His younger brother Sergei co-founded the museum and was an elected official.
Because of its size, the museum can host only 30 visitors at a time. Open Wednesday-Sunday, Admission R300
tretyakovgallery.ru
Russia has for the first time begun issuing green passports to non-citizen residents. About 4,500 residents of Russia have no citizenship, often because they moved to the country from another ex-Soviet republic while holding a Soviet passport and never bothered to apply for a Russian one. Russians can also lose their citizenship: most recently, Vladimir Putin proposed stripping citizenship from persons convicted of terrorism and some drug trafficking crimes.
Nochlezhka, an organization that helps the homeless in St. Petersburg, is launching the first restaurant in Russia where professional cooks and waiters will work alongside homeless persons being trained in new skills, so they can develop careers in the dining industry. Called Вход с улицы (Entrance from the Street), the cafe was, at press time, set to open in the city center on 13 Grazhdanskaya Street. Training restaurants for homeless persons are not new and have existed in London, Edinburgh, and Seattle, among other cities. This would be the first such cafe in Russia.
homeless.ru/cafe
The Russian rock band DDT, whose leader Yury Shevchuk is known for his oppositionist views, has set a crowdfunding record for Russia, raising over R25 million (about $326,000) to record a new album, the band’s 21st.
This is DDT’s first crowdfunded album, and it significantly overshot its funding goal, leading the musicians to donate a hefty portion of the proceeds to charity organizations. The new album, Art in a Vacuum (Творчество в Пустоте), is full of sociopolitical commentary, and was released digitally late last year. Hard copies (CDs and LPs) will be sent to supporters in March.
Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport is set to finally open its new terminal, built for the World Cup in 2018 but shut since then due to delays in building a new runway and associated infrastructure.
The new T2 terminal was designed to double Domodedovo’s passenger capacity, but the company hired by the government to complete the runway couldn’t meet its obligations and went bankrupt. The construction problems and delays led many airlines to leave Domodedovo – a privately owned airport and once the biggest aviation hub in the country – for Sheremetyevo. But, according to Kommersant, the owners are still planning to open the new terminal in April, using it for international flights.
The new Telegram channel “2 kilos of duranda” is a chronological account of the Leningrad siege, told through the words of three of the city’s residents: a doctor, a teacher, and a factory worker. The channel’s creators use real diaries, compiled from the Prozhito database of diary entries, for example:
January 19, 1942. Ksenia Polzikova-Rubets
The 6th grade is the most energetic. All 12 people are coming to school almost without skipping a day. If somebody does skip, the children go over to find out the reason. The next day Anya tells me: “He didn’t have anybody to leave his sick little brother with, but he will definitely be back.” Or whispers: “Valya is very weak, can we possibly give him an extra portion of soup?”
t.me/duranda2kilo
Moscow’s Manege has assembled a massive exhibition commemorating the sixtieth birthday of Viktor Tsoi, the Soviet Union’s most popular rock star, who died in a car crash in 1990. With the help of Tsoi’s family, the huge venue has laid out a unique collection of items across 11 exhibition rooms, including Tsoi’s paintings, letters and personal belongings.
January 15 to April 15. R600. tsoyhero.com
Lovers of the Russian painter Mikhail Vrubel can for the first time see nearly 300 of his works in one place. The show combines works from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The exhibit also unveils the artist’s work created during his time in the Serbsky Mental Health Institute. The Tretyakov Gallery’s retrospective ends on March 3. The exhibits will then travel to St. Petersburg, where the Russian Museum will stage its own show later in the year.
The Russian History Museum is unveiling a large exhibition on the tradition of dueling. Some 140 artifacts, including weapons and fencing rules, from Russian and European collections promises an impressive overview of the practice.
March 4th to June 16. R500. Kreml.ru
The size of apartments in new buildings on the Moscow market is shrinking: in 2020, the average size of apartments for sale was 68 square meters; in 2021 that figure fell to 58. This may be connected to price increases: average prices per square meter have jumped by 21%, so developers are shrinking flats to make them more affordable. (Moskvichmag) ◎ In 2021, the US imported 10,600 tons of Russian ice cream worth $28.7 million, more than any other country. Kazakhstan was the second-largest ice cream importer, while Mongolia was third. Russia’s overall ice cream exports were up 49.8% versus 2020. (Interfax) ◎ Nearly half of Russians say they experience negative emotions after spending time on social networks, while 34% said they are addicted. 36% said they spend up to three hours daily on social networking platforms, 26% spend up to five hours. 12% are on social networking platforms at all hours, and only 8% spend no more than 30 minutes online. 41% said they have considered deleting their profile from social media sites. (Afisha Daily) ◎ The average size of kickbacks paid on state contracts is about 22.5% of the contract value. Among persons that report bidding on state contracts, 71% witnessed corruption. It is estimated that as much as R6.65 trillion per year is being spent on corrupt payouts – that’s 35.3% of the state budget or 6.2% of Russia’s GDP. (Higher School of Economics, published by RBK) ◎ There were over 1,800 crimes involving bribes in Russia in 2020, according to the Interior Ministry. This is up 27.8% vs. 2019. Violent crimes are on the decrease, however: there were 4.7% fewer murders and attempted murders in 2020, 10.6% fewer crimes involving grievous bodily harm, and 16% fewer armed robberies. Terrorist crimes fell 8.8%, but extremist crimes rose by 26.9% (1,057 incidents). ◎ The number of workers under 30 in Russia shrunk by 460,500 last year. Since 2010, this demographic group has lost 6 million persons, due to the “demographic hole” of the 1990s, when Russians had fewer babies. This group was also disproportionately affected by Covid-related layoffs in the service industry. Experts say this demographic trend will continue until 2035. (RBK) ◎ A third of Russian companies (33%) plan to raise employee salaries this year, while 22% are eyeing expansion. (Center of Strategic Research via Kommersant)
ALEXANDER GRADSKY, a musical artist of many talents, whose diverse career included everything from singing early Soviet rock to performing in operas at the Bolshoi, has passed away at the age of 72. Gradsky was introduced to Western music as a teenager living in Chelyabinsk, listening to albums his brother, a dancer in the world-famous Moiseyev Troupe, managed to smuggle home from his trips abroad.
Gradsky played in different bands as a youth before enrolling in the prestigious Gnessin Music Academy in Moscow. His band, the Jesters (Скоморохи), performed at sanctioned concerts during the early days of the Soviet rock scene. He became a household name after he was asked to compose the score for Andrei Konchalovsky’s movie A Lovers’ Romance, starring Vladimir Vysotsky.
Always sporting thick eyeglasses and a long mane, Gradsky went on to compose soundtracks for dozens of movies. He also created two rock operas and performed in The Golden Cockerel at the Bolshoi Theater in the late 1980s, singing the vocally difficult role of the Astrologer and famously tearing off his cape at the end of the show, exposing jeans and a t-shirt. In recent years Gradsky was best known as a judge on the Russian version of the TV show The Voice.
DMITRY ZIMIN, an entrepreneur who made philanthropic investments in science and education only to be hounded by the government, has died at the age of 88 after a long battle with cancer.
Zimin was born into a Moscow family and became interested in radio electronics while in school. He became an engineer and researcher, working at the Academy of Sciences’ Radiotechnical Institute for over three decades, and was a key person in the development of the country’s air defense systems.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zimin, like many in the technical sciences (but, atypically, at 59), started a business that eventually became Vympelkom – a pioneering telecoms company known to the consumer as Beeline. Zimin left his executive post at Vympelkom in 2002 and launched the Dynasty Foundation, which supported basic scientific research in Russia through grants, scholarships, contests, and festivals. He also launched a widely respected popular science book award, Prosvetitel (Enlightener); Sreda, a foundation supporting independent media; and Redkollegia, a journalism award.
While the book and journalism awards are still going strong, both Sreda and Dynasty were closed after the government ruled in 2015 that the foundations were “foreign agents,” ostensibly because they were funded from Zimin’s foreign accounts.
“For me, this was a crime committed by the Russian authorities,” wrote Sergei Guriev, an economist, in an obituary for Zimin in Meduza. “They decided it was more important to fight independent thought than to invest in the country’s future.” Guriev called Zimin “perhaps (Russia’s) best citizen.” Zimin was so upset by the foreign-agent designation that he left Russia, and his new foundation supported scientists in other parts of the world. His philanthropy is being carried on by his son Boris.
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