Of Thieves and a Gentleman

A lot of water has passed under the bridges over the Moskva river since our last issue of the magazine. 

Premier Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin was fired—the fourth premier sacked by Tsar Boris in the last 18 months. Take heart, Vadimych! As the old blatnaya (thieves’) song has it, “the music didn’t play long.” Stepashin had to put up with Kremlin intrigues for less than 100 days. 

What else? Oh yes, speaking of thieves, a few billion dollars of Russian money were apparently washed through the Bank of New York. And bandits  from Chechnya invaded Dagestan, launching another deadly conflict in Russia’s Caucasus region. This was followed by a series of terrorist bomb attacks in Moscow, which, at press time, had claimed nearly 200 lives.

So, why is it, you may be asking, that a magazine on Russia pays so little attention to these crises, instead focusing on the architectural treasures of Torzhok (page 52), the situation in Russian prisons (page 37), or the anniversary of a great poet (page 19)?

Well, the time factor is the main reason. As a bimonthly magazine, we cannot offer timely information on a situation that changes daily, like the fighting in the Caucasus or the bank scandal. And, as our new premier, Vladimir Putin, recently put it, “one doesn’t need to bustle.” 

We also admit to being a bit weary of Kremlin scandals. Every Russian knows that money leaks from our country in container loads. But, no matter how venal our rulers are, we just keep loving our Mother Russia like poet Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov. Lermontov, who himself fought in the Caucasus over a 100 years ago against ancestors of today’s Chechens, said he loved Russia, “but with an odd love.”

As we know from Lermontov’s writings, there are no simple solutions to the problems in the Caucasus. To simply “let go” of Chechnya and Dagestan is no solution. This may lead to even more Islamic extremism in the Caucasus and worldwide— so much so that the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the current mess in Afghanistan would seem like kids’ games. 

Yes, Russia did conquer the Caucasus in the 19th century, often by cruel means. But you cannot rewrite history by terrorist means. Historical analogies are never perfect, but a parallel might be if Mexican extremists started carrying out terrorist raids into Texas, to try to retake land taken from their ancestors.

Elsewhere on the political front, we might have liked to ignore the December Duma election, but our consciences did not allow us this comfort. So we have tried to shed light on the players in the election in our chart on page 64. One relevant fact not shown there: in a recent poll, over 40% of Russians said they think the election will be rigged.

However, I will go and vote. For there is a chance that the elections will help Russia begin a peaceful, civilized transition from the Yeltsin era to a post-Yeltsin Russia. 

Alas! We are sad to report that a Russian Life contributor did not survive the Yeltsin regime. Cartoonist Valery Mokhov died this summer of cancer, just a few days before his 54th birthday. The talented Valery stepped in for our regular cartoonist Vladimir Mochalov on several occasions. Valery was a very reliable, honest man who always made a point to say that “Volodya Mochalov is a friend” and that he, Valery, would “disappear as soon as Volodya is available again.” Such humility and honesty are unfortunately rare in Russia today, where, on the one hand, millions are at pains to make ends meet and, one the other, a tiny fraction of the population is siphoning off dollars by the billion and hiding them in foreign banks. So we pay tribute to a good soul who we have been lucky to know.

Enjoy the issue !

Mikhail Ivanov

Executive Editor