February 25, 2019

Krasnoyarsk Goes All Potemkin


Krasnoyarsk Goes All Potemkin
Maxim Kalach

Can you create a Potemkin village in the age of the internet?

You can certainly try… Witness the actions of authorities in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

You see, in a few days, Krasnoyarsk will host the Winter Universiade. It’s a major sporting event for student athletes, with 58 countries participating. Vladimir Putin is expected to make an appearance. In short: a big deal!

The city has branded the event in style: the mascot is a happy Siberian husky named U-Laika, and the slogan is “100% winter.” 

U-Laika
Meet U-Laika

There are just a few problems. First, Krasnoyarsk isn't having very wintery weather: temperatures are hovering around 0° C (32° F), and all the beautiful snow has melted. Yet officials can’t let go of  their dream of showing guests a beautiful Siberian winter, so they have started laying sheets of cotton along city streets. As the local TV channel says, the decision was made to “cover the dirty lawns and walkways.”

 

The governor of Krasnoyarsk region, Alexander Uss, also asked people to pray for some nice fluffy snow to fall.

 

“If all of us asked the one who needs to be asked, and there was nice snow in Krasnoyarsk like in Moscow, then I’d say we’ve done everything we can. Let’s ask!”

The city didn’t stop there. Locals filmed city workers planting fir trees to decorate a lonely stretch of highway. As if planting trees in the dead of winter was not Potemkiny enough, this "planting" added something special: the trees had actually been cut down from somewhere else, and were "planted" into rusty pipes that workers had driven into the ground. From a distance, you can’t really tell the difference, right? After all, the Universiade is only ten days long. Chances are, the trees will be presentable from now until the athletes (and Mr. Putin) fly home. 

 

Making cities look nicer than they really are during high-profile events is not uncommon. Crumbling buildings are often cocooned in painted facades, fresh asphalt has been laid on streets over which the Putin motorcade will pass, and lawns have been painted. None of this surprises any one anymore.

But in Krasnoyarsk, the Potemkinization has particularly irked residents, because in addition to the current snowlessness, the city has been suffering for years from catastrophic pollution.

On days when the smog is particularly bad, authorities call it “unfavorable meteorological conditions.” But locals and the media call such times the “black sky regime.” Such a regime is announced regularly to warn citizens to stay indoors as much as possible, take frequent showers, and keep windows closed. The city has to hose down the streets, and industries need to reduce their emissions by up to 60 percent. On extremely "black" days, citizens are advised to wear respirators and wash their mouths with a baking soda solution. 

Just how often does Krasnoyarsk, an industrial city with dozens of automotive, metals and construction factories, experience “black sky” days? In 2016, there were 58, in 2017, 44 days, and in 2018, 30, according to Regnum news agency. Residents don't trust official figures. Activists in the city have demanded more transparency about pollution in Krasnoyarsk. And they have even launched their own air monitoring service in the city, which uploads air quality data on the internet for everyone to see. 

Not exactly a welcoming environment for thousands of foreign tourists, right? So, authorities decided to take additional measures. Residents living in houses without central heating and use coal and firewood for heating had special packages delivered to them, containing special “non-smoking” coal. They received flyers with instructions to start burning this coal specifically on March 2, ostensibly as part of an “experiment.”

"Respected residents of the private sector! !!!Important information!!! For a period of two weeks through the end of February, there will be deliveries of heating briquettes (!!!free!!!). 15 sacks, 20kg each, per building. A request! Start burning said FREE fuel starting on March 2, 2019, At this time the environmental ministry lab will be carrying out atmospheric tests!

Coincidentally, the Universiade also begins on March 2. Residents seethed at the hypocrisy. Some wrote on social media that they will pollute as much as possible during the Universiade, just to teach the authorities a lesson. Some are making stickers in which the husky mascot is wearing a gas mask. And an internet flashmob is urging Universiade guests to pack a gas mask. The next anti-pollution protest is scheduled for March 30.

Gas Mask
"Bread and Salt"

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955