Russia has ratified an agreement with the U.S. that tightens restrictions on Americans adopting Russian children. For months, the adoption of Russian children by U.S. families has come to a virtual standstill due to a series of shocking incidents.
Cases of abuse of Russian adoptees in the U.S. are a hot topic in the Russian media. The latest scandal involved foster parents from Wisconsin who in August were charged with 17 counts of child abuse against their six adopted children, three of whom are Russian-born.
The new agreement clarifies legal differences between the two countries (for example in Russia same-sex marriage is not allowed, so Russia prohibits adoption by same-sex couples, even in states where such unions are legal). Russia also demanded that adopting couples be more closely monitored and that children only be given up for foreign adoption after every effort has been made to find a Russian family for the child.
Famed movie director Nikita Mikhalkov recently began shooting a new film based on two works by Ivan Bunin: the short story, “Sunstroke,” and a collection of diary entries, “Cursed Days.” He claims the movie would use only unknown actors, including amateurs.
“Sunstroke” is about an unnamed Russian officer who spends a night with a woman he meets on a river boat, and his torment after she suddenly leaves the next day. “Cursed Days” primarily features grim descriptions of life in Russia immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Mikhalkov, who won an Oscar for his 1994 drama Burnt by the Sun, has had a string of box office flops in recent years, and film critics have not been kind to him.
A storm of controversy enveloped one of Russia’s most famous opera singers, the Mariinsky’s bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin, when organizers of a renowned German music festival raised questions about his tattoos.
Nikitin, 38 and already an international star, was all set to perform in the premiere of a new production of The Flying Dutchman at the prestigious Bayreuth Festival when German media ran photos of his bare torso and accused him of having Nazi symbols on his chest, including a swastika. Nikitin, who sports dozens of tattoos and used to be in a heavy metal band, denied the tattoos were Nazi symbols, yet he left the festival after the scandal threatened to tarnish his otherwise stellar career.
In a 2008 feature by Kultura channel, Nikitin is filmed drumming with his tattoos visible, but no swastika can be seen. The singer has claimed that his body art consists of Scandinavian runes and images of his own design. He denies any sympathies with Nazi ideas, adding that both his grandfathers died in World War II fighting against Nazi Germany.
With little pomp and a somewhat prickly reaction in the Duma’s lower house, Russia has finally joined the World Trade Organization. President Vladimir Putin signed the bill in July, ending the country’s nearly two-decade-long effort to join the international trade body.
While praised by economic liberals such as former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, the accession was not entirely welcomed by the Russian parliament, where opposition parties were nearly unanimous in their rejection of the measure, claiming it would hurt rather than help Russia’s economy, as industrial production is shrinking and the global economic outlook looks increasingly grim.
Russian farmers, for example, said they feared that joining the WTO would put them at an economic disadvantage: foreign imports could flood the Russian market, unhindered by the various taxes and illegal fees domestic businesses face amid rampant corruption. The Kremlin claimed, however, that the advantages of joining outweighed the disadvantages for the economy, as consumers would benefit from greater competition in the domestic market.
The city of Moscow began dismantling the fence around the former Rossiya Hotel – rumored to be the biggest advertising surface in Europe (11,000 square meters, according to some estimates) – freeing up a vast territory right next to the Kremlin for the first time since 2006.
The Zaryadye neighborhood, destroyed in Soviet times to make way for the giant hotel, is to be turned into a park, although precise plans have yet to be made public. With the fence’s removal, excellent vistas along the banks of the Moscow River have begun to open up, and it is once again possible to access the sixteenth century Church of the Conception of Anna.
The Russian Orthodox Church is fighting publicity battles on several fronts. Most prominently, there is the public trial of the Pussy Riot punk rock group, which performed a political protest “prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and now faces up to seven years in prison after spending five months in pre-trial detention (at press time, the trial was in progress, and President Putin has hinted that leniency would be acceptable).
Second, a consumer rights group has accused the Cathedral of engaging in illegal business activities. In Russia, the Orthodox Church enjoys generous perks and is allowed to sell products and services to churchgoers without, it seems, paying any taxes. Fresh public scrutiny led to a court decision in July that stated the Church, in fact, is not selling anything, but is giving away products for “donations,” even though the recommended donation level for products and services (a.k.a. “price”) is clearly indicated and never subject to debate, even for the most destitute.
Mikhail Anshakov, head of the consumer union that brought the case, told slon.ru that the court was forced for political reasons to side with the Church. In fact, Anshakov said, the Cathedral is not a church but a “business center,” and official documents show that 93 percent of the Cathedral is rented out to commercial firms.
Russia spent $29.5 billion on its state apparatus – the vast army of officials and bureaucrats at the federal, regional and municipal levels. This figure is comparable to the $31.2 billion the U.S. (which has a population twice as large and an economy nine times larger) spends on its “apparat.”
Russia currently has some 6,000,000 bureaucrats and lawmakers, more than twice as many as the 2,500,000 Soviet bureaucrats in 1982 (in a far more state-controlled economy and a state with nearly twice the population). Despite this growth, however, Russian state workers are still highly inefficient, scoring only 41.6 points in a 2010 World Bank study (the U.S. scored 93, France 89.5).
Russians’ trust in television is at an historical low, falling by five percentage points since 2011 to just 35 percent. For the first time in history, public trust in information from magazines surpassed that from television, rising to 36 percent. Newspapers are trusted by 35 percent of the public. Only 33 percent of those aged 20-54 trust what they see on television, while teens rate it higher, at 47 percent. 40 percent of Russians trust what they read on the internet.
Sources: Bureaucrats: Vedomosti; Television: Synovate Comcon poll
The new head coach of the Russian national football team is Fabio Capello. A two-year agreement will reportedly bring the Italian around $12 million, making him the highest-paid football coach in the world. Capello will take the reins just before the team’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, on September 7.
Capello is one of the world’s most decorated club coaches, having won five Series A titles with AC Milan and Roma as well as two Spanish crowns with Real Madrid and the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan. Yet his record as head coach of England’s national team (2008-2012) was less than brilliant: England qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup only to be knocked out in the playoffs. And in February Capello resigned after a dispute with the English Football Association just a few months before the start of Euro 2012.
Capello’s appointment received mixed reactions from local fans. Most would like to see a Russian-born coach at the helm, and/or more state investment in football at the grass roots.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed Russian guard Alexey Shved to a three-year deal worth $10 million. Shved, 23, previously played for Moscow’s CSKA (Central Red Army club), and was drawn to the Timberwolves by head coach Rick Adelman’s faith in young players, according to an interview with R-Sport. “Minnesota’s a good, young and ambitious team,” Shved said. “They say that Rick trusts young players and discovers talents, and I’m ready to work for my part.” The 6-foot-5 Shved averaged 11.3 points and 3.3 assists in 22 games in the Russian League and has the ability and size to play both guard positions.
Shved has played basketball since he was 6 or 7 years old, after his father brought home VHS tapes of NBA games for him to watch. He was hooked. “I told my mom and dad that I wanted to play like the guys on TV,” Shved said. He is Russia’s eighth player to make it into the NBA.*
Despite official hand-wringing during the Olympic games’ first week (three days before the end of the Olympics, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov called Russia’s performance “disastrous”), this year’s Russian team improved on its total 2008 medal count (82 medals vs. 73), and earned one more gold than in Beijing.
Part of the problem is that several of the disciplines Russia is historically strongest in (rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, speed walking) come late in the games. And it was in the final two days of the games that Russian athletes soared, pulling in 15 medals, six of them gold, on Saturday, August 11 alone, then adding three more golds on the final day of the games, including an incredible comeback (they were down 2 sets to 0 with two match points against them) in the gold medal men’s volleyball match against Brazil. The men’s bronze in basketball was also an impressive achievement, as it was Russia’s first ever Olympic medal in the sport (the USSR basketball team won Olympic gold in 1972 and 1988).
For many national teams, this was an Olympics where conventional expectations were up-ended. Thus, the odds-on favorite to win the women’s pole vault, Yelena Isinbayeva, took only the bronze. And Russia’s results in fencing, swimming and shooting were not exactly in keeping with the “medal plan.”
Yet there were also many pleasant outcomes and surprises: Tatyana Arkhipova winning bronze in the women’s marathon, Ilya Zakharov beating back the Chinese juggernaut to take gold in 3-meter springboard and a silver in 3-meter synchro; Anna Chicherova and Ivan Ukhov snatching golds in women’s and men’s high jump; Yelena Lashmanova and Sergey Kirdyapkin winning the 20 and 50 kilometer speed walking races; Yulia Zaripova and her impressive win in the 3000m steeplechase. And wrestling and judo wins were truly impressive.
As expected, Yevgenia Kanayeva successfully defended her Olympic rhythmic gymnastics title, finishing just ahead of her compatriot Daria Dmitrieva. And Russia again (for the fourth time running) made a clean sweep of the gold in synchronised swimming, led by Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina.
For Russian medalists (as those in many countries), the rewards go beyond the glory of victory. Gold medalists will receive from the state R4 million each (approximately $130,000), silver medalists R2.5 mn, and bronze medalists R1.7 mn.
This underscores the fact that sports at the Olympic level takes big money these days, whether through the auspices of endorsements, professional contracts, or state support. And in Russia since 1992, the latter has been tinted by the personal interests of the president.
Boris Yeltsin was a huge fan of tennis and the sport saw immense benefits from considerable state support between 1990 and 2000. In the space of a decade, Russia went from a tennis almost-nobody to an international powerhouse, producing several Grand Slam champions and Olympic medalists. In 2000, Yevgeny Kafelnikov won Olympic gold and Yelena Dementieva took silver. In 2008, Russia’s women took all three medals, Dementieva with gold, Dinara Safina with silver, and Vera Zvonareva with bronze. And in 2012, Maria Sharapova took the silver and Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova won bronze in women’s doubles.
Since Vladimir Putin first occupied the Kremlin in 2000, his sports passion – judo – has also benefitted from increased interest and support, namely resulting in the hiring of Ezio Gamba, a top coach from Italy, leading to five medals in London, including three golds. Putin, who traveled to London for the judo finals, commented rather hyperbolically, “It’s a brilliant success, the likes of which we’ve never had in the history of Russian or Soviet sport.”
* At press time, Andrei Kirilenko (alias AK-47, because he wears the number 47) said he too would play for the Timberwolves this year. The first Russian player selected in the first round of a draft (in 2001), Kirilenko played for the Utah Jazz from 2001-2011.
COUNTRY
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
TOTAL
United States
46
29
104
China
38
27
23
88
Russia
24
31
82
...одно поколение росло на понимании, что «в СССР секса нет», а сегодня поколение подрастает на понятиях вседоступности, вседозволенности и порнографии.
“It just so happened that one generation grew up with the understanding that ‘there is no sex in the Soviet Union’ while today’s generation is growing up on the notions of complete permissiveness and pornography. Which is better and which is worse: only time will tell.”
Yaroslav Nilov, Gosduma deputy (Itogi)
Вопрос ратификации - не экономический и не финансовый. Это вопрос нравственный
“In 2010 we sold $32 billion in goods abroad, and purchased foreign goods for $152 billion... If we have nothing to sell, why should we enter the WTO to play the role of a consumer? Ratification is neither an economic nor a financial question. It is a moral one. It is a question of civic conscience and courage, a question about the survival of the Russian people.
Communist Duma deputy Sergei Reshulsky in the Duma (Ekho Moskvy)
Может, Вы помните, ровно год назад на «Селигере» Вы меня поцеловали в щёчку...
“Hello, Vladimir Vladimirovich! Maybe you remember, that exactly one year ago at Seliger you kissed me on the cheek? After that, ‘Putin’s Army’ was created... I have a dream: I would like us to have dinner together.”
Activist Natalya Fedorashkina at Seliger Youth Camp, where young Russians were encouraged to pose questions to the President (Kremlin website)
В нашей стране можно посадить кого угодно: по делу и без дела.
“In our country anyone can be jailed: with or without a case against them. But even in our courts it will be difficult to prove anything and to neatly sew up this case. However, as we remember, Khodorkovsky was successfully accused of personally stealing all our oil.”
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on the criminal probe against him that alleges he embezzled R16 million from the state while working as an advisor in Kirov region. (Dozhd television channel)
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