Oh. Two major rallies in one day is a bit too much for me. And, as Yulia, Lutsenko and Kyrylenko are addressing Maidan right now, there's a nuthouse of a different sort taking place right outside our window at the other end of Khreshchatyk: some ad campaign game in front of some store, I guess - and they keep screaming, "Cola! Fanta! Cola! Fanta!"
***
Anyway, the Party of the Regions rally from noon to 3 pm - and the rally at Maidan from 5 pm to 7:30 pm, both pretty impressive and very different.
Lots of people with Party of the Regions and Communist flags at European Square, stinking of the trains they arrived here in. Despite their purely political flags and slogans, their rally was introduced as "our wonderful concert" - and then there was lots of music - all kinds of Ukrainian, not Russian, songs. Which was strange, and many got bored pretty soon, I guess.
There was a tiny crowd at Maidan at that time, and the part of Khreshchatyk between the two rallies was guarded by both regular and riot police. When Yanukovych folks were leaving their territory, out of boredom and curiousity, and walking towards Maidan, the cops, in that cute and funny fatherly/motherly fashion, were asking them to please take off their blue badges and hide their blue flags, just to be safe - and most of them did.
At first, when Maidan wasn't filled up at all, I was concerned with the presence of thuggish-looking men with what looked like sticks but were actually wrapped-up flags - which could still be used as sticks. But at 5 pm, the crowd at Maidan was as huge as during the first Maidan (or the first anniversary celebration - but boy, the weather is so different now!), and the folks from the European Square could no longer be perceived as threatening.
To me, Maidan was like an adrenaline shot. Lots of memories, lots of orange color, many people still remember how to smile. I'm not so sure about the politics, though. But we'll see where it's gonna go from here.
***
At European Square, I took a few pictures of the guys from Shakhtersk - some coal mining town in the East, I guess. They were friendly, but then asked me where I was from, and I sinned and lied that I was a tourist from Moscow, to avoid going into all kinds of explanations and political discussions. I was shooting against the sun, and they turned around, for me to get a better view, and then they were really excited to see what came out of it. I asked if any of them had email, so that I could send them the pictures, but they shook their heads - no. Which, somehow, is very depressing.
And then I was at Maidan, before the wonderful crowd gathered there, and two old women - from the two opposing camps - were having an argument - were fighting like cats, actually. "Go over to European Square, to Yanukovych, there you'll have your stability!" And I did a video of the end of this fight, and at some point some old asshole with the Ukrainian flag hit the pro-Yanukovych woman with it - which was a pathetic thing to do, really. And then - ha-ha - he hit me on the head with that same flag, deliberately, though not hard at all, but still, and then he was yelling the usual stuff about the Jews - and so I went home amused and perplexed, to say the least.
And this is part of the reason I'm so happy that the crowd at Maidan eventually grew to be more or less representative of the people it's sort of nice to share the country with. Maybe those guys from Shakhtersk joined them, too, later. Who knows...
***
I hope to post some pictures and a few video clips later tonight.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
On his way from the train station in Kyiv this morning, Mishah saw a column of the Party of the Regions folks, stretching for about half a kilometer, from Kominterna Street to the University's Red Building.
Young men, some menacing, others looking quite miserable, all in their best tracksuit pants. Half as many young women walking along, dressed up diligently, ready for a day in the nation's capital.
Mishah's cab driver seemed to identify with this crowd (he had a small Party of the Regions flag on the dashboard), and he told Mishah that there were thousands of them, and that there'd be a revolution, and that they'd oust "the political prostitute."
Young men, some menacing, others looking quite miserable, all in their best tracksuit pants. Half as many young women walking along, dressed up diligently, ready for a day in the nation's capital.
Mishah's cab driver seemed to identify with this crowd (he had a small Party of the Regions flag on the dashboard), and he told Mishah that there were thousands of them, and that there'd be a revolution, and that they'd oust "the political prostitute."
I waited the whole day yesterday (Thu) for the Volia people to come over and set up fast internet for me, and no one showed up, and then I waited till 3:30 pm today (Fri).
It did feel like some conspiracy, you know, after the Ukrtelecom torture earlier this week.
Yesterday, they were here, but at another floor - the wrong one - because of the operator's mistake and their own laziness and/or stupidity. Today, they showed up so late because they were stuck in traffic; one of the guys had a cloth wrapped around his thumb, with some blood beginning to leak through.
On their site, Volia offers urgent installation for $20 or so, but on the phone they tell you they can only send their people over in two days - must be the brain-drain-to-Italy-and-Portugal thing.
People who answer their phones are really nice, I have to admit, and so are Ukrtelecom's people, but waiting for them to answer the phone takes forever, while at Volia you're not put on hold at all. So yes, they are all very nice, but what's the use?
***
To make things worse, our elevator isn't working and the staircase is completely unlit. No one knows how long it'll take them to fix the elevator. And it probably needs fixing - it was installed when I was 5 or 6, over quarter of a century ago. I do remember the old elevator sitting in the shaft, detached, like a dead monster, and I also remember the smell of welded metal that used to scare me a lot then.
Anyway, dragging Marta's stroller up and down several times a day sucks.
And in our building, we have people whose cars are worth a few apartments at Kyiv's Left Bank (and some cars have tyres that are worth nearly as much!) - and I wonder how they feel when they have to climb all the way up, using the stairs that stink of urine...
***
Because of the internet ordeal, I missed today's (Fri) rallies by the opposition and the Party of the Regions.
The 'opposition' label never really fit Yanukovych - even though they were very serious in their attempts to appear as victims of the evil regime back in summer 2005. So now the opposition looks a lot like it did in 2004: Yulia, Lutsenko... It's like acting, I guess - some actors can only play themselves - the same role over and over again.
***
But I walked to Maidan in the evening: they were setting up the stage, and there was a bunch of Yulia's and Nasha Ukraina tents, and the familiar flags. Lutsenko's maroon flags, however, have replaced Pora's orange and yellow ones - yes, no Pora whatsoever, or at least they are nowhere near as conspicuous as they used to be. What a pity, I remember voting for them a year ago...
People who gathered there today weren't really my type. Take this guy, for example:
The words on his poster are:
If I understand it correctly, it's the Ukrainian version of Soviet nostalgia: what this guy has in common with his Soviet predecessors is the unwillingness to admit that some things are just none of his or anyone else's business.
***
And in the park across the street from the Cabinet of Ministers, some guys were trying to set up tents - and negotiating with cops. Don't know how it ended or who the guys were.
***
Enough for now.
It did feel like some conspiracy, you know, after the Ukrtelecom torture earlier this week.
Yesterday, they were here, but at another floor - the wrong one - because of the operator's mistake and their own laziness and/or stupidity. Today, they showed up so late because they were stuck in traffic; one of the guys had a cloth wrapped around his thumb, with some blood beginning to leak through.
On their site, Volia offers urgent installation for $20 or so, but on the phone they tell you they can only send their people over in two days - must be the brain-drain-to-Italy-and-Portugal thing.
People who answer their phones are really nice, I have to admit, and so are Ukrtelecom's people, but waiting for them to answer the phone takes forever, while at Volia you're not put on hold at all. So yes, they are all very nice, but what's the use?
***
To make things worse, our elevator isn't working and the staircase is completely unlit. No one knows how long it'll take them to fix the elevator. And it probably needs fixing - it was installed when I was 5 or 6, over quarter of a century ago. I do remember the old elevator sitting in the shaft, detached, like a dead monster, and I also remember the smell of welded metal that used to scare me a lot then.
Anyway, dragging Marta's stroller up and down several times a day sucks.
And in our building, we have people whose cars are worth a few apartments at Kyiv's Left Bank (and some cars have tyres that are worth nearly as much!) - and I wonder how they feel when they have to climb all the way up, using the stairs that stink of urine...
***
Because of the internet ordeal, I missed today's (Fri) rallies by the opposition and the Party of the Regions.
The 'opposition' label never really fit Yanukovych - even though they were very serious in their attempts to appear as victims of the evil regime back in summer 2005. So now the opposition looks a lot like it did in 2004: Yulia, Lutsenko... It's like acting, I guess - some actors can only play themselves - the same role over and over again.
***
But I walked to Maidan in the evening: they were setting up the stage, and there was a bunch of Yulia's and Nasha Ukraina tents, and the familiar flags. Lutsenko's maroon flags, however, have replaced Pora's orange and yellow ones - yes, no Pora whatsoever, or at least they are nowhere near as conspicuous as they used to be. What a pity, I remember voting for them a year ago...
People who gathered there today weren't really my type. Take this guy, for example:
The words on his poster are:
"I've no 'ethnicity' line in my passport? Am I Chinese? And who are you?"
If I understand it correctly, it's the Ukrainian version of Soviet nostalgia: what this guy has in common with his Soviet predecessors is the unwillingness to admit that some things are just none of his or anyone else's business.
***
And in the park across the street from the Cabinet of Ministers, some guys were trying to set up tents - and negotiating with cops. Don't know how it ended or who the guys were.
***
Enough for now.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Internet is such a disaster this time (Volia Cable sucks almost as much as Ukrtelecom does, so far), so here's a quick note:
They are expecting Maidan #2 on Saturday, and for once in a long, long time, on the surface, at least, Yushchenko seems to be making sense, but I doubt Maidan's ever gonna happen again, though, of course, people are likely to show up at the concert on Saturday and perhaps stay for the speeches by Yulia, Lutsenko and a bunch of others later. But, as Mishah said, we'll see how it's gonna go on Day 2. Me, I'd only go there to take pictures, if I manage to escape from Marta and the rest of the family for a while.
As for the rumors of "Donetsk thugs" being bussed to Kyiv, I've seen seven or eight fancy cars driving back and forth along Khreshchatyk tonight, honking like crazy, with flags of the Party of the Regions sticking out of the windows. Go figure.
They are expecting Maidan #2 on Saturday, and for once in a long, long time, on the surface, at least, Yushchenko seems to be making sense, but I doubt Maidan's ever gonna happen again, though, of course, people are likely to show up at the concert on Saturday and perhaps stay for the speeches by Yulia, Lutsenko and a bunch of others later. But, as Mishah said, we'll see how it's gonna go on Day 2. Me, I'd only go there to take pictures, if I manage to escape from Marta and the rest of the family for a while.
As for the rumors of "Donetsk thugs" being bussed to Kyiv, I've seen seven or eight fancy cars driving back and forth along Khreshchatyk tonight, honking like crazy, with flags of the Party of the Regions sticking out of the windows. Go figure.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Right after they killed Maksim Kurochkin, I saw Natalya Vitrenko of the Progressive Socialist Party trying on a white blouse at a Metrograd store called EuroStyle.
***
And over at the AP they think our president is Victor Yanukovych.
And the Guardian and a bunch of other publications trust the AP and have reprinted its piece without looking through it first.
Here's the screenshot - because I'm sure they'll fix it when they wake up...
What a mess.
And what a pity that we have once again turned into a really obscure country (the size of France and all that)...
***
And over at the AP they think our president is Victor Yanukovych.
A Russian businessman allied with Ukraine's president was killed by a sniper Tuesday as he was escorted from a courthouse during a break in his extortion trial, a government official said.
[...]
Kurochkin's trial had been closely watched because of his ties to pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. During the bitter 2004 presidential campaign and Orange Revolution protests, Kurochkin ran an organization called the Russian Club that supported Yanukovych.
And the Guardian and a bunch of other publications trust the AP and have reprinted its piece without looking through it first.
Here's the screenshot - because I'm sure they'll fix it when they wake up...
What a mess.
And what a pity that we have once again turned into a really obscure country (the size of France and all that)...
We're in Kyiv, since Saturday; I've been having very sporadic internet access (courtesy of the Ukrtelekom assholes) and I'm currently on dialup (but hope things will get better on Thursday).
***
Kyiv is very nice now, but it won't be real spring until the girls start walking around half-naked.
***
Unlike in Moscow, they wash their fancy cars here. Amazing contrast.
***
Balzaka, with the emphasis on the last syllable - instead of Balzaka - is how a taxi dispatcher called Balzac Street during our ride from the train station.
***
Kyiv is very nice now, but it won't be real spring until the girls start walking around half-naked.
***
Unlike in Moscow, they wash their fancy cars here. Amazing contrast.
***
Balzaka, with the emphasis on the last syllable - instead of Balzaka - is how a taxi dispatcher called Balzac Street during our ride from the train station.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Other things I saw during our today's (yesterday's) walk:
- The remains of a poster for Mikhail Yevdokimov's performance at the Moscow Youth Palace. Yevdokimov was a comedian whose sense of humor used to annoy me, and then he became the governor of Altai region, and died in a car crash in August 2005. It was his fault, because he was speeding like crazy, as many of them big shots do, but for a while it looked like they'd send the driver of another car, Oleg Scherbinsky, to jail for four years, putting all the blame on him. That didn't happen, though, largely because Russian drivers got together for a few protest rallies - and helped rescue the poor guy.
- The building in which Mykhailo Hrushevsky used to live - "a Ukrainian historian and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century." The sign is in Russian and Ukrainian:
- Wacky wooden fairy-tale sculptures at the children's park near Frunzenskaya subway station - a Russian warrior fighting a jinn and Pushkin's cat and mermaid (I guess):
The park used to be named after Mandelshtam - not Osip the poet, but Aleksandr a Bolshevik. (Have to check this, though.)
- A sign for all kinds of car repairs - tyres and what not - and in the middle, there's a word that I suspect only Armenians and Armeniaphiles tend to notice (our subconscious doesn't let it go unnoticed, that is): khash, served at a cafe that's open from 11 a.am to 11 p.m.
Khash is this wild wild wild soup - do read the Wikipedia entry on it. I've eaten it once - in Iowa City, of all places. I would've enjoyed it more if they hadn't made me drink that obligatory shot of vodka - I've never been a good morning drinker...
- The remains of a poster for Mikhail Yevdokimov's performance at the Moscow Youth Palace. Yevdokimov was a comedian whose sense of humor used to annoy me, and then he became the governor of Altai region, and died in a car crash in August 2005. It was his fault, because he was speeding like crazy, as many of them big shots do, but for a while it looked like they'd send the driver of another car, Oleg Scherbinsky, to jail for four years, putting all the blame on him. That didn't happen, though, largely because Russian drivers got together for a few protest rallies - and helped rescue the poor guy.
- The building in which Mykhailo Hrushevsky used to live - "a Ukrainian historian and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century." The sign is in Russian and Ukrainian:
- Wacky wooden fairy-tale sculptures at the children's park near Frunzenskaya subway station - a Russian warrior fighting a jinn and Pushkin's cat and mermaid (I guess):
The park used to be named after Mandelshtam - not Osip the poet, but Aleksandr a Bolshevik. (Have to check this, though.)
- A sign for all kinds of car repairs - tyres and what not - and in the middle, there's a word that I suspect only Armenians and Armeniaphiles tend to notice (our subconscious doesn't let it go unnoticed, that is): khash, served at a cafe that's open from 11 a.am to 11 p.m.
Khash is this wild wild wild soup - do read the Wikipedia entry on it. I've eaten it once - in Iowa City, of all places. I would've enjoyed it more if they hadn't made me drink that obligatory shot of vodka - I've never been a good morning drinker...
I ran into the Embassy of Iraq during our walk today (yesterday) - it's hidden well in an obscure neighborhood, squeezed between a number of medical and military institutions. It looks just like some of those African embassies in Moscow's center - a pre-revolutionary mansion, unkempt, with large metal containers dumped on what used to be the front lawn, etc.
Back in 2001, we lived on Pomerantsev Pereulok, across the street from the embassy of some African country - I can't remember which one - and I always felt sorry for the really beautiful building and for the trees trying to grow in between all the junk; last time we walked there, the embassy was gone - perhaps they couldn't afford it, and I'm really glad they moved out.
A Russian guy was trying to fix a rather elderly Volga in front of the Iraqi embassy building, and two amicable Arabs stood next to him, watching and giving advice.
It's a relatively quiet location, and I couldn't help thinking of how much quieter it is for them here than back home: Moscow may suck, but it's nowhere near as horrible as Baghdad entering the fifth year of war.
They don't allow to take pictures near embassies, so I never do. When I was pregnant, sometime in the summer of 2005, I was walking along Pomerantsev, for the first time in a few years, I guess, and I saw the dog that I used to feed when we lived there - a mutt that looked like a dirty mop, ugly but very clever, so clever that the cops guarding the African embassy kind of adopted it. And I was so excited to see it, after all those years, and I decided to take a picture - but a young cop emerged from his booth right away and asked me, politely, to move on. I complied, but took some time to explain my nostalgic feelings to him, and he must've been moved, because what he did next was really crazy, really hilarious: he grabbed the dog into his arms, with that totally serious look on his face, and started carrying it away from the embassy, so that I could photograph it. Just imagine it. It got me laughing, and I begged him to please put the poor creature down, and then walked off without the picture. I mean, a picture of the cop with the dog would've been a real masterpiece - but I don't think he would've agreed to be photographed like this, and the dog alone, well, I don't really need a picture to remember it.
Some of those police booths in front of the embassies have an unlikely village feel about them, by the way. Many have little white curtains on the windows, so carefree, and once I saw a cop pouring the remains of his tea into the puddle by the sidewalk, without stepping out of the booth.
Back in 2001, we lived on Pomerantsev Pereulok, across the street from the embassy of some African country - I can't remember which one - and I always felt sorry for the really beautiful building and for the trees trying to grow in between all the junk; last time we walked there, the embassy was gone - perhaps they couldn't afford it, and I'm really glad they moved out.
A Russian guy was trying to fix a rather elderly Volga in front of the Iraqi embassy building, and two amicable Arabs stood next to him, watching and giving advice.
It's a relatively quiet location, and I couldn't help thinking of how much quieter it is for them here than back home: Moscow may suck, but it's nowhere near as horrible as Baghdad entering the fifth year of war.
They don't allow to take pictures near embassies, so I never do. When I was pregnant, sometime in the summer of 2005, I was walking along Pomerantsev, for the first time in a few years, I guess, and I saw the dog that I used to feed when we lived there - a mutt that looked like a dirty mop, ugly but very clever, so clever that the cops guarding the African embassy kind of adopted it. And I was so excited to see it, after all those years, and I decided to take a picture - but a young cop emerged from his booth right away and asked me, politely, to move on. I complied, but took some time to explain my nostalgic feelings to him, and he must've been moved, because what he did next was really crazy, really hilarious: he grabbed the dog into his arms, with that totally serious look on his face, and started carrying it away from the embassy, so that I could photograph it. Just imagine it. It got me laughing, and I begged him to please put the poor creature down, and then walked off without the picture. I mean, a picture of the cop with the dog would've been a real masterpiece - but I don't think he would've agreed to be photographed like this, and the dog alone, well, I don't really need a picture to remember it.
Some of those police booths in front of the embassies have an unlikely village feel about them, by the way. Many have little white curtains on the windows, so carefree, and once I saw a cop pouring the remains of his tea into the puddle by the sidewalk, without stepping out of the booth.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I've a question: is there a collection of Georgi Gongadze's work, in any language?
I'm asking because today they are reading Politkovskaya all over the world, in memoriam, and it got me wondering.
P.S. And I don't mean something like Ukrainska Pravda's archives - I'm thinking more of something like a book. Does it exist?
I'm asking because today they are reading Politkovskaya all over the world, in memoriam, and it got me wondering.
P.S. And I don't mean something like Ukrainska Pravda's archives - I'm thinking more of something like a book. Does it exist?
St. Patrick's Day Parade was held at Novyi Arbat yesterday (Sunday). I'm not good with dates now, but from LJ user nl, I learned that, for some reason, the parade in Moscow was one day late.
It was over when I got there, and my camera's battery died soon after, so please visit nl's blog for awesome pictures and comments (in Russian), and also Darkness at Noon, who was there as well.
***
They all moved to Staryi Arbat after the parade was over, writes nl, and it was fun there, but I missed that, too, because I had to spend some time walking back and forth along Novyi Arbat, looking for a replacement battery, with no luck. Then I felt thirsty and decided to go to Rosy O'Grady's on Znamenka - but it was no longer there!!! The building it used to be in is being rebuilt, damn it. I ran into a group of fun-looking foreigners there - on a scavenger's hunt or something - and the lead guy told everyone that this was a very special spot because Rosy O'Grady's used to be there - and then they all bowed in that direction, in mock grief. Very sweet and very funny.
(Later that day, I stopped at T.G.I. Friday's on Pushkinskaya, still hoping for a Guinness - but it's been two weeks since they had it last. Incredible.)
***
The craziest thing about the parade was all the police and soldiers that they assembled there.
And even though the soldiers were dressed in green, it was depressing. Especially after one cop barked at me and a bunch of others, ordering us to step back - "How many more times am I supposed to tell you? STEP BACK! NAZAD!" Here's the jerk:
But there's always an antidote, right? So I also saw a cop playing some Celtic music real loud on his cell phone - he must've recorded a video of the parade and was reviewing it. That was cute.
***
I also saw one of the anti-war guys from the March 8 rally - he stood by the movie theater not far from the Ministry of Defense, giving out anti-draft leaflets that no one seemed to be eager to take. Not even I.
***
In general, I would've preferred to be in New York City that day. (And on other days, too.)
***
My 29 pictures are here.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Thanks to Akhmad Kadyrov's ghost, there's a new twist in Russia's extremely twisted politics.
This past Saturday, a bunch of DPNI/nationalist/anti-immigration folks held a rally against renaming one of the streets in South Butovo, Moscow, into Kadyrov Street: he used to kill Russian soldiers in Chechnya and doesn't deserve being glorified like this.
Several activists were detained - and one still remains behind bars, awaiting trial and, possibly, deportation.
Deportation to Ukraine.
Olga Kasyanenko, aka LJ user matilda-don, a native of Donetsk, a Ukrainian citizen, an active member of DPNI (Movement Against Illegal Immigration) and a few other groups, a journalist, a correspondent for DPNI-TV, recently married to Vyacheslav Makarov, aka LJ user slavamakarov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen and a comrade-in-arms in the fight against illegal immigration.
Turns out she was not registered in Moscow - because, according to her husband, the new registration rules are too confusing.
Back in 2004, as a favor to presidential candidate Yanukovych, Putin allowed us Ukrainians to stay in Russia for 90 days without registration; Russian citizens had three days - not 90 - to do all the paperwork when they moved from one city to another, and if they failed, they were fined and/or detained; eventually, however, they were granted the same rights as the Ukrainians living in Russia. Beginning this year, though, the rules for foreigners have changed, and no one can figure out how they apply to Ukrainians - not even those who enforce the new migration laws. Either we have very little time to get registered, like everyone else, or the 2004 agreement is still valid and we still have our 90 days.
Anyway, matilda-don/Kasyanenko has gotten herself and the anti-immigration movement in a very funny, very absurd situation. Below are some of the exchanges (RUS) on her husband's blog - hilarious:
***
I think it's all very typical, part of the general pattern. People who make me think something like, OK, if this is an alternative to Putin, then perhaps it'd be better for him to stay. As fucked up and hypocritical as Limonov and Anpilov posing as Kasparov's allies. And it's such a waste of time to be taking any of these characters seriously. There is, of course, some entertainment value in it.
***
Here're a few related but more or less irrelevant links:
- DPNI-TV's YouTube video of matilda-don interviewing (RUS) residents of South Butovo - including some clueless kids - on their views of Kadyrov;
- a few photos of South Butovo;
- matilda-don's CV (RUS) - unearthed by some skinheads who don't seem to like DPNI, partly because the movement's leader, Aleksandr Belov, is believed to be a Jew hiding behind a Russian last name (his real name is Potkin); matilda-don started out as Vecherniy Donetsk newspaper reporter in 1996; from September to November of 2006, she worked at the youth TV channel O2TV but quit because she "didn't agree with her bosses' ideology" (Aleksandr Dugin and Mikhail Leontyev often appear on that channel, as well as Maria Gaidar and Oleg Kashin);
- matilda-don's "prose" (RUS) at Proza.ru;
- the skinheads' forum thread on matilda-don - includes pictures of her with Belov-Potkin from her LJ (oh boy, I've just realized he's two years younger than I am... here's a bio of his, in Russian);
- a wedding picture of slavamakarov and matilda-don - they look like Tolkien fans, like hobbits...
This past Saturday, a bunch of DPNI/nationalist/anti-immigration folks held a rally against renaming one of the streets in South Butovo, Moscow, into Kadyrov Street: he used to kill Russian soldiers in Chechnya and doesn't deserve being glorified like this.
Several activists were detained - and one still remains behind bars, awaiting trial and, possibly, deportation.
Deportation to Ukraine.
Olga Kasyanenko, aka LJ user matilda-don, a native of Donetsk, a Ukrainian citizen, an active member of DPNI (Movement Against Illegal Immigration) and a few other groups, a journalist, a correspondent for DPNI-TV, recently married to Vyacheslav Makarov, aka LJ user slavamakarov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen and a comrade-in-arms in the fight against illegal immigration.
Turns out she was not registered in Moscow - because, according to her husband, the new registration rules are too confusing.
Back in 2004, as a favor to presidential candidate Yanukovych, Putin allowed us Ukrainians to stay in Russia for 90 days without registration; Russian citizens had three days - not 90 - to do all the paperwork when they moved from one city to another, and if they failed, they were fined and/or detained; eventually, however, they were granted the same rights as the Ukrainians living in Russia. Beginning this year, though, the rules for foreigners have changed, and no one can figure out how they apply to Ukrainians - not even those who enforce the new migration laws. Either we have very little time to get registered, like everyone else, or the 2004 agreement is still valid and we still have our 90 days.
Anyway, matilda-don/Kasyanenko has gotten herself and the anti-immigration movement in a very funny, very absurd situation. Below are some of the exchanges (RUS) on her husband's blog - hilarious:
prof_umoriarty: How come the husband hasn't registered his lawful spouse? Greed?
slavamakarov: Damn. Even now, they can't give me a clear answer at the Federal Migration Service on what the rules are for Ukrainian citizens staying in Russia. If we had known what's required, we'd have gotten her registered [...].
ryurikov: I no longer understand anything. Slava, I apologize, but what you write is strange. Registration is meant for everyone. Ukrainians were just allowed to stay longer, but this did not cancel registration. Which means that Matilda was an illegal immigrant, violating registration rules, but she had an excuse - a train ticket [certifying that she had entered Russia within the past 90 days]. DPNI is fighting against such excuses, if I understand it correctly. So here's what we've got: a leading member (as she's been described here) of DPNI has consciously become one of those NI [an illegal immigrant] (hiding behind a scheme). It's surreal.
But that's okay. However, here's what you write: "If we had known what's required, we'd have gotten her registered" - this is totally crazy. According to you, after three months [since the new laws have been introduced], folks at DPNI don't know the basic things about immigration? Information on the changes regarding Ukrainian citizens is completely in public domain. I didn't know about them - but I'm not following migration politics. But DPNI and DPNI-TV - it turns out they know nothing about ... what they are fighting against? [...]
prof_umoriarty: Why didn't you register her [in your apartment] as your lawful spouse? Don't you trust her? Why did you get married then?
slavamakarov: Damn. I didn't have enough time - we were going to deal with it in a week, I was finishing up my property ownership paperwork.
eduard_bagirov: He doesn't trust her. He's afraid she's gonna cut off half of his room, hahaha. Ukrainian Tatar women [khokhlyatskiye tatarki], they are like this, yes.
signamax: Maybe someone will explain to me: Matilda, a citizen of Ukraine, stays in Moscow in violation of the registration regime (or whatever it's called), and at the same time, she's a member of DPNI - and yet, she's currently an illegal immigrant herself. [...]
signamax: Can I write somewhere - to DPNI or the prosecutor's office - that I support in every way the movement against illegal immigration and believe that, above all, its members have to fight for the purity in their own ranks. To support the deportation of Matilda to her historical homeland would be a logical and extremely patriotic step on the part of DPNI - and following inner logic, they should gather near the place of her detention right now, with the corresponding demand. [...]
***
I think it's all very typical, part of the general pattern. People who make me think something like, OK, if this is an alternative to Putin, then perhaps it'd be better for him to stay. As fucked up and hypocritical as Limonov and Anpilov posing as Kasparov's allies. And it's such a waste of time to be taking any of these characters seriously. There is, of course, some entertainment value in it.
***
Here're a few related but more or less irrelevant links:
- DPNI-TV's YouTube video of matilda-don interviewing (RUS) residents of South Butovo - including some clueless kids - on their views of Kadyrov;
- a few photos of South Butovo;
- matilda-don's CV (RUS) - unearthed by some skinheads who don't seem to like DPNI, partly because the movement's leader, Aleksandr Belov, is believed to be a Jew hiding behind a Russian last name (his real name is Potkin); matilda-don started out as Vecherniy Donetsk newspaper reporter in 1996; from September to November of 2006, she worked at the youth TV channel O2TV but quit because she "didn't agree with her bosses' ideology" (Aleksandr Dugin and Mikhail Leontyev often appear on that channel, as well as Maria Gaidar and Oleg Kashin);
- matilda-don's "prose" (RUS) at Proza.ru;
- the skinheads' forum thread on matilda-don - includes pictures of her with Belov-Potkin from her LJ (oh boy, I've just realized he's two years younger than I am... here's a bio of his, in Russian);
- a wedding picture of slavamakarov and matilda-don - they look like Tolkien fans, like hobbits...
Sunday, March 18, 2007
I'm re-reading some of my old notes now - from my 2002 journal:
Two fat women at the hotel cafeteria in Nizhniy Novgorod are watching a Brazilian soap.
"What an apartment he got himself! A house, with a swimming pool and with a lake! The rich! [Bogachi!]"
"Her husband got into a fight with another guy - and what a fight that was!"
They are talking about the soap as if it's something from their own, real, lives - really hard to tell when they are discussing what.
"It's disgusting when he first has an affair with the mother, and then with the daughter..." - "What's disgusting about it? This is life!" - "Still, it's not nice."
"The guy's so good-looking... And women are so spoiled."
They switch to talking about themselves during commercials.
"Now you have two papas!"
"That's it. She's married now, and you better do something about your own life as well."
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Here's something that I'd normally overlook - a "Fur Fair" ad:
But it's pasted all over the neighborhood, on what seems like every street pole, so I ended up taking a picture.
The "Fur Fair" is held at the dry cleaner's building near the Usachyovsky Market, from March 12 through March 18, the cheapest fur coats produced by the Pyatigorsk "Alef" Factory, mink, from 30,000 rubles up (at the current rate, $1,000 is something like 26,000 rubles)...
It's so mundane and yet so surreal, for some reason.
But it's pasted all over the neighborhood, on what seems like every street pole, so I ended up taking a picture.
The "Fur Fair" is held at the dry cleaner's building near the Usachyovsky Market, from March 12 through March 18, the cheapest fur coats produced by the Pyatigorsk "Alef" Factory, mink, from 30,000 rubles up (at the current rate, $1,000 is something like 26,000 rubles)...
It's so mundane and yet so surreal, for some reason.
My friend Sasha has forwarded me this report by the Committee to Protect Journalists - "in case someone thought something had improved" was the title of his message:
UKRAINE: LOCAL AUTHORITIES CLOSE CRITICAL NEWSPAPER
Closure of independent weekly Dzerzhinets in the central Ukrainian city of Dneprodzerzhynsk and the harassment of its editor-in-chief.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
New York, New York, Wed, March 14, 2007
NEW YORK - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the
closure of independent weekly Dzerzhinets in the central Ukrainian city of Dneprodzerzhynsk and the harassment of its editor-in-chief.
Dzerzhinets was closed on January 30, after the Zavodskoi civil district
court convicted the paper of defamation and incitement of religious and national hatred.
Founder and Editor-in-chief Margarita Zakora said the decision is related to
the paper's highly critical articles about local businessmen and officials
that revealed corruption in the city.
According to Zakora, authorities have tried to prevent her from launching a
defense or filing an appeal by not informing her of court dates and blocking
her access to case files. Zakora said she received a notice informing her of
an appeal court session scheduled for January 30-three days after it occurred.
A week before, the same court ordered the seizure of property belonging to
the journalist and the paper, and the payment of 140,660 hryvnias (US$29,071) in defamation damages to a local police chief for articles accusing him of corruption and intentionally violating the city's laws.
This court session was also held without Zakora's knowledge; she was
informed of the decision January 31, when she found court notices stuck to
her front door.
Authorities have refused Zakora's appeal, saying the time limit has passed.
Zakora maintains she could not meet the deadline because she received the
court's notification too late.
"The closure of Dzerzhinets comes at the end of a seriously flawed judicial
process which has denied our colleague Margarita Zakora the right to answer
her accusers," Executive Director Joel Simon said.
"The paper Dzerzhinets must be allowed to appeal this verdict, which should
be overturned. We also call on local police to investigate the attacks on
Zakora and guarantee her safety."
On July 12, pornographic cartoons of the journalist were pasted on the walls
of her office building, the local library, and other public places.
Dzerzhinets reporter Nadezhda Kuznetsova also received the cartoons and a
copy of the paper by mail, which she turned over to the local prosecutor's office.
On June 17, 2006 an unidentified gunman fired into her apartment window,
days after the paper carried a letter to the editor critical of local
businessmen. Police had opened a criminal investigation, but no arrests were
made.
Friday, March 16, 2007
I've been cleaning up my photos as well:
- There's a new Nostalgia #1 set - 70 photos from Pushcha Vodytsya and Gorenka that make me feel good even though I'm not there and it's not summer.
(Gorenka really feels like the same thing as Pushcha if you live there, but is technically a separate entity - a village, while Pushcha is part of Kyiv's Obolon district.)
- There's also a tiny set of Ostorozhno, zlaya sobaka! pictures - "Beware of the dog" signs on the fences in Gorenka and Pushcha. Only two real dogs, though.
- And I've added a bunch of Marta's pictures to her set:
- There's a new Nostalgia #1 set - 70 photos from Pushcha Vodytsya and Gorenka that make me feel good even though I'm not there and it's not summer.
(Gorenka really feels like the same thing as Pushcha if you live there, but is technically a separate entity - a village, while Pushcha is part of Kyiv's Obolon district.)
- There's also a tiny set of Ostorozhno, zlaya sobaka! pictures - "Beware of the dog" signs on the fences in Gorenka and Pushcha. Only two real dogs, though.
- And I've added a bunch of Marta's pictures to her set:
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