Staunton, April 22 – Four years ago, liberal Russians began to refer to the hurrah-patriots who opposed them as vatniki or “vatniks,” a reference to the padded jackets such people often wore but used to designate their slavish support of the Kremlin and their hostility to the West and civilization. But now, Pavel Shekhtman suggests, […]
Tag: Sovok
Under Putin, ‘Russians Don’t Exist, Only “Sovs,”’ Shumyatsky Says
Staunton, April 5 – Given the nature of Vladimir Putin’s regime and reflecting the Kremlin leader’s own understanding, “Russians do not exist,” émigré writer Boris Shumyatsky says. Instead, “people from the former Soviet Union are united [by] their experience of life under a dictatorship.” In a comment to Die Zeit this week, the writer argues […]
What is Happening, and What Do They Want in the Crimea?
“Russia, Russia!” chanted the people on the square in front of the Crimean parliament. The only Ukrainian flag is hanging on the building of the Supreme Council, but in the crowd, there are only Russian and Crimean banners. At first glance, they look like twins, except the Crimean flag has first a red stripe, then […]
What Sovok Is About
I had not been in Moscow for a year. The last time I came I was with the French president’s pool and so I could not investigate and take notes on how my city had changed. For a year, I waited to find its new energy. On the plane I was already upset when it […]