Vladimir Putin

Putin digs rap, not rock

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:07:58 +0100

We talked about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's dislike for punk rock back in August. The same can't be said about all types of music however - he spent Friday night at a live hip hop battle.

The event was hosted by Muz TV (a Russian rival to MTV). After Putin watched MCs, rappers and breakdancers doing their stuff, he took to the stage himself to talk (not rap, sadly) to the crowd.

Putin's speech:

"Graffiti is becoming a true art, fine and delicate. And breakdance is something peculiar. This really is propaganda for a healthy lifestyle because it is hard to imagine breakdancing having anything to do with drinking and dope. I must say honestly that those young people who are pursuing these kinds of arts in our country are bringing in their own, Russian charm."

Corruption, bribes, forged evidence – confessions of a Russian officer

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:52:38 +0100

A senior Russian police officer who dared to denounce the corruption of his olleagues in a YouTube video has been fired just two days after his confession.

So scandalous was the content of his upload, Major Alexeï Dymovsky managed to reach his desired destination - Vladimir Putin. Posted on Friday (Nov. 6), the seven minute confession has been viewed over 100,000 times in just three days. His main complaints: that young recruits only sign up to earn money through bribes, and that high-ranking officers order staff to forge evidence against innocent people in order to boost statistics.

Nothing new there - the police are thought to be the Russian public's least respected institution. For an officer to say it himself, however, is quite something. Indeed; an internal investigation was immediately launched by the Interior Minister. The result came 48 hours later: "These claims are not verified". By nightfall, Dymovsky had been discharged. The story doesn't end there however. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who the video was addressed to, says he is aware of it.

All eyes on the Khodorkovsky trial

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:15:02 +0200

This is an artist's impression of the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Once Russia's richest man and a potential opponent of then president Vladimir Putin, his imprisonment six years ago could now be extended until well after 2035. To publicise the event, almost 40 Russian artists filed into court to compete in illustrating the case.

Before his arrest, Khodorkovsky was potentially Putin's most powerful challenger. At the head of Russia's biggest oil producer Yukos, his influence was impressive. But when the Kremlin produced evidence of fraud and tax evasion in 2003, the oligarch was immediately detained, sentenced two years later, and in 2006, his company declared bankrupt. In March 2007 a second trial against him began after the Kremlin claimed to have found new evidence, this time proving embezzlement and money laundering. Originally it was thought he would be released in 2011. This new trial however, could see him sentenced to 27 more years in prison.

The case is a highly controversial subject in Russia, labelled by Khodorkovsky himself as absurd, and believed by 60 percent of Russians to be controlled by the "highest Russian authorities" rather than the court. Considered a good example of the "displaced" duties of the modern Russian court, a group of human rights activists from the Andrey Sakharov Museum teamed up with the Sergey Kuznetsov Content Group in inviting artists to draw the proceedings and submit their entries to an online competition. The results will be announced tomorrow (September 15).

Putin's not a fan of punk rock

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:43:44 +0200

With lyrics like "Just don't listen to him; a pig will always find mud to roll in", it's no surprise that punk band PTVP can't be found on Russian TV. But one of our pro-Kremlin Observers tells us it's got nothing to do with politics.

Punk has been more or less entirely removed from the Russian media since Vladimir Putin's first term as president in 2000. Last month we were made aware that some of the music fans had even been added to the government's extremist list and supporters of punk groups were being placed under police surveillance. The lengthy crackdown pushed some groups to go mainstream. But one band which did not succumb to the censorship, is PTVP, or "The Last Tanks in Paris". After AFP published a story about the band on Monday, the Western media fell in love with PTVP, being particularly taken with the idea of calling Putin a pig.

The song in which Putin is referred to as such is called FSB Whore (referring to the Federal Security Service, successor to the KGB). The lyrics are short and to the point:

He always lies to you

Just don't listen to him

Putin-Putin-Putin

A pig will always find mud to roll in

The group also sings in more details about Putin in their take on the Sex Pistols legendary hit God Save the Queen. In the following video they're performing "God Save Putin" at the Tabula Rasa rock club in Moscow, November 2007. Before he starts singing, front man Alexei Nikonov recites a little rhyme about Putin being like a rat.

Russia to launch nationwide citizens militia

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:30:28 +0200

Nashi volunteers patrolling with a policeman. © Nashi

The Russian government is planning to allow pro-Kremlin volunteers to set up a nationwide youth militia by recruiting 100,000 destitute 17- to 25-year-olds to patrol the streets in return for food and shelter.

The news comes just months after a similar initiative was set up in Italy. Is Europe seeing a return to citizen policing?

If approved by the government, the plans would see the Dobrovolnye Molodezhnye Druzhiny (DMD), or All-Russian Association of Voluntary, in action across the country by December this year.

Behind the proposed militia is the Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement which has already been criticised by liberals for recruiting skinheads to "patrol" opposition marches.

Set up in 2005, the movement is considered an initiative by President Vladimir Putin and it remains faithful to the current prime minister. On 3 August, they announced their proposal to the government to nationalise youth patrols.

The group already supervises some youth patrols in the country, but the movement is not widespread. Branches are largely disorganized, funded by churches or local businesses and without any authority. Unarmed, they are unable to arrest people.

The law proposed by the Nashi would allow volunteers to carry Tasers and give them the power to stop and search people. The groups would be directly funded by the government and work in collaboration with the regional police. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, will vote on the law in October.

Putin the superhero banished from Ukrainian airwaves

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:47:35 +0200

"Vova", commonly known as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is a superhero according to Ukrainian band Dress Code, who have released a song devoted to the merits of the James Bond-defying, child-saving, universally adored Russian. Banned in Ukraine, the video is causing quite a stir.

The band behind the controversial homage is certainly profiting from its prohibition. Since the song "And Vova Rules" was taken off air for "political reasons", the illustrated music video has become a huge online hit in both Ukraine and Russia, where, incidentally, it was never shown on TV in the first place. Putin propaganda, a big joke, or a publicity stunt? Whatever it is, the video's already been viewed over 350,000 times.

The illustrations are pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few of the lyrics:

"James Bond isn't fit to shine his shoes. He's a superman, he's adored by the rich, by celebrities, by professors, by village folk and the West. He'll always be there in your time of need. He'll always protect you. If necessary he'll whack bad guys, even in a toilet. Indeed, Vova rules, and, surely, he rules just the way it should be done."

Far from the same old opposition protest

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:35:50 +0100

A "Young Russia" (pro-Kremlin youth group) member. Photo: Anton Belickiy.

Why was Saturday's opposition rally in Moscow strikingly different from previous events? Because not one protestor was beaten or arrested. Even stranger - pro-Kremlin counter activists themselves were detained by the police. Which begs the question; is the Russian government warming to the idea of freedom of speech?

The protest was organised by "Solidarnost" (Solidarity), a unification of several long-existing anti-government movements. It was the same faces and slogans that took to the streets, but for once, their event had been approved by the city authorities, and instead of the protestors facing police persecution, it was their opponents who ended up in the back of a police van.

Georgia doesn’t want to 'put in' at the Eurovision in Moscow

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:42:48 +0100

Georgia is using this year's Eurovision song contest as an opportunity to poke fun at Russia. Not difficult to get their little joke, with a song entitled "We don't wanna put in".

After Russia's heavy-handed offensive on Georgia during their conflict last August, the southern neighbour and ex-Soviet state had decided to boycott this year's contest, hosted by Moscow in May. But now they've come up with a better idea - to turn up in Moscow and sing a disco tune comprising the lyrics "We don't wanna put in/ The negative move/ It's killin' the groove". While it's been received by Europeans as a light-hearted jibe, the gesture is unlikely to go down well with the Russian prime minister.

The performance was filmed on Wednesday night at Georgia's final, when the group, Stephane & 3G, were voted official contestants.

Despite the fact that political content is banned from the contest, this isn't the first time that Eurovision has been used for political gripes between contesting countries. In 1978 Jordan refused to broadcast the Israeli entry, instead airing pictures of flowers. Israel ending up winning, so the transmission was cut and the Jordanian media announced that runners-up Belgium had come first. When Lebanon planned to do the same thing in 2005, they were forced to withdraw for planning to breach the contest rules.

In 2007, it was Israel's turn to squeeze a political message into their entry's lyrics; this time aimed at Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his nuclear plans. "Push the Button", talked of "crazy leaders in the world who are trying to trick us" and went on to say "I wanna have a lot of fun, just sitting in the sun, but nevertheless, he's gonna push the button". Then there was Spain's 2008 entry "Baila el Chiki Chiki", which was forced to remove references made to the King of Spain's infamous "why don't you shut up?" remark at Hugo Chavez.

Anti–Putin protests: 'Moscow has lost Vladivostok'

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:54:40 +0100

A far-eastern tiger faces Putin's United Russia bear.

Putin flew groups of riot police 10,000 kilometres on Saturday to meet anti-government protestors gathered in Vladivostok. Around a thousand Russians from the east of the country showed disdain for the Prime Minister by taking to the streets. Their message: "United Russia can go to hell".

They started out as demonstrations against a tax increase on imported cars (implemented to strengthen the country's own automobile industry). But after two weeks of heightened tensions in Russia's far-eastern cities, the discontent has developed into a bitter political attack on the country's capital and Mr Putin. The Kremlin responded to the protests by flying riot police in to the city from Moscow - 9,300 kilometres away. The armed guards beat kicked and arrested around 200 people including reporters and a group who were dancing around a New Year tree (see video below).

The demonstration was not authorised by the local authorities. When these people started dancing around a New Year tree in Vladivostok's main square, riot police were sent in to remove them. Video posted by "tatatrumo" 21 Dec. 08.

Reporters were also arrested. Video posted by "lisamanina" 21 Dec. 08.

People were carried away by police. Photos by blogger "matroskin_cat".

Russia's far east continues calls for Putin to resign

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:04:15 +0100

Russian protesters in the far east of the country plan to heighten pressure on the government this weekend by continuing to cause chaos in the city of Vladivostok.

Last Sunday 3,000 people gathered to demonstrate against the increased import duties on used cars, which they say will stiffle business. The protesters will be [confronting] riot police again [Friday], and will continue through Sunday if no solution is found. A friend of one of our Observers sent us these images of the chaos caused last weekend when protesters blocked roads, lit flares and chanted "Putin resign!" The documents haven't been verified by FRANCE 24 journalists. The event was barely reported by the Russian press.

UPDATE (22 Dec. 08 4pm): our Observer Alexander has sent us photos and his account of the continued protests on Saturday and Sunday, and the subsequent arrests. Read here.