Annals of the Horrors of Nashi
Filed under: Russia
One of the most humbling and gratifying experiences a blogger can have is when readers become writers, when those who were once passive become active. I've been blessed with many such persons, not the least of which are numerous professional-quality translators of Russian who have agreed to open windows into the Russian world that would otherwise remain closed.
Case in point: Click the jump to read an amazing article from the Russian newspaper Yezhedevny Zhurnal ("The Daily Journal" -- one of the last vestiges of actual information left in the Russian media) about the horrifying exploits of Vladimir Putin's Hitler youth cult "Nashi" ("us Slavic Russians") in connection with the recent "elections" to the Russian Duma. Prepared before the election results were even known, they are full of exactly the same type of images and rhetoric that characterized Soviet propaganda. Three well-known Russian opposition figures express their shock and horror that Nashi could be so brazen, so bold, so insanely provocative, so fundamentally destructive. Read it and weep! And remember, if you don't speak Russian, you wouldn't get the chance to do so without the heroic, selfless work of folks like this translator -- folks who have more real love for Russia in a single fingernail than the dictator Vladimir Putin does in his whole body.
Assuming it's True. . .
"This guy tells me they're printing this pamphlet in the print shop next door. . . "
{TRANSLATION: The
Aleksandr Golts:
Assuming it is true that what appeared on LiveJournal (TN: the pamphlet above) is not a fake, this can mean only one thing: that an anti-constitutional overthrow of the government is being planned inViktor Shenderovich:
Setting aside the artistic merits of the publication, let's take a sniff at dry remains. A few observations, taken from the pamphlet:1. Still three days before the elections, and they already know the results.
2. They know that these results will the result of falsifications, and are gathering their forces to physically suppress those who will try to prove this.
3. They need the falsified results as a basis for fraud and further speculation on theme of "Putin - the National Leader." All of this, it goes without saying, is a crime, from beginning to end.
P.S. -- A personal linguistic note regarding the phrase "a victory with devastating result" contained in the top placard -- in Russian the word "devastating" used by the writer actually carries the implication of destruction and ruination. And this is such an exceptional event that one cannot but agree with "Nashi." The results of Putin's victory will be, indeed, devastating.
That is, ruinous.
And destructive.
Boris Nemtsov:
If anyone had any doubt that a lowly and fraudulent dictatorship has been installed in
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(TN: Shortly after YeZh posted the article above, the leaflet in question was posted on another online journal with confirmation from Kristina Potupchik, press secretary for the of the Nashi organization, that it was in fact produced by Nashi. Potupchik characterized the leaflets as "donated materials" in support of a demonstration planned for December 3 in