A Russian Diary Page 4

  This was probably Putin's main purpose in meeting the human rights campaigners: to show them that their concerns were his. He is an excellent imitator. When need be, he is one of you; when that is not necessary, he is your enemy. He is adept at wearing other people's clothes, and many are taken in by this performance. The assembly of human rights campaigners also melted in the face of Putin's impersonating of them and, despite a fundamentally different take on reality, they poured out their hearts to him.

  At one moment someone actually did blurt out that they had the feeling Putin understood them much better than the security officials. Putin was unabashed and fired right back, “That is because at heart I am a democrat.”

  Needless to say, after this everyone's joy just grew and grew. Dr. Roshal asked to speak “just for a moment.” “Vladimir Vladimirovich,” he said, “I like you so much.” He has said this before. Vladimir Vladimirovich looked down at the table.

  The doctor went on, “… and I do not like Khodorkovsky” Vladimir Vladimirovich suddenly stiffened. Heaven only knew where this pediatrician was heading. And sure enough, his boat was heading straight for the reef. “Although I like you and do not like Khodorkovsky, I am not prepared to see Khodorkovsky under arrest. After all, he is not a murderer. Where do we think he might run away to?”

  The president's facial muscles worked, and those present bit their tongues. After that nobody mentioned Khodorkovsky again, as if Putin were a dying father and Khodorkovsky his prodigal son. The human rights campaigners did not press home the attack, as might have been expected, but tucked their tails between their legs. The sky darkened, and only one person was to be found who, after the slipup over Yukos, dared to broach another topic that the president's entourage always asks one not to mention, for fear of him losing control of himself. Svetlana Gan-nushkina raised the question of Chechnya.

  Concluding her short speech on the problems of migration, which had been cleared by the administration, Gannushkina went on to say that she could not expect the president to talk about Chechnya, and accordingly wished simply to present him with a book that had just been published by the Memorial Human Rights Center, People Live Here: Chechnya, A Chronicle of Violence.

  This was unexpected. The minders had no time to intervene. Putin took the book and, also unexpectedly, showed interest in it. He leafed through it for the remainder of the meeting, until 10:30 p.m. In the end he himself started talking about Chechnya.

  “In the first place,” Gannushkina recalls, “he is certain that it is all right to trample human rights underfoot in the course of the campaign against terrorism. There are grounds that justify not observing the law, circumstances in which the law can be flouted. In the second place, browsing through the book, Putin commented, ‘This is badly written. If you wrote so that people could understand, they would follow you and you could exert real influence on the government. But the way this is presented is hopeless.’ ”

  Of course, what he had in mind was not Chechnya but the defeat of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces in the election. “Putin is right,” Gannushkina believes. She has long been a member of Yabloko, and worked in the Duma assisting the Yabloko deputies. “We are incapable of explaining to people that we are on neither one side nor the other, but defending rights.”

  After that the conversation turned of its own accord to Iraq. The campaigners said there was no comparison: the Chechens were Russian citizens, unlike the Iraqis. Putin parried this by saying that Russia gave a better impression of itself than the USA, because we have pressed charges against military personnel who have committed crimes in Chechnya far more frequently than the United States has against its war criminals in Iraq.

  The procurator general chimed in: “More than six hundred cases.” The human rights campaigners didn't let that pass: how many of those had led to sentences being passed? The question hung in the air, unanswered.

  Lyudmila Alexeyeva, leader of the Moscow Helsinki Group and an unofficial doyenne of Russian human rights campaigners, someone whom the state authorities have raised to iconic status as personifying the human rights community as far as the Kremlin is concerned, proposed convening a round table with the same participants to discuss the problems of Chechnya with the president. “We'll need to think about that,” Putin muttered as he was saying his farewells, which meant, “There's no way that is going to happen.”

  *

  There were indeed no discussions on Chechnya between Putin and the human rights campaigners, but after their December meeting some of them, along with some of the democrats, decided to switch allegiance from the defeated Yavlinsky and Nemtsov to the newly democratic Putin, whom they evidently supposed would serve just as well.

  The same fate befell a number of well-known journalists. Reputations were compromised before our very eyes. We watched as Vladimir Soloviov, a popular television and radio presenter, one of the boldest, best informed, and most democratic of reporters, who not long ago had exposed government wickedness, for example, over the chemical attack in the Nord-Ost disaster (when 912 members of the audience of a musical were taken hostage by Chechens), suddenly and publicly proclaimed his passionate support for Putin and the Russian state.

  This happened to him because he was brought in closer to the Kremlin and sweetened up. He transmogrified. It is a recurrent Russian problem: proximity to the Kremlin makes people slow to say no, and altogether less discriminating. The Kremlin knows this full well. How many of them there have been already, stifled by the Kremlin. First they are gently clasped to the authorities’ breast. In Russia the best way to subjugate even the most recalcitrant is not money but bringing us in from the cold, at arm's length at first. The rebellious soon begin to subside. We have seen it with Soloviov, with Dr. Roshal, and now even the admirers of Sakharov* and Yelena Bonner* are beginning to talk about Putin's charisma, saying he gives them grounds for hope.

  Of course, this is not the first time in recent history that we have seen this coming together of the regime and defenders of human rights, the regime and the democrats. It certainly is the first time, though, that it has been so devastating for former dissidents. What hope is there for the Russian people if one part of the opposition has been bombed out of existence, and another, almost all that remains, is being set aside for later use?

  December 11

  This morning there was more of the same, a reputation destroyed by the Kremlin's embrace. Andrey Makarevich was an underground rock musician in the Soviet period, a dissident, a fighter against the KGB,* who used to sing with passion, “Don't bow your head before the changeful world. Some day that world will bow its head to us!” It was the anthem of the first years of democracy under Yeltsin. Today, on live television on the state-run Channel One, he is being presented with a medal “For Services to the Fatherland.”

  Makarevich came out in support of United Russia and took part in their preelection get-togethers. He really did bow his head to Putin and his United Russia Party. He told the people what a good guy Vladimir Vladimirovich was and, lo and behold, we now see him in receipt of official favors; a former dissident who wasn't embarrassed to join the Kremlin party.

  Putin gave a reception for the leaders of the Duma parties, as this is the last day of the Third Duma. He spoke of positive developments in relations between the branches of state power. Yavlinsky smiled wryly.

  Soon, across the road from the Kremlin, the final session of the departing Parliament was held in the Duma building. Almost everybody was there. United Russia was in a holiday mood and made no attempt to disguise the fact. Why would they? Every day newly elected deputies from other parties are defecting to them, moving closer to Putin. United Russia is inflating like a hot air balloon.

  Yavlinsky stood apart from everyone else, as always alone. He was morose and taciturn. What was there to applaud? The destruction of Russian parliamentary democracy has been accomplished on the tenth anniversary of the First Duma under Yeltsin's presidency. Tomorrow, December 12, is also the tenth annivers
ary of Russia's new, “Yeltsin,” Constitution.

  Nemtsov is trying to give as many interviews as possible while people are still interested in him. He explains. “The Union of Right Forces and Yabloko are doing the impossible, something that before December 7 seemed a fantasy: we are trying to unite.” People do not entirely believe him. All the pro-democracy voters were praying they would merge before December 7 in order to have an impact in the elections, but they just were not interested.

  Gennadii Seleznyov, the speaker of the Duma, makes a farewell speech to which nobody listens. He knows his days as speaker are over, because in future the speaker will not be elected by Parliament, but appointed by the Kremlin. Everybody also knows who it is going to be: Boris Gryzlov, Putin's friend and one of his most loyal henchmen, the leader of United Russia and minister of the interior. It is unquestionably a historic moment. As we bid farewell to the Third Duma, we are bidding farewell to a political epoch. Putin has crushed our argumentative Parliament.

  The exigencies of politics have not caused the Kremlin to neglect money matters. The attack on Yukos continues, with our business world trying to get its teeth into parts of it while everything is still up for grabs. The arbitration court of Yakutia has found in favor of Surgutneftegaz, a company that had lost out to Sakhaneftegaz, subsequently part of Yukos, in an auction of oil and gas rights held in March 2002. The verdict strips Yukos of the Talakan field with its oil reserves of 120 million tons and 60 billion cubic meters of gas, and awards its rival a license to exploit the central concession of the field in perpetuity.

  Tsentrobank reports another record in replenishing the gold and foreign currency reserves. To December 5 these are $70.6 billion. But is this a triumph? One of the main reasons that companies are dumping their foreign currency profits on the market is the predicament of Yukos, with claims by the state that it concealed its earnings for tax evasion purposes. The others are not tempting providence and are converting their profits into rubles. The hullabaloo over Yukos is doing the state no harm at all, which is why it can pay off its foreign debt. The Russian people rejoice, without having a clue as to what is going on.

  Today is also the ninth anniversary of the start of Russia's latest wars against the Chechens. On December 11, 1994, the first tanks entered Grozny, and we saw the first soldiers and officers burned alive in them. There was no mention of this today on any of the television channels. The anniversary has been removed from Russia's calendar.

  The unanimity of the television stations cannot be coincidental and must reflect instructions from the presidential administration, which means we can be sure that Putin's presidential campaign will exclude all mention of Chechnya. That's the way he operates: since he doesn't know what to do about Chechnya, Chechnya will not be on the agenda.

  In the evening there was a televised debate between Valeriya Novo-dvorskaya, a democrat to the marrow of her bones, and Vladimir Zhirinovsky. She talked about the monstrous irresponsibility of the war in Chechnya, the blood and the genocide. Zhirinovsky's response was to shriek hysterically, “Get out of this country! We will never give in to them!” In the vote at the end of the program, viewers cast 40,000 votes in favor of Zhirinovsky to 16,000 for Novodvorskaya.

  December 12

  Constitution Day. A holiday. Moscow is flooded with militiamen and agents in plain clothes. There are dogs everywhere, searching for explosives. The president held a grand reception in the Kremlin for the political and oligarchic elite and made a speech about human rights, predicated on the notion that they had triumphed in Russia. Yeltsin was there, looking fitter and younger, but with mental problems written all over his face. He was there because the Constitution was adopted during his presidency. He is not usually invited to Putin's Kremlin.

  A survey revealed that only 2 percent of Russians have much idea of what the Constitution actually says. Forty-five percent thought its main guarantee was of the “right to work,” and only 6 percent mentioned free speech as something fundamental to their way of life.

  December 18

  A television phone-in. A big occasion as Putin meets the people. It was announced that more than a million questions had been submitted. The president's virtual dialogue with the country was hosted by his favorite television presenters, Sergey Brilev from the Rossiya channel and Yekat-erina Andreyeva from Channel One.

  ANDREYEVA to Putin: “This is the third time you have appeared on this direct line. Me too. Are you nervous?”

  PUTIN: “No. Don't offer what you can't deliver and don't lie, then you have nothing to fear.”

  BRILEV, choking with joy: “Very much like our work…”

  PUTIN: “ Everything that Russia has achieved has been achieved by hard work. There have been many difficulties and setbacks, but Russia has shown herself to be a country that stands firmly on her own feet and is developing rapidly. I have brought some statistics along. In 2002 our rate of growth was 4.3 percent. Five percent was projected for this year, but we shall achieve 6.6, or even 6.9. Payments on our foreign debt have been reduced. We have paid off $17 billion and the country didn't even notice it. The gold and foreign currency reserves in 2000 were $11 billion. In 2003 they rose to $20 billion, and today they are $70 billion. These are not empty statistics. A number of factors are involved here. If we continue with our present economic policy, there will be no more currency defaults. On the other hand, in early 2003 there were 37 million people whose income was beneath the subsistence level. In the third quarter of 2003 that number had fallen to 31 million, but this is still humiliating. The average subsistence level is 2,121 rubles [$72] a month, which is very low, and 31 million people live below that level.”

  A question from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarov Region: “Ours is the third largest city in the Far East of Russia, an enormous industrial center, a city of young people, but a very long way from Moscow. My name is Kirill Borodulin. I work in the Amur shipyard. At present we are working only on export orders. When are we going to see orders from the Russian defense industry? We want to be needed by Russia.”

  (The questions do not give the impression of being spontaneous, and the answers appear to have been prepared. Putin reads out statistics from his notes even though the question was asked “live on air.” He will evidently be answering only questions he wants to answer.)

  PUTIN: “The fact that you are working for export is entirely positive. There is a battle being waged for the arms market, and Russia is not doing at all badly. We have an armaments procurement program up to the year 2010 and it is being fully financed. Of course, there are problems; one would always like to allocate more to our armed forces. The priorities for procurement are decided by the Ministry of Defense, which has placed new aircraft only eighth on its list of priorities, even though today's wars are fought using aircraft. You can be entirely sure that your services will be required.”

  KATYA USTIMENKO, student: “ I have voted for the first time. What can we expect from the new Duma?”

  PUTIN: “No civilized state can live without a legislative institution. A great deal depends on the Duma. We expect efficient, systematic work.”

  ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH: “I live in Tula, in the house where my father lived before me. The foundations are breaking up. We are in an excavation zone. Why does the state talk so much, but still doesn't resolve the problem of crumbling accommodations?”

  PUTIN: “I have been to Tula. I was surprised at the state of the residential accommodations. There are ways and means. What are they? Only a few years ago the state allocated practically no funds. For the first time we made funds available in 2003: 1.3 billion rubles [$43.3 million] from the federal budget. The same amount again was to be added from local government budgets. The way out is to develop mortgage lending. If mortgages had been introduced, you would have been able to make use of one. What is your monthly salary? You are working in an efficient region.”

  ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH: “Twelve thousand rubles [$410].”

  PUTIN: “You would qualify for
a mortgage. We need to make some legislative changes.”

  YURY SIDOROV, Kuzbass: “Working as a miner is dangerous. Why has the miners’ pension been reduced to the statutory rate? What sort of pension is that?”

  PUTIN: “The average salary of miners is 12,000 rubles a month, against a national average salary of 5,700 [$195]. The logic of the pensions reform is for pensions to reflect directly the contributions made from salary. Your pension will differ from the average to your advantage; it will be higher. This change has been introduced. The national pension fund is opening a network of consultation centers around the country and in the workplace. You need to go and talk to them.”

  VALENTINA ALEXEYEVNA from Krasnodar: “You have not so far announced whether you are intending to stand in the presidential election. What are your plans?”

  PUTIN:: “Yes, I shall be standing. I shall make an official announcement in the near future.”

  ALEXEY VIKTOROVICH, naval repair yard, Murmansk Province: “We have had no salary or vacation pay since August. When is this going to be sorted out?”

  PUTIN: “We have sorted matters out as far as the budget is concerned. Delays must not exceed two days for salaries. As far as industry is concerned, there are a number of variations here. There are state enterprises, some of which are being reclassified as budget-financed enterprises. A number are in a parlous financial state. In other cases it is the owners and management who are responsible.”

  Question from BRILEV: “How do you feel about having your portrait in government offices?”