Kremlin Supports Extremists

8 February 2002

The authorities' unwillingness to apprehend the actual organizers of the skinheads' raid on Yasenevo market in Moscow as well as the framing of related cases - such as that of correspondent Semiletnikov's -- indicates the level of protection which extremist organizations in Russia enjoy.

The latest issue of "Version" weekly has also published an article "Kremlin helps Nazis", giving a history of the Kremlin's and secret services' support for various extremist organizations, ranging from the Russian National Unity to Slavic Union, led by Dmitri Demushkin. According to the "Version" account, Demushkin met with presidential administration head Alexander Voloshin, who has expressed an interest in "expanding the nationalist cause."

Voloshin reportedly gave him money to revive the work of about thirty of his regional branches, pay the rent of his central office in Moscow, and open a gymnasium. If the information about Voloshin and Demushkin's contacts with other extremists is confirmed, the background of correspondent Semiletnikov's case will be fully determined. According to the "Version" correspondent, the Kremlin is currently trying various groups and scenarios to be used in the coming parliamentary and presidential elections. This explanation looks quite plausible; considering that all coverage of the Eurasian ideology has ceased.

The presidential administration has come to the conclusion that it's easier to revive the nationalist notion, which is regularly brought to life during the skinheads' raids and which finds some acceptance among the population, than to propagate Eurasian ideology. They have little chance of explaining its niceties to the people before the next elections. Neither the sabotage acts, trumped-up spy scandals, mop-up operations in Chechnya and on independent TV channels, nor attacks on the governors' power can convince people that what they need is a Eurasian idea.

Still, despite the seeming sensation of "Version's disclosures, one has the impression that Voloshin's plans are outdated. During Yeltsin's period they had to create new projects to brighten up political life, to bring new puppets on political scene in order to to create a positive image of the president. Nowadays Putin cares little for all those projects. He has the FSB and scared-shitless governors, who -- like Governor Lebed -- are ready to forfeit their rights and to be replaced by their appointed successors.

The Glasnost Foundation
Glasnost Media
http://www.glasnostmedia.ru/