tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post4147655991732130051..comments2024-01-09T17:16:02.647+07:00Comments on JOTMAN: Viktor Bout's powerful friend in the KremlinJotmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02485510513271661365noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post-29078800334955059852010-08-25T22:46:30.975+07:002010-08-25T22:46:30.975+07:00Brilliant blog, I had not noticed jotman.blogspot....Brilliant blog, I had not noticed jotman.blogspot.com before in my searches!<br />Keep up the superb work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5491095.post-51106252034539037622010-08-25T08:13:15.886+07:002010-08-25T08:13:15.886+07:00Hi Jotman,
"Civiliki" (as opposed to &q...Hi Jotman,<br /><br />"Civiliki" (as opposed to "siloviki") appears to be only a fringe term at the moment, not used in the mainstream discussion. They may also be referred to as the "liberal wing" grouped around, or leaning towards Pres. Medvedev, rather than PM Putin. I don't know for sure, but I would imagine that many if not most of these "liberal wing" would have varying degrees of aversion (repulsion even) towards Surkov's ideology, especially his use of youth organizations.<br /><br />Re: all the fuss about Viktor Bout. The use of the Ministry Exterior to voice support for Bout seems to have backfired at home. Now more people than last year are pointing at the potential links in the Kremlin - something that was not very evident when Bout was just jailed. This is intensified by the instances of the usual indifference when ordinary Russians overseas are jailed on mundane visa offenses (often through no fault of their own, e.g. in India) or otherwise get in get trouble and the Russian consulates seem to be perfectly comfortable with that.<br /><br />Much-publicized cases of the past, when the Russian government expended enormous efforts to repatriate somehow "valuable" criminals (e.g. Yaponchik, Adamov) now seem to contribute to this negative impression.<br /><br />Whether the current Kremlin figures were really implicated in the illegal arms trade, or they simply wanted to use the case for anti-Western PR at home, this time their efforts to release him are firing back at them. The recent chain of natural and man-made disasters was an eye-opening experience for many.<br /><br /><br />SanjuroAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com