visiting Russia

[Yoshimasa Tsuji]

Dear Emily,
Nothing to worry about, really. I came back from a month's visit
to Moscow and Petersburg two weeks ago and can say it is as safe and
dangerous as before. Here's some notes.
  1. Russian mass media all of a sudden panickingly announced and
    denounced NATO's air strike against Serbia so much as to say
    the West would strike Russia very soon.
  2. Russians know very little about Kosovo, about the fact the
    Kosovars are being massacred or driven away out of the country
    and that the West is scared of hundreds of thousands of refugees
    pouring out.
  3. What a man in the street in Russia knows is that the West began
    shooting Serbia, intervening in the purely internal affair of Serbia,
    and refusing any negotiations. If a Russian knows a little more,
    it is very likely that Slovodan Milosevic is a son of an Orthodox
    priest and a good friend of Russia.
  4. At first, there was a wave of anti-US hysteria. US embassies and
    consulates were surrounded by angry demonstrators, shooted at
    by an automatic weapon, Communists and Liberal Democrats called
    for a war with America, tried to send volunteers to Serbia, and so
    on. The doors of the US students in the MGU dormitory were covered
    by angry protest sheets. One of my Russian acquaintances was so
    terrified that she prayed all night so that America would not
    bombard her apartment the following day.
  5. However, the Russian leadership seem to be much more prudent
   than mass media and are very unlikely to declare war against NATO.
   All they would do is supplying materials (fuel and food in particular)
   for Serbia. The talk about sending part of the army to Serbia has
   petered out by now.
  6. The US consulate has warned US citizens to strictly keep low
   profiles among the Russians: not to wear US T-shirts, speak loudly
   in public places, etc. That is a wise warning because foreigners are
   supposed to be very rich and very likely to be attacked by thugs
   for money all this while, which will go on even if the war in Serbia
   ends peacefully.
  7. I have found out that it is no use arguing with Russians about
    Kosovo. It is best to quickly get out of sight if asked of your
    opinion.
In general, nothing has changed as far as the attitude to the people
from the West is concerned (a target to rob, that is).

Russia is a dangerous country and students need to be extra careful.
That has been said for many years and is unlikely to change. But,
mind you, the official attitude of the Russian government towards
the West is that of a friend (they are still talking about a peace
treaty with Japan, which is ludicrous), and you are supposed to be
protected by the police in Russia (note: when a US co-ed was raped
in the street near the entrance of MGU -- last summer or before --
militia men simply watched it as no one was interested in rescuing
a black).

It is true that nothing is predictable in Russia. A civil war may
break out tomorrow, for example. No one knows. Let us hope that
the US intelligence service is good enough to advise us to
leave the country before it is too late.

Cheers,
Tsuji