visiting Russia

[Mark Yoffe]

Oh, these dumb Russians...



Yoshimasa Tsuji wrote:
>
> 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

--
Mark Yoffe, Ph.D. Curator, International Counterculture Archive
Slavic Librarian, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
HTTP://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~yoffe
E-mail: yoffe at gwis2.circ.gwu.edu   Phone: 202 994-6303