In uniform

Do Russians want to breathe?

June 3, 2020 Igor Yakovenko

Photo: employees of the Russian Guard. Artem Geodakyan/TASS

“The Kremlin is closely observing the unrest in the United States,” Dmitry Peskov, the official representative of this architectural monument, strictly remarked. And he added specifically for those who are inclined to denigrate, incite and thrown: “The problem of excess of authority by the police in Russia is not as acute as in the United States, parallels are inappropriate.” The difference, according to the official representative, is that it turns out to be “in Russia the issues of exceeding by police powers is strictly regulated by applicable laws and official instructions.”

Peskov is right - parallels are really inappropriate. And this proves, in particular, the shooting by the Rosgvardists of a person for supposedly stolen wallpaper.

This happened in the evening of May 31 in the concrete microdistrict in Yekaterinburg. During the assault on the apartment in a multi-storey building on the Dawn Street, the employees of the Russian Guard shot her 27-year-old tenant. All this happened in the presence of the father of the deceased, who claims that the son was alive for some time, but law enforcement officers were in no hurry to call doctors.

Everything is monstrous in this story. The store administration claims that Vladimir Taushankov, who was killed by the Rosgvardey, threatened them with a knife and abducted 8 (eight) wallpaper rolls. At the same time, there is no video on which it would be possible to make sure that he committed a crime. But there is good quality video, which convincingly indicates that Taushenkov is pursued by two, one of which has a scrap in his hands, and Taushenkov himself has no wallpaper rolls.


Photo: E1.ru

The call of the Russian Guard itself on the fact of the theft of wallpaper, even if it took place, causes bewilderment. Why did they limit themselves to half measures and did not attract the FSB special forces, tanks and VKS? And shooting to defeat in a person who, as a “weapon” in his hands, was a piece shooting with plastic balls, indicates the unprecedented courage and professionalism of the Rosguard, who are not able to distinguish a toy from the gunshot.

But after a valiant assault and the murder of an unarmed man, the Russian Guard showed miracles of quick wits. The father of the deceased told reporters that after the assault he was taken to the police department, where they tried to convince that his son took him hostage, and the police released him.

Two days after the employees of the Russian Guard opened fire to defeat and killed a person, the official representative of this office Valery Gribakin opened his mouth and announced that the murdered Vladimir Taushenkov was not a worthy member of society, but, on the contrary, was previously convicted of drug distribution. In addition, according to Gribakin, they suddenly found a bag with knives and crossbow in the apartment. It is possible that in the course of a more thorough search in the apartment of the murdered explosives, Yarosh’s business card and a personal letter with parting instructions from the late Osama Ben Laden, which will make it possible to award the Rosguard officers who eliminated the most dangerous villain.

Peskov is right, parallels with the United States are really inappropriate. The killed by the police George Floyd was also not a moral person. Nevertheless, the police killer is facing a long prison term, and other police officers who were present during the murder have already been fired, and they are facing the accusation of complicity. Mass unrest, the trigger to which the murder of George Floyd was outgrown into pogroms and robberies. Nevertheless, the US police feels his responsibility for the murder of a person, despite the fact that during his lifetime this person committed crimes, and his death served as a reason for mass atrocities. Police in a number of US cities knelt before the protesters, apologizing for their colleague, who killed a black American. These actions caused indignation and ridicule for many Russians who came to the United States, who are convinced that in no case should they apologize to the “blacks”, and protests should be suppressed by force. How is it done in Putin's Russia, from which for some reason they left. America is really going through complex times, we can say a political crisis caused by a clear inconsistency of the level of political elites to the scale of modern challenges. But the United States is a living country with a powerful civil society, with the stunning skill of citizens to self -organization and working institutions. All this gives guarantees that the United States and this crisis will overcome, like all previous ones.



Photo: 06.06.2020. Mass protests in the United States due to death in Minneapolis due to the actions of the police of the African American George Floyd. Zuma \ TASS

And this is the difference from Russia, in which there is none of the above. The execution of Vladimir Taushenkov also caused a mass protest. True, not quite the same as in the USA. Member of the Libertarian Party Mikhail Svetov launched a hashtag #russianlivesMatter on Twitter (“Russians' lives matter”). This is undoubtedly the correct initiative that deserves all support, I say this without any irony. But something tells me that neither Zolotov, nor his boss, nor the killers themselves will be scared by promotions on Twitter ...

In order for people to protest, overcoming the fear of repression, a trigger event is necessary. The reason for the events of 1917 was that bread was not brought to shops in St. Petersburg. The reason for the protests (not to be confused with pogroms, for which no reason) in the United States was the murder of George Floyd. The murder of Vladimir Taushenkov for Russia will definitely not become a trigger event. However, like the numerous killings of much better famous people. Protesters in the United States wrote words on the posters that the killed Floyd said: "I can’t breathe!" It is difficult to say that and when can make the Russians go out in order to change their lives. Perhaps we just do not want to breathe as much as the Americans want it?

Photo: 02.06.2020. Russia. Moscow. A girl with a poster during the detention by police officers near the building of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow on Petrovka, where a series of single pickets is held, caused by the death of a resident of Yekaterinburg, who resisted the employees of the Russian Guard with the detention. Artem Geodakyan/TASS