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RUSSIA NOW 03
Russian Public Opinion Research Center
sochi2014.com/en
SECTION SPONSORED BY ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA
Official Web site of the Sochi Games
WWW.RBTH.RU
Politics & Society
The End
of the Gulag
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 stealing a hat. “Why? He is not has been home to Marina
coming back any better from Vysotskaya. Vysotskaya, 27, was
For the rest of the women, the there,” Medvedev also said. The convicted for murder and sen-
day at the colony, called IK-3, President ordered the release of tenced to 10 years in prison
starts with morning exercises in two men in Krasnoyarsk, in Si- when she was 19 years old. Her
the snowy jailyard at 7 a.m. All beria, who were imprisoned for bed in the corner by the win-
women work 8 hours a day sew- stealing a chicken. dow has little pink curtains for
ing uniforms for prison service Maria Kannabikh, a member privacy. Like all the beds, it is
guards. In their leisure time, they of the Public Chamber, a group identified with a label with her
can watch television, play chess of appointed advisers to the name and her crime on it: “For
and even rehearse plays and government, and author of the Murder.”
musical programs. reform, said life will be much “My character has changed
Yevgenia Lemekhova, 25, was harder for about 400,000 Rus- in prison,” she said. “I think of
convicted of stealing 7,000 ru- sian recidivists. Most of them life in a different, more adult
bles ($250) from an acquain- will not have a right to work, way. I like the order in this col-
tance, and she is hoping the study or meet with relatives. ony.”
reforms will get her out of the “The system is in renewal,” Vysotskaya said she was con-
prison soon. she said. “The state invests in cerned that the reform would
Lemekhova, a shy girl fold- new modern prisons; the new require IK-3 wardens to move
ing camouflage jackets in neat Minister of Justice and the di- her to a much more isolated
bundles in the sewing depart- rector of Federal Prison Service prison for the last two years of Yevgenia Lemekhova (left), 25, and Vera Aleshina, 28, are inmates at the Kineshma correctional facility.
ment, could end up spending plan to improve Russian jails up her sentence, separating her
the remaining two and a half to the European level.” from the inmates she has served
years of her 5-year sentence at Kannabikh also mentioned with for many years. not believe that convicts like Federal Prison Service man- said. “The Gulag is a system of rious faces. Couples began the
a newly opened prison colony that by cutting today’s 360,000 This reform is just one step Vysotskaya should be trans- agers have begun to meet with injustice, of threats, of psycho- Cha-Cha.
with lighter conditions. There, prison staff by at least one third, on the path to reducing crime ferred from large camp-style outside experts experienced in logical and physical pressure. Of course, women dressed
she will be allowed to wear her the reform would help to in- in Russia, the prison manager prisons such as IK-3 to institu- monitoring human rights vio- The reform is focused on as women danced with other
civilian clothes and work and crease the salaries of the remain- of IK-3, Tatyana Vakhromeyeva, tions where the prisoners are lations in prisons. At a meeting changing the facilities; it should women dressed as men. And
spend her money outside the ing employees, and eventually said. Other agencies must also separated. She worries that in December, Lev Ponomarev, also pay attention to changing for this performance at least,
fence. She could also appeal to make the profession more re- change. such a move will hamper her the leader of the Moscow-based the culture of the Gulag.” the misdemeanor criminals
be allowed to return to her spected. “We should change “We see a significant increase potential to succeed when re- group For Human Rights, and Earlier this month there was danced with the felony con-
apartment in Murmansk, as the attitude and make this pro- in drug crime, and also a lot leased. a former Soviet dissident, de- a dance performance at IK-3. victs, the shoplifters swung with
home detention was legalized fession as respected as it is in more robberies and theft cases “Long-term convicts are used scribed cases in which convicts The dining room was trans- the murderers, and they did
in Russia on Jan. 1. Sweden or Norway,” she said. nowadays,” she said. “That hap- to interacting with a diverse had to pay money to prison formed into a concert hall for so gracefully, adorned in red
In announcing the reform, Some inmates, and pens because the system does group of people,” Vakhromeye- guards just to be able to sur- the occasion, and looked tidy glossy miniskirts.
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Medvedev said he was sad- even guards, are concerned not assist convicts after they va said. “The transfer to prisons vive their term. and festive, even a little bit
dened to learn of a person who about the coming reforms. come out of prison.” will break them psychological- “The Gulag is not just walls magical. Two inmates operat- See a video and slideshow at
went to prison for two years for For the last eight years, IK-3 Vakhromeyeva said she does ly,” she added. and barbed wire,” Ponomarev ed the sound system with se- www.rbth.ru
Sochi: An Olympic Makeover
tion in Olympic funding. With Architecture Moscow
little or no access to local tele-
vision, he came in a distant sec- becomes a city of copies
ond to Anatoly Pakhomov, the
incumbent and a member of
March. After protests and media the dominant United Russia
reports, 100 plots of land will party.
Cityscapes
not be bought up after all, said In the city itself, construction
Taimuraz Bolloyev, head of is moving ahead. The founda-
Olimpstroi, which is in charge tions of the main ice arena, In the past two decades, which was one of the biggest
of construction—a decision that, which will host ice hockey, have Moscow has lost more than civil movements for changes in
some locals said, shows the gov- been laid. They have also bro- 1,000 historically important the Soviet system.
ernment is beginning to listen. ken ground on the Ice Palace, buildings. Can a growing The impetus for the new
But some seizures appear un- which will host the ice skating preservation movement work movement goes back to 2004,
avoidable. competition. with authorities to stem the when three of Moscow’s most
Another fear for many is the “There are no worries. The destruction? famous buildings, all within walk-
environmental impact of the construction is going accord- ing distance of the Kremlin, were
construction close to the pro- ing to plan, but we constantly
KEVIN O’FLYNN
hit by disaster; a fire destroyed
posed port and in the Sochi na- tell the organizers, 'Don’t lose SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW the 19th-century Manezh and
tional park, where the bobsled time!'” said Jacques Rogge, the the city ordered a wrecking ball
and luge track and the moun- head of the International Olym- Many foreign visitors to Mos- for the Hotel Moskva and Voen-
tain Olympic Village are set to pic Committee, in an interview cow enjoy a visit to Cafe Push- torg, a military department store
be built. earlier this month with the Rus- kin, an ornate villa-turned-res- built in 1910.
President Medvedev has or- sian financial newspaper Vedo- taurant from the early 19th Moskva.kotory.net, or the
dered constant monitoring so mosti. century. Except it is all a fake. “Moscow That No Longer Is,”
that no damage is done, but Vladislav Kuzmichev, a recent Cafe Pushkin is a pastiche that, began as a Web site. The group
local and international ecologi- visitor to Sochi, and business even for those campaigning for expanded and helped to estab-
cal organizations like the World editor for Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow’s architectural heritage, lish Archnadzor, which banded
Wildlife Fund say that there are noted that the journey from the didn't seem so bad. Then the together the disparate preser-
still strong concerns about dam- airport to the city center, “now same owners gutted and rav- vation groups together.
age to the park and the marsh- takes only 20 minutes instead aged the estate next door to
lands near the port. of 90, thanks to the ring road, serve Asian fusion.
Another worry is whether the which was opened last year.” This has been the sad archi- Moskva.kotory.net,
$6.25 billion—lowered from an In other praise, he added that tectural story of Moscow over
or the “Moscow
earlier forecast of $12 billion be- “the airport road was also up- the last decade and a half, where
Sochi’s outer districts remain a construction site—riling both hope and hatred among residents. cause of cost-saving technolo- graded and you no longer have historical buildings have been
That No Longer Is,”
gies and measures, according to to meander between a cliff and demolished, burned and gut-
[was] a site devoted
local officials—will be well ac- a precipice.” ted with abandon. Three his- to a lost Moscow.
mountains at Krasnaya Polyana compensation lower than the counted for. Roads have begun to im- toric buildings, including one
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
where the snow sports will be market value. With even the Russian presi- prove, agreed Tsevava, although dating back to the 18th centu-
“There is a lot being built,” said played out, and a coastal clus- “They are taking away the dent saying that corruption in he admitted that for now, four ry, were hit by suspicious fires The group combines educa-
Viktor Tsevava, editor of the local ter that will feature ice hockey, rights of people,” said Valery Russia is at epidemic levels, there years before the start of the in the past two months. tional activities, protests and
newspaper Nash Dom Sochi ice skating and other ice-based Suchkov, head of a residents’ as- are fears that big sums will be games, there is still a lot of con- An exhibition running at Mos- legal efforts to change laws and
(Our House is Sochi). “The Olym- sports. sociation, which is campaigning siphoned off. gestion in Sochi. “Nobody likes cow’s Shchusev Museum of Ar- put buildings on protected
pic Games will last for two weeks, One of the main legacies of against any forced sales. “We are In a mayoral election last year, to live in a building site,” he chitecture contrasts how Mos- lists. Some of its proposals have
but then everything will stay in the games, according to the like victims-in-waiting.” the opposition leader and for- said.
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cow looked in 1993 with how been accepted by the city, ac-
Sochi.” Sochi organizing committee, is Hundreds of people have been mer deputy prime minister, Boris it looks today. “Moscow has suf- cording to activists.
Sochi is on the east side of the “to rejuvenate the city,” leading told that they have to move out Nemtsov, accused authorities of See a video and slideshow at fered changes of a fantastic scale The organization has attract-
Black Sea, on a spot where the to a “significant improvement of their homes by the end of turning a blind eye to corrup- www.rbth.ru in front of our eyes,” said Alex- ed a large number of volunteers,
Greeks landed more than 2,000 in the quality of life of the peo- ander Mozhayev, the exhibition with lawyers, architects and stu-
years ago. The city is relatively ple in Sochi.” curator, at its opening. dents working together. The
young with the name appear- The games will leave behind The Moscow Architectural group recently touched a nerve
ing on maps atthe end of the new hotels, business centers,
Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov Speaks Out
Preservation Society (MAPS), a when a funeral parade with a
19th century. concert halls and many other non-governmental organization fake coffin in tow was organized
It was only when Stalin chose major facilities; a new state-of- set up by a group of interna- to visit the site of one of Mos-
the city as the site for his sum- the-art airport terminal has al- How will the Olympics alter sales by organizing several tional architects and journalists cow's former historical buildings.
mer dacha in the 1930s that it ready been built. Sochi’s cityscape? farmers’ markets in the vicin- (including this writer), estimates The protest was met by riot po-
began to expand and become With Sochi also hosting the The city will look completely ity of Sochi. that the city has lost more than lice at every spot.
the preferred resort town of the Paralympics, the aim is also to different by 2014. We’re build- 1,000 historically significant Provincial towns are also vul-
Soviet Union. make the Russian city accessible ing a new embankment like What’s the biggest problem buildings, including more than nerable to crass development.
Alexei Shchusev, who de- for the disabled, a huge step for- Dubai's Palm Islands, but on a you’ve encountered? 200 listed buildings, in the last MAPS recently produced a re-
signed Lenin’s tomb, was among ward in a country where even more modest scale. We’ll also The mentality of our residents: two decades. port on Samara, a merchant
the architects who came to the the capital is virtually impossible launch a water taxi service, They’ll have to learn to wel- One positive effect of these town that was once an eclectic
city in the 1930s, as it became for any wheelchair user to navi- which will alleviate traffic con- come visitors and maintain a changes on the city landscape mix of architecture, from charm-
a favorite not only for the elite gate. But for some Sochi citizens, gestion in the city center. Keep clean city. has been a growing architec- ing wooden izbas to Construc-
but for workers who were re- the city’s overhaul is disruptive in mind Sochi is the world’s tural preservation movement. tivism.
warded with trips to the seaside and unwelcome. second longest city, stretching And this can change in four “If somebody had told us then The report stated that Samara
and stays at state-built spas. Russia passed a law that al- along the Black Sea coast. years? what would happen to our city was threatened by “destruction
The official Sochi flag has a lowed the state to purchase land Our goal is to make Sochi com- Definitely. For example, we’re we would not have believed as devastating as the bombing
very busy design, featuring not for the Winter Olympic Games. fortable for residents and visi- It is a major problem. We low- banning smoking in pub- them,” said Mozhayev. and shelling of European cities
only a palm tree and a sun but Residents in Imeretinskaya—the tors, particularly the disabled. ered airline prices by inviting lic places and making the The architectural preservation in World War II.” In response,
a cloud with snow emerging Sochi neighborhood where the several low-cost carriers to city more foreigner friendly movement had its heyday in the local authorities promised to
from it. The Games play on this coastal complex will be built— The main reason tourists don’t fly here. by encouraging residents to 1970s when enthusiasts helped help MAPS organize the resto-
unique proximity of sea and have protested, saying they are come to Sochi is high prices. We’ve also focused on cut- take special training courses stop the razing of historical Mos- ration of a 19th century wood-
snow with two structural clus- being harassed to sell their How will you deal with this? ting out the middleman in food in English. cow then. It became part of the en building as a precedent for
ters for the Games, one in the homes, but are being offered Green movement in the 1980s, preservation.
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