The Tale of How Aleksandr Pochkov Quarreled with Vladimir Vladimirovich
5 Aug 2010
Aleksandr Pochkov (aka 'top_lap') & Vladimir Putin
The wild fires catastrophe has made this first week in August rather unpleasant for many in Russia. The death toll climbed to fifty people today, and more are likely to perish before the week’s end. Russia’s agriculture production is so threatened that the government is allegedly planning to ban grain exports. Hundreds of homes have burned to the ground and the ecological damage will last for decades to come.
In the whirlwind of all this destruction, a curious little episode emerged between Aleksei Venediktov (chief editor of Ekho Moskvy), an anonymous Internet-user, and Vladimir Putin himself.
A few days ago, Venediktov passed along to Putin an unsigned obscenity-filled open letter from a resident of the Tverskaia Oblast’ (since unmasked as Aleksandr Pochkov) criticizing the government response to the fires. It’s unclear why, but Putin actually responded to the anonymous letter — personally.
I’m sure many will read Putin’s response as another installment in his epic book of cool, but I happen to think this is only a plus for Vova insomuch as he wrote back at all. (If only we could all have our leaders for pen pals.) The actual content of his letter — its sarcasm and concluding offer to ‘return the fire alarm bell’ — seems to make light of a pretty serious problem, namely the embarrassing poverty of the Russian countryside. I enjoy the regular Putin wisecrack about American imperialism, but it seems like he should have left this one alone. At any rate, this is at least proof that the Kremlin’s top dog is paying attention.
As it turns out, Mr. Pochkov, aka “top_lap” on LiveJournal, is a 28-year-old Muscovite whose mother is rather ashamed that her son caused this whole scandal. (She pleaded with reporters not to make fun of him.) If that doesn’t discredit Putin’s ‘outreach effort’ enough, Pochkov also told Komsolmol’skaia Pravda that he plans to become president one day. He’s obviously a man of big ideas.
Read my full translation of the original exchange for yourself:
Do you know why we’re burning?
Because it’s all fucked. I’ll explain. I have a dacha in a village 153 km [95 miles] from Moscow, in the Tverskaia oblast’. This village is the sort of place where everyone lives nose-to-nose and shares common fences, or — like my neighbor and me — no fences at all. I’ve got nothing to hide from him and don’t need the fucking thing. And since he’s a local, he also looks after my house when I’m away, even mowing my lawn. After all, what’s good for his cows does no harm to my grass. The lawn grows back fast. But let’s get back to the fires.
In this village under those asshole communists, whom everyone shits on, there were three reservoirs for fighting fires [pozharnye prudy], an alarm bell hung (which was sounded in case of a fire), and miraculously there was even a fire truck. Now sure there was just one for three villages — but there was still a truck. And then came Mr. Democrat and his friends to fuck everything up. First they filled in the reservoirs and sold the land to developers. Next they divvied off the fire truck to God knows where (aliens probably snatched it), and they changed the alarm bell into a phone (fucking “modernization”). Only the piece of shit doesn’t work because they forgot to connect the line. There’s still a fireman, yes, but he’s got nothing left but a helmet and a coat (left over from those terrible communists). Here’s how he works: about fifteen years ago, a fire started in the neighboring village. They promptly sent us a messenger, and we ran back to help put it out. Our fireman got dressed in his uniform, grabbed two buckets, filled them with water and (this part is still a mystery to me) hopped on a bicycle, and came with us to put out the fire. It was laughter and sin together. Someone called [another] fire department, but they only arrived at the end of everything (five hours later) because they had to come from Tver’. Using everything within reach — sand, water, even spitting — we somehow managed to save all but one house.
Do I have any questions? [In response to the government soliciting citizens to write in.] Where are our tax dollars going? Why every year do we slip further and further toward a more primitive social order? Fuck the innovation center in Skolkovo if we don’t even have something as elementary as fire trucks! Why did there used to be people like the forest rangers, who warned people about fires and quickly conveyed the information to firefighters, so it wasn’t allowed to reach residences? I don’t want a telephone in the village — I want reservoirs for fighting fires and I want my alarm bell back. Give me back the fucking bell and dig me another reservoir, and I’ll fill it in and take care of it myself. If the regional authorities are game, just give me the space.
Understand me, Mr. Bureaucrat, Russia doesn’t need all your shitty genius ideas. Well before you, smart Russians — real men [muzhiki] — already figured this stuff out. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. It was invented a long time ago and it works just fine, as long as you keep your nose out of our business.* Stop charging me taxes, or just cut off my pension deductions. I’m not going to live to retirement age in this kind of life, anyway. With the [saved] money, I’ll buy a fire truck for three villages and sleep soundly, knowing nobody will take it away from my people, from my neighbors, because that bitch will be ours and we’d kill anyone who tried. If you deputies and distinguished officials piss on us because we actually give a shit about ourselves and our neighbors, then let us live the way we want, happily and in peace [schastlivo i khorosho].
[But] we don’t expect much from you. We all understand that your life principle is that everyone around you should need you. But you’re mistaken. It’s you who needs us — and in a big way. Believe me.
So give me back my alarm bell, you bitches, and shove your fucking phone up your asses.
I ask you to convey my letter to the Kalyazinskii Region authorities, in the Tverskaia oblast’.
Thank you in advance. ~top_lap
Dear honorable Internet user,
At the end of the workday today, inhaling (as did all of Moscow) the smoke of the forests burning outside the city, with great interest and pleasure did I learn of your assessment of the summer fires situation that’s befallen central Russia.
Fair’s fair, one ought to point out that Russia hasn’t had such high temperatures for over 140 years — not even under the communists, that is.
This at least partly vindicates the authorities, who — while certainly responsible for fighting natural disasters — are only for the first time encountering something of this size on such a scale.
However, in general, I agree with your comments.
You are, of course, a remarkably plainspoken and direct person. All the more power to you! [Prosto molodets]
And you are undoubtedly a man of letters. If you had made your living as a writer, you could be living — like Lenin’s favorite writer Gorky — in Capri.**
However, even there you wouldn’t feel yourself entirely safe, insomuch as both Europe and the U.S. face the same mass-scale natural disasters. Suffice it to recall how many forests burned in Europe last year or the year before.
Despite all our problems and troubles, I hope you and I both make it to retirement age.
All necessary funds for disaster management and other pressing issues have already been dispatched from the federal budget to reimburse victims.
If you provide your address, your governor will receive an alarm bell right away.
Sincerely,
Vladimir Putin
*Here the author employs a Russian saying: “Со свиным рылом в калашный ряд,” which means literally, “With a pig’s snout to the bread market.”
**Gorky spent much of his exiled years in Capri, Italy, before the October Revolution.
Fires, the bell tolls for thee.
As promised, Putin had the alarm bell delivered to Vysokovo, where Pochkov’s family has their dacha. Pictured above is his mother, Natalia, ringing the thing — in what appears to be a deserted open field. Clearly, the town is now safe from any forest fires.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 14:44:18
If the sarcasm had been in response to someone writing the same complaint in a professional or respectful tone, I think it would be profoundly inappropriate. And while we can all understand (and even share) the letter-writer’s anger, I do think it is questionable whether using such language is acceptable, or at the minimum, constructive, when dealing with authorities. That fact Putin (or his people or whomever) responded to it all is remarkable in that I don’t think I can see someone like Obama or Sarkozy giving a second of their time to someone who would insult their authority by using that tone with them. Of course, Putin could have made no allusion to the hysterical obscenities used by the author. I think that would have seemed detatched and condescending anyway, like he was ignoring the brute anger in the letter. I think he used the sarcastic humour to deflate the tension, acknowledge it, but not endorse it. Met the author half-way along the axis of professionalism.
I don’t think there is anything Putin, or anyone, can say, or any way he can say it, now to address the issue. Actions are the only things that can begin to make up for the suffering all these people have had to endure.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 18:21:33
Putin would have been perfectly fine ignoring the letter specifically because it contained so much foul language. But when he chose to respond, I think he should have done so a little more imperially — without the jokes about Capri (or the unprovoked ‘the West gets fires too’ comment), and without making light of resource-shortages by promising to get a bell to the governor. Just seems low to me.
But still, pretty funny all around!
Aug 05, 2010 @ 18:35:49
But his classic MO when the peasants are rioting is snarky populist, not enlightened imperialist. (Which may ironically feed the phenomenon of people expecting him to personally solve their problems, be they caused by an act of nature or greedy bosses.)
I mean I agree with you about what he could have done… I am thinking about the Katyn crash, and the way he handled that with class. Then again, he is classy when he is not on the defensive. I mean, we are talking about the same person who said, “It sank.”
Aug 06, 2010 @ 10:32:10
I agree that this is more snarky populism. I’m sure many of his fans think it’s pretty cool. It cultivates pride in Vova the same way Zhirinovsky’s insane ramblings inspire Russians to say, “Ah, but who else has a Zhirik like we do!”
It’s cute. Long live the circus.
But, on a personal note, this was, I think, pretty unnecessary, and Putin looks like a jerk, belittling a random guy upset about his town having lost its fire truck.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 15:16:05
“like those dear writers Lenin and Gorky”
Wrong translation here, I think. Should be: “like Lenin’s favourite writer Gorky”
Aug 05, 2010 @ 15:19:41
Good call. Fixed.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 17:01:17
As for the post itself, I suppose that Putin’s response was absolutely adequate to the original message which is nothing less than a hysterical jumble of obscenities and appeals to “leave us alone and help us!”. The sarcastic tone of the response would be completely unacceptable if addressed a formal complaint, even extremely silly one. Or if that blogger suffered from the fire in any way.
Don’t forget, the government has already promised to rebuild all the houses destroyed by the fire, although it wasn’t obliged to do so. (compare with 2007 California wildfires). Unfortunately, many take this help for granted.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 17:59:28
While I think this Aleksandr fellow is probably a bit of a fool, I wouldn’t describe his rant as a mere jumble of obscenities. He’s expressing some basic nostalgia for an era that probably never existed. He’s only twenty-eight, which means that — despite his kind words for the communists — he was all of nine-years-old when the Soviet Union collapsed. He also recalls this fire from fifteen years ago, when he could only have been thirteen.
So he’s a bit of a dreamer and possibly just plain bonkers, but I don’t think he’s suffering from any kind of madness that isn’t widespread. If only for that reason, I think Putin should have tread more lightly.
I don’t quite understand your distinction with “a formal complaint.” I’m sure there are administrative codes of conduct and so on, but I don’t see why that makes it fine to speak down to citizens through “more informal” channels.
As for the pledge to rebuild the homes, hey I think that’s great. But, if Pochkov is telling the truth and his town really doesn’t even have a fire truck within five hours, then it’s hardly a reason for Putin to joke about sending him an alarm bell.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 18:57:27
First of all it was exactly a rant. If you take a closer look at his journal, it’s practically filled with incoherent rants about various topics. He manages to extol the communists and self-reliance in the same post.
So how should Putin have trodden more lightly? To answer in a formal tone? He would definitely have made a fool of himself that way. I agree with you that the conventional approach is to ignore such messages. But I don’t see much of speaking down there (in the sense of disdain for uneducated churls), but rather a caustic sarcasm directed at the general style of the letter. I don’t know if it’s acceptable in the Western political world, but here, In Russia, I can assure you that Putin scored some points by answering like he did.
I wouldn’t rely so heavily on Pochkov’s anecdotal evidence here. A fire truck can arrive in Tver oblast directly from Moscow in five hours. Of course, it doesn’t mean that he’s lying here. What annoys me most is the complete inability of Russian citizens to deal with local authorities. They are usually the first to bemoan about authorities, but the last to do anything about them. I bet that nobody filed any formal complaint, nobody made sure that it was properly handled, etc. Very typical, unfortunately.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 10:25:08
I agree that it was a rant — I just think it amounts to somewhat more than swear words. (Though, you make an excellent point about how he manages kind words for both the communists and self-reliance all in the same post. He’s all over the map.)
Putin may well have scored points with the tone of this response (though I’d like to understand why exactly anyone would pat him on the back for this). Gazeta.ru has entertained this interpretation, arguing that Putin spontaneously decided to act to reverse his recent PR flub in Nizhnii Novgorod.
But, sure, this isn’t an existential threat to the man. Heavens no.
You make a good point about the frequency with which Russians complain without ever pursuing official channels properly. I’ve read nothing about Pochkov having failed to reach the Tver’ authorities. Indeed, KomPravda reports that both Tver’skaia and Kaliazinskaia officials never heard anything from him. It also sounds like Pochkov didn’t quite have his ear of the town’s population, either. The people quoted by KomPravda seem pretty ambivalent about the whole situation, though the absence of a reliable reservoir and fire truck are, I’m sure, worthwhile concerns.
All that aside, none of this comes as any shock. That the Russian people are complicit in the lousiness of Russian bureaucracy makes sense. I know I blame my own people, the Americans, for most of the rotten things our authorities do.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 11:36:12
Whether Putin’s response was a successful PR stunt or not – I guess that depends. Those who supported him before will root for him even more (didn’t get floored by dubious complaints), those who hated him will fume more (Putyara once again showed his imperial boorishness).
I’ve noticed that you often refer to Gazeta.ru, but is has a strongly pronounced liberal slant (Milov and Latynina have op/eds there), so it’s little wonder that they conjured some theory.
Addressing your dissatisfaction that the Russian authorities too often resort to comparisons with the West (as Ed Lucas calls it “whataboutism”), it’s a double-edged sword. Of course it widely used to cover up flagrant shortcomings and errors of some chinovniks (as in famous “And you are lynching Negroes”). But the other side is also true. I’m sure you’re well familiar with the Western media (such wonderful newspapers as WSJ, FT, The Economist, etc.) Russia gets routinely measured up against some abstract ridiculous standards (“democracy”, corruption, aggressiveness, etc), while critics fail to notice any shortcomings at home. And there are many protesters in Russia that demand “Putin performed awfully, he must go”. So it’s absolutely necessary to look around and compare Russia with USA and Britain, for instance. They are undoubtedly more developed, both economically and politically. If the most rich state in the USA, California, didn’t fare any better – why is Putin to blame for grave consequences of the current fires?
Aug 06, 2010 @ 11:51:37
I’m sure you’re right that this won’t change opinions about Putin. I only offered my reaction to this exchange as a ‘personal observation.’ (See what I filed this post under.)
I’m definitely aware that Gazeta.ru has a liberal agenda. The article I linked to in my response, though, was from their politics desk — not their editorial staff. (Sure, it doesn’t mean there’s no opinion, but I do think that particular piece was fairly objective.)
Also, I agree that the Western media criticizes Russia without any sense of irony, totally oblivious to similar outrages and failures that occur at home. That said, the current problems with the fires should be open to public scrutiny. Whatever happened in California, Russia (or anybody else) can always do more to better respond to natural disasters. This is a conversation that can and should happen whenever it’s necessary.
And finally, out of curiosity, I wonder where you read that CA hasn’t fared its wildfires any better than Russia? It seems to me that most journalists (Miriam Elder, Julia Ioffe, etc.) are attacking the official response more than they are bemoaning the amount of destruction.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 12:12:37
I used California wildfires only as example, I don’t know how the CA authorities handled the whole issue in detail, I’ve read only the most basic information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_California_wildfires#Response
http://www.fema.gov/hazard/wildfire/ca_2007.shtm
All I wanted to say is that it’s ok to use comparisons. Although, the matter is too complex for anyone who isn’t an expert to draw hasty conclusions.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 05:28:50
Sorry, but I found your (A Good Treaty) attitude somewhat difficult to to to understand (in this post).. I’ve read all this story well before your post & *never* even noticed the “uncalled for” etc reference to the US.. I think, you got the context wrong – nothing “anti-American” was intended in Putin’s reply & I bet US was the last thing he was thinking about in this his reply.
Second is “He’s expressing some basic nostalgia for an era that probably never existed” – what exactly do you know about this time? From American press or from the typical American “education” on the history of “Communism”? Or from what the immigrants to US say, because they have to conform in order to survive? Did you live there, under the “despicable” communists to and now can compare the conditions with the “now” – under the honorable “capitalists”, who sold the bell and the lot where the pond should have been? The author of the letter actually said that *he* will buy the car & look after fire – just STOP robbing him.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 10:09:02
If the U.S. was the last thing on Putin’s mind, then why on Earth did he even mention it? Why this wisecrack about how Europe and America also suffer natural disasters, as though Pochkov had accused Russian authorities of performing below Western standards? He never even suggested anything along these lines, and yet Putin felt it necessary — even “sufficient” — to bring it up.
Of course, this isn’t anti-American or anti-European, but it is political distraction. It says a lot that, whenever the Russian authorities are confronted by some (even potential) shortcoming, their initial reaction is to highlight that the West isn’t perfect either. Причем здесь Запад?? We’re talking about a local issue in Tver’!
I can see from your comments that you don’t have much love for American education as it concerns Russia or the Soviet Union. I’m not sure academia is quite the stronghold of “conformity in order to survive” that you think it is. To many, it’s the last bastion of Marxism and USSR-love. (I think this is a dumb way to understand American scholars, but it’s definitely a popular story you hear about U.S. universities.)
At any rate, I only meant to call into question Pochkov’s assessment of his village’s Soviet past because he was only a child when it still existed under communism. If you read KomPravda’s full article on Pochkov, his village, and his mother, one gets the impression that he’s prone to hyperbole — albeit creatively. (He was also very clearly drunk when the reporter interviewed him.) As kovane points out above, “he manages to extol the communists and self-reliance in the same post.” This is not a man with a levelheaded grasp of the world around him.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 20:39:29
Thanks for translating this exchange, AGT.
And I agree – such things would never happen in the US or Britain. Just as their leaders would never karaoke with their spies. They’re too “respectable” for that. Might happen in a place like Italy, though.
Aug 05, 2010 @ 20:47:00
“would never karaoke with their spies”
Again with your Western slander. They sang to live music.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 10:33:07
Anatoly, when will your campaign to destroy Russia’s honor end?
Aug 06, 2010 @ 12:08:53
My wife says Vladimir Putin was totally cool with the public-engagement thing when he was president; that he had channels in most every mass medium (open-question periods on television, Internet contact points, radio call-ins, etc…) where anyone could reach him and that he was very good about responding publicly. I’d say, just off the top of my head, that he’s a lot more accessible to his electorate than many western leaders.
As I began to read Pochkov’s letter, I initially thought he was just a hotheaded prick shooting off his mouth. By about the middle or so, I began to feel sorry for him, and to understand his obvious fury at a ridiculous situation that doesn’t permit people even the wherewithal to look after themselves. He’s right; how much would it cost to supply a municipal fire engine or two to a district whose size could be determined simply by overlaying circles on a map, enough protective gear for crew plus training, and set up a volunteer fire department? It’s completely doable, and extremely cost-effective when alternatives are considered. Many of our own rural areas are completely served by volunteer fire departments, who have saved many lives and millions of dollars in property, for no pay at all. The government supplies vehicles, equipment and training. Many of them are also serving military, who receive excellent fire, damage-control and first aid training already at government expense. What he’s asking is not at all unreasonable.
I agree Putin could have gone with a less lighthearted tone – however, I personally believe it was deliberate, not from ego but to reassure Pochkov that he was not going to get his legs broken or his tongue cut out for his intemperate remarks. Sounds like a pretty un-authoritarian response to me.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 12:35:21
Of course, Putin’s mass media meet-n-greets seem pretty staged. They also fit neatly into the ‘tsar batiushka’ narrative Julia Ioffe describes in her recent New Yorker piece:
Aug 06, 2010 @ 14:23:04
I can’t say I’m a regular follower of these television appearances, but I can’t immediately think of any western leaders who even attempt anything of the sort. I wonder if Julia would describe George Bush’s “Heck of a job, Brownie” visit to stricken New Orleans in the same venomous terms.
I’m not looking for adulation for Putin, just fairness. If Russia’s leaders stay remote and aloof from their subjects, they’re cold and indifferent. If they make any attempt, even one that looks suspiciously scripted, to connect, they’re Janus-faced tsars. There’s absolutely nothing short of throwing themselves out the nearest window that Medvedev or Putin could do to earn the slightest degree of positive recognition from Julia Ioffe. She’s sounding more and more like “hero journalist” Yulia Latynina.
Julia is reviewing the fire situation as if it were occurring in the United States, with nearly half the landmass and better than double the population.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 14:36:24
“Julia is reviewing the fire situation as if it were occurring in the United States, with nearly half the landmass and better than double the population.”
Is anyone writing about this? I have seen articles about forest management policies and emergency response failures, but have been wondering how much geography and population has played a role. Not just regarding how much fire there is, but the allocation of resources and infrastructure when you have many small pockets of population throughout such vast territory. It seems like the logistics of fighting multiple fires simultaneiously across the country would be a Hurculean task even with the best preparedness and response.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 14:50:38
That’s exactly the gist of it. Nobody knows how well-equipped fire services are, how much this cost, how effective they are, what are the scale of the fires. But babblers like Ioffe already have a couple of stereotypes ready: Putin is to blame, “tsar batiushka”, the barbaric nature of the Russians going back to Tatar-Mongols. Thank you very much, I’ve read the Western newspapers already.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 16:39:28
Reporters like Julia Ioffe and Miriam Elder, who are on the ground as this is happening, aren’t talking out of their asses. There is plenty of quite damning evidence out there about how rotten the coordination of the firefighting has been.
If you can’t stomach Western journalists, then have a look at this LifeNews interview with Viktor Biront, colonel at an airbase outside Moscow in the Kolomenskii raion. His team spent ten days fighting a massive fire that nearly destroyed the base — and they did it, according to the interview, virtually unaided by Moscow. He claims to have saved more than 40 million rubles worth of equipment.
Oh yeah, central authorities took credit for the success, and promptly fired him.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 17:16:28
I can tolerate both Western and Russian journalists just fine. As long as they’re doing their work well. I think it’s extremely naive to draw any conclusions based only on a testimony of eyewitnesses or wise ruminations of some journalist who has seen fire only in the form of matches.
Take the story you’ve mentioned. This Viktor Biront was a base commander, which means he was responsible for fire security as well. Nobody knows, maybe he was a complete failure and the fire is his fault. He has all reasons to portray himself as hero and victim here. Nevertheless, his story should be used in a official investigation.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 17:46:19
The scandal, I think, isn’t that the fire broke out, but that the central authorities left them to fend for themselves for ten days. And then bol’shie shishki marched through and fired the guy who led that effort.
I suppose it’s possible that Biront, by some error, let the thing happen in the first place. If you find some evidence to support that totally-unfounded theory, I’d be very interested to see it. Until then, it seems reasonable to believe that this unavoidable natural disaster hit Kolomenskii, and the vertical of power totally blew it. I’m not saying a Nemtsov-led democratic utopian state would have saved the day (that’s not even remotely on topic), but let’s not turn a blind eye to failures happening right now in the midst of these fires.
As for “wise ruminations” of journalists who have “seen fire only in the form of matches,” I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. Miriam Elder was in the thick of the fires. She suffered burns to her feet when she stepped into a boiling sandpit. This from Ioffe’s New Yorker article:
Aug 06, 2010 @ 18:07:15
The only thing I’m speaking against is hasty conclusions.
You’re absolutely right about the necessity to collect all the evidence of authorities’ failures. That[s indeed what is required of journalists. But trying to spin this information in the heat of the moment – not.
Today, I personally witnessed a fire. Does this suddenly make me an expert on fire safety?
Aug 06, 2010 @ 16:43:16
You make it sound like “attempting this sort of thing” is some kind of challenge. It’s a PR stunt! No risk involved. Bush padded his town hall meetings in roughly the same way. I think Obama is slightly better, but let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that Putin is somehow sticking his neck out there to ‘engage the people.’
Aug 06, 2010 @ 20:16:03
Let’s bear in mind that politicians typically pull Hey-look-at-me PR stunts when they’re stumping for re-election. Putin is in no danger of losing in that eventuality, so that motivation could reasonably be presumed absent.
Recall also that there are now more than 600 fires burning all across the country. During the accident at Chernobyl, heavy vehicles arrived from all across the Soviet Union to assist with evacuation, earth-moving, crowd control and medical emergency. This is entirely different, and the national firefighting and disaster relief organizations are totally inadequate to cope with it. All firefighting vehicles can be presumed to be at the front, not driving around aimlessly looking for a fire. Firefighting is exhausting, and you can only keep it up for so long (in ferocious heat wearing heavy protective gear) before collapsing.
In 2003, we had a terrible fire here in Okanagan Park, near the city of Kelowna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Okanagan_Mountain_Park_Fire
This was a single wildfire, although a large one. Nearly 30,000 people had to be evacuated, 60 fire departments showed up to fight it, and they still had to call out over a thousand from the military to get it under control. I didn’t have to go myself, but I knew many people who did, and they said they had never been so exhausted, or felt such hopelessness in their lives. The damage was horrific. There may well be a hundred such fires raging in Russia.
Was Russia unprepared? Probably not entirely, as conditions like this haven’t been seen in over a hundred years. In these circumstances, the very best that Putin and Medvedev can do is to try and rally the people, and I can’t think why they haven’t called for international aid, such as water-bombers. I can’t for a minute imagine any of this is a PR stunt.
I don’t have any facts on why Viktor Beront was fired, but I’m quite sure Julia Ioffe doesn’t, either. I do know they can’t spare the time to do any sort of investigations now, so it’s quite possible he’ll be exonerated later. In any case, the characterization of Medvedev charging around firing people at random in order to distract from his own incompetence is completely unfair.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 22:55:24
Agreed that Putin’s PR stunts are distinctly un-American. He’s not stumping for reelection, afterall, but maintaining his image as top dog, or “Tsar Batiushka” in Ioffe’s words. Think of the ‘Victory Accomplished’ aircraft carrier press conference.
I’m baffled that you cite the Soviet response to Chernobyl as an example of efficient mobilization of emergency resources, since that disaster is generally considered to be one of the worst handled catastrophes in human history. My wife’s family fled Kiev, but it wasn’t at the behest of a well-timed evacuation — it was the panicked result of a bungled, opaque information sharing scheme that was designed to save face more than it cared to save lives.
That’s a very dangerous precedent.
As for the Mountain Park fire, you say that 70 departments showed up for a coordinated firefight. My impression is that the Russian authorities are not managing to deliver this kind of assistance today.
And concerning this Kolomenskii colonel, I never said Medvedev fired him. I believe this was a more local incident than that. And I don’t expect him to be “exonerated,” as no one has “charged” him with anything, to my knowledge. Any investigation now ought to be into the nonresponse from central command. Ten days and virtually no reinforcements or aid. That sounds like criminal negligence to me.
Aug 08, 2010 @ 01:52:17
I cited the Chernobyl accident not to hold it up as an example of efficient reaction (which it decidedly was not), but to illustrate that a huge number of resources can be quickly mobilized and tasked even in the case of a staggering conflagration, when it is in a known area and can be isolated. Emergency vehicles came from everywhere, but they were all going to the same place and knew what they would do when they got there. Chernobyl didn’t move around, or die down in one place to spring up in another, and the scope if not the magnitude of the disaster was mostly known.
This isn’t like that. I doubt Russia even has enough fire vehicles to cope with it, and some fires must be in areas that are unreachable by road, so that they must wait for the fire to come to them or let it burn itself out unchallenged. On their way to one fire, they might encounter another that started after they left, or a part of the fire they intend to attack might move around behind them and block their only exit. I don’t know what kind of resources they have deployed against it, but I imagine it’s everything they’ve got.
Perhaps some authorities have reacted inappropriately, and I’m confident those found to have behaved with criminal neglect will receive just punishment after it’s over and an investigation can be carried out. But for many, it’s not as if they have a disaster model to follow, as a disaster of this magnitude has never occurred before.
As far as Beront goes, I never said Medvedev fired him, either. I believe the central authorities of the region fired him. I said Julia Ioffe had unfairly characterized Medvedev as runnning around firing people; I apologize for any confusion that caused. I should have said “reinstated” rather than exonerated, because that’s what I meant – that perhaps he would get his job back if facts tended to support his allegations.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 12:16:34
Oops; just read Poemless’s initial comment, in which she says pretty much everything I wanted to, in a considerably more expressive manner. I agree completely.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 20:07:21
My understanding is that most of the fires are peatbog fires -39 of 52 fires, according BBC- and those kind of fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. Forest fires aren’t so bad usually but for extreme weather conditions for over a month. Of course burning trees look dramatic and that’s why journos love them.
Aug 06, 2010 @ 20:19:49
I’m sure the task facing Russian firefighters is immense and would overcome any government. This doesn’t change the fact that there are instances out there now where the federal authorities seem to be rather poorly assisting their local counterparts.
I take your point that peat fires are perhaps the greater challenge, but by the same token perhaps they ought to focus on forest fires in that case — and actually boost their success-rate.
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