Today I said no to constitutional amendments. Tomorrow I will explain my choice in detail.
#constitution
#constitution
Some words about previous(?) Russian constitution. It was adopted in 1993 after heavy clashes between president supporters and parliament, elected before the collapse of the USSR. This struggle is very important for understanding RF's history, I will write a post or two about it later. What we need to know now is that Boris Eltsin, president of Russia, defeated the parliament. The task of the constitution was pretty straightforward: turn Russia into presidential republic. Still, the liberal lawyers, who actually wrote the main law of Russia, at least added there liberties of all sorts and subordination to international law.
The attitude towards constitution varies among politically awared people greatly. Some of them consider it "American" and "colonial", mostly because of submission to international law. Others think that liberal freedoms are a great step forward, but presidential powers must be balanced by the parliament and courts. Novadays it's hard to find any person who is agreed on 100% of the text.
In fact all constitutional freedoms were greatly limited during Putin's presidency by federal laws and other documents. For example, the right to gather rallies enshrined in constitution was "specified" by federal law on meetings. Apparently Russians have a right to participate on gatherings, but they must notify the authorities (that's normal), which can refuse to approve it (not normal). Moreover, the organizers of meetings must state the number of participants, and meeting can become illegal right in the proccess, if the number of the protesters is higher than stated (not normal at all).
The most important changes affected freedom of speech. At first it was limited by slander laws (poorly written, but normal), then by hate-speech ban (not normal, typical western degeneracy), than by law for "protection of belivers" (poorly written, overlaps previous law, directly opposes constitutional freedom of consciousness), then by "distortion of historic events" (no clear definition of distortion, direct violation of speech freedom). The Constitutional Court approved all of this without any moment of doubt.
Now my personal opinion. I've never liked the constitution of 1993. From nationalist perspective it denied the existence of ethnic Russians and therefore our role in state-building. On the other hand, the constitution of 1993 cemented ugly soviet administrative division and declared continuity with the USSR without even mentioning the Russian empire. From liberal perspective the constitution instead of making the president a part of executive branch created an omnipotent creature flying over all branches of power. Ofcourse, the roots of present-day dictatorship lie in these passages of the main law. In the last paragraph I wanted to criticize the text per se, but I should mention again that all good things stated in the document were limited or abolished by other laws later.
I wouldn’t feel regret if the situation didn’t get worse.
#constitution #legislation
The attitude towards constitution varies among politically awared people greatly. Some of them consider it "American" and "colonial", mostly because of submission to international law. Others think that liberal freedoms are a great step forward, but presidential powers must be balanced by the parliament and courts. Novadays it's hard to find any person who is agreed on 100% of the text.
In fact all constitutional freedoms were greatly limited during Putin's presidency by federal laws and other documents. For example, the right to gather rallies enshrined in constitution was "specified" by federal law on meetings. Apparently Russians have a right to participate on gatherings, but they must notify the authorities (that's normal), which can refuse to approve it (not normal). Moreover, the organizers of meetings must state the number of participants, and meeting can become illegal right in the proccess, if the number of the protesters is higher than stated (not normal at all).
The most important changes affected freedom of speech. At first it was limited by slander laws (poorly written, but normal), then by hate-speech ban (not normal, typical western degeneracy), than by law for "protection of belivers" (poorly written, overlaps previous law, directly opposes constitutional freedom of consciousness), then by "distortion of historic events" (no clear definition of distortion, direct violation of speech freedom). The Constitutional Court approved all of this without any moment of doubt.
Now my personal opinion. I've never liked the constitution of 1993. From nationalist perspective it denied the existence of ethnic Russians and therefore our role in state-building. On the other hand, the constitution of 1993 cemented ugly soviet administrative division and declared continuity with the USSR without even mentioning the Russian empire. From liberal perspective the constitution instead of making the president a part of executive branch created an omnipotent creature flying over all branches of power. Ofcourse, the roots of present-day dictatorship lie in these passages of the main law. In the last paragraph I wanted to criticize the text per se, but I should mention again that all good things stated in the document were limited or abolished by other laws later.
I wouldn’t feel regret if the situation didn’t get worse.
#constitution #legislation
For those who don't know, Khabarovsk krai (pronounced as cry) is a big region in the Russian Far East. Recently its governor Sergei Furgal from LDPR, elected in 2018, was detained and accused of multiple assasinations. After that people in the region took to the streets and demaned his release. I'm trying be laconic here, but these events touch a vast amount of topics, so it's difficult to explain them in short. Probably later I'll write more posts about federalism, Russian political parties, opposition, regional peculiarities and so on.
#protest #khabarovsk
https://telegra.ph/Far-Cry-07-25
#protest #khabarovsk
https://telegra.ph/Far-Cry-07-25
Telegraph
Far Cry
Foreigners should understand that people in Russia don't know much about the Far East. Only 8mln people out of 146mln Russians live there. Majority of Russians never visited that federal district (me included), because of the big distance and relatively high…
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Time to write an article on Belarus. I think it will appear on the channel before Lukashenko's fall (spoiler: Lukasheko won't lose power today).
#international #belarus
#international #belarus
— For sure that all of this is just a
Coincidence, something Improbable to have foreign ties and nothing Abnormal, right?Not an expert on other countries, but Kyrgizia has nothing to do with Soros or CIA. Every election cycle two clans (northern and southern) can't normally share power. So every 5 years there is a "revolution", and the current president leaves the country. Ofcourse Kyrgyz youth wants changes, and I understand them: it is hard to live in a corrupted shithole. But not all young activists in Kyrgizia are pro-western that much, and they don't get power in any case.
All Kyrgyz political forces claimed they are Russia's best friends, but Moscow suspended economic aid to Kyrgizia anyway, and now waits for political stabilization, which inevitable will be reached till the next elections, when the history will repeat itself.
#international #kyrgizia
All Kyrgyz political forces claimed they are Russia's best friends, but Moscow suspended economic aid to Kyrgizia anyway, and now waits for political stabilization, which inevitable will be reached till the next elections, when the history will repeat itself.
#international #kyrgizia
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire. In general, Armenia capitulated. I'm writing this here because Russia sends its army to Kharabakh as a peacekeeping mission. 2k soldiers are already on their way to Caucasus.
Corona update.
Number of corona cases has stabilized on rather warning numbers, 27k-28k per day, the record was 29,4k. While many countries (like the UK) are under strict lockdown, it is suspiciously calm in Russia. Almost every region has bars, restaraunts, ice rinks, and museums open. Sport events and concerts are avaliable with certain restrictions. Although, it seems the New Year fireworks and festivals were cancelled around the country.
The situation in transport field has improved. Since spring quarantine the Russian railroads restored almost every train route. The number of flights within the country pushed off the bottom as well. The real problem is international travel: the Russian government banned flights to many countries, so top destination for Russian tourists in 2020 is Turkey. A lot of my friends, maybe two dozen people, visited Istanbul this year. Also some of my friends used interchange in Istanbul to fly somewhere else. Was it wise to give the Turks such advantage? In my opinion, not at all.
In general it seems the authorities rely on soft measures combined with vaccination. The latter has already started in Moscow and in fact became avaliable for every city dweller. At first the regional government wanted to prioritize some groups (like teachers and doctors) in supplying the vaccine, but in part this idea failed. People are very reluctant in taking it, so in fact every Moscovite can get an appointment for an injection without queue, which is a bit surprising for me.
#corona
Number of corona cases has stabilized on rather warning numbers, 27k-28k per day, the record was 29,4k. While many countries (like the UK) are under strict lockdown, it is suspiciously calm in Russia. Almost every region has bars, restaraunts, ice rinks, and museums open. Sport events and concerts are avaliable with certain restrictions. Although, it seems the New Year fireworks and festivals were cancelled around the country.
The situation in transport field has improved. Since spring quarantine the Russian railroads restored almost every train route. The number of flights within the country pushed off the bottom as well. The real problem is international travel: the Russian government banned flights to many countries, so top destination for Russian tourists in 2020 is Turkey. A lot of my friends, maybe two dozen people, visited Istanbul this year. Also some of my friends used interchange in Istanbul to fly somewhere else. Was it wise to give the Turks such advantage? In my opinion, not at all.
In general it seems the authorities rely on soft measures combined with vaccination. The latter has already started in Moscow and in fact became avaliable for every city dweller. At first the regional government wanted to prioritize some groups (like teachers and doctors) in supplying the vaccine, but in part this idea failed. People are very reluctant in taking it, so in fact every Moscovite can get an appointment for an injection without queue, which is a bit surprising for me.
#corona
2021 has come to Russian territory. It's already 00:30 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, capital of Kamchatskiy krai. Russia has 11 time zones, and if you are strong enough, you can start celebrating at 15:00 Moscow time😂
Journalists use rather primitive approach when they write about the protests in Russia. Conservatives condemn Navalny and protesters, some of them even support Russian police (lol), while global liberal media attack Putin and give positive coverage of the opposition rallies. I tried to be neutral, sorry, if I failed. As for Navalny, he deserved another text. Maybe I'll write it later.
https://telegra.ph/23--31--02-The-protests-in-Russia-02-04
#protest
https://telegra.ph/23--31--02-The-protests-in-Russia-02-04
#protest
Telegraph
23 + 31 + 02. The protests in Russia
This post will be about the protests, which took place on 23rd and 31st of January, and then erupted on 2nd of February, when Navalny was sentenced for 3 years in prison. Where to begin? The protests can be viewed on two levels: tactical and general. It's…
Ukraine and Russia are flexing on each other, and still I don't believe in full-scale conflict between them. What can happen?
1. The least possible option: Ukraine starts offensive operation in Donbass, Russia doesn't come to help separatists. After a week or so pro-Russian unrecognized republics collapse. The end. I don't believe this will happen because Russia invested in Donbass too many resources. Also this defeat will draw more attention to Crimea, a scenario nobody in Moscow wants to happen.
2. Ukraine starts limited operation in Donbass, Russia supports separatists. Then the situation returns to existed status-quo or maybe Donbass militia will liberate a couple of insignificant villages. Russia will try to avoid sanctions, so the scale of military actions will be minimal.
3. Two sides are shooting at each other, dozens of people die for nothing, than diplomats sign another cease-fire. This option looks stupid, but I consider it to be the most real one. Ukraine must attract attention to the conflict in order to get credits and military supplies from the West, and shooting helps to achieve this. Also the conflict allows Ukrainian elites to justify their fails in internal affairs. Probably Zelensky counts to boost his ratings blaming Russia for everything, and maybe NATO countries will impose new sanctions on Russia.
Anyway, while a lot of people expect total war, I just see partly-frozen local conflict, where no side can get ultimate victory
#ukraine #international
1. The least possible option: Ukraine starts offensive operation in Donbass, Russia doesn't come to help separatists. After a week or so pro-Russian unrecognized republics collapse. The end. I don't believe this will happen because Russia invested in Donbass too many resources. Also this defeat will draw more attention to Crimea, a scenario nobody in Moscow wants to happen.
2. Ukraine starts limited operation in Donbass, Russia supports separatists. Then the situation returns to existed status-quo or maybe Donbass militia will liberate a couple of insignificant villages. Russia will try to avoid sanctions, so the scale of military actions will be minimal.
3. Two sides are shooting at each other, dozens of people die for nothing, than diplomats sign another cease-fire. This option looks stupid, but I consider it to be the most real one. Ukraine must attract attention to the conflict in order to get credits and military supplies from the West, and shooting helps to achieve this. Also the conflict allows Ukrainian elites to justify their fails in internal affairs. Probably Zelensky counts to boost his ratings blaming Russia for everything, and maybe NATO countries will impose new sanctions on Russia.
Anyway, while a lot of people expect total war, I just see partly-frozen local conflict, where no side can get ultimate victory
#ukraine #international
On April 12th, 1961, a Russian guy from Smolensk province became the first human into space🚀
Yuri Gagarin's flight is a symbol of progress, a triumph of science, and yet another proof that humans are very creative creatures.
On personal level I admire Gagarin for this skill to enjoy life, unfortunately a very rare quality among Russians and other post-soviet peoples. When I look at Gagarin's pictures with his famous happy smile, I'm getting better myself😊
#space
Yuri Gagarin's flight is a symbol of progress, a triumph of science, and yet another proof that humans are very creative creatures.
On personal level I admire Gagarin for this skill to enjoy life, unfortunately a very rare quality among Russians and other post-soviet peoples. When I look at Gagarin's pictures with his famous happy smile, I'm getting better myself😊
#space
I had some problems at university and didn't have much time. A lot of important events happened in latest two weeks, and I got a feeling that they demand certain coverage
On 29th of April Tajikistan Army started an offensive operation against Kyrgyzstan. Why it happened?
The water resources are scarce in the region, while the population of two countries is growing. The conflict started near the border river, and it escalated quickly.
Later armed operations, like artillery shelling and occupation of border villages spread on the enclaves of Tajikistan. So the second reason is very strange border configuration created in the Soviet period.
What's going on there now?
After some clashes the Tajiks left, now Russia tries to exclude the reiteration of fighting.
Will it work?
For a time, yes. In general - no. Water resources, demography, borders, all these facors stay. Moreover, the growing instability in Afghanistan, general decrease of Russian influence in the region (due to economic expansion of China and cultural initiatives of Turkey) create ideal environment for new conflicts.
#international #kyrgizia #tajikistan
The water resources are scarce in the region, while the population of two countries is growing. The conflict started near the border river, and it escalated quickly.
Later armed operations, like artillery shelling and occupation of border villages spread on the enclaves of Tajikistan. So the second reason is very strange border configuration created in the Soviet period.
What's going on there now?
After some clashes the Tajiks left, now Russia tries to exclude the reiteration of fighting.
Will it work?
For a time, yes. In general - no. Water resources, demography, borders, all these facors stay. Moreover, the growing instability in Afghanistan, general decrease of Russian influence in the region (due to economic expansion of China and cultural initiatives of Turkey) create ideal environment for new conflicts.
#international #kyrgizia #tajikistan
Yesterday the president of Belarus hijacked a plane with opposition journalist on board, now this activist is in jail. That was pretty bold move on Lukashenko's side, and Europe had to react. Just now they banned Belarus Airways from entering the air space of the European Union and urged European air companies not to enter Belarussian air space.
What about Russia? Politicians in the UK believe that the Kremlin knew about the operation and did nothing to prevent it, therefore becoming a partner in crime. Continental Europeans are more restrained. I heard some rumors that Russia was involved, but nothing solid yet.
The problem is, any transport issues in Belarus directly affect Russia. Main motorcade from Moscow to the EU lies through Belarus, same goes for the railroads and air routes. One of the most significant gas pipelines Yamal-Europe also goes through Belarussian land. All of this is making Belarus the most important transit country between Russia and the EU. Now this status is in question.
If the transit is limited by sanctions, regime of Lukashenko wil become obsolete for Moscow. Whether it means that Russia will remove Lukashenko, I don't know. But I hope it will.
As for immediate consequences of Lukashenko's actions, I think European sanctions will destroy Belavia, Belarussian airlines. It's kinda sad, because many Russians use Belavia to get to Ukraine, Georgia and some other countries the Kremlin is in quarell with (for example, for some time Russia banned flights to Turkey). Also new sanctions on Belarus will make some air routes from Moscow to European cities longer for European air companies like Luftgansa, Air France-KLM and so on. Sad!
#international #belarus
What about Russia? Politicians in the UK believe that the Kremlin knew about the operation and did nothing to prevent it, therefore becoming a partner in crime. Continental Europeans are more restrained. I heard some rumors that Russia was involved, but nothing solid yet.
The problem is, any transport issues in Belarus directly affect Russia. Main motorcade from Moscow to the EU lies through Belarus, same goes for the railroads and air routes. One of the most significant gas pipelines Yamal-Europe also goes through Belarussian land. All of this is making Belarus the most important transit country between Russia and the EU. Now this status is in question.
If the transit is limited by sanctions, regime of Lukashenko wil become obsolete for Moscow. Whether it means that Russia will remove Lukashenko, I don't know. But I hope it will.
As for immediate consequences of Lukashenko's actions, I think European sanctions will destroy Belavia, Belarussian airlines. It's kinda sad, because many Russians use Belavia to get to Ukraine, Georgia and some other countries the Kremlin is in quarell with (for example, for some time Russia banned flights to Turkey). Also new sanctions on Belarus will make some air routes from Moscow to European cities longer for European air companies like Luftgansa, Air France-KLM and so on. Sad!
#international #belarus
Good vibes in Russia.
The beginning of the year was very stressful for Russia. Everybody expected yet another crisis in Russia-Ukraine relations and a new round of Western sanctions. The hyphothetic consequences included the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipe project and collapse of the Russian currency. The worse scenario included oil embargo and dissconnection of Russian banks from SWIFT.
Instead the situation returned to normal, when Russian and Ukrainian troops returned to their bases. In the end of April Putin made the adress to the parliament, concentrating on welfare and infrastructure, almost without mentioning international topics. Ukrainians, who started this escalation, didn't continue. After that it became clear that threat of war dissappeared, at least for a time.
Despite the unpredictable Belarussian crisis, Russian economy was showing signs of recovery after the lockdown in 2020. Finaly, in 1-7 of June the Economic Forum in Saint-Petersburg delievered more positive signals. The biggest event was the end of Nord Stream 2 construction. Now one pipe (out of two) is ready to transport gas, the lauch of this pipe is scheduled for today.
Anyway, there are two factors which can undermine all positive events happened within recent two months. The first is the meeting of Putin and Biden. Two leaders can work out an agreement on lowering tensions, but any agreement means a compromise, so there is a question where and how Russia will give up its interests, or what will be the reaction of the US if it doesn't. The second factor is coronavirus. The number of cases is slowly growing again from 9k cases to 11k cases country-wide. In some regions, like in Buryatia republic, the restrictions on restaraunts and other non-essential businesses were implemented again. Still, in general Russia doesn't have any lockdowns and all quarantine measures were lifted in the end of 2020.
#economy
The beginning of the year was very stressful for Russia. Everybody expected yet another crisis in Russia-Ukraine relations and a new round of Western sanctions. The hyphothetic consequences included the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipe project and collapse of the Russian currency. The worse scenario included oil embargo and dissconnection of Russian banks from SWIFT.
Instead the situation returned to normal, when Russian and Ukrainian troops returned to their bases. In the end of April Putin made the adress to the parliament, concentrating on welfare and infrastructure, almost without mentioning international topics. Ukrainians, who started this escalation, didn't continue. After that it became clear that threat of war dissappeared, at least for a time.
Despite the unpredictable Belarussian crisis, Russian economy was showing signs of recovery after the lockdown in 2020. Finaly, in 1-7 of June the Economic Forum in Saint-Petersburg delievered more positive signals. The biggest event was the end of Nord Stream 2 construction. Now one pipe (out of two) is ready to transport gas, the lauch of this pipe is scheduled for today.
Anyway, there are two factors which can undermine all positive events happened within recent two months. The first is the meeting of Putin and Biden. Two leaders can work out an agreement on lowering tensions, but any agreement means a compromise, so there is a question where and how Russia will give up its interests, or what will be the reaction of the US if it doesn't. The second factor is coronavirus. The number of cases is slowly growing again from 9k cases to 11k cases country-wide. In some regions, like in Buryatia republic, the restrictions on restaraunts and other non-essential businesses were implemented again. Still, in general Russia doesn't have any lockdowns and all quarantine measures were lifted in the end of 2020.
#economy
The Moscow govt made vaccination obligatory for 60% of employed in state, transport, trade, banking and some other economic sectors. I expected smth like this, simply because bureaucrats in Russia can't behave otherwise. Moreover, this pause between the introduction of the vaccine and making its obligatory for millions of people was very atypical from the start.
I don't believe that the vaccine contains computer chips, but I don't believe it is possible to make a normally tested vaccine within 9 months either, no matter whether is is produced in Russia, China, the EU or the US. So potentially Russians can get useless or even dangerous substance in their bodies, and I'm not happy with that.
The logic of the authorities is understandable, too. They fear that without vaccination they will have to declare the new lockdown, a move which will destroy the leftovers of Russian small business and services sector. Also nobody in the govt doesn't want to pay compensations for strict anti-covid measures. It seems Moscow won't be the only region with such vaccination rules. In my opinion, Moscow oblast (a separate region around the city of Moscow) will follow the example, and with certain lag other regions will implement more or less the same rules, too.
#corona
I don't believe that the vaccine contains computer chips, but I don't believe it is possible to make a normally tested vaccine within 9 months either, no matter whether is is produced in Russia, China, the EU or the US. So potentially Russians can get useless or even dangerous substance in their bodies, and I'm not happy with that.
The logic of the authorities is understandable, too. They fear that without vaccination they will have to declare the new lockdown, a move which will destroy the leftovers of Russian small business and services sector. Also nobody in the govt doesn't want to pay compensations for strict anti-covid measures. It seems Moscow won't be the only region with such vaccination rules. In my opinion, Moscow oblast (a separate region around the city of Moscow) will follow the example, and with certain lag other regions will implement more or less the same rules, too.
#corona
Daily reminder that Russians are pretty based, while the Russian govt and president usually are not
#corona
#corona
Moscow and Moscow oblast cancelled qr-code system. Every vaccinated person acquired such code and got opportunity to visit restaraunts, bars, certain parks and museums. Yes, these rules were introduced soon after de-facto obligatary vaccination requirements for millions of Russians.
Apart from evident struggle against the virus, the goals of these restrictions were clear. Russia registered its vaccine first in the world, since the end of 2020 Russia produces 3 types of vaccines. Still nobody in Russia cared about this. In Russia we don't trust the government, and we have a very long list of the reasons why we do so. The reluctance of Russians to take Sputnik V looked bad for business, after all the government sells this vaccine to Latin American and African countries, in Europe some Balkan countries and Hungary also bought Sputnik V. The further expansion depends on many factors, and image is one of them. If the vaccine is not trusted in the homeland, it will be harder to convince foreign governments to buy it. Russia is a market itself with 146mln of people, which can bring profit to Russian pharma companies.
From the beginning business-owners (those, who survived the lockdown of spring 2020) told the government that they would die under qr-code system, because the level of vaccination was 12% on national scale. Just like every other coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V (and two less popular vaccines produced in Russia) has two doses, which must be injected with approximately two weeks interval. So you can't take the first shot and go to the restaraunt immediately.
The officials realized that access in restaraunts for the vaccinated only can cause the collapse of industry, and allowed people without qr-codes to eat on verandas (if an establishment has it). My experience tells me that such rules didn't have any chance to be followed. Within two weeks I attended two restaurants without qr-codes, and my friends also told me that usually they didn't have any problems. Unfortunately, big food-chains, like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and their Russian analogues followed the orders of the Moscow government, but independent establishments usually let people in.
Since qr-codes will be cancelled on Monday (the obligatory vaccination of 60% of employees in certain industries stays), it's time to make some conclusions on obligatory vaccination, qr-code system, and the vaccine itself.
1. The main goal to increase the number of vaccinated people was reached. Officially 21% of Russians took the first shot, two times more than one month ago.
2. Every number related to covid (cases, dead people, vaccinated people) is a lie. Within two years the government manipulated statistics too often to believe in it. The number of corona cases always decreases when the Kremlin needs it (rereferendum on constitution, UEFA Championship, some election days) and increases for the same reason (protests, some election campaigns). As for vaccination, people who don't want to take the vaccine try to buy falsificated vaccination certificates, bribe doctors etc. We will never know how many people out of 21% didn't take anything.
3. It seems, two out of three vaccines help (one is completely useless), but not as good as it is described. You still can get corona, new corona-strains diminish the effectiveness of the vaccines, side-effects are frequent, but they pass quickly. Very rare I hear about people who took the vaccine and died, but mostly these are rumours which I can't check. For now I know for sure about one person who died and one person who became disabled. Pretty sure, there are more cases, but it is impossible to get solid data about them. Of course I can't guarantee that the vaccine won't influence people in the long run. Finally, the vaccine doesn't last long. It seems it is more or less effective for 6-9 months.
4. The covid limitations will stay one way or another for a very long time, just because it is the best way to control the population.
#corona
Apart from evident struggle against the virus, the goals of these restrictions were clear. Russia registered its vaccine first in the world, since the end of 2020 Russia produces 3 types of vaccines. Still nobody in Russia cared about this. In Russia we don't trust the government, and we have a very long list of the reasons why we do so. The reluctance of Russians to take Sputnik V looked bad for business, after all the government sells this vaccine to Latin American and African countries, in Europe some Balkan countries and Hungary also bought Sputnik V. The further expansion depends on many factors, and image is one of them. If the vaccine is not trusted in the homeland, it will be harder to convince foreign governments to buy it. Russia is a market itself with 146mln of people, which can bring profit to Russian pharma companies.
From the beginning business-owners (those, who survived the lockdown of spring 2020) told the government that they would die under qr-code system, because the level of vaccination was 12% on national scale. Just like every other coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V (and two less popular vaccines produced in Russia) has two doses, which must be injected with approximately two weeks interval. So you can't take the first shot and go to the restaraunt immediately.
The officials realized that access in restaraunts for the vaccinated only can cause the collapse of industry, and allowed people without qr-codes to eat on verandas (if an establishment has it). My experience tells me that such rules didn't have any chance to be followed. Within two weeks I attended two restaurants without qr-codes, and my friends also told me that usually they didn't have any problems. Unfortunately, big food-chains, like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and their Russian analogues followed the orders of the Moscow government, but independent establishments usually let people in.
Since qr-codes will be cancelled on Monday (the obligatory vaccination of 60% of employees in certain industries stays), it's time to make some conclusions on obligatory vaccination, qr-code system, and the vaccine itself.
1. The main goal to increase the number of vaccinated people was reached. Officially 21% of Russians took the first shot, two times more than one month ago.
2. Every number related to covid (cases, dead people, vaccinated people) is a lie. Within two years the government manipulated statistics too often to believe in it. The number of corona cases always decreases when the Kremlin needs it (rereferendum on constitution, UEFA Championship, some election days) and increases for the same reason (protests, some election campaigns). As for vaccination, people who don't want to take the vaccine try to buy falsificated vaccination certificates, bribe doctors etc. We will never know how many people out of 21% didn't take anything.
3. It seems, two out of three vaccines help (one is completely useless), but not as good as it is described. You still can get corona, new corona-strains diminish the effectiveness of the vaccines, side-effects are frequent, but they pass quickly. Very rare I hear about people who took the vaccine and died, but mostly these are rumours which I can't check. For now I know for sure about one person who died and one person who became disabled. Pretty sure, there are more cases, but it is impossible to get solid data about them. Of course I can't guarantee that the vaccine won't influence people in the long run. Finally, the vaccine doesn't last long. It seems it is more or less effective for 6-9 months.
4. The covid limitations will stay one way or another for a very long time, just because it is the best way to control the population.
#corona