The Real Russia. Today. Meduza’s special report on the space kingdom of Asgardia; the strange death of ‘The Death of Stalin’; and a bizarre end to the website ‘Russiangate’

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

• Space! Meduza‘s special report on Igor Ashurbeyli’s space kingdom of Asgardia
• Movies! Russia pulls the distribution of the satirical film “The Death of Stalin”
• Theater! Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky’s novel is getting a stage production
• Justice! A Tor-using mathematician charged with inciting riots and terrorism could go free
• Corruption! A police bribery scandal in Moscow continues to develop
• Injustice! A former detective who shot and killed an informant went free from prison after less than three months
• Money! Russian companies will finally be able to pay employees abroad in foreign currency
• Courts! Navalny pleads Russian political persecution at the ECHR
• Intrigue! The investigative website Russiangate is blocked, censored, and apparently about to die

Story of the day: The space kingdom of Asgardia 🛰

In the 2000s, Igor Ashurbeyli was the head of Almaz-Antey, one of Russia’s biggest defense conglomerates. Owned by the state, the company manufactures missile systems, air-defense systems, radar stations, and other military hardware. Since 2016, Ashurbeyli has been managing an entirely different project: the creation of a new state called “Asgardia,” which he expects will soon gain UN membership and establish a colony on the Moon. Tens of thousands of people from all around the world have already registered as citizens of Asgardia. Meduza special correspondent Taisiya Bekbulatova learned more about how a retired Russian defense industry insider dreamt up his own “space kingdom” and why he believes it’s what the world needs.

• Read the full story at Meduza.

The strange death of “The Death of Stalin” 🎟

“We don’t have censorship. We’re not afraid of critical or hard-hitting assessments of our history. In this department, we could give anyone a run for their money. [...] But there’s a moral boundary between the critical analysis of history and pure mockery.” ~Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky

Commenting on the government’s decision to withdraw its distribution license for the satirical film “The Death of Stalin,” Medinsky said, “Many older people, and quite a few others, view this [movie] as an offensive mockery of the entire Soviet past, of the country that defeated fascism, of the Soviet army, and of ordinary people. And, most distastefully, they see it as even mocking the victims of Stalinism.”

• Read the full story at Meduza.

🤬 Just offensive or an outright crime?

The Ministry of Culture’s Public Council, which spearheaded the movement to pull the distribution license for “The Death of Stalin,” has formally appealed to Attorney General Yuri Chaika, asking his agency to review Armando Iannucci’s film for extremism. Members of the council apparently feel the movie (and even its trailer) might break Russian laws because it features “indecent language and behavior” as the national anthem plays.

He’s not just the culture minister of Russia, he’s also an artist! 🎭

Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky says he won’t collect any royalty fees for an upcoming stage presentation of his novel “Stena” (The Wall), which takes place during Russia’s “Time of Troubles,” in the tumultuous years preceding the establishment of the Romanov dynasty. The book was released in 2012 to polarizing reviews, including a lot of really nasty ones. On January 24, Moscow’s Maly Theater revealed that it is working on a stage presentation of Medinsky’s novel. The show could premiere as soon as May 2018. In a press release, Medinsky pointed out that he’s not legally required to forego his fee for the production, but he will nonetheless because Maly Theater operates under the Culture Ministry’s control. He insists that the theater chose his novel entirely of its own accord.

• In 2016, the Maxim Gorky Moscow Art Academic Theater expressed interest in a stage presentation of Medinsky’s book, but it later abandoned the idea. In November 2016, the state-run television network Rossiya-1 aired a three-hour film adaptation of the novel.
• Vladimir Medinsky has served as Russia’s culture minister since May 2012. Stena first hit bookshelves in February 2012.

Law and order ⚖️

💻 Freedom for a Tor-loving mathematician

It’s a good day for Dmitry Bogatov, the Russian mathematician arrested last April and moved to house arrest three months later. Bogatov is charged with inciting terrorism and trying to stage riots, but the only evidence against him is that the incendiary Internet posts in question were uploaded from his IP address. It so happens that Bogatov operates a Tor exit node, meaning that anybody around the world could have used the location-masking network to access the Internet through his IP address.

• Why’s it a good day for Dmitry? The cops have reportedly decided at last to drop their case against him. Bogatov has been under house arrest since July 2017, after spending a few months in pretrial detention.

👮‍♂️ A mobster’s bribe leads to a police war

A bribery scandal in Moscow is becoming a full-fledged war between Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service. Following Tuesday’s news that an indictment against Mikhail Maksimenko, the former head of security at the Investigative Committee, incriminates Alexander Drymanov, the director of the committee’s Moscow department, TASS is now reporting that Alexander Lamonov, the subordinate who fingered Maksimenko, will be moved from pretrial detention to house arrest. Sources tell the newspaper Vedomosti that Drymanov’s involvement in the bribery scandal could even force the resignation of Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin.

• In July 2016, federal agents arrested two officers in the Investigative Committee’s Moscow office: Alexander Lamonov and Denis Nikandrov. In early December 2017, the news agency TASS reported that Lamonov and Nikandrov reached a deal that would expedite their cases. Maksimenko’s trial is being considered separately.
• What’s this whole case about? Maksimenko, Drymanov, Lamonov, and Nikandrov all allegedly agreed to take as much as $5 million from Zakhariy Kalashov (a mobster known as “Young Shakro”) to facilitate the release of Andrey Kochuikov (an underling known as “The Italian”), who was arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in December 2015 at a Moscow cafe. (Kalashov is suspected of trying to extort money from the cafe’s owner.)

😦 Not a huge incentive to become a police informant

The perpetrator in a suspicious murder case went free from prison last year after less than three months. Last June, a senior detective in St. Petersburg was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. Because of time already served in pretrial detention, detective Andrey Artemiev went free on August 19.

• In late 2015, Artemiev shot and killed a police informant in his office. Prosecutors charged him with murder and abuse of office, demanding a 12-year prison sentence, but the court convicted him on a lesser charge. Demidov’s mother demanded half a million rubles ($8,875) in compensation for her son’s death.
• The victim, Dmitry Demidov, was shot in the head while kneeling on the floor. Artemiev says he fired his gun accidentally, while transferring it from one holster to another. Arresting officers also found alcohol in Artemiev’s blood, but he says he only started drinking after the gunshot, “to ease his nerves.”

Put away them rubles ₽

The State Duma has passed a third and final reading of legislation that will finally allow Russian companies to pay employees working abroad in a foreign currency. Once adopted by the Federation Council and signed by the president, the reforms to Russia’s Labor Code will remove a tedious regulation that currently requires Russian companies to pay all salaries, regardless of where employees actually live and work, exclusively in rubles.

Pleading Russian political persecution at the ECHR 🥁

Alexey Navalny addressed the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday, arguing that his detentions by Russian police at rallies between 2012 and 2014 were politically motivated. The ECHR has already ruled once on these detentions, a year ago awarding Navalny €63,000 ($78,000) in compensation for violations of his personal freedom and security and his right to free assembly. Last February, however, the ECHR did not consider allegations that Russian police had persecuted Navalny politically. The opposition politician told the court that Russian officials only issue demonstration permits in remote areas. “This Sunday, they’ve literally told us to protest in the woods, in Sokolniki Park,” he said.

• On January 28, Navalny plans to stage nationwide demonstrations to promote a voters’ boycott against Russia’s March presidential election. Navalny spent a year campaigning vigorously to compete in the election, but federal officials disqualified him, citing a controversial felony conviction.
• In Moscow, Navalny’s supporters want to hold their January 28 rally at Tverskaya Street, in the center of the city, though Moscow officials have refused to issue a demonstration permit at that location.

An investigative piece prompts the end of Russiangate 🔒

Strange things are afoot at the website Russiangate, which Russian Internet providers started blocking on January 23. A self-described repository for independent reporting on Russian crime and corruption, Russiangate became inaccessible in Russia on Tuesday, roughly three hours after it published an article claiming that Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov owns undeclared real estate in Sestroretsk, outside St. Petersburg. According to chief editor Alexandra Elagina, Russiangate’s “investors” then had the technical staff unpublish the story without her knowledge. The next day, she told the radio station Ekho Moskvy that she’s been fired, the website is being shut down, and police are even considering an extremism case.

• What’s another weird thing about this story? Federal censors say Internet providers started blocking Russiangate because of a decision by the Attorney General’s Office — from December 2015. It’s unclear why it took more than two years to kick into gear.