The Real Russia. Today. Life as a small business owner in Crimea today, Oyub Titiev gets four years, and Putin signs two controversial Internet laws

Monday, March 18, 2019

This day in history: Five years ago, on March 18, 2014, the parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty, formally initiating the annexation of the peninsula.

• The trials and travails of small business owners in Crimea, five years after annexation
• Chechen human rights icon Oyub Titiev sentenced to four years for controversial drug-possession conviction
• Putin has signed into law Russia's ‘fake news’ and ‘Internet insults’ bans
• The World Figure Skating Championships start today. Catch up here on the biggest stars in Russian women’s singles.

We don't need no stinking Russian laws 💸

Five years ago, the boldest and bravest entrepreneurs from across Russia flooded Crimea. Shackled by international sanctions, most major businesses stayed away, and the new territory promised to be a land of opportunity for the go-getters undeterred. Existing local businesses also hoped for windfall profits, following annexation by Ukraine’s relatively wealthier neighbor. The past five years have shown, however, that the business climate today is bleaker not only than it was when Ukraine controlled the peninsula, but also in comparison to Russia on the other side of the Kerch Strait. Meduza visited Crimea to learn more about its business environment, and discovered that outsiders are still largely unwelcome.

Read Stepan Pozhidaev's special report from Crimea: “The trials and travails of small business owners in Crimea, five years after annexation”

Four years ⚖️

Chechnya’s Shalinsky District Court has convicted human rights activist Oyub Titiev of illegal drug possession, sentencing him to four years in a penal colony settlement.

Titiev, who heads the Chechen branch of the human rights organization Memorial, was arrested in January 2018. Police say they found 200 grams of marijuana in his car, but Titiev maintains that the drugs were planted in his vehicle.

• Human rights officials throughout the world have denounced the case against Oyub Titiev as a politicized trial. Titiev’s lawyer, Ilya Novikov, says the charges are retaliation for “Case 27,” the reported mass execution of at least 27 people outside Grozny on January 26, 2017, which the newspaper Novaya Gazeta uncovered in July 2017. Novikov also links the charges against Titiev to threats from Magomed Daudov, the speaker of Chechnya’s Parliament, who has blamed human rights advocates for the blocking of Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov’s coveted Instagram page in December 2017.
• While in jail awaiting trial, Oyub Titiev was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which honors outstanding achievements in defending human rights in Europe and beyond.

You really did it, Putin 🖋️

Vladimir Putin has signed two controversial new laws, despite widespread public controversy. The legislation penalizes Internet users and online media for publishing “unreliable” information of social significance or spreading “obscene” criticisms of the Russian government, its symbols, or some of its members.

On March 11, Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights requested that the Federal Council reject both bills in their current form and send them back to the State Duma to be amended. The Presidential Council’s experts found that both bills contain vague language and a number of potential loopholes that could be abused.

Skate skate skate ⛸️

The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships begin today in Saitama, Japan, and will continue until March 24. While Russian and Soviet athletes have a long tradition of dominance in the sport, the current field of skaters in the ladies’ singles event is particularly strong. Their success stems in some part from the efforts of a single team of coaches: Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov, and Daniil Gleikhengauz have brought a large group of young powerhouses to the world stage. Their protégés, however, face formidable competitors from both inside and outside the Russian national team.

At the 2019 Worlds, that team will consist of Evgenia Mededeva, Alina Zagitova, and Sofia Samodurova. However, it is worth noting that none of those three skaters made the podium at the 2019 Russian National Championships; they were simply judged to be the top three skaters who were eligible to attend the World Championships. Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Alyona Kostornaya were all too young. This brief update on each skater’s career also highlights two 12-year-old athletes who are expected to compete with confidence among their more senior colleagues in the coming years.

Read Meduza's report here: “The World Figure Skating Championships start today. Catch up here on the biggest stars in Russian women’s singles.”