Latest news with #NinaOstanina
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible
Beginning in September 2025, Russian middle and high school students will be handed a new textbook titled 'My Family.' Published in March 2025, the textbook's co-author Nina Ostanina, chair of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of the Family, claims that it will teach students 'traditional moral values' that will improve 'the demographic situation in the country' as part of a 'Family Studies' course that was rolled out in the 2024-2025 school year. But some of those lessons for modern living come from a less-than-modern source. Among the materials borrowed from in 'My Family' is the 16th century 'Domostroi' – a collection of rules for maintaining patriarchal domestic order. It was written, supposedly, by Sylvester, a monk-tutor of czar Ivan the Terrible. Unsurprisingly, some teachings from 'Domostroi' seem out-of-keeping with today's sensibilities. For example, it states that it is the right of a father to coerce, if needed by force, his household – at the time, this would refer to both relatives and slaves – in accordance with Orthodox dogmas. 'Husbands should teach their wives with love and exemplary instruction,' reads one of the Domostroi quotations repeated in the textbook. 'Wives ask their husbands about strict order, how to save their souls, please God and their husbands, arrange their home well, and submit to their husbands in all matters; and what the husband orders, they should agree with love and carry out according to his commands,' reads another extract The use of 'Domostroi' in the textbook both references the past while evoking the current government's politics of decriminalizing family violence. A 2017 law, for example, removed nonaggravated 'battery of close persons' from the list of criminal offenses. It also fits a wider pattern. As a scholar of historical memory, I have observed that references to the Russian Middle Ages are part of the Kremlin's broader politics of using the medieval past to justify current agendas, something I have termed 'political neomedievalism.' Indeed, President Vladimir Putin's government is actively prioritizing initiatives that use medieval Russia as a model for the country's future. In doing so, the Kremlin unites a long-nurtured dream of the Russian far right with a broader quest for the fulfillment of Russian imperial ambitions. In February 2025, just a month before 'My Family' was published, the government of Russia's Vologda region – home to over 1 million people – established nongovernmental organization called 'The Oprichnina.' The organization is tasked with 'fostering Russian identity' and 'developing the moral education of youth.' But the group's name evokes the first reign of brutal state terror in Russian history. The Oprichnina was a state policy unleashed by Ivan the Terrible from 1565 to 1572 to establish his unrestrained power over the country. The oprichniks were Ivan's personal guard, who attached a dog's head and a broom to their saddles to show that they were the czar's 'dogs' who swept treason away. Chroniclers and foreign travelers left accounts of the sadistic tortures and mass executions that were conducted with Ivan's participation. The oprichniks raped and dismembered women, flayed or boiled men alive and burned children. In this frenzy of violence, they slaughtered many thousands of innocent people. Ivan's reign led to a period known as the 'Time of Troubles,' marked by famine and military defeat. Some scholars estimate that by its end, Russia lost nearly two-thirds of its population. Throughout Russian history, Ivan the Terrible – who among his other crimes murdered his eldest son and had the head of Russian Orthodox Church strangled for dissent – was remembered as a repulsive tyrant. However, since the mid-2000s, when the Russian government under Putin took an increasingly authoritarian turn, Ivan and his terror have undergone a state-driven process of reevalution. The Kremlin and its far-right proxies now paint Ivan as a great statesman and devout Russian Orthodox Christian who laid the foundations of the Russian Empire. Prior to that alteration of Russian historical memory, only one other Russian head of state had held Ivan in such high esteem: Josef Stalin. Even so, no public monuments to Ivan existed until 2016, when Putin's officials unveiled the first of three bronze statues dedicated to the terrible czar. Yet, the cinematic propaganda outmatched the commemorations of Ivan in stone. By my count, from 2009 to 2022, 12 state-sponsored films and TV series paying tribute to Ivan the Terrible and his rule aired in prime time on Russian TV channels. The post-Soviet rehabilitation of Ivan the Terrible goes back to the writings of Ivan Snychov, the metropolitan, or high ranking bishop, of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga. His book, 'The Autocracy of the Spirit,' published in 1994, gave rise to a fundamentalist sect known as 'Tsarebozhie,' or neo-Oprichnina. Tsarebozhie calls for a return to an autocratic monarchy, a society of orders and the canonization of all Russian czars. The belief that Russian state power is 'sacred' – a central dogma of the sect – was reaffirmed on April 18, 2025, by Alexander Kharichev, an official in Putin's Presidential Administration, in an article that has been likened to an instruction manual for the 'builder of Putinism.' The canonization of Ivan the Terrible specifically is a top priority for members of this sect. And while the Russian Orthodox Church has yet to canonize Ivan, Tsarebozhie have garnered significant support from Russian priests, politicians and laypersons alike. Their efforts sit alongside Putin's yearslong push to give public support for Ivan. Not by chance, Putin's minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Lavrov, reportedly named Ivan the Terrible among one of Putin's three 'most trusted advisers.' In Snychov's worldview, Russians are a messianic people, part of an imperial nation that is uniquely responsible for preventing Satan's domination of the world. In his explicitly antisemitic pseudo-history of Russia, the Oprichnina is described as a 'saintly monastic order' led by a 'pious tsar.' Since the 1930s, when Stalin used Ivan to justify his own repressions, Ivan and Stalin – the Oprichnina and Stalinism – became historical doubles. The whitewashing of Ivan by the Kremlin goes hand in hand with Putin's rehabilitation of Stalin as commander in chief of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II. Promoting the cult of the 'Great Patriotic War' – as the Second World War has officially been called since the Soviet period – has been central to Putin's militarization of Russian society and part of the propaganda effort to foster support for the invasion of Ukraine. The remorse for the loss of empire and desire to restore it underlies Moscow's discourse over the past two decades. The rhetoric of absolving Stalinism goes hand in hand with popularizing the state's version of the Russian Middle Ages through public media channels. Putin's neomedieval politics have adopted the Russian far-right belief that the country should return to the traditions of medieval Rus, as it existed before the Westernization reforms undertaken by Peter the Great in the early 18th century. Over the past 15 years, Russian TV viewers have received an average of two state-funded movies per month, advertising the benefits of Russian medieval society and praising Russian medieval warlords. This use of Russian historical memory has allowed Putin to normalize his use of state violence abroad and at home and mobilize support for his suppression of the opposition. The major goal of political neomedievalism is to legitimize huge social and economic inequalities in post-Soviet society as a part of Russia's national heritage. To serve the purpose of undermining the rule of law and democratic freedoms, as my research demonstrates, the Kremlin and its proxies have promoted the Russian Middle Ages – with its theocratic monarchy, society of estates, slavery, serfdom and repression – as a state-sponsored alternative to democracy. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Dina Khapaeva, Georgia Institute of Technology Read more: Why does Putin insist Ukranians and Russians are 'one people'? The answer spans centuries of colonisation and resistance Back in the USSR: New high school textbooks in Russia whitewash Stalin's terror as Putin wages war on historical memory Putin's propaganda is rooted in Russian history – and that's why it works Dina Khapaeva does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Russia Today
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russian women should wear miniskirts to boost demographics
Women in the Russian town of Tarusa should wear short skirts in summer to help increase the country's birth rate, a local politician has suggested. The remark comes amid national concerns over population decline in the country. A lawmaker on the local council Evgeny Rudenko took to social media on Monday, claiming that local deputies 'request that Tarusa women wear miniskirts more often on sunny days to boost Russia's demographics.' The comment triggered a wave of criticism online, forcing the MP from the Liberal Democratic Party to explain that good weather on that day prompted his 'joke.' He went on to argue however that 'short skirts lure young men, leading to marriage and children.' Head of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women, and Children Nina Ostanina advised the deputy to focus on constituent issues rather than commenting on women's attire. Ostanina, along with the State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin have previously warned against initiatives that may be deemed 'offensive,' after lawmakers floated ideas such as introducing a tax on childlessness, obliging employers to monitor birth rates among staff, or releasing female prisoners in exchange for childbirth. Last year, birth rate in Russia declined to its lowest level since 1999, with a further decrease projected for the current year. The country's population has also been shrinking in recent years, falling from 149 million in 1993 to 144 million in 2023. To address the demographic challenge, the government has increased financial incentives for families with children, has promoted traditional family values and banned propaganda of 'child-free lifestyle.' According to Russia's statistics agency Rosstat, the birth rate in the country will begin to rise starting in 2028.
Russia Today
12-03-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Russian MP ‘declares war' on ‘esoteric' services
Russian lawmakers should consider banning 'esoteric' and 'spiritual' services, along with various outlets that advertise them, Russian MP Nina Ostanina said in a statement on Tuesday. A new bill proposed by the lawmaker and her colleagues would amend preexisting laws, banning the promotion of various occult services and online resources that advertise them, aiming to protect vulnerable citizens from psychological and financial harm. 'These practices, including astrology, magic, energy 'healing' and fortune telling, have no scientific basis, mislead people, and are often used for fraud,' Ostanina wrote on her Telegram channel, posting the draft bill. 'These con artists swindled more than 100 billion rubles ($1.15 billion) from households and families in 2024 alone,' she added. If accepted, the bill would affect tarot card readers, mediums, crystal therapists, numerologists and other esoteric services, according to the bill's explanatory notes. International precedents suggest that regulating these kinds of businesses 'reduces the risk of fraud,' Ostanina said. 'Ignoramuses, crooks, charlatans and deceivers – I declare war on you,' she wrote. According to a poll last year by The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTSIOM), roughly six out of ten Russians had resorted to esoteric services at least once in their lifetime, and one in four believed in their effectiveness. The Russian 'magic' market niche grew by 20%, while traffic to websites providing the services spiked by 38% in 2024, the newspaper MK claimed in December. According to the outlet's estimates, the industry's total annual turnover in Russia reached trillions of rubles last year, comparable to Russians' annual spending on groceries.
Times of Oman
27-01-2025
- Times of Oman
Amid ongoing Black Sea oil spill, locals lead cleanup effort
Anapa: A wave of cancellations is sweeping through spas and children's camps in Anapa, a Russian town on the Black Sea. As the pollution from a huge December 2024 oil spill washes onto local beaches, many Russians are abandoning their holiday plans in the southern Krasnodar region. According to the Telegram channel Kub Mash, "parents don't want to send their children to the hazardous coastline." It also reported that companies that had issued travel vouchers to employees as bonuses were now demanding refunds. Speaking to the Russian paper Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the head of Russia's State Duma Committee on Family Affairs, Nina Ostanina, said bookings at Anapa's children's recreation and health retreats had plummeted by more than 27% in January and 40% for the summer. The oil spill began on December 15 when a storm swamped two aging Russian tankers traveling through the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from the Crimean Peninsula. One ship sank and the other was damaged when it ran aground. Ongoing environmental disaster More than a month later, fuel oil continues to leak into the sea from the sunken tanker. Russian authorities have reported that they haven't been able to weld the damaged part of the ship closed, because the hole was too close to the oil storage tankers. According to official reports, up to 5,000 of the 9,200 tons of mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product, being transported by the tankers may have already leaked into the sea. The mazut has been settling on the seabed and washing ashore, contaminating at least 50 kilometres (31 miles) of coastline, mostly around Anapa. While Russia's Emergencies Ministry has claimed there is no effective method to clean up this type of oil, environmental experts have said appropriate methods have been available since 2002, when the Prestige tanker carrying similar heavy fuel oil sank off the Spanish coast, polluting some 2,000 kilometers of coastline. Russian officials are warning of further problems in the summer, when rising temperatures cause the oil to dissolve and wash ashore in larger amounts. Severe consequences for wildlife, people Eugene Simonov, of the environmental protection group Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group, told DW it could take a decade for local ecosystems to recover. "This oil spill could have disastrous consequences for some species," he said. Environmental organization Greenpeace has reported the deaths of 32 dolphins and 1,355 birds as of early January. Anna Jerzak, an expert with the organization for Central and Eastern Europe, told DW that high concentrations of hydrocarbons had a toxic effect on fish, disrupting food chains and causing populations to decline. "In the long term, oil products poison seaweeds, which destroys the habitats of a number of organisms," she said. Looking to the upcoming summer, Simonov said the heavy fuel also posed health risks to swimmers. "People may experience a bad smell," he said. "For many, it will worsen existing respiratory issues, and all of this can have carcinogenic effects." Jerzak warned that toxic fumes, allergic reactions and skin inflammation were also likely. Volunteers step in despite government inaction Some 10,000 volunteers are helping with the spontaneous cleanup effort, said ecologist Evgeny Vitishko, adding that some 2,500 birds have been rescued so far. "That's about half the birds affected by the oil spill, which is higher than the global average. Usually, only about 10-12% are rescued," said Vitishko, adding that he was lobbying for a bird rehabilitation center where the rescued wildlife could be kept for three to six months. "We've only got a month left before there are no more birds left to save," he said. One helper explained that the volunteer network had initially been funded by donations. In time, volunteers began asking donors to order the necessary supplies and gear online and have it shipped directly to the volunteer center. All volunteers receive free lodging and provisions from local hotels, whose own survival depends on the upcoming summer season. Environmental authorities call for stricter monitoring of cleanup effort Initially, authorities had provided volunteers with protective suits from China, as DW learned, and the distribution of special gear was slow at best. But even if these issues have since been resolved, many volunteers are under the impression that they, not the state, are the ones doing most of the cleanup work. They complain that government representatives are only interfering with their efforts. In a ministerial meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin had apparently called upon those in office to engage more actively in cleanup duties. When employees of Russian Environment Ministry visited Anapa in early January, they caused a scandal when they released some 160 rescued birds without consulting local volunteers in advance. "They did it as a PR stunt," one helper told DW. The incident took a tragic turn, when nearly all the birds that had been released were found dead along the coast the following day. Experts explained that the oil had damaged the natural insulation lining in the birds' feathers, which hadn't had the chance to recover in such a short period. Following the event, the volunteer center installed a representative responsible for liaising with authorities and the media. But helpers said the representative is actually responsible for monitoring the content of their internal group chats. One volunteer said there had initially been an open atmosphere at the center. "I was amazed at how friendly people were to each other. Some did the heavy lifting, other washed birds, and still other distributed protective gear," he said. "It felt great to be a part of it." But once authorities began pressuring the volunteer center, he starting doubting the official statistics and work practices. Instead, the helper suspects local authorities are trying to cover up numbers and activities. "Despite the free food and lodging, I barely have any savings left over," he said. But he still wanted to stay, if only for the sense of contributing to something important.
