Сергей Медведев - The Return of the Russian Leviathan

Wurst, Conchita 167

Yakovlev Law 167

Yakubovich, Alexander 251

Yakunin, Vladimir 94

Yalta Conference (1945) 15

Yanayev, Gennady 194

Yanukovych, Viktor 84

Yarovaya, Irina 50

Yastrzhembsky, Sergei 125

Yegorov, Dmitry 101

Yekaterinburg

Church of the Blood 247

Yeltsin Centre 243–8

film clip of Russian history 243, 245–6

Yeltsin, Boris 69, 181, 189, 190–2, 212, 222

body of 125

election as President 246

and the failed coup of 1991 79, 190, 191–2, 193

and Putin 243–4, 248

‘The Yeltsin Test’ 191

Yeltsin Centre in Yekaterinburg 243–8

Yeltsina, Naina 243, 244

Yemelyanenko, Fyodor 119

Yesenin, Sergei 71–2

Yevtushenko, Yevgeny 200, 202

Yezhov, Nikolai 240

Yugoslavia 79, 188, 222

Yurchak, Alexei 93

Yurgens, Igor 224

Yushenkov, Sergei 231

Zaldostanov, Alexander ‘the Surgeon’ 15

Zemsky Sobor 56

Zhemchuzhina, Polina 215

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir 18, 224

Zhirkov, Yury 139

Zhirkova, Inna 139

Zhukov, Marshal 200, 212, 215, 252

Žižek, Slavoj 105

Zorin, Valentin 108

Zubov, Valery 232

Zvyagintsev, Andrei 161–4

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The publication of this series was made possible with the support of the Zimin Foundation

Maxim Trudolyubov, The Tragedy of Property

Sergei Medvedev, The Return of the Russian Leviathan

First published in Russian as Парк Крымского периода. Хроники третьего срока Copyright © Bookmate 2017

This English edition © Polity Press 2020

The translation of this work was funded by the Zimin Foundation.

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ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3604-7

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3605-4 (pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Medvedev, Sergei, author.

Title: The return of the Russian leviathan / Sergei Medvedev.

Other titles: Park Krymskogo perioda. English

Description: English edition. | Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, [2019] | Translation of: Park Krymskogo perioda : khroniki tret’ego sroka. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “In this lively and well-informed book, the Russian sociologist and political scientist Sergei Medvedev sets out to explain Russia’s apparent relapse into aggressive imperialism and militarism during Putin’s third term in office, from 2012 to 2018”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019017512 (print) | LCCN 2019980220 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509536047 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509536054 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509536061 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Russia (Federation)--Politics and government--1991- | Russia (Federation)--Social conditions--1991- | Russia (Federation)--Civilization--21st century. | Russia (Federation)--Intellectual life--21st century. | Russia (Federation)--Social life and customs.

Classification: LCC DK510.763 .M4213 2019 (print) | LCC DK510.763 (ebook) | DDC 947.086/4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019017512

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019980220

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‘Space’ here should be understood in the sense of everything around us, not what is beyond the planet.

Victory Day – 9 May – the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, is still celebrated as a national holiday in Russia. The peace treaty with Germany was signed late on 8 May, by which time it was already the 9th in Moscow.

https://www.facebook.com/mgorskih/posts/864591610296259.

https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%80_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%91%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BA_(%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%8F%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)(in Russian). In 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, St Petersburg was renamed ‘Petrograd’, as the original name sounded too German and was thought inappropriate given that Russia was at war with Germany. In 1924, the city was once more renamed. As the place where the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 had begun, and following the death of the leader of the Revolution, Lenin, the city was given Lenin’s name: Leningrad. In 1991 it reverted to its original name, St Petersburg.

http://pelevin.nov.ru/romans/pe-genp/1.html(para. 8).

This is a phrase that has been used to signify a short conflict aimed at distracting the public’s attention from problems in society. It was first used to describe the war against Japan in 1904–5, which went horribly wrong for Russia and ended in defeat. The need for a ‘small victorious war’ was said to be one of the reasons why President Boris Yeltsin started the ultimately humiliating conflict in Chechnya in December 1994, which ended in June 1996 with the Russian Army forced to retreat in shame and disarray.

Putin and many in his circle come from the secret police (FSB or its Soviet predecessor, the KGB); the Ministry of Defence; the Armed Forces; or the Ministry of the Interior. Collectively, these are known as ‘the power ministries’, ‘power’ in the sense of strength – sila – not energy. Those who exercise this sila are known as siloviki .

The ‘Cat Stomping Law’ was introduced in January 2013 by the St Petersburg City Council. It levies a fine against anyone making too much noise between the hours of 2300 and 0700, by ‘shouting, whistling, moving furniture, singing, playing a musical instrument or other actions which would disturb the peace and quiet of citizens’. There were proposals put forward that the list should include, ‘loud snoring, loud sex, moving a refrigerator and a cat stomping’. These suggestions were left out of the law, but nevertheless gave it its nickname.