The Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported about the illegitimate and illegal government of the FSB in Russia that should be the overthrow. It writes:
"Fires raging for several weeks in Russia have exposed the crisis of the system - the power is in the hands of the political clique, which does not consider itself obliged to react to people's suffering.
For more than a month already, Moscow is suffering from the heat of 40 degrees, as well as heavy and sticky smog, which causes pain in the eyes. The content of carbon monoxide in the air has reached a critical level, and it is six times higher than the permissible value. Other toxic substances in the Moscow air are ten times higher than normal.
In early August, one of the journalists tried to get comments about the situation in the administration of the Moscow's city mayor. "The administration is not working", said one of the officers in the Department for Public Relations, and added that all administration employees were sent home after the smog reached the Moscow city government building located less than three kilometers from the Kremlin.
It happened on a weekday, shortly after the lunch break. "And could we get comments from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov?", a reporter asked. "He's not in Moscow", was the reply.
It was reported that even the press secretary of Moscow mayor told reporters that there was no reason for mayor's return to Moscow. "Why should he return? - he asked. - Is there a crisis in Moscow,? No, there is no crisis in Moscow".
Russians are dying in great numbers. A doctor in one of the hospitals wrote in his blog: "This is a real disaster. No hospital air conditioners, not even ventilation are working properly, the smog penetrates everywhere, including the emergency surgery department. 16-17 people are dying every day. There is not enough refrigerators in the morgue, and the dead are just lying along the walls.
According to the City Health Department, the number of deaths in Moscow increased dramatically in recent weeks . Nevertheless, Moscow's mayor chose to stay on vacation abroad.
Luzhkov doesn't need to worry about the evaluation of his activities by voters because Moscow's mayor is appointed by the Kremlin, which does not allow free and fair elections, and this practice was introduced by Putin for all equally important posts in Russia.
Another example is Nizhny Novgorod region, located 400 kilometers east of Moscow. It has suffered much from heat and fire. At least 36 people, including seven children, were killed by fires in the region (a total of 52 people killed from fires in the European part of Russia) and more than a thousand people lost their homes and property.
No one came to help. An extremely frank report on Putin's voyage to one of the cities in this region had been shown on the state TV. People who have lost homes, cloths and all their assets, complained to Putin that local authorities had not warned them of the approaching fires. There were practically no fire engines in the area.
Electricity was not functioning in many towns and villages, as well as water pumps. "No one tried to rescue us", the locals complained to Putin.
Fires in the European part of Russia have destroyed 190,000 hectares of forest (in fact 19 times more - KC). Experts in the field of forestry blame for that a Putin's law of 2007.
The fiery summer of 2010 in Russia exposed the fact that political scientists generally confirmed: authoritarian regimes are not capable to cope properly with emergencies because of the lack of responsibility. Exercising control over the media deprives the leaders of these countries to identify potential risks in advance.
Ordinary Russians are forced to get a correct picture of the situation from fragmentary data.
The legitimacy of Putin's power is lost. The fiery summer may help Russians to understand that their immediate existence depends on whether the authorities assist them in critical situations. The regime, which is not able to provide the basic needs for its citizens, has no legitimacy.
Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center
