On Thursday, according to documents uploaded to the official online database of Russian legislative information, President V V Putin signed a decree on responsible treatment of animals outlawing all forms of cruelty to animals and established rules of pet ownership. The law was introduced in 2010 to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the RF Gosduma, and took eight years for passage. The law contains basic principles of pet ownership, based on responsible, ethical, and humane treatment of animals. It also streamlines the rights and responsibilities of federal, regional, and municipal authorities on the issue of pet ownership. The law establishes rules of ownership and use of animals, and of their protection against cruel treatment. Besides, it outlaws the propaganda of cruel treatment of animals and sets forth requirements for ownership of pets and service animals, as well as for their use in cultural and entertaining events.
Bans and Restrictions
The new law prohibits free and uncontrolled movement of animals in areas with road traffic, in lifts, and in other common areas of residential buildings, as well as in yards, recreational areas, playgrounds, and sporting grounds. From now on, owners must clean the waste left by their pet in those areas. Now, municipal authorities can prohibit animal walks in certain zones. The document also stipulates that dogs of potentially dangerous breeds can take walks only with a muzzle and on a leash. The only exception is when a dog walks on restricted territory belonging to its owner and marked with a warning sign. The Russian government will compile a list of those dangerous breeds. The law also defines the legal status of animal shelters and sets rules for establishing, keeping, and using them. From now on, anyone capturing stray animals must record it with a camera and make public all information about them. The document also outlaws petting zoos and animal fights, as well as keeping animals in bars and restaurants.
Peace procession of the canonical UPTs/MP in 2016… it contains 85 percent of the Orthodox believers in the Ukraine
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President V V Putin noted that the struggle for power is a problem in church life in the Ukraine; it seems that a project based in speculation and politicking is taking place. He stated that Russia doesn’t wish to interfere in the situation, but it reserves the right to react to human rights abuses there. On Thursday, Putin spoke at a solemn ceremony noting the 10th anniversary of the MP’s Local Council:
Fraternal inter-church ties historically united and brought people together, serving to develop equitable relations between Russia and many foreign countries. However, unfortunately, we see other examples where speculation, politicking, and parasitism affecting questions of religious life led to disunity amongst the people, provoking anger, and fanning fanaticism. Such projects aren’t related to faith, but are obvious fakes, being entwined with the struggle for power taking place in the Ukraine. It’s regrettable that it involved the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In fact, this was blatant interference in church life. Its initiators looked as though they had learnt from the godless of the last century, who expelled believers from churches, and harassed and persecuted the clergy. The Russian authorities consider it unacceptable to interfere in church affairs. We respect and will respect the independence of church life, especially, in a neighbouring sovereign country. Nevertheless, we reserve the right to react and do everything to protect human rights, including freedom of religion.
President Putin named several Russian divisions and regiments after Ukrainian cities such as Lvov and Zhitomir, as well as the Polish capital Warsaw. This move is sure to anger Ukrainian and Polish ultra-nationalists. Indeed, the names already trigger and anger Ukrainian nationalists. Putin assigned the names as honorifics, commemorating the participation of these units in liberating the city for which they received their name.
For this reason, Putin’s decree named the 6 Guards Tank Regiment the 6 Lvov Guards Tank Regiment in honour of the Western Ukrainian city of Lvov in Galicia. The 68 Tank Regiment will now be the Zhitomir-Berlin Guards. The name of the regiment (originally raised in 1944 and reformed in 2017) is in honour of Zhitomir in the northern Ukraine and the title “Berlin” comes from the capture of Berlin in 1945. The 381 Artillery Regiment received the title Varshava (Warsaw), after the capital of Poland (note that Warsaw wasn’t the capital during the Polish occupation of the Ukraine… the then-capital of the Polish-Lithuanian Rzeczpospolita was Krakow). Soviet soldiers fought to liberate Warsaw and Poland from the German fascists and the heroes of the Red Army liberated the Nazi concentration camps. We mustn’t disregard this, even if contemporary Polish political figures forget it.
The 933 Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment received the title “Verkhnodneprovsk” (Upper Dnepr River) and the 102 Motor Rifle Regiment received the title “Slonim-Pomeransk”. The 90 Tank Division is now the 90 Guards Tank Division Vitebsk-Novgorod. Vitebsk is a Belarusian city located in the north near the Russian border. When people hear the name Novgorod they often think of the famous ancient city where Russian history began. Veliki Novgorod is close to Vitebsk and is the logical reason for the name, but we mustn’t forget the name simply means “New City”, and there’s the much larger and younger Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, as well as Novgorod in the Ukraine, which is located south of the original Veliki Novgorod. Additionally, the 400 Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment has the title Transylvania (in Romania), which means “Beyond the Forest”. In fact, that’s a common Slavic name, as there is one such place of the same name near Moscow, as well as one near Kiev.
Transylvania in Slavic languages uses a variant of its Austro-Hungarian name, Semigorod, meaning Seven Cities. The region is most famous for Voivode Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad the Impaler, who spawned the Dracula legends. The lurid accounts emphasising Vlad’s ferocity might’ve been slightly exaggerated slander by the Germans. Contemporary Russian and Slavic accounts provide a more fair and unbiased middle ground. They acknowledge his cruelty, but also note his successful diplomacy and campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. They did criticise him for what they felt was a betrayal of Orthodoxy and believed this is what caused his death, in contrast to the life of his cousin, St Stephan the Great, but this is beyond the scope of this article. The focus is the units and the names Putin assigned them, but it’s worth understanding a little something about the regions from which they take their names.
The last three units mentioned were the 856 Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (Guards of Kobryn), the 150 Motor Rifle Division (Idritsko-Berlin), and the 144 Motor Rifle Division (Elnya Guards). In Russian military tradition, a Guards Regiment or the title “Guards” refers to an élite or particularly distinguished unit. This isn’t the same as Special Operations (Spetsnaz) forces, but a Spetsnaz unit can also be a Guards unit. Officers of a Guards unit bear the title “of the Guards” added to their title, so, a Colonel of a Guards regiment would be a Colonel of the Guards or Guards Colonel. Of course, it’s important to address an officer or unit appropriately. The legendary and beloved Russian movie Only Old Men Go to Battle (a must watch for Russia lovers) joked about this. In the film, singer and ace pilot Captain Titarenko is walking by and one of the surprised soldiers in the scene said, “Oh, excuse me, Comrade Captain”, and he jokingly replied, “That’s Comrade Guards Captain to you!”
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The film is a classic about the Great Patriotic War, which is the main reason why these units received their special titles, to “preserve glorious military historical traditions, to instil in military personnel a spirit of devotion to the Motherland and loyalty in fulfilment of one’s military duty”. Of course, ultranationalists from the Ukraine, Poland, and (possibly) Romania may falsely see this as some form of expansionist threat, as some Ukrainians already have. This is ridiculous, as the units received such titles in honour of historical deeds of heroism. People shouldn’t blind themselves to their history, and the reality is that the USSR liberated these countries from fascism. Were it not for the might of the USSR, the fascists could’ve ruled all of Europe and likely the entire world. In the case of the Ukraine, this was Russian land, liberated by Slavic peoples… Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians, but the USSR also helped Polish, Romanian, and Moldavian partisans to push the fascists off their land.
It was particularly interesting and ironic, but very appropriate, that a Guards Regiment would receive the title Lvov, which means “The Lion-City”. Lvov is the historical capital of Galicia; it’s the most stereotypically Western of Ukrainian cities. The traditional date of the founding of Lvov is 1256; however, some historians believe its foundation was between 1240 and 1247, shortly after the fall of Kiev (1240). The city served as the capital of the westernmost principality of Rus, quickly conquered by Poland, then, merged with the Polish-Lithuanian Rzeczpospolita. During the period of the Rzeczpospolita, the Uniate Catholic religion arose; to this day, Lvov has one of the highest rates of Uniates or outright Roman Catholics in the Ukraine. This is illustrative of the extreme cultural differences between one part of the Ukraine and another, to the extent that it almost feels like they’re two separate countries.
Kiev, the traditional birthplace of Russia, was only separate from Russia for a period of around 300 years, between 1360 and 1654 (and again from 1991 to the present day); it has a much more Russian and Orthodox feel. If you didn’t know Russian cities and architecture, a foreigner could mistake it for a city like Volgograd… they both even have a “Motherland with a sword” statue. Kiev is over one thousand kilometres away from Volgograd, twice the distance to Lvov, which is about 500 kilometres from Kiev. Even though Kiev and Lvov are in the same country, whereas Volgograd isn’t, the former two are more distant in culture. Lvov looks, feels, and sounds much more Polish; it only reunited with Russia in 1939 after spending centuries in Austro-Hungary and Poland. It fell to the Germans during World War II; the Red Army only liberated it in 1944. Just imagine the differences between Lvov and the Donbass.
Not only does Lvov have a distinctly less “Soviet” look to it, but also the buildings even fit in with those in Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czechia, etc. The Churches look far more Catholic than they do Orthodox. These things influence culture and thought tremendously. There are Orthodox Christians from Lvov. Orthodox people in Lvov feel no different from those from the rest of the Ukraine or in Russia, aside from the language and accent of course. People in Lvov can still speak Russian if they encounter those who don’t speak Ukrainian. Lvov people are still Ukrainians, therefore, Eastern Slavs, and Galicia was once an equal part of Rus, so there’ll always be a common history. Still, one can’t deny the powerful foreign influence in Lvov. A simple look at the skylines reveals the cities have a different character. This doesn’t mean that it’s bad to be Polish, Austrian, etc, or it’s bad to have Catholic churches in your cities. Of course, it’s positive to coexist and respect all peoples and cultures. It’s simply worth noting that when a city looks and feels different, when the people speak a different, more Polish-influenced, Ukrainian, and when they spent most of their history in other states, it can cause cultural differences. These differences shouldn’t cause conflict, but human nature allows them to. I fully believe the Orthodox Church will unite the Ukraine, and see her through the storms, and that fascism has no future in this land, in the West, or the East. Still, there are difficulties today, caused by cultural differences.
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These differences express themselves clearly in Ukrainian political life and demographics. Naming a Russian regiment after Lvov is merely one of the ways to remind people of their brotherly bonds, of a time when people from all over the USSR fought together against fascism. There’s still much we must do to bring peace to the Ukraine after Western neocons and Ultranationalists tore it apart. Learning about when in history differences first emerged can help; ultimately, studying history reveals that all of the Ukraine, even Lvov, has roots in Kievan Rus. Instead, Ukrainian ultranationalists believe that they’re the “True Russians”, and that Russia has no claim to Kievan Rus. They think they’re more Russian than the Russians are! The Red Army drove the West out of Lvov, which invaded and occupied it. Indeed, Hitler came from the same group of Austro-Germans that occupied Galicia for centuries. It’s important to remember that and not to forget it.
Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an anonymous presidential administration official, that ROK President Moon Jae-in will pay a three-day state visit to Russia later this week to meet President Putin. The two presidents will meet on Thursday, shortly after the ROK leader’s arrival in Moscow. This’ll be Moon’s first visit to the Russian capital since his election in May 2017 and the first state visit by a ROK President to Russia since 1999. Most expect Moon and Putin to pay special attention to the DPRK nuclear issue during the summit. Yonhap quoted the anonymous official:
Russia made significant contributions to efforts to denuclearise the DPRK, it also played a significant role in pressuring it, considering its economic relationship with the DPRK. In addition, the visit should help promote strategic cooperation between the two countries to establish peace in Northeast Asia amidst positive developments in security conditions and efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.
Whilst in Moscow, Moon will also meet with Chairman of the RF Government D A Medvedev and other high-ranking officials. He’ll also be the first ROK President to address the RF Gosduma (lower house of the RF Federal Assembly). Later on, Moon will travel to Rostov-on-Don to attend the FIFA World Cup match between the ROK and Mexico before returning home on Saturday.
Voices from Russia 
Putin Signed Bill to Ban All Forms of Cruelty to Animals
Tags: Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, animals, legal affairs, Pet, Pets, political commentary, politics, RF Gosduma, Russia, Russian, Vladimir Putin
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On Thursday, according to documents uploaded to the official online database of Russian legislative information, President V V Putin signed a decree on responsible treatment of animals outlawing all forms of cruelty to animals and established rules of pet ownership. The law was introduced in 2010 to the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the RF Gosduma, and took eight years for passage. The law contains basic principles of pet ownership, based on responsible, ethical, and humane treatment of animals. It also streamlines the rights and responsibilities of federal, regional, and municipal authorities on the issue of pet ownership. The law establishes rules of ownership and use of animals, and of their protection against cruel treatment. Besides, it outlaws the propaganda of cruel treatment of animals and sets forth requirements for ownership of pets and service animals, as well as for their use in cultural and entertaining events.
Bans and Restrictions
The new law prohibits free and uncontrolled movement of animals in areas with road traffic, in lifts, and in other common areas of residential buildings, as well as in yards, recreational areas, playgrounds, and sporting grounds. From now on, owners must clean the waste left by their pet in those areas. Now, municipal authorities can prohibit animal walks in certain zones. The document also stipulates that dogs of potentially dangerous breeds can take walks only with a muzzle and on a leash. The only exception is when a dog walks on restricted territory belonging to its owner and marked with a warning sign. The Russian government will compile a list of those dangerous breeds. The law also defines the legal status of animal shelters and sets rules for establishing, keeping, and using them. From now on, anyone capturing stray animals must record it with a camera and make public all information about them. The document also outlaws petting zoos and animal fights, as well as keeping animals in bars and restaurants.
28 December 2018
TASS
http://tass.com/society/1038276