More on Pussy Riot

It is important not to forget all the other people who have been imprisoned, attacked or harassed in Russia but, for the time being, attention is focused on three young women who are stoutly defying the ever more authoritarian rule of Vladimir Putin (or Vlad the Impaler as he is sometimes known).

This article in Der Spiegel gives a good analysis of the girls' background and role as well as the Russian situation at the moment. It acknowledges the obvious fact that the opposition is not capable of waging a clear political fight at the moment. However, the case of Pussy Riot has excited a great deal of attention inside and outside the country and can be compared in dissident terms (though not, in my opinion, in artistic ones) to that of Sinyavsky and Daniel in 1966, which is seen by all as the real beginning of the dissident movement in the later years of the Soviet Union. It all ended badly for the system and President Putin should be paying attention. It would appear that at least one of the accused, Maria Alyokhina, is aware of the parallels with the dissidents of yore. In fact, the three young women seem remarkably knowledgeable and well educated.

One more point needs to be made. As the article points out, Russians do not like being lectured by the West, which is an attitude that can be understood though they have no particular compunction about lecturing others themselves. But the idea that any of this can be interpreted as the West being anxious to cut a newly strong Russia to size is preposterous and even in Russia there are people who see that. Russia under Putin is not strong either economically or politically; she has not managed to create a network of alliances that could have bolstered her international position; the economy is considerably weaker than it ought to be, given Russia's wealth; and, finally, a state that has decided to display three young women as monstrous enemies, cannot be described as strong. A bully, yes. But a terrified bully.