ARKHYZ, Russia — After years of trying to suppress religious and ethnic tensions in its southwestern mountains with guns and troops, Russia is offering new incentives to combat unrest and terrorism: ski slopes and sandy beaches.
The idea is to bring jobs and prospects to the people of the North Caucasus, where Islamic fundamentalism and separatist aspirations have resulted in death and violence in the region’s mountains and a thousand miles away in Moscow, the target of suicide bomber attacks.
The vehicle is an $18 billion plan for seven ski resorts scattered through the mountains and three beach developments costing $4.6 billion on the Caspian Sea.
The landscape here is awe-inspiringly beautiful, nearly everyone agrees, and economic development is vital to long-term peace. Then skepticism sets in. Will tourists feel safe?
This year, 574 violent deaths have been reported in the North Caucasus. Last year, terrorists killed three Russian tourists near Mount Elbrus, at 18,510 feet Europe’s tallest mountain, where a small ski area has operated for years.
Much of the answer probably depends on the success of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which Russia is hosting in Sochi, on the Black Sea to the west. Islamists and grievance-bearing ethnic groups could attempt disruptions.
I suspect those CIA assets will in fact try to raise a ruckus in Russia, yeah.
Circassians, for one, want Russia to acknowledge czarist-era genocide against them in Sochi. Officials are counting on a well-run Games to stir up interest in Russian skiing and reassure vacationers.
The beach resorts would lie in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan, where police and militants regularly exchange gunfire. In July, a bomb was defused on the beach in Makhachkala, the region’s capital, before it exploded. The attack came two years after another bomb maimed a woman on the same beach.
Russian leaders, from Vladimir Putin on down, support increased tourism and have allotted the government-sponsored Northern Caucasus Resorts $2 billion to begin development and seek investors. Foreign experts have been brought in to help, including Gernot Leitner, an energetic Austrian architect, skier, and sports professional who played on the Austrian national volleyball team and spent eight years on the beach volleyball circuit.
‘‘Only the Rocky Mountains are comparable with the North Caucasus,’’ said Leitner, who has skied for days on end in the region to select trails and sites for hotels and chalets. He was referring to the geography, not the infrastructure. Roads are narrow and rutted, hotels few.
The resorts will take several years to build — roads, power grids, and sewers have to be put in, airports constructed or expanded, and workers trained in the tourist business. Supply chains are nonexistent. But....
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"MOSCOW REMEMBERS -- A woman stood on Friday in front of portraits of victims of a 2002 theater siege in Moscow. Families of the 130 victims who died in that hostage crisis will hold a ceremony outside the venue where Chechen militants held 912 people for three days (Boston Globe October 27 2012)."
Maybe you could take in the ballet?
"Director of Bolshoi Ballet hurt in acid attack" by ELLEN BARRY | NY Times Syndication, January 19, 2013
MOSCOW — A masked man threw acid in the face of Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the legendary Bolshoi Ballet, on Thursday night, leaving him with third-degree burns and threatening his eyesight, Bolshoi officials said Friday.
The attack followed a series of anonymous threats....
Investigators have not ruled out a dispute over money or property, but are focusing on the theory that Filin was targeted because of his work, a police spokesman said.
As dancers kept an overnight vigil at the burn unit where he is being treated, his colleagues said they suspected professional jealousy was behind the attack. In recent weeks, his tires were punctured and his car scratched, and his cellphones and personal e-mail account were hacked, his associates have said....
An official at the theater told Interfax that he would be sent abroad, probably to Germany or Israel, for treatment. Doctors have said his recovery may take as long as six months.
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"Acid attack followed protection plea by Bolshoi Ballet director" by Ellen Barry | New York Times, January 23, 2013
MOSCOW — Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi Ballet artistic director who was severely burned last week when acid was thrown in his face, said in an interview published Tuesday that he asked the theater’s general director for protection in mid-December after receiving threats but was refused and told instead to ‘‘be brave and find the strength within yourself to not react to these threats.’’
Filin, who spoke to the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, also said he blamed himself for not taking the threats seriously enough and said he had turned down an offer of a driver and bodyguard, although he did not say who made the offer. Filin, who suffered third-degree burns on his face and eyes, is at risk of losing some of his eyesight....
Filin said he believed that he was attacked because of his work at the ballet company and that investigators had a good chance of identifying his assailant.
‘‘When everything is going well, that may also displease someone,’’ Filin said, when asked whether the attack was planned by someone within the company.
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Last I've seen of it in my Globe.
What else is on my Boston Globe itinerary?
"Volcano eruption creates lake of lava
"Volcano eruption creates lake of lava
MOSCOW — A volcano erupting in Russia’s Far East sent plumes of gas and ash high into the sky and created a lava lake, officials said Saturday. Plosky Tolbachik volcano is in Kamchatka, hundreds of miles from residential areas."
That would be something to see.
That would be something to see.
Blast at Russian coal mine kills 18
Deadly accidents at coal mines are frequent in Russia because of negligence and recurrent violations of safety regulations, although safety is considered to have improved since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Deadly accidents at coal mines are frequent in Russia because of negligence and recurrent violations of safety regulations, although safety is considered to have improved since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Related: Russia to ban smoking at many sites
Time for the flight out: Plane skids off runway, killing 4
And when looking at the skies:
"Meteor streaks over Russia, injuring nearly 1,000" by Jim Heintz | Associated Press, February 15, 2013
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian health official says nearly 1,000 people have sought help for injuries caused by a meteor that exploded in the sky, blasting out countless windows....
Scientists estimate the meteor weighed 10 tons as it streaked at supersonic speed over Russia’s Ural Mountains, setting off blasts....
Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies....
Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash....
Not a good sign if one believes in prophecy.
Donald Yeomans, manager of US Near Earth Object Program in California, said he thought the event was probably ‘‘an exploding fireball event.’’
***************
Small pieces of space debris — usually parts of comets or asteroids — that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere they are called meteors. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictional heating and strike the surface of the Earth they are called meteorites.
Related: Asteroid not too close for comfort
I think so.
The dramatic events prompted an array of reactions from prominent Russian political figures. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking at an economic forum in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, said the meteor could be a symbol for the forum, showing that ‘‘not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet.’’
Let's hope and pray not.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the nationalist leader noted for vehement statements, said ‘‘It’s not meteors falling, it’s the test of a new weapon by the Americans,’’ the RIA Novosti news agency reported....
Not even I believe that.
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Be careful when touring out of county:
"Lawyer: Killed Kremlin critic was UK spy" by Sylvia Hui | Associated Press, December 14, 2012
"Lawyer: Killed Kremlin critic was UK spy" by Sylvia Hui | Associated Press, December 14, 2012
LONDON — Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian agent-turned-Kremlin critic, was a ‘‘registered and paid’’ agent working for Britain’s foreign intelligence agency when he died after being mysteriously poisoned, a lawyer representing his widow told an official hearing Thursday. Another lawyer said the UK has evidence the Russian government was behind Litvinenko’s death.
Related: SERGEY SERYKH, LITVINENKO & THE RUSSIAN ISRAELI MAFIA
Related: SERGEY SERYKH, LITVINENKO & THE RUSSIAN ISRAELI MAFIA
Yeah, blame it on the Russians my paper does.
The 43-year-old Russian died in November 2006 after drinking tea laced with the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210 at a London hotel. Six years later, British authorities are reopening investigations into the shocking circumstances of his death.
The 43-year-old Russian died in November 2006 after drinking tea laced with the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210 at a London hotel. Six years later, British authorities are reopening investigations into the shocking circumstances of his death.
On his deathbed, the former Russian FSB agent accused the Kremlin of being behind his killing, and his family has long demanded Russian authorities be held accountable.
The case has strained relations between the United Kingdom and Russia....
The inquest is expected to start in May.
Lawyer Ben Emmerson, representing Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, alleged that at the time of his death, Litvinenko was working for Britain’s MI6 spy agency and had been tasked to help Spanish intelligence investigate the Russian mafia. The UK inquiry must consider whether MI6 failed to properly assess the risks before sending the agent out on his assignment, Emmerson said.
But it's the Russian government behind the killing?
According to the lawyer, Litvinenko had been employed by MI6 for several years and frequently met with a handler from the agency known only as ‘‘Martin’’ in central London. Payments from both the British and Spanish intelligence agencies were made to a joint bank account held by the agent and his wife, Emmerson alleged....
But it's the Russian government behind the killing?
According to the lawyer, Litvinenko had been employed by MI6 for several years and frequently met with a handler from the agency known only as ‘‘Martin’’ in central London. Payments from both the British and Spanish intelligence agencies were made to a joint bank account held by the agent and his wife, Emmerson alleged....
