Posted on 03/12/2023 5:45:35 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
*snip*
Assimilation
There are other important ways in which Russia is putting its stamp on Mariupol.
For example, local residents are under pressure to obtain Russian passports.
Ivan, the Mariupol city councillor I spoke to (not his real name), said locals often formed "huge queues" trying to get Russian passports.
They were required if you want to find formal employment, especially with government agencies or in the public sector, he explained.
Also, they made it possible to travel to Russia without additional stringent checks known as "filtration", he added.
"So they have deliberately created a situation where you get problems if you have Ukrainian papers, you have to deal with red tape, you have to wait. On the other hand, if you get a Russian passport, that's where your problems end: 'You're one of us now'. Things get simpler if you receive a Russian passport," Ivan said.
Mariupol is also becoming part of Russia's financial system. The Ukrainian currency, the hryvnya, has been phased out, and now the Russian rouble is the only currency accepted in shops.
Russia is channelling huge amounts of money into pension payments for residents of Mariupol, raising them in many cases compared with what they received from the Ukrainian authorities before the war. So residents of Mariupol are able to draw two pensions - one from Russia, another from Ukraine. Naturally, it is a situation many local pensioners are happy with.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
They died defending Mother Russia.
The Russia of Czarina Catharine the Great.
All wars are foolish ones yet
History is filled with them.
Time to put down the gun
Time to talk and end the fighting.
Congratulations to all the old age pensioners and their misty eyed nostalgia for the Cold War fun of austerity under the Soviet Yoke.
They won... A passport, a bigger pension, and an age related exemption from LDPR callup. Travel is more difficult with all that rubble to get around, and many will never see their grandkids again (fled or got bombed).
Still, can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
On the bigger positive side, Russia picks up the tab for the biggest “welfare state” demographic in eastern Ukraine and skews its population charts even further toward a top heavy ageing population. No remediation of the collapsing birth rate. Young well educated people don’t want to be parents to Russia’s next generation of cannon fodder.
Winning!
I bet if our country were invaded by a foreign army, rough-looking soldiers with guns were everywhere, and they told us that our lives would be easier if we got a passport from their country you would get one too. I know I would.
I would not like it, and I would be part of the resistance, but I would outwardly comply and get the papers they wanted me to.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.