Russian Payday

Russian Payday

Is this a dress rehearsal?

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Is this a dress rehearsal? For about a fortnight in May, Russia was partly paralyzed, with hundreds of trains stranded, as striking coal miners occupied railway lines, blocking traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railroad and on lines leading to the Caucasus. The strike began in the Far North, invaded the coal mines of Kuzbass and the whole of Siberia, then stretched southward to Rostov-on-Don. The miners were backed in many places by teachers, scientific researchers, students and the many workers who see no future in society as it is now run. The official explanation of the strike was the crippling, and by now chronic, Russian disease–the long-delayed payment of wages. But the workers’ objective, judging by the slogans seen on Russian TV; had become political: The strikers were calling for the resignation of Yeltsin and his stooges.

To survive, the government had to yield. Two deputy prime ministers were sent to the main trouble spots–Kemerovo in Siberia and Rostov–with some money and the promise of more to come. They also released food and medical supplies as substitutes for the unpaid family allowances. For the moment it seems to have worked, or at least to have gained the government a respite, with trains once again being allowed to run. But for the new Prime Minister, Sergei Kiriyenko, the events of May were a catastrophic debut. The triumphant election of Gen. Aleksandr Lebed as Governor of the Krasnoyarsk territory revealed the depth of popular discontent with the regime. The sharp fall of shares on the Moscow stock exchange and the flight of foreign capital showed that when the financial crisis spreads, Russia is the first to be affected; and the 150 percent to which Kiriyenko was compelled to raise the interest rate played havoc with his economic calculations. To crown it all, he has provided no cover for the President: The protesters demanded not his but Yeltsin’s political head.

The lesson the Russians are most likely to draw from these events is that only struggle pays. If you do not belong to the magic circle of the privileged, for whom the plum jobs are reserved–like Boris Berezovsky and Anatoly Chubais, who were ousted and then restored to new lucrative posts–you must strike and fight to get anything at all. The attempt to regain full control over private and state television to prevent this message from reaching the public will not succeed. Many analysts in Moscow are convinced that next time (and another revolt is inevitable) the protesters will not stop halfway. The most pessimistic think that if no genuine solution is provided quickly on a national scale, Russia will fall apart, like the Soviet Union in 1988-90. Then, you may remember, the striking miners were a factor in Yeltsin’s rise.

Be part of 160 years of confronting power 


Every day,
The Nation exposes the administration’s unchecked and reckless abuses of power through clear-eyed, uncompromising independent journalism—the kind of journalism that holds the powerful to account and helps build alternatives to the world we live in now. 

We have just the right people to confront this moment. Speaking on Democracy Now!, Nation DC Bureau chief Chris Lehmann translated the complex terms of the budget bill into the plain truth, describing it as “the single largest upward redistribution of wealth effectuated by any piece of legislation in our history.” In the pages of the June print issue and on The Nation Podcast, Jacob Silverman dove deep into how crypto has captured American campaign finance, revealing that it was the top donor in the 2024 elections as an industry and won nearly every race it supported.

This is all in addition to The Nation’s exceptional coverage of matters of war and peace, the courts, reproductive justice, climate, immigration, healthcare, and much more.

Our 160-year history of sounding the alarm on presidential overreach and the persecution of dissent has prepared us for this moment. 2025 marks a new chapter in this history, and we need you to be part of it.

We’re aiming to raise $20,000 during our June Fundraising Campaign to fund our change-making reporting and analysis. Stand for bold, independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward, 

Katrina vanden Heuvel 
Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x