Lies become routine, and routine leads to escalation: Putin's Russia in times of crisis and war - political scientist Alexei Kolesnikov for Neue Zircher Zeitung. Part 1/2 "Lies and concealment" - along with "surrender and punishment" - are one of the most important formulas for the existence of totalitarian regimes. This is how the Soviet Union functioned, and this is how Russia functions today. The news of a possible spread of the plague after the death of an employee of the Institute for the Fight against the Plague in Irkutsk caused widespread fear and anxiety, even among Donald Trump. The evasive statements of the Russian authorities only increased the fears: when the authorities are silent or secretive, it means they have something to hide and the situation is serious. Russians, especially those who lived through the Soviet era, are familiar with similar disturbing interpretations of the authorities' cryptic language. What actually happens remains unclear; Just as the truth about the animal epidemic in Siberia in February and March, which led to the mass slaughter of animals, remains largely unknown. The truth applies to many, but not to all. The Internet restrictions in the regions of Russia are so strict that many can only get information through television, which paints a picture of the events in the country in the rosiest light possible, and the whitewash is just as good, and in some ways even better than the Soviet propaganda. In the Soviet Union, everything was a lie, including the Soviet (so-called Stalinist) constitution of 1936, which guaranteed elections, rights and freedoms. The citizens of the Soviet Union had to get used to living with double consciousness and bipolar behavior in a split reality - living for themselves and living for society. This convention suited many even at the end of Soviet rule, during the so-called stagnation years. A seemingly ironic statement of the time explained much about the petrified stability of Soviet power: "We pretend to work; you pretend to pay."

Lies become routine, and routine leads to escalation: Putin's Russia in times of crisis and war - political scientist Alexei Kolesnikov for Neue Zircher Zeitung. Part 1/2 "Lies and concealment" - along with "surrender and punishment" - are one of the most important formulas for the existence of totalitarian regimes. This is how the Soviet Union functioned, and this is how Russia functions today. The news of a possible spread of the plague after the death of an employee of the Institute for the Fight against the Plague in Irkutsk caused widespread fear and anxiety, even among Donald Trump. The evasive statements of the Russian authorities only increased the fears: when the authorities are silent or secretive, it means they have something to hide and the situation is serious. Russians, especially those who lived through the Soviet era, are familiar with similar disturbing interpretations of the authorities' cryptic language. What actually happens remains unclear; Just as the truth about the animal epidemic in Siberia in February and March, which led to the mass slaughter of animals, remains largely unknown. The truth applies to many, but not to all. The Internet restrictions in the regions of Russia are so strict that many can only get information through television, which paints a picture of the events in the country in the rosiest light possible, and the whitewash is just as good, and in some ways even better than the Soviet propaganda. In the Soviet Union, everything was a lie, including the Soviet (so-called Stalinist) constitution of 1936, which guaranteed elections, rights and freedoms. The citizens of the Soviet Union had to get used to living with double consciousness and bipolar behavior in a split reality - living for themselves and living for society. This convention suited many even at the end of Soviet rule, during the so-called stagnation years. A seemingly ironic statement of the time explained much about the petrified stability of Soviet power: "We pretend to work; you pretend to pay."