Y2K, Russian Style, Col. Stanislav Lunev, October 26, 1999

[kabud]

Y2K, Russian Style Col. Stanislav Lunev October 26, 1999

http://web.archive.org/web/20000611205754/newsmax.com/articles/?a=1999/10/26/34625

Russians do not worry much about Y2K, the coming year-2000 computer
problem, with its potential disruption of normal activities. Of
course, Russia itself also has a Y2K problem, but it is not one of the
major concerns of ordinary Russians. There are several reasons for
this. For instance, Russians do not have as many computers as people
in America and other developed countries and, therefore, do not depend
on computers to the same degree.

Moreover, Russians feel reassured by the hundreds of millions of
dollars the US and other Western governments have spent to fix Y2K
problems in Russia. Most of the efforts have been focused on the
Russian nuclear arsenal in order to avoid the accidental launching of
their ICBMs, which are still aimed at Cold War targets in the West.

But the chief reason Russians are not preoccupied with the Y2K threat
is to be found elsewhere. Russians are facing a greater disaster, a
gigantic "Y2K, Russian Style," if you will, which they fear even more.
They know that when this "Y2K, Russian Style" has finally run its
course, normal daily life, to the extent it still exists in Russia,
will vanish altogether. They foresee the following bleak prospects:

The entire banking system, which hasn�t restored itself since last
year�s collapse, will be wiped out once and for all. And Russians who
haven�t been smart enough to keep their money at home will have their
assets wiped out as well. The gas, oil, gold, lumber, and public-
utilities industries will terminally close down. The new middle class
not ruined by last years� crisis will disappear completely as a social
entity. Industrial and agricultural production will collapse, and real
economy (not the virtual economy of the last several years) will cease
to exist, in a country which must depend on exports.

What is more, the military chain of command, communications between
the armed forces, and control over the nuclear arsenal will
disintegrate, with the heightened possibility for the accidental
launch of nuclear missiles. The ensuing political chaos in Russia will
be followed by a repressive social order under a new dictatorship,
eliminating any chance of democratic reforms.

You see, Y2K, Russian Style has little to do with computers and
cyberspace and everything to do with the prevailing situation in
Russia today. Western money has made possible the existence of the
most powerful criminal group in the nation. Russians have named this
group "The Family." It is a clan that includes President Boris
Yeltsin, who rules as its Godfather, and his relatives, aids,
assistants, advisors, and others, whose wealth and power depend on how
close they are to Yeltsin.

During Yeltsin�s many bouts with mental and physical ailments, members
of The Family control the country in his place through their people in
the government, military, law enforcement, special services, and other
agencies. The most powerful banks, industrial corporations, and
utilities are in hands of Family members as well.

They are plundering the country�s resources to amass more and more
wealth, which they transfer to their private accounts in Western
banks. And they are doing exactly the same thing with the huge amounts
of money received by Russia from international financial institutions
and private Western investors.

They will continue to do this as long as Boris the Godfather stays in
power and controls the country's political establishment, for he
protects Family members from investigation and prosecution. But this
situation can�t last forever, because Yeltsin is limited to two
presidential terms and has to leave the Kremlin next summer. His poor
health might cause him to vacate office even sooner, with or without
his consent.

If this happens, The Family will be in real danger because Yeltsin's
successor will have to make at least a pretext of "cleaning house"
after coming to office. To avoid any possible ill consequences from
this, Family members will merely make a quick "getaway" in their
private jets, which stay on 24-hour alert, ready at a moment�s notice
to take off from the Moscow airport.

It would hardly be a matter of their having to flee the country with
only a jet airplane and a little change in their pockets. Vast
fortunes are awaiting them in Western banks. They already own
mansions, castles, and other real estate in the most beautiful places
in the world. In many cases, their immediate families are already
living in these places and plan on staying out of Russia permanently.

With these vast assets in the West they won�t have to worry about the
collapse of their business involvements back in Russia. They have seen
to it that these assets will never be returned to Russia. And they are
unconcerned that it will take the Russian people generations to repay
the international loans and credits which made up those assets - of
which they, the people, haven�t received a cent. Tucked away in their
villas, the perpetrators won�t have to worry, either, about the
resultant collapse of government and military, nor will they be
troubled about the fate of the nuclear, chemical, biological, and
other weapons of mass destruction they�ve left behind. Their minds, as
all criminal minds, focus only on the fast "buck."

Of course, in order to avoid having to make a quick exit they will try
to prevent future elections and to place their own people in the
Russian political establishment, who can replace Yeltsin in case he
should leave office (see our next column - "Kremlin sanatorium").
There is no guarantee, however, that they will succeed at this or be
able to avoid prosecution when the Godfather finally departs.

The prospects of Y2K, Russian Style coming soon are very real. If it
happens, it will be much more destructive than the computer-style Y2K
on January 1, 2000. And it can happen any time, even this year or the
next. It will affect not only Russia itself, but the entire world.
This is what the Russian people are worried about. Right or wrong,
computer problems on the eve of the new millennium do not rank high on
their scale of concerns.