Letter From the Editors

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov offered some noteworthy thoughts on journalism in an interview with Ekspert. When asked how the Russian media industry has changed in the last three years, he acknowledged that many publications have closed and journalists have emigrated. “But remember the situation we are in. This is a time of wartime censorship, one that is unprecedented for our country. . . . And it would be improper to turn a blind eye to outlets that intentionally engage in discrediting Russia.” Putin’s spokesman went on to acknowledge: “There will, of course, come a time when a softer media policy will be needed, and then we will see a greater number of neutral outlets, ones that write about both problems and achievements.”

But until then, it’s either-or. Case in point: The Digest coverage of this week’s BRICS summit is evenly divided between criticism and praise, depending on where the coverage originates. For example, Saahil Menon’s commentary in Novaya gazeta Europe focuses on the fact that neither Putin nor Xi Jinping showed up: “Though Putin had his reasons for not wanting to rub shoulders with some of his fellow BRICS leaders in Rio last weekend, . . . he nevertheless grossly underestimated the optics of not being present at the annual meeting of what is essentially his own vanity project. Already suffering a legitimacy crisis, . . . the BRICS grouping would appear to be facing a bleak future, if the absence of its two most powerful leaders is anything to go by.”

Aleksandr Korolyov (writing in Izvestia) counters that “it’s pointless to have a field day discussing the Russian president’s nonarrival.” Instead, he focuses on substantive points of the final declaration of the now-expanded group: sounding the alarm about threats to global security, calling out Israel in particular; criticizing the US (although not by name), decrying the inhibition of free trade; and looking toward a future global order in which developing countries will have a stronger voice in addressing international problems, particularly in the UN.

Speaking of which, Konstantin Remchukov calls out the short-sightedness of that organization in a hard-hitting NG editorial. This piece would certainly pass censorial scrutiny under Peskov’s criteria, as it laments the breakdown of international law, echoing a frequent talking point of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Remchukov points the finger at Resolution 60/1 (2005), which contains a section titled “Responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” (R2P). He explains that if national authorities fail to protect their populations, the resolution empowers the international community to take such “protection” into its own hands, including by armed force. This modification, Remchukov argues, seriously erodes a state’s sovereignty: “Now the state not only has no right to independence but is obligated to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. If a state is incapable of fulfilling this obligation, . . . then the responsibility to protect passes to the international community.”

In an ensuing harangue that would inspire the admiration of the Sergeis (Lavrov and Ryabkov), NG’s editor in chief rolls out the standard list of countries where the US and its allies have abused R2P to pursue regime change: Kosovo, Libya, Syria. And let’s not forget Iraq, back in 2003.

Remchukov seems to deliver a knockout punch by justifying Russia’s actions in Ukraine: “Like it or not, Moscow’s conviction that Kiev’s new authorities were incapable of preventing ethnically motivated bloodshed in the Crimea typologically corresponded” to UN Resolution 60/1.

However, the editorial concludes that Russia shares the guilt for signing that resolution, and thus needs to mend its ways: “[We] must have the courage to correct the mistakes for which hundreds of thousands of people have already paid with their blood and their lives.” Even during “wartime censorship,” truth can make itself heard.