Russia's Irkutsk sends message under Putin’s watch, hinting at closer ties with China
Russian leader Vladimir Putin (Photo: Getty Images)
Residents of one of the districts of Irkutsk recorded an appeal to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, hinting that they might prefer to unite with China if that country can solve their problems. The residents complain that for five years the city has been unable to complete the construction of kindergartens and schools, according to the Kremlin-opposition news agency ASTRA.
Despite numerous appeals to city and regional officials, and even personally to Putin, the schools and kindergartens remain unfinished, with construction frozen. Five years of knocking on the doors of their own authorities have brought no results, so the residents are prepared to take a desperate step.
“In the event that Russia is unable to build a school in our neighborhood, we ask Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to appeal to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping with a proposal to finance the construction of our school,” the activists said.
They believe that such a request is appropriate within the framework of ethnocultural diversity and the active development of cultural ties with China. Local residents are even ready to learn Chinese if Beijing finances the construction of kindergartens and schools.
"We are ready to start learning Chinese because we believe we really need it, and the active development of cultural ties with China is our only path for development under conditions where our country's priorities are somewhere in the area of building new metro stations in Moscow and new schools in Tajikistan," the residents of the neighborhood stated.
What is the current state of the Russian economy?
The Russian economy is practically at the limit of its capabilities, according to Renat Suleymanov, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). He emphasized the need to end the aggression against Ukraine as soon as possible, because the burden of 40% of Russia's expenditures going to military needs is simply unsustainable.
Furthermore, Ukraine, through its strikes on Russia's oil infrastructure, has deprived Moscow of the ability to take advantage of rising global oil prices. The Russian economy has come under pressure from several factors at once, some of which are the result of the Kremlin's own suboptimal policies.
Earlier this year, intelligence services released a new intercepted communication that revealed the critical state of Russia's regional budgets.
At the same time, data has emerged in recent days showing that trust in Vladimir Putin among Russians has fallen to its lowest level since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
