Pragmatism, Russian style

There are demonstrations scheduled in the middle of Moscow today. They are to protest against the alleged ballot fixing of the state parliament elections held at the end of last year and to demand greater political freedom. Before Christmas, there were also demonstrations for the same reasons, which largely took place peacefully (despite what you may have read in the media elsewhere).

No one knows how many people will turn up today; the largest demonstration in December attracted between 30,000 and 80,000 people depending on which stats you believe. The key difference today though is the temperature. At the end of last year, winter had yet to kick in and it was still - mainly - above freezing. Today, however, it's around -19degC, and let me tell you, no matter how strong your feeling of outrage, you do not want to stand still for more than a few minutes outside when it's this cold.

Having said that, it is still likely that there will be thousands of people who want to make their voices heard, so there will be a substantial police presence in the centre of the city today.

Here's where the pragmatism comes in. In a radio interview this week, a high ranking police official was asked how they planned to handle the demonstration, and answered as follows (please note; I have paraphrased since I don't have a direct translation):

"If there are 10,000 of them, we'll arrest them all. If there are 50,000, we'll do nothing. And if there are 100,000? We'll join them."

Appalling as that statement might appear, you've got to love the pragmatism...