From BBC Russia:
Some in Crimea have proposed renaming Simferopol to Putin
At its rally in Kerch, the pro-Moscow Crimean party “Russian Unity” has suggested renaming Simferopol to Putin. The mass demonstration was also directed against city head Oleg Osadchi and timed to coincide with the arrival of Russia’s Minster of Transpoirtation Maksim Sokolov.
“I propose that a monument to Putin be placed on Simferopol’s central square and that Simferopol be renamed Putin” the unnamed Crimean Tatar representative appealed from the grand stand.
One of the speakers demanded the resignation of the city’s entire leadership, mainly composed of the Ukrainian “Party of Regions”, because they do not listen to Russia’s national anthem before meetings.
Oleg Osadchii has been in charge of Kerch since 1998. During this time he became embroiled in a row of corruption scandals, all the while calling his critics “Fascists.”
Last year per the results of an online poll, he was declared the worst mayor in Ukraine along with the head of the city Yevpatoria.
The demonstration was organized by representatives of the pro-Moscow “Russian Unity” party, which is led by the de facto leader of Crimea Sergei Aksenov, who signed the agreement annexing Crimea to the Russian Federation.
Party members announced their merger with “United Russia”. One of the speakers claimed “Nahimov and Kutuzov [note: famous Russian Imperial military figures] are with us.”
Kerch is the only hero-city [note: a designation given to cities that witnessed action on a massive scale during World War II] in Crimea; Sevastopol is an administrative city, it is distinct,” the crowd of demonstrators argued.
“Where does a fish start to rot”?
In addition to the “Russia! Russia!” chant customary at pro-Moscow demonstrations, the crowd used more subtle chants: “Where does a fish start to rot?” they would ask from the stage, after which the demonstrators would answer in unison: “From the head!”
Kerch’s activists expressed support for separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions. They recently seized administration buildings in Kharkov, Donetsk, and Lugansk.
At the demonstration in Kerch it was underscored that the Russian flag was first raised there this year.
Crimea’s government agencies were taken over by pro-Russian forces at the end of February. At that time deputies in parliament, which had been seized by soldiers, allegedly appointed Sergei Aksenov as the chair of the regional government.
On March 6th members of parliament in Simferopol voted for the peninsula’s annexation to Russia.
The referendum on Crimea’s independence and subsequent annexation to Russia has not received international recognition. Moscow’s actions were approved by only 11 nations at a session of the UN.
Comments from BBC Russia:
Думающий (Thinker):
I would have proposed that it would be better to rename Sevastopol to Putin. Then rabid patriotism will brought to the highest level of absurdity. It would be even better to rename Sevastopol to Putin-1, Simferopol to Putin-2, and so on for every city in Crimea. The grovelling toadies have gone totally insane!
P:
Let them call it that and place a monument to their sponsor’s ass, which the patriots will kiss.
Stone:
The world is going crazy
Vlad
This is just gossip. Putin isn’t as stupid as you want him to be…
Зверобой (Hunter): (responding to above)
Who’s smarter then, Stalin or Hitler? Stalin had Stalingrad, Stalinabad, Stalino (note: Soviet-era names of various cities)…and Hitler didn’t have any Hitlerburg. Evidently, Putin, who they recently compare more often with Hitler, decided it’s better to have them compare him with Stalin. In all likelihood, Kadyrov [note: President of Chechnya] will soon rename Groznii [note: capital of Chechnya] to Putinabad.
Guest:
Nonsense.
Vitaliy:
Unfortunately, this nonsense became Russian reality a while ago. It’s hard to expect something else, if journalists and television hosts from dawn to dusk practice who can lick an ass clean the fastest. “Russian Unity”s party members simply won out with their leaders in this type of competition.
Boris:
Maybe it’s better to rename Putin to Simferopol?
Antonyo:
Someone’s talking nonsense. This is something from Zhirinovsky’s [note: a controversial Russian politician renowned for his outlandish comments] chants.
Диагноз крепчал:
Can it really be that someone is seriously considering renaming Sevastopol? Stop, Jesus…Someone proposed this, had a few laughs and then the question was dropped.
Which sober headed individual could have believed 3-6 months ago, that Putin would capture Crimea?
Or that a couple thousand of signatories would be found in the USA for an appeal to return Alaska?
Emil:
The BBC’s journalists love to think up such names, which would, in their opinion, elicit negativity against Russia. They write that all Crimean Tatars are against Russia, and now it turns out that a representative of the local population wants to rename Simferopol. What sort of NONSENSE is this? Even if they said that it’s clearly not a serious announcement, or maybe the journalist asked him to blurt it out. This is the spirit of western “democracy”! And the people writing comments against Russian politics per the Ukraine question, it’s mostly a group, where the most important thing is to be AGAINST Russian politics. They don’t analyze the situation in Crimea, in the Ukraine, and stupidly write negativity about Russia. Do they know how the Crimean Tatars lived there under Ukrainian power? Did they see what kind of huts the native population lived in? Do they know that the Crimean Tatars weren’t allowed into the government agencies? I myself am a Tatar and personally know about the problems, even though I live in Kazakhstan. And the clueless comparison with Hitler that you write about? Go and say this to our veterans, to your father or uncle, if they’re still alive! Or, like Ukrainian politics, say that the veterans died or went crazy. You guys don’t have the conscience to write that, especially in the runup to Victory Day! (note: May 9th is celebrated in Russia as Victory Day, in commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany.
Кикимерсон:
It’s better to rename Simferopol to “Obama’s Gift.” Obama just officially announced the sharp reduction of the USA’s nuclear power ahead of schedule (by 4 years). In conjunction with his promise not to use force against the Russian Federation because of Ukraine, there’s nothing worse than state betrayal: this is stupidity, shocking even Kerry.
Fox:
Putinburg would be cooler!!!
Mrak:
This is stupidity, not an article
