Vasily Aksyonov’s prophetic novel
In 1979, one of the most famous Russian writers of the 20th century, Vasily Aksyonov, finished his ” fantastic” novel “The Island of Crimea”. I put the word “fantastic” in quotes because like all great writers he predicted a lot. So many things that even today it is slightly fearful.
“Fantastic”, to remind you, was based on the following assumptions. What would have happened if the “reds” had not occupied the peninsula in 1920, and in later decades, the Crimea would be developed in the “western” way, while the rest of the Soviet Union remained as it was? In 1970, the Russians living in Crimea allegedly would realize that no matter how bad the Soviet Union is, it’s all the same, they should not live separately from their people, as a result of which the “reunion” movement begins. Taking advantage of this movement, the Soviet Union enters its troops into the Crimea and the “mess” that we all know about begins in the peninsula. A situation is created that existed before the collapse of the Soviet Union, in which we Russia, and other CIS countries are living, from which the Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine are trying to get rid. Russian writer can not be an “anti-Russian”. According to him, the same compatriots, choosing a way different from Soviet, were lived a completely different life, which truly had many defects, however, instead it was not so absurd as in the Soviet times. The matter, therefore, is not about the national peculiarities rather than the forms of organizing the life, one of which has exhausted itself. The time for outright corruption, billionaire leaders, gray and ignorant elite, blunt and brutal official campaign has passed. It had passed since 1970.
How is it possible to keep people in obedience, including its own, the Russian people, if they do not want to obey these “mess” rules? Assuring that everybody is fascists and homosexual in Europe? This campaign, of course, exists. However, the main argument is the weapon, its sale, supply, military bases, and intrusion, if necessary.
Read also
In Aksyonov’s novel, the Soviet propaganda calls this intrusion a “Spring” military-sports celebration. The writer describes it this way: the tanks, which entered the Crimea, do not know who is going where and for what, the hope is put on the number. People who earlier were standing in line at the petrol station, now rejoice, the Soviet troops had come, and the right belongs to the powerful. And so on.
Such intrusions have happened in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Georgia. (In such cases, the supporters of the Russian Empire say, “and what about the United States”? Yes, this country behaves just as bad if we were in residents of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, we would be more interested in it. However, justifying one’s errors with other’s errors seems to me senseless). Now the same is happening in Ukraine. Slightly reformulating Stalin’s famous phrase, we can say, be the desire of invasion, the excuse may always be found.
As we understand, there is no problem with making intrusion into Armenia. First, it is already intruded, secondly, all political forces of Armenia are accepting all the activities of Russia with such delight that our strategic partners have no way to be offended from us. It is interesting that none of our political forces has made any statement on Ukraine. True, last year, Russia was slightly offended, when our authorities wanted to sign the EU Association Agreement, and this offense was expressed by selling weapons to Azerbaijan. However, this incident was resolved, nothing was signed with the EU, it’s true, the weapons remained in Azerbaijan.
However, it can not be continued forever. Russia, Armenia, and Ukraine, the whole region is not off the planet, and, sooner or later, all nations of all listed above countries would unanimously declare that they do not want to live in the absurd mess conditions described by Gogol and Saltykov-Shchedrin. I think it will take place in my lifetime.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
