Marco Maggi: ”Russian to the Bone" 20.01.2024
Italian entrepreneur Marco Maggi's book, "Russian to the Bone," is now accessible for purchase in Italy and is scheduled for release in Russia in the upcoming months. In the book, Marco recounts his personal odyssey, narrating each stage of his life as a foreigner in Russia—starting from the initial fascination to the process of cultural assimilation, venturing into business, fostering authentic friendships, and ultimately, reaching a deep sense of identifying as a Russian at his very core. Kuzka's mother from London
/ Ãëàâíàÿ / Russkiy Mir Foundation / Publications / Kuzka's mother from LondonKuzka's mother from London
Andrei Pravov
Picture: Toronto Star
The West has firmly decided “to show Russia Kuzka's mother”, (A Russian saying meaning “to teach somebody a lesson”). That was the first thought, which came to my mind when I heard the news from London that Moscow’s punishment for poisoning a former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal would be very severe. Very severe indeed…
A few days earlier some Russian mass media also mentioned “Kuzka's mother”, though in relation to a more significant event, as it seems to me, it was in relation to President Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly. Russia's leader had quite clearly demonstrated to the audience and, later via TV broadcast to the whole world, that a new weapon could really shift the balance of forces in favour of Moscow on the international arena.
Now, with all the threats coming from London I get the impression that they are, to a certain degree, a response of the West to that Putin's words. The English are voicing position of all the Western countries that “their Kuzka's mother” is stronger, no matter what.
So Russia must tremble. It will be punished anyway. There are plenty of pretexts for such punishment – Crimea, Donbass, the Malaysian plane, use of doping in sports, interference with the US election. It does not really matter if there are any grounds or proofs for these pretexts or not. If one of them becomes out-dated or irrelevant, new ones can be found. Now there is a new accusation of poisoning Sergei Skripal, when claims that Moscow had interfered with the US election seem to have proved groundless.
Meanwhile, a little effort is needed to understand that Russia had no reason whatsoever to poison the ex-military intelligence colonel, who had defected to the enemy, was found guilty in Russia and traded for other agents. He did not pose any danger to Russian intelligence because he had been withdrawn from business a long time ago and did not have access to any new data.
Besides, it was easy to imagine the kind of fuss that would follow such a murder, especially committed in the territory of Great Britain.
What would Moscow or Putin gain from poisoning Skripal with a chemical weapon? Absolutely nothing. They would only gain new problems, also far-fetched and groundless ones.
Did Russia need that? Just before the presidential election? At the verge of the FIFA World Football Cup? Did Putin need that? I have been watching the latest TV interviews Vladimir Putin gave to different journalists, including American ones. I can say for sure that one cannot suspect our President of rash acts, lack of logic or a desire to get our country into trouble.
What would Moscow or Putin gain from poisoning Skripal with a chemical weapon? Absolutely nothing. They would only gain new problems, also far-fetched and groundless ones.
As far as the West is concerned, things seem different to me. For example, our military divisions have recently noted several times that pro-Western forces are planning a serious provocation in Syria with the use of chemical weapons, by the way. It is in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. This inhuman act is supposed to be blamed on Bashar Al Asad’s army to further accuse “the Damascus dictator” and Russia, as his supporter.
So, poisoning Skripal may as well be a prelude to such a provocation. Like, it is the Russians and their allies, who poison children with chemical weapons in Syria. What else can be expected of them? The world knows that they poison people with chemical weapons easily, like they have recently done in the UK. And so on.
Then it will be possible to start a new campaign in Syria. For example, to shoot “the barbarians’ bases”, i.e. Bashar Al Asad’s army with rockets or to even use air forces against them.
They must be thinking that such a turn of events will force Russia to reconsider its politics. For the Russians have gone too wild.
To cut the Russians down to size, they need to build up an impression that the global community deals with a bully in a form of Russia.
And obviously they have to stop the Russians from justifying themselves. That is why the first thing Great Britain is going to do about poisoning Skripal is to ban broadcasts of Russian TV channels RT and Sputnik. For they allegedly spoil the picture.
What they really want is to teach Russia what is what and “to show us Kuzma’s mother”. The West remembers this saying of the USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev very well. He used it 60 years ago at the US industrial exhibition in Moscow talking to foreign journalists. At that time, his phrase only made the audience smile ironically. It also made the Soviet people laugh, when they learnt that one of the translators conveyed this Russian idiom meaning to teach somebody a lesson literally that is to show the Americans Kuzma’s mother.
The situation has changed now. The Russians smile ironically at all the threats form the West, for people are encouraged by the latest Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly.
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