CBC IN RUSSIA - Russia's bleak winter: Protests grow as ruble weakens and Kremlin makes painful cuts
Source: CBC News
Posted: Jan 26, 2016 5:00 AM ET
Beleaguered currency has lost more than half its value in last 18 months
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Like a heavyweight boxer, the battered Russian ruble will try to struggle back off the mat this week after a dazing blow in the last few days.
Russia's currency plunged to near record lows against the U.S. dollar in a downward plunge unlike any seen since the 1980s.
"It's very worrying, our ruble has devalued so much," says Svetlana Lebedevo, for a moment distracted from admiring the festival of lights in central Moscow. "Things are pretty bad but we do hope they will get better."
Sanctions, which have dried up Russia's ability to borrow on international markets, and the plunging price of crude oil have forced the ruble down a further 12 per cent since the New Year. The beleaguered currency has lost more than half its value in the last 18 months.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-economy-ruble-workers-protest-1.3418176
= new reply since forum marked as read
is worth half a million is beyond me...The Canadian YouTubers I have followed for years think so too. Your homes are WAY overvalued currently-
Like, WTF is this LOL
Couldn't even spring for the granite counter-tops 
4 Beds3 Baths $419,000
1,513 SQ. Feet Built In 2006
https://www.edmontonrealestate.pro/listing/Edmonton/Terwillegar-Towne/e4003148-3157-trelle-loop-edmonton-ab-t6r-0a2/
And they weren't well on their way to bringing in US companies in the east to exploit the gas with tracking. 
In fact, when US companies want to work with other countries to help them build infrastructure is called "imperialism."
Venezuela is a great example, they had the best oil infrastructure in the world until they kicked out US companies out of political opportunism.
The irony is that these same countries do deals with China and it's OK. I remember when a certain poster here, possibly the most vile and hateful person I've ever met on the internet, cheered the China pipeline. Precious. Look at how the US diversifying is energy has only bolstered its place in the world. It's amazing.
These figures are also relevant in terms of another important question. The former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, has repeatedly stated that all Tatars on the peninsula are opposed to reunification with Russia. Dzhemilev’s statements have been widely quoted by the media, which present them as entirely authoritative and undisputed.
But let’s think about that – Crimean Tatars make up 12% of the Crimean population, yet only 4% of those polled conveyed disapproval of Crimea’s reunification with Russia. And that 4% very likely includes not only Tatars, but also Ukrainians and citizens of other ethnicities. There’s an inconsistency here. Of course, further study is needed on this issue, but the results obtained by GFK cast doubt on whether Mustafa Dzhemilev or the entire Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars is an accurate barometer of the feelings of the Crimean Tatar community.
Those few respondents who disapproved reunification were then asked “Why do you fully or mostly disapprove annexation?” Only 20% of them (i.e., less than 1% of the total sample) claimed that they preferred to live in the state of Ukraine. The most common response, offered by 55% of those who opposed reunification, was “Annexations was not fully legitimate, it should be brought into accord with the international law.” Which means that, in theory, they do not object to the idea of living in Russia, but rather question the legitimacy of the transition.
they felt safe from the brutal new overlords of Ukraine.
They voted, overwhelmingly to leave Ukraine. They were immediately threatened by the brutal coup-sponsored 'gov't' with the loss of their native language, what other fears do you think they might have had, a people predominantly of Russian culture suddenly confronted with that kind of hatred and threat???
The fascist right-wingers handed them to Russia on a silver platter ..... they went willingly.
There were picture after pictures of them lined up to vote, ordinary people wanting to get the hell of a place they were being treated as the enemy right from the start of the brutal coup.
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Two women hold flags reading "Crimea is with Russia" as people wait for the announcement of preliminary results of today's referendum on Lenin Square in the Crimean capital of SimferopolReuters
Crimea parliament has formally voted to declare independence from Ukraine following an overwhelming outcome from the referendum to secede from Kiev rule and join Russia, according to reports.
A formal application to join Russia was sent after 93% of Crimea residents reportedly voted in favour of the split, in a referendum that the US and the EU say violates the Ukrainian constitution and international law.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraine-crisis-crimea-votes-join-russia-eu-us-eye-sanctions-1440572
With Crimea's electorate composed mostly of ethnic Russians, the referendum was widely expected to support a split from Ukraine. While the Kiev government called the vote illegitimate and other countries saying they won't recognize the outcome, exit polls cited by officials reported that 93% of Crimean voters supported joining the Russian Federation. That number increased to 95% once half of the ballots were counted. As voting concluded, huge crowds gathered in the Crimean capital of Simferopol to celebrate the outcome.
Evgeny Feldman, a staff photographer for the Russian publication Novaya Gazeta, spent the day in Crimea's main cities, Simferopol and Sevastopol, as the vote progressed under the watchful eyes of masked soldiers aligned with Russia.
People celebrate in Lenin Square, in the Crimean capital of Simferopol, after a reported 95% of people voted to make the peninsula a part of Russia.
The crowd celebrates, waving Russian flags, in front of a statue of Lenin in Simferopol.
Local residents, including a police officer, show identification to get their ballots from election commission members in Simferopol.
A woman votes in Simferopol: Little tension could be seen in the voting booths, where most voters appeared to choose to make Crimea a part of Russia.
A Simferopol voter lets her son cast her ballot during the first hour of voting.
http://mashable.com/2014/03/16/crimea-votes-the-day-in-pictures/
German Sociologists on Crimea’s Choice
by Konstanin Kosaretsky / February 11th, 2015
In answer to the most important question: “Do you endorse Russia’s annexation of Crimea?” 82% of the respondents answered “yes, definitely,” and another 11% – “yes, for the most part.” Only 2% gave an unambiguously negative response, and another 2% offered a relatively negative assessment. Three percent did not specify their position.
We feel that this study fully validates the results of the referendum on reunification with Russia that was held on March 16, 2014. At that time 83% of Crimeans went to the polling stations and almost 97% expressed support for reunification.
Ukrainians continue to question whether this was a credible outcome, but it is now backed up by the data obtained by the Germans. The 82% of the respondents who expressed their full confidence in the results of the Russian election make up the core of the electorate who turned up at the ballot boxes on March 16, 2014.
Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/02/german-sociologists-on-crimeas-choice/
"Who could be a more objective judge on this issue than the residents of the peninsula themselves?" Who indeed?
Putin foiled the neo-con plans for Syria. Which is why all of this started in the first place. So of course he, and by association, the 37 million Russian people, according to some, are the most hated, aggressive people in the world at the moment. It's pre-Iraq deja vu, or groundhog day, if you consider Libya or any other country not bowing down to the west. The same people are now celebrating their suffering because of sanctions for stopping regime change in Syria and taking in those who didn't choose to be abused by their coup-sponsored, brutal new rulers.
