Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is transforming the far eastern city
the day begins not in the capital, but in the far east. When Vladimir Putin announced his “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24th 2022, much of Moscow was asleep. But in Vladivostok, on Russia’s eastern coast, they were already having lunch. When Russia votes in presidential elections on March 15th to 17th, Vladivostok’s results will be among the first to be tabulated. Mr Putin will win the ersatz contest.
After an initial shock, many have returned to their regular rhythms. “Yes, it’s happening, it keeps going, but what can be done?” says one Vladivostok resident. “The city basically lives as it lived.” Russians, as they have done throughout history, have adjusted to their new realities. As the scholar puts it, “Have there ever been easy times in Russia? We’re used to this, we’re adaptive.
Despite the bump in trade, Chinese investment in Russia remains limited. And its willingness to trade comes with a price. China has begun using the Vladivostok port, with Russian permission, as a domestic terminal to ferry goods from landlocked provinces in its north-east. Some locals jokingly call the port Haishenwai again.Some of the goods coming through the port may end up at the Kalina Mall.
“The West is trying by all means to bring down Russia's economy. All these so-called sanctions—it is important to realise this—. They violate all norms of international law, which the West likes to invoke so much.” As the war dragged on, Mr Galimov decided he could not remain silent. In February 2023 he wrote a Bible verse on a poster—“Thou Shalt Not Kill”—and walked, hands shaking, onto Vladivostok’s Central Square, in front of the regional administration offices and a big Orthodox church. The first person he saw raised a fist and smiled. Others patted him silently on the shoulder. “I understood that actually many people don’t support what’s happening in the country,” he recalls.
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