I was kicked out by staff for wandering around on the train.
380,000 people are boiling over with petitions for dismissal
NYT “Government ploy to appease angry public sentiment”
In Russia, the ‘land of beloved cats’, public outrage erupted when a cat was eventually found dead after being kicked off a train in extreme cold weather. Russian Railways (RZD) unusually bowed its head by issuing an apology from its president. However, some criticize it as “a tactic by the government to divert attention from people who are tired of war and economic difficulties.”
The incident in question occurred on the 11th of last month on a train from Yekaterinburg to St. Petersburg. Twix, a domestic cat, escaped from its cage while its owner was asleep, and an employee thought it was a stray cat and threw it out of the train. When the angry owner announced this through social media, Russian society began to seething.
The employee immediately apologized, but about 380,000 people signed a petition to get him fired. Hundreds of people volunteered to search for Twix, but he was found dead on the 20th of last month. In the end, RZD President Oleg Belozorov announced, “We will improve the system to prevent deaths due to force majeure.” In addition, on the 23rd of last month, the Russian House of Representatives began revising the traffic law, and the prosecution announced, “We will review whether to apply the animal cruelty law.” The construction of a ‘Twigs memorial’ proposed by a conservative activist is also gaining support.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 2nd, “Pay attention to the strangely agile response of various circles in Russia to the ‘Twix scandal.’” It is said that the Russian government strategically used the ‘Twix scandal’ to appease public sentiment angered by high inflation. In Russia, where the war with Ukraine has entered its third year and the economic situation of the common people has deteriorated significantly, temporary heating interruptions have been frequent recently. The NYT pointed out, “Twix would have been suitable as a ‘propaganda material’ to divert attention among the public, where one in two people own a cat.”
This analysis is also supported by the fact that Russian authorities are harsh on people. Recently, there has been an increasing number of cases of applying ‘military contempt’ to criticism of the war in Ukraine. NYT reported, “In one case, a person was put on trial for taking a photo wearing a blue and yellow scarf, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.” In Russia, it is reported that more than 9,000 people were indicted on charges of military contempt between April 2022 and August of last year.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.