...and the Bad

They have some for- real heavy duty capital- F Fascists. The Moscow Times (link may have expired or need registration) reports on one:

"Last week the ultra-nationalist newspaper Zavtra ran an interview with Vladimir Kvachkov, who has been charged in the attempted murder of Unified Energy Systems CEO Anatoly Chubais. In the interview Kvachkov, a retired special forces colonel, basically made the case for the necessity of a military coup in Russia. While Kvachkov didn't come out and admit his guilt, he asserted that the attempt on Chubais' life was "the first case of armed action in a war of national liberation" which every officer and soldier was duty bound to fight. Kvachkov seriously believes -- or at least pretends to believe -- that traitors and hirelings of the West have established a "regime of occupation" in Russia to please the "world Judaic conspiracy." He deploys a worn-out cliche as if it were an adequate description of reality. This enables the colonel to call the military to arms in a war of "national liberation" -- in other words, a coup d'etat -- and to present himself not as an accused criminal but as a valiant officer captured by the enemy."

(Snip)

"... these people have believed all their lives that foreign enemies are lying in wait. They therefore view the indifference of top officials as evidence of a plan to destroy the armed forces. Their sterile view of the world makes them susceptible to extremist political programs. If we assume that quite a few officers share Kvachkov's views, and that they are probably officers with perfect service records who enjoy authority in the ranks, this situation is flat-out dangerous. The rejection of military reform in the face of the country's relative prosperity has left the officer corps feeling alienated from the regime and has allowed extremists to exert ever-greater influence on the army. Kvachkov's interview should serve as a wake-up call."