A study of the list of decrees published on Russia’s official website by the investigative media site Mediazona has revealed that 49.5 percent of the 997 decrees signed by Putin over the last year were classified as “secret.”
This is the highest number of undisclosed documents since the record for secret decrees was set at 47 percent in 2001 at the height of the Second Chechen War.
Presidential decrees in Russia are numbered sequentially at the start of each year, with the numbers for classified documents being omitted. Mediazona said it calculated the percentage of such decrees in 2023 by simply counting the number of missing documents from publicly available records.
The media outlet also noted that the number of decrees issued last year remained virtually unchanged since 2022, a total of 997, against 996 in the previous year.
In 2022, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the share of classified presidential decrees reached 45 percent, according to Mediazona.
There are many reasons why a Presidential decree in Russia can be classified, with Mediazone speculating that two factors may be in play – the awarding of military honors for troops killed in action, or for pardoning convicted criminals who have taken place in the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Further scrutiny of the numbers supports this hypothesis, with changes in the monthly figures reflecting the progress of the war in Ukraine. In the month prior to the full-scale invasion, just over 20 percent of them were classified. In March and April 2022 as Russian forces advanced, number rose to over 50 percent and in July 2023, at the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, more than 60 percent of decrees were classified.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 30, 2024
The unclassified presidential decrees published in 2023 also reflected the ongoing war. There has been a significant increase in documents on assigning the honorific “Guards” title to military formations, units and ships. The actual reasons for awarding the title are masked through the use of standard wording such as “for mass heroism and courage, fortitude and courage.”
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Comments (2)
No wonder MAGA cult leadership likes putin so much, If returned to power, they'd also like to write a wheelbarrow full of self serving / nefarious decree's and given the inhumanity inherent to many, try to hide these from the public.
However unlike in russia, where strongman leaders are allowed to essentially vote themselves into power, I think those in true democracies feel they are due much more disclosure. They deserve to know about anything their elected leader official decrees (provided national security is not compromised), as it helps them shape their view of whether they remain the majority's desired leader in the next real election (not the treasonous Jan 6 kind of government ascension that putins' MAGA cult proposes).
Meanwhile in Canada.....am I sensing a bit of MAGA creeping into the PC party? If so I guess I need to cull my tendency to vote for conservatives and instead support whomever is the clearest backer of military aid to Ukraine (now a "a faraway land" according to PC leader Pierre Poilievre). Everything else the candidates yammer on about is of lessor importance to me presently then the dismantling of putin's regime which for 2 decades has been set on destabilizing all allied democracies / institutes
@John, I don’t see American politics creeping into Canadian politics. I do see basic conservative principles in the Conservative Party, long overdue.
Poilievre is not a PC leader (Progressive Conservative). The party is called the Conservative Party of Canada.
Here is the litmus test for you: if you think the policies of the Conservative Party are too conservative for you, then you are supporting the wrong party. You should be supporting one of the three left wing parties.
@Imokru2, Point taken. The current Conservative Party of Canada arose from the merger of the PCs and the Canadian Alliance party now well over a decade ago. I'm old enough now to get stuck in the occasional mental rut.
I guess the thing that is bothering me is that I keep hearing all our leaders say things or pursue policies that give me pause. I'm glad Trudeau has been consistently supportive of Ukraine, but am also concerned over whether China (a putin ally and democracy underminer) may hold sway over some of his party members. Meanwhile I don't actually buy Poilievre's 'carbon tax' rational for his recent vote against the proposed Ukraine free trade deal (nor did the Ukranian Canadian Business Council). I agree with much of his other stuff though as per a recent skim through their party platform.
At any rate a sound majority (80% in recent Village Media poll) of Canadians remain devout Ukraine supporters (with no russian concessions), so whomever wins Canada's next election will not be able to ignore that sentiment. FYI: Canada host the world's 3rd largest diaspora of those of Ukrainian heritage. They are particularly key to our nations large western agricultural sector. I personally don't have a connection with that culture, but my respect and empathy for it grows each day (inverse being true for russia).
Medvedev, Russia’s equivalent to Mussolini, has declared the French to be frog eating homosexuals.
Now the last I heard, Russians like to eat raw eggs from a prehistoric looking fresh water fish.
As for homosexuality, perhaps someone should check Medvedev’s anus, for he is certainly anally retentive. Or perhaps he is just a good old fashioned garden variety asshole.