This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

The Sakhalin winter can be absolutely brutal and unforgiving. Temperatures with the wind chill factor drop to almost 40 degrees (Celsius) below the freezing point. Southern Sakhalin witnesses relatively reasonable weather when compared to the north. It’s the northern part of the island that is most prone to major power cuts and heating shortages in the winter.

Every August, some federal minister or the other from Moscow visits Sakhalin and the Kurils to check the winter preparations. It’s the same story every year. The federal minister sounds off a minor warning to the Sakhalin Administration for inadequate preparation and all is forgotten by October. Then in late-December, the first blizzard strikes Sakhalin and the island gets cut off from the rest of the world and the authorities express shock at nature’s fury.

Last winter, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport was closed for more than 10 days through various storms. Several housing settlements across the island were without heating and power for weeks at a stretch. Pharmacies had a shortage of essential medicines as the flu spread from north to south. Schools were closed from late-February for over 2 weeks to prevent the spread of the flu. There was no garbage clearance in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for weeks. Some Yuzhnoites suffered the extra agony of the tussle between the utility providers and Sakhalinenergo and had to walk home in the dark thanks to the fact that streetlights weren’t working in the main Lenin and Mira streets.

It is just late-August now and the Sakhalin Region seems to be falling into the same pattern that has made many a winter memorable for the wrong reasons. It’s ironic that the winter preparations are planned entirely by the federal government and the provincial and municipal leaders who get very little say in the plans are supposed to carry them out. When there are problems in the winter, the buck is passed from the municipal to the provincial leaders to Moscow. Finally there is a complete lack of accountability. It’s rarely the government employees that have to suffer in the winter though.

The Federal Government needs to specifically delegate the authority and responsibility of winter preparations and management to a completely independent body. Such an independent body would ideally comprise of engineers and technical experts as well as representatives from utility providers and a representative each of the municipal, regional and federal authorities. This body would be held accountable to oversee all winter preparations from availability of medicines to management of blizzards to availability of local heat supply lines and readiness of boiler rooms. Paying this body well and ensuring its performance is the federal government’s responsibility. If Moscow seriously wants people in Sakhalin and the Far East to stop immigrating to central Russia, then this is one of the main investments needed to convince them to stay put.

This is the second editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

On August 15, citizens of China, North and South Korea celebrated the 60th anniversary of the liberation of their nations from Japanese rule. 60 years ago, the Japanese suffering from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki announced a complete and unconditional surrender to the World War 2 allies. Southern Sakhalin and the Kurils were liberated a few weeks before Japan’s surrender.

The Japanese regime of that time was extremely brutal and naturally allied itself with Nazi Germany. The Japanese were guilty of massacres like those in Nanking and other injustices like the forced labour of Koreans into Sakhalin. Unlike the Nazis, the Japanese honoured their non-aggression pact with Stalin. The USSR would have suffered even more casualties during the war, if Japan followed the German example. However, even such an immensely cruel regime valued its word of honour.

After the unconditional surrender, the Japanese people decided that they were going to make their country an economic and technological superpower. Within a few decades, proper economic planning and extreme hard work transformed Japan into an economic giant and turned Japanese people into first class citizens. Japanese citizens have the honour of getting visas on arrival in the maximum number of countries. Japan’s post war economic and diplomatic policies have ensured that its citizens get treated warmly in just about every country.

Many Japanese also view August 15 as a Liberation Day as they were liberated from a regime that was willing to continue the war till every last Japanese citizen died. While Japan seems to have moved on from the 1940s, other Asian countries are stuck in a time warp. The division of Korea was a legacy of the end of the war and the two Koreas are technically in a state of war and claim sovereignty over each other. There is a danger of an armed nuclear conflict in the Korean peninsula.

Another legacy of Japanese colonisation of Korea is the presence of Koreans in Sakhalin. The present generation is well immersed in Russian society but many first and second generation Koreans still yearn to return to the ‘Motherland.’ Much to its credit, the Japanese Government has owned up responsibility and has sponsored the repatriation of a large number of first generation Koreans to Ansan, South Korea.

The Chinese and Taiwanese have also not forgotten the grievances of the 1930s and 40s. The only grievances that Russia had with Japan were dating back to 1905 and the humiliating defeating that Czarist Russia suffered in that war. Those ill feelings faded in a hurry after the USSR liberated Southern Sakhalin and the Kurils.

60 years later, it’s time that all the countries in the Asia-Pacific region let go of old wounds and look towards a new era of peace and prosperity.

This is the second editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

An entire nation stayed nervously glued to the television for news about the AS-28 mini-submarine which was stuck some 190 metres deep down the Pacific Ocean floor for three days. The AS-28, designed for military research and rescue missions, was performing training exercises when it got caught on an underwater antenna assembly that is part of Russia’s coastal monitoring system. We heard conflicting reports about how much oxygen, the min-sub had and how much time the submariners could survive.

This incident eerily took place close to the 5th anniversary of the Kursk disaster, where Russia lost 118 of its finest submariners. Unlike in 2000, the Russian Government appealed for international help on time. The rescue operation, employing British Navy specialists, a Scorpio 45 submersible, a score of American divers and Japanese assistance, helped save the lives of all 7 submariners. This was international cooperation at its best. The Russian Government has finally realised that there is nothing shameful about seeking international help in a crisis. Russia’s public announcement of gratitude to Britain symbolises another change of guard. Gone are the days of smug arrogance from the Russian defence establishment.

There are important lessons to be learned from this near-tragedy. First of all, we can understand that the government has neither an adequate underwater disaster management policy nor the technology to deal with potentially dangerous situations. Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has rightfully called for the improvement of the Russian Navy’s rescue capability. Russian Navy officials claim that the Northern Fleet has an underwater robotic vehicle similar to the British Super Scorpio. However, it would have taken more time to deploy it to Kamchatka than it took for Britain to send its apparatus. Russia has several stretches of maritime territory and needs to accord equal importance to each one. The Russia Navy is buying two Scorpios, but this in not a long term solution. .Russia has to work with Britain, America and other technologically advanced nations to develop a proper marine disaster management apparatus.

The wonderful way in which this operation was handled shows that the days of distrust between Russia and the West are truly over and we are officially in the age of unprecedented cooperation.

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

The Chechen Government needs to be lauded for its initiative to integrate the war-torn republic with the rest of Russia. The friendship train action, which is being officially launched in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, will go a long way in removing stereotypes about ordinary Chechens. Chechnya is a dreaded word in Sakhalin. Most young men in Sakhalin live in perennial fear of being drafted into the army and fighting what they see as a “meaningless” conflict in Chechnya.

The island has over a thousand veterans from the two Chechen wars. Horror stories, about the situation in Grozny and the surrounding villages, are not uncommon in Sakhalin. Any first-hand account of the situation there can make most people break into a cold sweat. It is important that Sakhaliners and all Russians understand that the ordinary Chechen is the real victim of the conflict. These people have had their lives completely torn apart since the second war and are living in a perpetual state of fear.

There are very few Russians who actually empathise with the Chechens living outside Chechnya. Last year’s ‘Black Widow’ attacks and suicide bombings made Chechens the target of public anger and harassment from security agencies in Moscow. Chechens aren’t very welcome in Sakhalin either. What Sakhaliners need to remember is that most Chechens outside Chechnya consider themselves Russians and have fled their republic fearing for their lives, which were at the mercy of terrorists.

On a positive note, the spread of fundamental and radical ideas of Wahhabis have been put on check in Chechnya and several war-wrecked areas are being restored. The present leadership in Chechnya has been working hard to restore government institutions and gain the trust and support of the people. Initiatives like the Chechnya Friendship Train action need to be warmly embraced and supported by Sakhaliners as a way to encourage more Chechens to join Russia’s mainstream. The real Chechnya isn’t about guns and terrorism. It is about warm Caucasian hospitality and a strong culture which is far more secular in nature than the radical Islamic way of life that the separatists have tried to portray.

Each Chechen exhibition and performance will help in removing communication gaps and misunderstandings that have existed for a greater part of the last decade. It is in Russia’s best interests that the mutual misgivings and Chechen alienation give way to a new kind of trust. It will be a while before any youth or cultural exchange programme can take place between Sakhalin (or for that matter, any Russian region) and Chechnya but the biggest victory lies in the fact that the first steps towards reconciliation are being made.