MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2021) Today, we will remind you of events that enfolded in Moscow exactly 30 years ago during the attempted coup, tell you why Moscow residents may seek to change their Names and surnames, and also warn about consequences a dispute on social topics can trigger.
Almost 30% of Russians believe that it would be better if leaders of the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP) seized power in 1991 but the majority are undecided, according to a poll carried out by the Public Opinion Foundation among 1,500 respondents.
August 19 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the GKChP, a group of eight senior Soviet officials who attempted a coup against then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup ended unsuccessfully on August 22 but is believed to have largely contributed to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
According to the poll, 62% of respondents are well aware of the August 1991 events, 24% "heard something about it" and 12% heard about it for the first time from the pollsters.
In addition, 27% believe that it would be better for the country if GKChP leaders seized and retained power, while 20% stated it would be worse, and 54% were undecided.
Among those who believe that it would be better, 5% think that in this case "the Soviet Union would not have collapsed", 4% believe that "people would have lived better", and 3% think "there would be more order and discipline."
Of those who believe that it would be worse, 3% believe that "GKChP did not fit in the role of national leaders, they did not inspire confidence," and 2% each noted either that "the country needed radical changes," or that "coups do not lead to anything good in general," or that "there would have been a civil war."
MOSCOW RESIDENTS CHANGING NAMES
In the first seven months of 2021, 7,000 people applied to Moscow's registry offices to change their last names, first names or patronyms, the department supervising all the registry offices said.
"Citizens often request registry offices to change their surname and first name, or first name and patronymic name at once. A total of 87% of all applicants changed their surname, more than 19% changed their first name, and more than 17% had their patronymic name changed. Statistics remains unchanged compared to the same period in 2020," Moscow Civil Registry Office Acting Head Svetlana Ukhaneva said.
Although reasons for the change of name are not indicated in official documents, some applicants share their motives.
"A young girl turned to one of the Moscow registry offices to have her name changed. An astrologer advised her to do this. According to the astrologer, after the name change, her life should change for the better, she will get married. The name change was registered. After 1.5 years, the young girl applied to the registry office again, as she decided to get back the name that her parents gave at birth, since she did not see the expected effect predicted by the astrologer. The name change was registered again. Six months later, she came to the registry office again, this time with a young man to apply for marriage," the Moscow Civil Registry Office said.
Another young woman wanted to change her surname to Schastlivaya (translates as Happy) as she sincerely believed this would change her life for the better. One more applicant changed his surname in honor of the breed of his dog. Some take the names of animals, for example those translating as Tiger, Lion or Lynx.
Although everyone can change their name, there are restrictions. The Russian legislation does not allow names that include numbers, alphanumeric characters, symbols and non-letter characters, with the exception of the hyphen, or contains swear words or indications of ranks and titles.
DEADLY DISPUTE OVER RETIREMENT AGE REFORM
A court has sentenced a resident of Russia's Vologda region, who accidentally killed another man during a dispute over raising the retirement age, to 1 year and 10 months in a penal colony, the joint press service of regional courts said.
"The Veliky Ustyug regional court delivered a verdict in the case of 34-year-old Grigory Nesterovich, who was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of Russia (Causing death by negligence)," the press service said.
The incident occurred on May 9 during a drunken brawl on Parkovaya Street in the village of Vasilievskoye settlement in the Veliky Ustyug district. Nesterovich punched the man in the face who then fell on the wooden floor covering, hit his head and died.
The defendant explained that he had an argument with the man because of his disagreement with the fact that the increase in the retirement age did not affect police officers.
"The court sentenced Nesterovich to 1 year 10 months imprisonment in a penal colony and collected moral damage compensation from him in favor of the daughter and wife of the deceased � 500,000 rubles [$6,800] for each," the press service added.
