Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire

PART THIRTY FOUR: THE NIGHT OF THE TIGERS
PART THIRTY FOUR: THE NIGHT OF THE TIGERS

PART THIRTY FOUR: THE NIGHT OF THE TIGERS

Well,some of you were curious what the police state in the UIS looked like. I had planned to go into that, but I also had quite a few updates in regards to Yugoslavia. So I decided to sort of merge the two topics. In TTL, we start seeing the emergence of a paramilitary organization in the Krajina that lays the foundation of what will soon become a virtual SS not only in Yugoslavia, but in Russia as well. We also get a few hints that the UIS is a pretty loose organization thus far. Armenia is left alone for the most part, and the Serbs assume they will be treated in much the same way. But a familiar face from OTL soon emerges and changes the way the UIS operates in the Krajina…

Some names we will be visiting in this update:


Serb paramilitary leader Arkan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkan


Former Mayor of Vukovar Slavko Dokmanovic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavko_Dokmanovi%C4%87


The UAZ-469
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAZ-469


The T-72
http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product890.html


The Tigers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serb_Volunteer_Guard




UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011.

Discussing the partnership between the UIS and noted war criminal Željko “Arkan” Ražnatović.




BBC: Why did the UIS become partners with the noted war criminal Željko Ražnatović during the wars in the former Yugoslavia?

Putin: That was a decision made by President Zhirinovsky. He admired Arkan and wanted to work with him.

BBC: Once again Mr. Putin, you seem to be trying to pass blame to former President Zhirinovsky for any controversial decision that you might have been responsible for. Numerous defectors have said it was the KGB, which you were in charge of in October of 1992, which allowed Arkan’s Tigers to emerge as the UIS version of the SS in the former Yugoslavia.

Putin: That is simply not true. I had no role in the selection of Arkan as head of security in the Krajina.

BBC: Then why did the military let Zhirinovsky make such an important decision in regards to such a sensitive issue? Why would the military agree to such a thing, especially since it was obvious that such a decision would drag the UIS into the Bosnian conflict as well?

Putin (long pause): I had no role in the decision to partner with Arkan. Perhaps General Lebed may have had a role, but the KGB didn't agree to Arkan at any time.

BBC: Didn’t you at least vet him? Didn’t the KGB have a role in looking through his background?

Putin: No. We were never asked to do so.


“A Country Not Worthy of an Occupation”- Russian soldier recounts his time in Vukovar during the 1992-1993 war with Croatia

Foreign Affairs (10/22/2002)
by William Hason



9069201rusnemetine.jpg

Denis Valilov recounts his time in Croatia in 1992

(ROME, ITALY)- Denis Valilov still considers himself a patriot, even if many in his country now regard him as a traitor.

“I still love my country,” he said as he sipped his espresso at an outdoor café in Piazza Navona, “and I still believe in the original concept of the UIS. But not what it is now, not what it became.”

Valilov was one of thousands of Russians who served in the Northern Group of Forces stationed in Poland, and he remembers vividly the day he received the order to retreat.

“We were all angry,” Valilov recalled, “we knew that our departure was at least three months overdue. When Poland joined NATO it was obvious what was going to come next. So why did it take them so long to get us out of there? Why did it take us getting made to look like fools by the Germans for them to realize that the Poles didn’t want us there anymore?”

It was events during the embarrassing retreat from Poland and the subsequent “invasion” of Romania that nearly led to the young officer’s defection in September of 1992.

“So many of us were angry,” Valilov added, “we were angry that General Dubynin was arrested and then killed by the KGB, and we were angry that nobody knew what to do with us. On top of that our rations were drastically cut! We were an army without food!”

As his unit was given orders to enter into Romania on September 26th, 1992, Valilov watched as dozens of men elected to abandon their posts, leaving him in charge of an inexperienced crew to man the T-72 tank he was just put in charge of.

“Once the original crew made it to Grodno, just across the Polish border in Belarus, they just parked it in front of a post office and went home,” Valilov said, “I was a young officer with no command experience, but they told me to get up there and pick it up before someone sold it on the black market to the Lithuanians.”

Valilov commandeered a mechanic to go with him to pick it up. The very fact that he succeeded in the mission and chose not to try and sell the tank himself led to his unexpected promotion.

“They were shocked that I actually came back with it,” Valilov said with a laugh, “at that point being dependable was more important than being trained. So they told me I was now in command of the T-72 tank I just recovered.”

Unfortunately for Junior Lieutenant Valilov, he had little time to enjoy his newfound status as tank commander. Less than two days later he and his ragtag crew were given general orders to cross the border into Romania and make it to Yugoslavia ASAP.

“I had an inexperienced driver-mechanic,” Valilov said with a chuckle, “he had never driven a tank before the retreat from Poland, and the only reason he drove one then was because he didn’t want to leave it for the Germans. But for a kid with no training, he handled that T-72 with surprising ease.”

His gunner, however, was a different story.

“I was assigned this Armenian gunner who was very skilled at his job,” Valilov said, “the only problem was he was a sociopath. He refused to speak to us in Russia, and half the time we would just see him staring at us with this wild look in his eyes. But once we got to Croatia his demeanor changed. He would go up the water tower in Vukovar with a snipers rifle and try and shoot people every other morning before breakfast. That would put him in better spirits for the rest of the day.”

Again the young officer found himself the unlikely beneficiary of a successful move. Crossing into Romania early on the morning of September 27th, he arrived in Yugoslavia just before 7 AM, the only T-72 that arrived ahead of schedule.

“To be honest, the mechanic and I were just so terrified of that crazy Armenian that we just drove as fast as we could without stopping,” Valilov recounted with a chuckle, “I think it was almost luck that we didn’t end up lost like everyone else. When we got the order at 1AM, I honestly was conflicted. Clearly the UIS ground forces were not properly mobilized.”

Valilov had reason to be concerned. Over 5,000 troops were supposed to leave Khust in the Ukraine that night, but the young officer could see that something was wrong with the planned intervention from the start.

“There were only 500 troops at most,” Valilov said, “and most of the other units were so badly understaffed thanks to defections that their ability to mobilize was basically zero.”

Of the other units that had made it to Khust, only a dozen other main battle tanks were present, and none of them were eager to cross into Romania.

“One T-72 commander was arguing with his crew,” Valilov recounted, “they wanted to go to Estonia instead of Yugoslavia. The gunner was from Narva and he wanted to help there instead. He said that the UIS should take precedence over Yugoslavia.”

Valilov also noticed that the defections had decimated the other T-72s and T-80s. Each needed a three man crew, and once the word had come that they would soon be ordered to go to Yugoslavia, many of the gunners and drivers elected to return home. Others stayed in Khust, but elected to ignore the order nonetheless.


“Remember, this was before the fall of Grozny and the Kosovo missile crisis,” Valilov added, “In late 1992 it really did appear like the military was losing its grip and we really could just go home. But I was more worried about the Armenian at that point. The first time I heard him speaking Russian was when I said I thought we should hold off on entering Romania. He said that I was ignoring a direct order, and that was treason. I said to him ‘Why do you care? You’re not Serbian! You’re not even Russian! Why do you care if we go to Yugoslavia?’ He just looked at me with those crazy eyes and said ‘I don’t care where we go. But if this is treason, then I think I would be allowed to shoot you without getting in trouble.’”

Within the hour Junior Lieutenant Valilov and his T-72 were in northern Romania en route to Vojvodina.

“As soon as we reached Vukovar we knew there would be a shakeup,” Valilov added, “when we saw General Yakovlev arrive with the 14th Army we knew that things would be run differently.”

Although Valilov recognized that a firm hand was needed in restoring morale, even he was impressed with General Yakovlev’s heavy handed approach when it came to dealing with corruption.

“Once we got to the Krajina we were shocked at the level of corruption with the Serbs,” Valilov said, “they had a massive criminal enterprise going in Vukovar, and were selling everything they could steal on the black market. At first General Yakovlev tried to get the local authorities to rein in the corruption, but they were the ones profiting from it!”

However, Junior Lieutenant Valilov would find himself thrust in the center of a scandal that erupted between the UIS military command and the local Serbian authorities, one which would redefine the UIS role in the Republic of Serbian Krajina.

“It was right after the invasion of Croatia,” Valilov recalled, “I was on patrol in Čepin when the T-72 just died on me.”

Alone in a hostile Croatian town, Valilov would be shocked to discover what caused the breakdown.

“Now only had all of our fuel been siphoned out of the gas tank, but they drained all the brake fluid as well!”

Valilov contacted his superiors in Vukovar, but when reinforcements arrived Valilov was surprised to discover that their supplies had also been pillaged.

“A UAZ-469 came to our rescue with some petrol, but when we opened the canister we found that the petrol had been stolen and replaced with water,” Valilov recounted, “at that point we noticed that some Croatian guerillas had arrived. We had no choice but to destroy the tank.”

Valilov was furious at the Serbs, but he was unsure if his superiors would share his displeasure with their allies. But Valilov, and the Serbs, were about to discover that membership in the UIS was not quite what they expected.

“I think the Serbs thought the Russians would treat them the same way they treated the Armenians,” Valilov said, “to leave them alone and let them run the country as they saw fit. But the Armenians didn’t need to be supervised like the Serbs did. The fact that we had to destroy a T-72 because of their rampant corruption was simply too much. So General Yakovlev declared martial law and launched an investigation.”

General Yakovlev’s investigation would find that nearly 30% of the military’s petrol had been stolen in the days before the invasion. But much to the surprise of General Yakovlev, the guilty party was easy to locate.

“General Yakovlev simply rounded up everyone who had access to the vehicles, both Serb and Russian” Valilov recounted, “and then he told them that the KGB would be coming in the morning to discuss the matter with each of them. He advised them that their families would also need to be questioned as well.”

The detained men quickly pointed the finger at the guilty party: Vukovar’s Mayor, Slavko Dokmanović.

“I guess it was Mayor Dokmanović’s nephew or something,” Valilov recalled, “He was stealing the petrol and selling it to the Yugoslavians across the border.”

What followed would shock Valilov as General Yakovlev ordered him to seize the war profiteer.

“That guy didn’t even try and hide it,” Valilov said, “he had barrels of petrol in his warehouse!”

The Russians then dragged the man to the city center, where Lieutenant Valilov was ordered to arrest him in a very public spectacle. The man’s hands were tied behind his back, and around his neck he wore a sign that read ‘traitor’.

“General Yakovlev brought every Serb man, woman, and child out to see the thief get arrested,” Valilov recounted.

As the man screamed profanities at the Russians, Lieutenant Valilov noticed Mayor Dokmanović storming down Zelena Street with about a dozen armed thugs. Valilov worried that the situation was getting out of hand.

“I didn’t want to get involved in a firefight,” Valilov recalled, “to be honest, I didn’t understand why we had to make such a production out of the whole thing.”

“Mayor Dokmanović ordered the soldiers to release his nephew,” Valilov recalled, “and he kept screaming at General Yakovlev that he was a guest in the Republic of Serbian Krajina. He then turned in my direction and started screaming at me, although he didn’t get very far before the General responded.”

General Yakovlev pulled out a pistol and shot Mayor Dokmanović in the head, killing him instantly. The armed thugs immediately dropped their weapons as the Russians seized them.

“As soon as the General fired his pistol everyone just dropped everything” Valilov recalled, “it all happened so suddenly that, for a few seconds, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I was sort of in a daze. But when I looked over and saw the Armenian with this ridiculous smile on his face, like he just had sex, I suddenly realized that I was covered in blood.”

Valilov would recall how quickly the partnership would change after that incident.

“The following day President Milan Babić arrived from Knin,” Valilov recalled, “he was furious with General Yakovlev. But General Yakovlev was unimpressed, and his response clearly shook up the President.”

History has long since debated what exactly transpired between the two that day, but Valilov says that he knows first hand.

“I was there in the room,” Valilov said with a chuckle, “I heard it with my own ears. As President Babić was ranting and raving, General Valilov said to him ‘when you turned on (Slobodan) Milosevic, he had you ousted. If you turn on the UIS military, you will end up dead on the side of the road.’”

From that point on, the UIS military began to operate completely independent of the government of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. But the lack of a Serbian face to what was beginning to look more and more like an occupation began to worry General Yakovlev.

“Before we arrived there was no economy in the Krajina,” Valilov recounted, “once we came thousands of Serbs had jobs thanks to the UIS military and all the while we were cleaning up corruption. Plus we drove the Croats out. But that didn’t change the fact that we were turning into an occupying army. We needed to find a Serb to work with us in Vukovar.”

Valilov, however, was shocked at who General Yakovlev partnered up with.

“I remember coming into the General’s office and seeing him sitting next to the most wanted criminal in Western Europe,” Valilov recounted, “I couldn’t believe he was honestly considering becoming partners with that madman.”

The bizarre partnership between the UIS and the man history would call “Arkan” continues to perplex historians, even today. Why a noted bank robber would be seen as a viable partner for the Russians has never been answered satisfactorily, but Valilov believes he knows the answer.

“The UIS didn’t want to occupy the Krajina,” Valilov said, “it was a criminal state run by gangsters. It was a country not worthy of an occupation. But General Yakovlev knew that the military needed to keep the corruption under control. The biggest threat to the UIS in Krajina no longer was NATO or Croatia, it was men like Arkan. Men with ties to Belgrade who could give the UIS numerous headaches if they so wished. Better to have men like that on your side. Besides, for as much of a gangster as Arkan was, he really did want to win the war. He was the kind of man who would kill his own brother if he caught him siphoning gas out of one of his tanks.”

The partnership with Arkan would bring stability to the Republic of Serbian Krajina, but it came at a hefty price for General Yakovlev and the UIS.

“With Krajina under Serb control, Arkan now focused his attention on Bosnia,” Valilov recalled, “and unfortunately for us, he managed to drag the entire UIS military into that war as well.”

But for Valilov, that was a conflict that he would end up watching from the television, and not the frontlines.

“It all happened in December, right after Arkan’s paramilitary group was merged with the Krajina police force and was named a separate wing of the UIS military,” Valilov recalled, “I was sent to the town of Knezvo, a few miles from the Hungarian border. I was supposed to keep an eye out for NATO troops.”

But a spontaneous decision would forever change his life that Christmas when he, and the soldier he was patrolling with, smelled a Christmas dinner being cooked in a farm house across the border in Sarok.

“Neither of us had a real meal in weeks,” Valilov recounted, “but as we were patrolling the border, all we could smell was fish soup and stuffed cabbage from that farmhouse. So I turned to the young boy and said ‘let’s ask them if we can join them for dinner.’ It was crazy, but we were so hungry we didn’t even care anymore.”

Lieutenant Valilov and the private were quickly apprehended by Hungarian troops as soon as they crossed the border.

“The kid was smart,” Valilov recalled, “he just said ‘I’m defecting’ and they took care of him. But I didn’t want to abandon my country so I kept telling them I was just lost and I didn’t mean to cross the border.”

After spending three nights in jail, Valilov finally relented.

“At that point I realized it would be worse for me if I was sent back, the UIS would think I was a spy. So I told them I was defecting as well.”

Now, after nearly twelve years since his defection, Denis Valilov still regards himself as a Russian in Rome.

“Obviously I’m not an Italian,” he said with a chuckle, “but I do believe that my home is now here in Rome. I would love the opportunity to return to Russia and visit my family, but not until things change there. I don’t want my children to grow up there. I don’t even want them to visit. Not as long as Vladimir Zhirinovsky is still in power. And as long as the Tigers are still allowed to run free in Serbia, I will never go back.”


arkan.jpg

Arkan and the Tigers

Excerpts from the book “The Soviets and the Serbs: Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the conquest of Yugoslavia


By Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 2004




Vukovar, UIS, October 30th, 1992:

As soon as General Yakovlev named Željko Ražnatović as head of Serbian security forces in The Krajina, confusion began to emerge. The exact role of the Serbian paramilitary leader was left unanswered initially, with many noted Serb politicians and military commanders unsure if they were now subservient to Arkan’s Tigers or not.

“He was running around saying that the Tigers were now in charge of security,” commented a Serbian officer who was stationed in Knin in November of 1992, “at first we just shrugged our shoulders and went on with our duties. But then the killings started.”

Shortly after the assassination of Vukovar mayor Slavko Dokmanović, word began to emerge that supporters of former President Goran Hadžić in the Serbian Liberal Democratic Party had sent an olive branch to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. General Gennady Yakovlev decided to crush the potential rebellion before it had the opportunity to gain traction, and he sent the Tigers to subdue the restive politicians.

“Some of the Serbs started feeling that Babic bit off more than he could chew with the Russians,” a Serbian politician who served in Knin would later recall, “they were desperate to mend fences with Milosevic in the hopes that the Krajina could be incorporated into Yugoslavia.”

The growing discontent over the heavy-handed tactics of the Russians would lead to a growing movement to revisit the partnership with Moscow. However, the movement, which had the tactic support of several Serbian military leaders, was brutally crushed before it ever had the chance to get off the ground.

“The problem was Milosevic was recognizing that it was suicide to try and go against the Russians,” a former Tiger would recall, “so as soon as he received word that some of the Serbs were trying to break free of the Russians he sold them out and told General Yakovlev.”

Yakovlev sent the Tigers to Knin on the night of October 30th where one of the most brutal purges to take place in the UIS would occur. Dozens of Serbian politicians were dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night by masked gunmen. At first believing that a criminal gang was attempting to kidnap the Serbian politicians, President Babic ordered the Knin Police to intercept the gunmen and rescue the politicians. He picked up the phone in his home to call the chief of police, only to be shocked at the voice at the other end of the phone.

“It was Arkan,” the former Tiger would recall, “he told him not to worry, they were just getting rid of some traitors and to go back to bed.”

Moments later masked gunmen kicked down the door of former President Goran Hadžić and seized him. Dragging him out to the street, Hadžić was stunned to see dozens of his fellow Liberal Democrats on their knees at the side of the road as Arkan walked by.

“I don’t think he really believed that fellow Serbs would turn on him in such a way,” the former Tiger said with a laugh, “until he saw Arkan start shooting the others I think he honestly believed he was immune.”

The shootings took place all over the Republic of Serbian Krajina that night, but although they only lasted for several hours, the impact of that night on the Serbian psyche was far reaching.

“I had an uncle who fled to America,” one soldier said solemnly, “On the first anniversary of the Night of the Tigers he received a knock on the door. He nearly fainted when he saw a child wearing a mask. He didn’t know it was an American holiday! He honestly thought the Tigers sent a child to kill him!”

Babic and Hadžić would both survive the Night of the Tigers, but neither would ever challenge General Yakovlev after that, publically or privately. When the murders were blamed on supporters of former President Goran Hadžić, Babic never questioned the official report from Moscow.

“He knew it was the Tigers and not some angry Hadžić supporters,” the former Tiger said with a laugh, “considering he spoke to Arkan personally on the phone while it was happening!”

As the Republic of Serbian Krajina awoke on October 31st, the image of dead Serbs on the road shocked many of them into silence. All over Knin men lay dead in front of their homes, many with messages carved into their chest and bellies.

“The most common one was ‘Only Unity Saves the Serbs’,” commented the former Tiger, “but sometimes we personalized it. Sometimes we would sign it ‘Love, Arkan.’”

















 
Last edited:
Excellent, it is like the Russian army is running there own little country in the former Yugoslavia.

Also, what would happen to people like Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic? Would they still stay in power longer than usual?

Also, any news about Chikatilo? He is on trial in Moscow, isn't he?

Would Zhrinovsky try and demand/ask for Alaska "back"?



Keep up the good work!
 
Arkanovi Tigrovi's debut here is spectacular ITTL, although I also wonder if Arkan's wedding to Ceca (Svetlana Raznatovic) would still occur here as well. It was also worth noting that while Arkan also robbed banks in Sweden and the Netherlands, he was also employed by the Yugoslav UDBA in killing dissidents overseas. Finally, you may want to read up on Arkan's background because he was the son of a former Yugoslav Partisan but he didn't want anything to do with the military until he founded the SVG. At one point he also owned the football club Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Red Star Belgrade).

One other question: would there be a politicized musical groups in Russia under Zhirinovsky? I could imagine a couple of Russians forming their version of Beogradski Sindikat.
 
Excellent, it is like the Russian army is running there own little country in the former Yugoslavia.

Also, what would happen to people like Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic? Would they still stay in power longer than usual?

Also, any news about Chikatilo? He is on trial in Moscow, isn't he?

Would Zhrinovsky try and demand/ask for Alaska "back"?



Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

In regards to the first point:

What we are seeing is the emergence of the MO for the UIS in the other republics. The Serbs have there own government and even there own army, but the UIS military operates independent of the local government and has a paramilitary organization to make sure that the locals don't push them. We will start to see Kazakh and Moldovan Tigers emerge, and even the Armenians will start to feel the UIS military presence before too long.

Also, what would happen to people like Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic? Would they still stay in power longer than usual?

Yes, most likely, but the question is do any of them try and challange the UIS or Arkan once the sanctions take hold? If so they might be removed from power...


Also, any news about Chikatilo? He is on trial in Moscow, isn't he?

He is, and since he was found guilty in October of 1992, my guess is he will be executed much sooner than in OTL, prob early November of 1992.


Would Zhrinovsky try and demand/ask for Alaska "back"?


He might make some noise, but it won't get much farther than that. The UIS realizes that there is no way to get Alaska back short of WW3, and since there are no native Russians in Alaska to back up his claim, it will make it that much tougher. Besides, right now the Baltics, Balkans, and Central Asia are keeping him pretty busy!
 
Arkanovi Tigrovi's debut here is spectacular ITTL, although I also wonder if Arkan's wedding to Ceca (Svetlana Raznatovic) would still occur here as well. It was also worth noting that while Arkan also robbed banks in Sweden and the Netherlands, he was also employed by the Yugoslav UDBA in killing dissidents overseas. Finally, you may want to read up on Arkan's background because he was the son of a former Yugoslav Partisan but he didn't want anything to do with the military until he founded the SVG. At one point he also owned the football club Crvena Zvezda Beograd (Red Star Belgrade).

One other question: would there be a politicized musical groups in Russia under Zhirinovsky? I could imagine a couple of Russians forming their version of Beogradski Sindikat.

I've wondered that as well in regards to his wedding to Ceca. As for his background as a UDBA assasin, I did read about that and sort of threw a hint in the update about it (where the Serb was terrified that the Tigers had followed him to America to kill him). Arkan is one of the more controversial people from the Yugoslav wars, but he is also one of the most interesting. His back story before the war reads like something from a movie. He is going to remain an important person in this TL, and arguably the most powerful man in the former Yugoslavia.

would there be a politicized musical groups in Russia under Zhirinovsky?

You know, I hadn't really thought about this, but that is a good question. I may have to look into this as a possible angle!
 
Could Arkan survive longer than IOTL though? I especially want to know what his post-Kosovo conflict would be like without the assassination. Is there also a possibility that he might face his UIS counterpart? Like a Russian version of him?
 
Could Arkan survive longer than IOTL though? I especially want to know what his post-Kosovo conflict would be like without the assassination. Is there also a possibility that he might face his UIS counterpart? Like a Russian version of him?

Most likely he will live longer, but keep in mind that once Lebed takes power, Arkan could become a liability for a UIS looking to mend fences with the rest of the world. In that scenario, Arkan might have some problems.

As for Kosovo, it will be a much different conflict, and it probably will happen much sooner...:eek:
 
Would the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) still have a role though? Or would the Kosovar Albanians be expelled from Kosovo like the Serbs in Croatia?
 
Would the UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army) still have a role though? Or would the Kosovar Albanians be expelled from Kosovo like the Serbs in Croatia?

The Bosnian war will not last as long as IOTL, which gives Yugoslavia an opportunity to focus on Kosovo earlier. NATO might still get involved in Kosovo, which would give the UIS the opportunity to expand into Serbia and then hit NATO with another Krajina ultimatum (you're in our country, get out or we are at war). As mentioned, right now the UIS does actually look more like NATO than the USSR, but the seeds of a stronger federal union have been planted. Whatever does happen in Kosovo, it will happen much sooner (1996 at the latest) which would coinside with the "Rape of Sarajevo" and the invasion of Romania that we heard about in the prelude.
 
So I guess there will be more deaths in the Bosnian War, right? What do you mean by there will be Kazakh or Moldovan Tigers?

Not necessarily. But we will se answers in regards to Bosnia soon.

As for the Kazakh and Moldovan Tigers, it won't be the same organization, but the Russians now see that a paramilitary organization made up of locals will be very effective in curbing the anti-government forces in the various republics. So we might see a Moldovan Defense Force (with no ties to Arkan) emerge.
 
Would any of these paramilitary troops be established in Russia itself? What would the position of Russian Neo-Nazi groups be in the UIS?
 

Incognito

Banned
OK, it’s been a while since I reviewed this but it seems to me the TL took a turn into ASB territory.

1) Why would Zhirinovsky suggest a division of Poland between Russia and Germany? Why would he think Germans would go for it? Sure, he says crazy things in real life but I haven’t heard about him suggesting partition of Poland or thinking the Germans want something like that.

2) Why would there be massive anti-capitalist demonstrations in Moscow few weeks after “shock therapy” was implemented. OTL shock therapy lasted years and although there were a number of demonstrations I do not recall anything as large as you describe with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the street.

3) Why would Russians implement medieval punishments in Serbian Krajina?! Is there some precedent from OTL I don’t know about?

Additionally, I have doubts if “a matter of transit” is at all feasible. Oh, and IIRC people kept chickens and rabbits in cities even during Soviet times.
 
Curious, how would Russian demographics be handled in this TL? Would they still decrease by several million? Or stay the same ITTL?
 
1) Why would Zhirinovsky suggest a division of Poland between Russia and Germany? Why would he think Germans would go for it? Sure, he says crazy things in real life but I haven’t heard about him suggesting partition of Poland or thinking the Germans want something like that.


This is the same guy who threatened to nuke Japan among other things in OTL. Zhirinovsky sending an insane memo to Kohl was the most plausable thing in this TL IMO.


2) Why would there be massive anti-capitalist demonstrations in Moscow few weeks after “shock therapy” was implemented. OTL shock therapy lasted years and although there were a number of demonstrations I do not recall anything as large as you describe with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the street.

Because unlike OTL, they were coupled with massive international sanctions, and shock therapy only made them worse. In Yugoslavia sanctions caused 3.6 million % hyperinflation in less than one year in 1993 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars). The sanctions on Russia are just as devestating.

3) Why would Russians implement medieval punishments in Serbian Krajina?! Is there some precedent from OTL I don’t know about?

Disemberment is still in use as a form of execution in Belarus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment

Additionally, I have doubts if “a matter of transit” is at all feasible. Oh, and IIRC people kept chickens and rabbits in cities even during Soviet times.

It is hard to know, I wanted it to reflect how poorly executed it was to keep it realistic. As for the chickens, you may have me on that one. Just picture it as not so much he had chickens at all, but he had waaaay to many for a one bedroom apartment. Basically, he was turning into an episode of Animal Horders. :D
 
Would any of these paramilitary troops be established in Russia itself? What would the position of Russian Neo-Nazi groups be in the UIS?

Russia itself will get a paramilitary organization, but it will operate much differently than those in Serbia.

As for the Neo-Nazi groups in Russia, I am working on several possible scenarios involving them...
 
Curious, how would Russian demographics be handled in this TL? Would they still decrease by several million? Or stay the same ITTL?

With defections and war, it will probably decrease for the next year or so, which brings in the possibility of Zhirinovsky's polygamy idea to work its way into this TL...
 

Incognito

Banned
This is the same guy who threatened to nuke Japan among other things in OTL. Zhirinovsky sending an insane memo to Kohl was the most plausable thing in this TL IMO.
But OTL he never involved any foreign dignitaries to share in his crazy fantasies, did he? I just can't see him thinking the Kohl would be thrilled to ethnically cleanse Poland. Even in story, Zhirinovsky can act "sane" when situation calls for it and seems to judge when and where to say what (e.g.: his different stances on his Jewish ancestry).
Because unlike OTL, they were coupled with massive international sanctions, and shock therapy only made them worse. In Yugoslavia sanctions caused 3.6 million % hyperinflation in less than one year in 1993 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars). The sanctions on Russia are just as devestating.
The thing is though, you have it go from "everything is under control" to "giant lynching mobs in the streets" way too fast - literally in weeks. To use your Yugoslavia example, it took a year for inflation to reach that high and it never led to hundreds of thousands of people protesting in Belgrade.
Disemberment is still in use as a form of execution in Belarus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment
Er, I have doubts about that. I've never heard of people being quartered in modern Belarus. Wiki page on Belorussian capital punishment makes no mention of dismemberment. I wonder if dismemberment is supposed to mean beheading by guillotine or something? You know, one of those methods of execution that legally exists on paper in some countries but in practice is replaced by other forms such as electrocution or lethal injection?

EDIT: Ah, I see what's going on here. The "Current Use" section in the wiki page you linked? It refers to countries that currently use capital punishment, not dismemberment specifically. If you click on any other form of execution, you'll get the exact same "Current Use" box.
 
Last edited:
Top