Patrushev: no chance of ‘colour revolution’ in Russia

Nikolay Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, and the man who has overall oversight of Russia’s intelligence and security agencies, has said in an interview carried by the Russian government’s official newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta that there is no danger of a ‘colour revolution’ happening in Russia.

In saying this Patrushev was careful to emphasise that this is not because attempts to stage such a ‘colour revolution’ in Russia are not being made.  On the contrary, according to Patrushev such attempts are being made all the time.

Rather it is because Russia’s security services are fully aware of the danger and are ready to deal with it

This is a traditional political tool for some nations, aimed at destruction of statehood and sovereignty of a foreign country, conducted under an excuse of democratization. In reality, almost any country where a color revolution is launched eventually descends into chaos and falls under external management.

I would like emphasize that we are keeping the situation under control. Law enforcement agencies and special services have accumulated considerable experience in prevention of various provocations and other illegal activities.

Patrushev is absolutely right: there is no prospect of a ‘colour revolution’ happening in Russia.  However this is only partly because Russia’s highly trained and well-informed security and intelligence agencies are aware of the danger and stand ready to deal with it.

Rather it is because after the experience of the 1980s and 1990s the Russian population is highly resistant to attempts to stage such ‘colour revolutions’ and the individuals who might be involved in staging them are deeply unpopular.

Suffice to say that in Russia’s parliamentary elections in September the combined vote of all of Russia’s liberal parties – including those which by no means seek to overthrow the government – came to just 4.1%, whilst the combined vote of the two pro-Western liberal parties most likely to back a ‘colour revolution’ – Parnas and Yabloko – came to 2.56%.

Quite simply this is just too small a total to constitute a serious threat to the government or to form a base from which to launch a ‘colour revolution’, especially with Russia’s powerful security services – as Patrushev says – on the watch.

I discussed in detail September’s parliamentary election at The Duran here.