What happened is a horrific tragedy. It is impossible to read the reports without tears.
It breaks your heart to see these posthumous messages from children on social media. I don't know if anything could be worse than this.
Our thoughts and prayers today are with the victims, their relatives, and their loved ones. With all the residents of Kemerovo (a city in Siberia). My deepest condolences to everyone.
Our country and our authorities must finally learn the lessons of what happened. You and I both know very well what they will say now. To anyone who points to the officials' responsibility for this tragedy, they will shriek in response: you're exploiting the deaths for publicity.
This is their standard reaction. They do it all the time. And that is how they avoid responsibility.
The fact is that the entire fire safety inspection system has turned into a massive source of corruption. It has long since served no other purpose.
How is it possible that the head of the EMERCOM branch (Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations) in Kemerovo Region could own a Toyota Land Cruiser worth two years' salary?
What, did no one understand how he got the money for that Land Cruiser?
The authorities in Kemerovo Region are essentially a conglomerate of criminals. Real gangsters, thinking only of personal profit.
We see the heroic work of ordinary firefighters, but also outdated equipment and the absence of an effective coordination system. We at the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation) know very well that EMERCOM is one of the most corrupt government agencies. Enormous sums are allocated, massive procurement contracts are issued—and everything is siphoned off.
We must finally acknowledge these problems and stop lying to ourselves that Russia's EMERCOM is an effective service. It is not. The only thing they do effectively is PR.
Hundreds of families have paid a terrible price for this lesson, and we must not forget it.
I believe a nationwide day of mourning should be declared in the country.