Russian Euphoria Over Annexation of Crimea Fading

MOSCOW —When she was asked to give up a day's pay to help Crimea, Russian hospital therapist Tatyana could not hide her anger - why should she subsidize others when struggling to make ends meet herself?
Living in southern Russia close to the border with Ukraine, Tatyana was caught up in the euphoria that gripped the nation when Russia annexed Crimea in March and still welcomes “our” people back in the fold.
But more than three months on, she is worried that her wage of 9,000 roubles ($260) a month is not stretching as far as it used to, and fears she will be forced to take on extra work to cover the rising cost of food and utilities.

Patriotism spurred by President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea still runs deep in Russia, but the cold reality of paying for the Black Sea region is setting in and threatens to test an economy brought low by Western sanctions.

In Tatyana's hometown of Taganrog, the request for hospital workers to sacrifice a day's pay was taken up by only a few - by those people, she says, who wanted to impress their employers.

“The bosses informed us of this in June in a tone which made clear they recommended it. ... They distributed and asked us to fill out a form for the donation. People started complaining - why should they donate to Crimea?” said Tatyana, 52, who declined to give her surname for fear of retribution.

“In our department, not one of us made the donation and our boss understood because she was of the same opinion,” she said by telephone.
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Keen to help
Initially people across Russia were keen to help Crimea, convinced by Russian media that the Russian-speaking region was under threat from fascists in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv who, they were told, were behind the overthrow of a president sympathetic to Moscow in February.
Similar collections were set up in state enterprises and people were pressed to give “humanitarian aid.”
Russians were also encouraged to visit Crimea - once the playground of the Soviet elite - and some state-controlled companies said they would ship their workers to the region's spas for group summer holidays....................................etc..................http://www.voanews.com/content/russian-euphoria-over-annexation-of-crimea-fading/1951735.html
6/7/14
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Related:

• Crimea risks losing 35% of export market on EU sanctions

• Russia could not let NATO troops enter Sevastopol, the land of Russian military glory (Putin)

• US to Boost Black Sea Presence Over Crimea 

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