Both our countries are in the same condition. We have a gerenation that has been taught that there is nothing after death. No God and we are only here by accident. If you really believe that then it's no wonder that peolpe are running wild. The fear of the Lord is the begining of wisdom. All things have a design: Therefore there must be a designer.

If one is to believe reports in Russia’s own media over the past 20 years, hate crimes have always characterised post-Soviet Russia, and well pre-date the current economic turmoil. I agree that they are the result of spiritual emptiness. But many people – indeed most – experience economic disappointments and do not then turn around and torment others. The Soviet regime destroyed the spiritual values of pre-Soviet Russia, and has replaced them with nothing apart from chauvinism based on distortions and outright falsifications of history – the same ones that the Soviets themselves pushed, as co-incidence would have it. Unlike post-Nazi Germany, Russia has never cleansed itself of its totalitarian toxins or brought no closure to Soviet-era crimes. It is hardly surprising, therefore, if it finds itself to still be spiritually sick. This one of the rare appraisals of the Russian condition over which Russia and its neighbours have no disagreement. Russia’s neighbours would like to help – they themselves have also been victims of the Soviet calamity, and they understand it. But an important part of the recovery process is first being willing to acknowledge realities and coming out of denial, and that is something Russia is not prepared to do.

@Marzipan6, you may need to appologize to the rest of us suffering readers for your mindless hipocrisy. While everybody agrees that the Communism has greatly contributed to the decline in the spiritual values, nobody who knows the condition of the world today would say that this is a Russian phenomena. Skinheads are the product of the intolerant West. The nations that are built on the tradition of slavery and colonialism, cannot easily overcome the physological framework in which other races on this planet are inferior to their own. Your obession with Russian "outright falsification of history", is outright absurd. The only examples of "outright falsification of history" came from the West, and continues to this day. All the recent events, from Balkans to Iraq and Afghanistan are replete with the fraudulent fact-mangling to suit political purposes. We need not go too far into the history to see such falsification happen in our daily lives. However, the tradition of skinheads, the deprived youth with delusion of grandeur, is a Western import. You have skinheads in Britain, Germany, France or Italy. You have them in Belgium, Switzeland, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Norway. And you have them in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Poland, etc. All the skinhead "traditions" are Western in concept and ideas. Young people who see themselves superior to other human beings need to be taken seriously by any society, as they are real threat to the harmony and prosperity . Russia is not likely to follow some European countries and elect such people into European Parliament, however. This behaviour is alien to Russian culture, and needs to be addressed not just by law enforcement, but also through education, public media and, of course, spiritual community. This is an ugly and sad phenomena that is a blight on all of our societies.

@Marzipan ... the neighbouring countries would like to help ...lol... go clean yourself of the western propaganda .

Sadly, Alex scorns the idea that Russia’s neighbours would like to help in the common challenge to heal Soviet era damage. Perhaps some of Russia’s neighbours may be hostile – I don’t know all of them well. But I know that the Baltics aren’t that way. While the Baltics will always resist Moscow’s efforts to superimpose upon them those Soviet era untruths which Moscow still continues to embrace, this does not mean that they are inherently anti-Russian. Why should they be? They have lived with Russia and with Russians for centuries and know them well. On a human level, there are many bonds of friendship and even family ties between their respective communities. It makes no logical sense for the Baltics to wish anything other than that their large eastern neighbour should be prosperous, successful, democratic, at peace within itself and at peace with them, as this will benefit everyone. As many of the problems they are they are having to overcome are the same, why not help one another in the process? Estonia maintains a fairly robust foreign aid program, and help to Russia has figured in several projects over the years. For example, in 2004 the Estonian Red Cross provided humanitarian aid for the vaccination of children in Pskov against hepatitis A, and for several years also provided humanitarian assistance to the children of Beslan. In 2001 Estonia financially supported trans-border co-operation between schools on the Russian and Estonian sides of Lake Peipsi. In 2000, the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute made a significant monetary contribution in support of a project to create the Pskov Regional Development Agency, with the aim of training Russian officials and the private sector in civil society and in regional cross-border co-operation. Estonia is a small country, and its capacity to help is limited. But within such limitations there is much more help that it is willing and able to give if Russia wanted to be a partner.