Life is hard for SOME people there…just like anywhere. Of course there are different things to deal with in different countries, some good and some not so good…
Funny I read this yesterday…it makes you wonder on many levels. I do not doubt Snowden has it good there, then of course he is considered a hero there too, so the political aspect probably contributes to him having it good…
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/edward-snowden-living-in-russia-is-great-20150108
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden wants his critics to know that living is Russia is “great” and that, despite reports to the contrary, he doesn’t need alcohol to enjoy his time there.
“Mike Hayden, former NSA, CIA director … was talking about how I was—everybody in Russia is miserable,” Snowden told journalist James Bamford, according to a transcript of an interview released Thursday. “And I’m going to end up miserable and I’m going to be a drunk and I’m never going to do anything. I don’t drink. I’ve never been drunk in my life. And they talk about Russia like it’s the worst place on earth. Russia’s great.”
that said, I think the OP news article that mentions too many road accidents in Russia is probably not due to mentally ill people, but rather to this as Mjseu posted…
Russia has one of the world’s highest rates of traffic accidents – about 30,000 people die annually on the roads, some due to alcohol consumption by motorists. (In comparison, that many people died on Britain’s roads between 2000 and 2010, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.)
Shamsail Saraliyev, an MP from the ruling United Russia Party, compared drunk driving to terrorism.
"Last year, drunk drivers killed 2,103 people,” Saraliyev told Russian media. “This is a colossal number. This year, as of September, tragedies on the roads have [already] killed 2,300 people.”
And it does say they are passing tough laws about driving intoxicated there…
A horrific drunk-driving accident in Moscow has prompted Russian politicians to seek to impose tougher sentences on those who get behind the wheel of a car inebriated.
Some MPs are seeking life imprisonment for drunk drivers