Yes, Zyuganov's statement is better than Kalashnikov's interview. It could scarcely be worse. But there are some notable omissions. There is no expression of solidarity with the striking workers whose cause seems to have been hi-jacked by the pogromist element. There is no call for the restoration of rights to the Communist Party of Kazakhstan or the independent trade unions - even though he does note that they have been 'harshly repressed'. The most he asks of the grotesquely corrupt Kazakh authorities is that they should 'listen to the voice of the workers' and fulfil their 'just demands'. It is, in short, a statement on behalf of the left wing of the Russian establishment.