This is a good start.
The Russian locale is quite upset with what they consider manipulation of the DT system.
They believe what they did is consistent with what Theymos instructed:
TMAN, you're coming across as a real asshole here. AFAICT, that topic is highly analogous to the English discussions. The main addition is that they're looking to get more local representation in DT1, which is very reasonable. I'd prefer if people not treat trust lists as an election, but if I had wanted nobody to ever think/talk/strategize about how trust lists affect DT1 selection, I would've kept the DT1 criteria secret.
They quickly found a quote from me where I previously documented that usernames starting with tildes are handled:
"If you want to trust someone whose name begins with a tilde, prefix their name with a backslash." тe ecли вы xoтитe выcкaзaть дoвepиe юзepy ~XXX в cвoй cпиcoк пpямoгo дoвepия зaпишитe \~XXX, ecли жe вы xoтитe выcкaзaть eмy нeдoвepиe зaпишитe ~\~XXX.
So they knew right away that the ~DefaultTrust account was harmless.
I see nothing concerning with xandry's actions there. Nothing there comes close to warranting deletion. Even if someone was openly talking about trying to form a strategic DT1 manipulation group for the express purpose of undermining the system, such a topic should not be deleted; rather, I'd look to handle this within the DT1 selection criteria.
While I don't understand Russian that well and I am not that often on their pages I have been chatting with a couple of the people involved.
I'd like to see this de-escalate. For the sake of everyone involved.
I do think that some Russian members have been treated unfairly. For instance for being tagged for merely posting in a thread that according to Theymos is their right to do.
This member has assisted me with translations for quite some time both on the forum and off the forum. He has also assisted me in understanding some of the Russian thinking, detecting and tracing Russian scammers and deciphering complex Russian legal documents and news articles.
I don't see anything that he personally has done that is with the intent to install a malicious group. I do see an intent from him to have decent Russian representation by people he knows and trusts so they can crack down on some of the Russian spammers and scammers.
I think it is important for the "old guard" to accept in some of the new. For them to learn from the experienced scam busters but also allow their local contacts, cultural understanding and language knowledge assist in detecting and preventing scammers and spam.