Staunton, February 2 — The revival of Kremlinology, of relying on a variety of indirect indications of who is closer to the top leader and who may be opposed to him, is “a bad sign,” Ekaterina Schulmann says, not only because of what it says about the increasingly closed nature of Russian politics but also […]
Andrei Illarionov, an economist and former advisor to the Putin administration, posted this blog at Ekho Moskvy 07:49 on 5 July, possibly before the news of the fleeing of the Slavyansk separatists and Col. Strelkov’s “demobilization order” (ultimately debunked) had reached him (see our Ukrainian Liveblog). Translation by The Interpreter. Operation “Strategic Blackmail” In the […]
Marina Litvinenko, the widow of former FSB spy-turned-MI6 spy Alexander Litvinenko, has won a court judgment overturning a decision by the British Home Office, which last year ruled that a public enquiry into the murder of her husband. The British government has serially repeated its reluctance to air the findings of its investigation into the […]
On Wednesday in the High Court in London, a two day debate on Marina Litvinenko’s supervisory appeal against the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, came to an end. Alexander Litvinenko’s widow is appealing against the Home Secretary’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into the murder of her husband. A public inquiry is a […]
In early December, TV Rain published an article that claimed, according to a source, that Putin was on the verge of eliminating mayoral elections, which would make the office of mayor an appointed one. It was speculated that this was in response to Alexei Navalny’s strong showing in the recent mayoral race in Moscow. While […]
Why does the image of the Russian state, despite the tens of millions of dollars invested in PR, leave much to be desired? This is what The New Times asked Angus Roxburgh, who served several years in Ketchum PR-agency, that advises the Kremlin In 2013, just one year after the “premiere”, a new edition of […]
The Eurasian Economic Union – an economic alliance of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan – is expected to become effective on January 1, 2015. After the events in Ukraine it can be assumed that in the future the Eurasian Union will expand by another neighbor of Russia. On December 24 a regular meeting of the Supreme […]
The course towards conservatism highlighted strategic interests of Vladimir Putin. The president has had several impressive occasions to present to the society his vision of the ideological foundations of the state. In June, at the Popular Front Congress, where Putin was elected the leader of the movement, a conservative UPF manifesto was adopted, and veterans […]
The liberal magazine Snob.ru has collected quotes on today’s amnesty bill from various thinkers across the political spectrum. Note that some of the differences in numbers and facts can be attributed to the fact that the full effects of the amnesty bill are not yet known. See our liveblog for updates and additional details. — […]
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. The Russian media saw the event as a public relations victory, and played up the fact that the Pope would meet Putin for an entire hour. The meeting was shorter than expected, and mainly because Putin was caught up in […]
