Vladislav Surkov’s dismissal from the post of vice premier and head of the government bureaucracy was the main political event of the past week. In this article, The New Times explores who or what forced the once-powerful Kremlin political guru to finish his nearly 14-year career in the highest bodies of the government. “Surkov felt […]
The resignation of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov — the Kremlin’s “grey cardinal” — has prompted a raft of articles speculating as to the true cause for Surkov’s departure. This article suggests that his involvement in the corruption-plagued Skolkovo project, inaugurated by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, became Surkov’s pink slip . –Ed. On […]
In my early youth, a friend of the family who had consecutively passed through the hell of German and Stalin’s concentration camps gave me A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich [by Alexander Solzhenitsyn] to read. Ever since, for many years, I have hungrily read everything I could about Stalin, about the hard years […]
Viktor Vekselberg, head of the Skolkovo Fund, announced that he has filed charges against Ilya Ponomarev in court. The Investigative Committee suspects Ponomarev of unlawful receipt of money from the Fund. The deputy himself learned of the lawsuit from journalists. “Truth his absolutely on my side. Skolkovo knows this full well. And Vekselberg knows this full well. […]
Today the personnel of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Federal Security Service (FSB), Federal Protective Service (FSO), and the Central Bank submitted their income statements. None of the officials declared any property registered abroad, and in terms of income the leader is the CB Chairman Sergei Ignatiev, who is stepping down this June. The SVR […]
The efforts to morally discredit the opposition, set against the backdrop of new criminal cases against the leaders and rank-and-file participants of the protest movement, is a good way to finally bury the political landscape of Russia under concrete, or in a bog (in the literal sense, not to be confused with Bolotnaya Square. The […]
During his five-hour dialogue with the Russian people, Vladimir Putin did not express his support for the government of Dmitri Medvedev. He said that it’s too early to dismiss that government, and did not even argue against some sharp criticisms by the former finance minister Alexei Kurdin, who during that live broadcast stressed on several […]
