As we reported in recent weeks, prominent Russian blogger Oleg Kashin has revealed the identities of the men who brutally assaulted him in 2010 for his critical writing, leaving him hospitalized for months. For years, he investigated the possible perpetrators of the attack, theorizing it could be either related to officials angered at his coverage […]
Alexey Navalny, the opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger, has posted a piece on his blog about the murder of Boris Nemtsov, his fellow coordinator of protest marches and other projects challenging the Putin regime. He was unable to attend his colleague’s funeral today because authorities wouldn’t give him leave from serving a 15-day jail sentence […]
The following is a translation by The Interpreter of the last blog post, dated 4 July, of Valeriya Novodvorskaya for Ekho Moskvy. Novodvorskaya, a Soviet-era political prisoner and veteran critic of the Kremlin died 12 July in Moscow of complications from a previous surgery. The Russian opposition leader, frequently the target of state media and […]
This interview occurred before the sentencing earlier today, resulting in prison terms ranging from two and a half to four years. The sentencing was attended by protests which have been met with a sever clampdown by the Russian authorities, a situation which is being covered in a liveblog here. — Ed. On 21 February, Judge Natalya […]
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, along with several other performers, activists and journalists, have been attacked by Cossack paramilitary police while attempting a protest performance in Sochi this afternoon (RT has removed their video so we have replaced it with video from the Associated Press). The group attempted once again, having been detained yesterday, to […]
“There is not one piece of evidence that confirms the guilt of the accused,” said Alexei Polikhovich’s lawyer, Alexei Miroshnichenko. “The whole trial is politically motivated.” His colleague Olga Grigorenko, also defending Alexei Polikhovich, elaborated on the property damages, totalling 28,228,000 rubles, which, according to the indictment, the defendants have to repay. Advocate Grigorenko said […]
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was released under the amnesty on Monday, December 23rd. By Tuesday, she had already met with another member of the punk group Pussy Riot, Mariya Alyokhina. Alyokhina, [also released], who had been serving her sentence in Nizhegorodskaya Region, flew to visit her friend in Krasnoyarsk, in order to discuss “a joint human rights […]
This is the second part of the first interview that Mikhail Khodorkovsky has given since his pardon last week. In this installment, he talks about Putin’s motives for freeing him, as well as his next steps now that he is a free man. — Ed. Read part 1: Mikhail Khodorkovsky: “I Will Return to Russia” Freedom […]
On 23 December, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was freed. This morning Mariya Alyokhina was also released from the Nizhegorodskaya Colony. Both members of the punk group Pussy Riot were sentenced for an action at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Tolokonnikova announced in particular that she would provide every support to those who are imprisoned. Earlier, Mariya […]
This summer, the biggest story in Russia was that, for the first time in recent memory, a serious opposition candidate, Alexei Navalny, could win an important election. Navalny was running for Moscow’s mayor against President Putin’s favored candidate, Sergei Sobyanin. Despite being arrested, tried and convicted for fraud, and then released, Navalny still received a […]
