Staunton, July 21 – Russian officials have often argued that the amount of government support for the titular nationalities of the non-Russian republics of the Russian Federation should reflect their share of the population rather than the fact that these republics are the national homes of those nations. But in fact, a Muslim commentator says, […]
Staunton, June 30 – Roman Silantyev, notorious for his attacks on Muslims in the Russian Federation but close to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian security agencies, says that the FSB plans for “the liquidation of radical Islamic organizations in Crimea.” Silantyev told Rosbalt last week that the Russian security services […]
Updated Daily. The Russian finance minister has admitted that the government has raided the pension savings of ordinary Russians to pay for the forcible annexation of the Crimea — and will not be returning the funds. Opposition blogger Alexey Navalny continues to be harassed with libel suits and fabricated criminal cases — as well as […]
Staunton, June 23 Encouraged by Vladimir Putin’s support for traditional values and convinced that ethnic Russian nationalism could lead to the disintegration of the Russian Federation, self-proclaimed Russian conservatives are seeking to promote a supra-national movement which draws heavily on the ideas of pre-1917 monarchist organizations. The publication of “Notebooks on Conservatism” in Moscow has […]
Staunton, June 12 – As the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea continue to force out Crimean Tatars from positions of responsibility and exclude them from policy discussions, the Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) there is playing a more prominent role in speaking out about Crimean Tatar concerns, especially in the area of “disappearances.” In an appeal […]
Staunton, June 6 – Said Ismagilov, the head of the Kyiv-based Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) of Ukraine, said that Muslims in other countries should not come to Ukraine because those who do so will be fighting against a government that has treated the Islamic community well and continues to do so. In an appeal on […]
Staunton, 1 June – Not one of the 2,000 Muslims currently living in Ukraine’s Luhansk Region favors secession or transferring their region to the Russian Federation, according to the leader of that community. Instead, even though many of them come as he does from parts of Russia, they are proud to be citizens of Ukraine. […]
Staunton, May 26 – Vladimir Putin “has lost the shortest cold war in history,” Yevgeny Ikhlov says. After having seized Crimea for Russia 12 weeks ago and effectively challenged the West to a contest, the Kremlin leader has backed away from his larger plan to counterpose a “Russian world” to everyone else. In a commentary […]
Staunton, May 22 – “Wahhabism and religious fanaticism may become a real problem for Ekaterinburg already in a few weeks,” an URA.ru analyst says, not so much because of the actions of Islamist missionaries as some in the media have suggested but because Russian officials are closing a mosque and thus losing their ability to […]
Staunton, May 22 – Moscow is seeking to force the mufti of Crimea to break with the Crimean Tatar Mejlis or face the prospect that he and his Crimean Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) will be “marginalized” by the authorities who will move to create “a more adequate centralized structure” for the Muslims of Crimea, according […]
