Tag: Kremlin

The Kremlin’s body of bad behavior – from election meddling to the annexation of Crimea to military involvement in Ukraine – has been widely covered in the media and, for many, news of Russia attempting to suborn Western institutions may begin to sound like background noise. But there is a systematic, often under-the-radar, attack on the rule of law and institutions underway and it is
no less alarming than the headlines. In the two chapters of this report, our esteemed authors demonstrate the attacks aimed at free societies, all intended to suborn Western
structures to the benefit of the Kremlin.

LIVE UPDATES: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit to Moscow last night. The previous post in our Putin in Syria column can be found here. Is Assad Gaining Ground? Today’s Syria Battle Summary 2015-10-21 19:58:18 As we reported earlier, there are reports that the Assad regime is advancing near Aleppo, making slow gains […]

Staunton, May 21 — No nation more skillfully used an international event than did the Circassians during the Sochi Olympiad to call attention to the Russian-orchestrated genocide of their people 150 years earlier. Despite Moscow’s best efforts, few independent reporters talked about Sochi without talking about the continuing crimes against the Circassians. In the past […]

Staunton, April 21 — Since Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a new Agency for Nationalities Affairs, many have speculated that this decision will mark a turning point in Moscow’s approach to the increasingly numerous non-Russian portion of his country’s population. But a true measure of its meaning — which like so much Putin […]

Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here. UPDATES BELOW Russia This Week: – What Happened to the Slow-Moving Coup? – Can We Be Satisfied With the Theory That Kadyrov Killed Nemtsov? – All […]

Staunton, April 9 — In what appears to be a response to Alexander Lukashenko’s recent declaration that Belarus will never become the northwestern part of the Russian Federation, a Moscow journalist says Belarusians must vote this year to become just that or face “the liquidation” of their country and “the fate of Ukraine.” In the […]

Staunton, April 3 — Vladimir Putin has chosen a Duma deputy from Sverdlovsk with an FSB background and service in the notorious Alpha Group during his Chechen wars to be the head of the new Federal Agency for Nationality Affairs, an indication of how the Kremlin leader intends to use this new tool and why […]

Staunton, April 2 — Political developments come so thick and fast that they are often forgotten only hours or days after they occur — unless they leave traces in the language and thus redefine how people, who make use of words and phrases used to encapsulate them, view a larger range of events. Many Americans, […]

Staunton, April 2 — No Crimean Tatar media outlet could ever do as much harm to Russia’s reputation and its ability to attract any members of that nation to its side as Moscow’s decision to shut down ATR and other Crimean Tatar broadcasters and publications already has, according to Anatoly Baranov, a Moscow commentator who […]

Staunton, March 31 — Foreign intelligence services are seeking to drive a wedge between the various peoples of Buryatia, a Kremlin official told a Novosibirsk meeting on ethnic relations and national security yesterday, a latest indication of Moscow’s increasing nervousness about that strategically important republic and a signal to Buryats of just how important they […]