Staunton, VA, May 16, 2016 – For obvious reasons, polls of Russian attitudes are anything but a good indicator of where Russians are heading; but there is a more reliable bellwether: the way that the Kremlin uses its pocket opposition figures such as Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) as elections […]
After the infamous “foreign agents” law that has hindered or closed more than 60 non-government organizations, the State Duma has turned its sights on the media and is now drafting a law regulating media companies that are financed from abroad, Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in […]
Galina Starovoitova was a pro-democracy activist in the 1990s, a prominent member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and a defender of ethnic minorities. She was assassinated in 1998, soon after becoming the leader of “Democratic Russia,” a registered opposition party, she was assassinated outside her apartment building in St. Petersburg. Two men were arrested for […]
[The Russian section of Transparency International monitored the income declarations of State Duma deputies and calculated the cost of their acquisitions. The researchers caught dozens of deputies with their expenses exceeding their income. The deputies themselves unanimously deny any violations, claiming that “their conscience and hands are clean.” – Ed.] The research was conducted by […]
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), accused Ponomarev of libel and unlawful commercial activity. According to Ponomarev, he now figures only in the investigation of the activity of Aleksei Beltyukov, vice president of Skolkovo. According to the investigation’s story, Mr. Beltyukov unlawfully gave Ilya Ponomarev, deputy of the State Duma, […]
