Seldom does the death of a single person create shockwaves across the entire planet. However, when an ordinary Russian, a lowly accountant, was imprisoned and eventually died in a Russian prison, his name became a symbol for the struggle for human rights, and the reasons for a significant rift in the international community. The Sergei […]
A campaign has been launched in Dagestan to forcibly extract DNA samples from “unreliable” citizens, particularly Salafists. The campaign seems to be primarily aimed at women, in the wake of the October 21st bus bombing in Volgograd, conducted by the spouse of an established Dagestani militant. There are concerns that the terrorism threat is growing […]
There are several important stories today that may or may not be making the Russian press, but need to be highlighted. We’ll be doing regular rolling updates throughout the day. – Ed. Russian University Students Consider Themselves “European”: The Russian expert Paul Goble sites a study that suggests that many university students identify themselves as […]
There’s been no shortage of political controversy surrounding the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympic Games. But the tensions are obscuring a potentially vitally important security issue: Could the Sochi 2014 Games become another Olympics where terrorists exploit it to propagate their political views? In 1972, the Olympic spirit of peace and international cooperation was shattered with […]
[Gazeta.ru examines the motivations behind the firing of prominent museum director Marat Gelman from the PERMM Museum of Modern Art, pointing to controversial exhibitions as the impetus behind his dismissal—Ed.] The Perm authorities announced the dismissal of Marat Gelman from the post of director of the PERMM Museum of Modern Art. Experts say this will result […]
Boris Nemtsov has occupied many roles in post-Soviet Russia, both in government and in the parallel polis that is oppositional politics. He was first elected governor of Nizhny Novgorod, whose successful economic reforms in that region carved a political pathway that would ultimately take him into the deputy premiership under the Yeltsin government. Nemtsov has […]
[This article in The New Times argues that Vladimir Putin’s political control is eroding inexorably as a result of corruption from above and increasingly poor economic performance—Ed.] A year and a month after the third coming of Vladimir Putin, who in fact never left, it is becoming obvious that he will not fulfill the main demand of […]
On Friday May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin received British Prime Minister David Cameron in Sochi, and later thanked him for a very candid conversation. Almost all of this candor was related to Syria. Meanwhile, David Cameron did not send any message to US President Barack Obama, although many experts had spoken of this on […]
An astronomical 1.136 trillion rubles ($36.4 billion) has already been spent on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. In the 305 days remaining until the opening of the Games, another plus or minus 390 billion rubles will be spent. Mainly companies close to Vladimir Putin are appropriating these billions, claims Boris Nemtsov, one of the opposition […]
