The Power Vertical, by RFE/RL’s Brian Whitmore, is syndicated with permission by The Interpreter. Ramzan Kadyrov hasn’t gone rogue. Ramzan Kadyrov isn’t off message. Ramzan Kadyrov hasn’t jumped the shark. No, the mercurial Chechen leader is playing his role to a tee. After calling Vladimir Putin’s foes “enemies of the people,” and after the speaker of his rubber-stamp […]
The prosecutor’s office of St. Petersburg has launched a probe of TV Rain over a poll dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the lifting of the Leningrad Blockade, the prosecutor’s website reported. The probe was initiated in response to complaints from survivors of the Blockade, outraged at TV Rain’s question: “Should Leningrad have surrendered, in […]
Let’s start with the weather. Recently an exotic-looking gentleman has become a permanent fixture on the “Russia‑24” public TV channel: a catchy checkered blazer, an acid-pink shirt, and a saucy scarf. His outfit, his nervous manners, and picaresque tone, recalls Bulgakov’s Korovyev, rather than a leading specialist of the “Phobos” weather center. Up until now […]
Russian government regulators are threatening to shut down TV Rain because of fallout from an “blasphemous” poll, run by the channel this past Sunday. TV Rain is Russia’s only independent TV station, and many are skeptical that a TV station may be shut down entirely because of a single segment of one show. –Ed. Pripachkin […]
Just yesterday there was a major headline brewing in the Russia Press. TV Rain (TV Dozhd) ran a rather alarming headline: Russia to Abolish Mayoral and City Duma Elections The story sent shivers down a lot of journalists spines. The story, based on a “source,” said that Putin would make the announcement today, during his […]
