Russian children’s rights ombudsman wants to end foreign adoption

File Photo of Russian Orphans with Mr. and Mrs. Dmitry Medvedev

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Anna Nemtsova, special to RBTH – February 19, 2013) Russian children’s rights ombudsman speaks candidly about his mission to abolish foreign adoption and end Russia’s role as an international “donor of orphans.” Russian children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov, 47, is a man with a controversial mission: to end once and for all the […]

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U.S. to Assist in Probe of Adopted Russian Boy’s Death

Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 19, 2013) The U.S. State Department will assist in Russia’s probe into the January death of a 3-year-old Russian boy adopted by an American woman, a spokesman told RIA-Novosti on Wednesday. Children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said the boy, Maxim Kuzmin, was killed by his adoptive mother in Texas on Jan. 21 […]

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Reports of Adoptee’s Death in U.S. Prompt Firestorm of Outrage In Russia

Duma Session file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – February 19, 2013) It was like putting a match to a powder keg. Reports of the death in Texas of a Russian adoptee are producing an outpouring of outrage from Russian political elites aimed directly at the United States. “Why should we send our children to certain death,” Deputy Chairwoman of the Federation […]

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Lavrov, Kerry decide to ‘cross paths’ soon

Sergei Lavrov file photo

BRUSSELS. Feb 18 (Interfax) – Russia Foreign Minister Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are planning to meet soon, the Russian minister said on Monday. “We came to an agreement that we’ll try to cross paths some time very soon,” Lavrov told reporters in Brussels in commenting on a phone conversation between him and Kerry. Lavrov said he […]

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Russia Spells Out Foreign Policy Priorities, Says Western Dominance Declining

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, 18 February 2013) The West’s capabilities to dominate global politics continue to dwindle, the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, whose text was posted on the website of the Foreign Ministry today, reads. [http://www.mid.ru/bdomp/ns-osndoc.nsf/e2f289bea62097f9c325787a0034c255/c32577ca0017434944257b160051bf7f] “The capabilities of the historically established West to dominate the global economy and politics continue to decline. The global potential of […]

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G20 in Russia – will decision making accelerate by year’s end?

G20 Logo

MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) – The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors have wrapped up their first meeting in Moscow, issuing quite an extensive document – a 26-point communique devoted to some of the main topics of the meeting, such as the global economy, financing of investment, government borrowing and sustainability of government debt, reform of the international financial […]

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Medvedev Cuts Red Tape to Boost Investment in Regions

File Photo of Dmitry Medvedev with United Russia Logos Behind Him

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 19, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the government to find ways to reduce bureaucratic obstacles to regional investment amid a drive to boost regional economies. Medvedev has called for the Economic Development, Finance and Regional Development Ministries to present proposals to increase regional investment, RIA-Novosti reported Monday, citing the […]

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Moscow to have two ‘subbotniks’ in April

Sergei Sobyanin file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 19, 2013) Moscow will organize two “subbotniks,” or voluntary labor days, on Saturdays April 20 and April 27, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at a Moscow government meeting. The tradition of holding “subbotniks” dates back to 1919, when in the early years of Soviet power in Russia, massive voluntary work on weekends […]

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‘Optimistic’ Channel Gets a Sobering Makeover

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – February 19, 2013) More than a year after the start of marches against allegedly rigged Duma elections, the burning caldron that was the Russian protest movement cooled to a gentle bubbling, while its participants went back to their usual temperate lives. Such a turn of events poses a problem for the Dozhd […]

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Child Welfare Bill Sparks Fears Among Parents

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 19, 2013) A bill redefining the conditions under which children can be seized from so-called “socially vulnerable families” has provoked fear among critics that more minors could be taken into state care due to petty infractions. Amid a renewed push by authorities to decrease the number of children in state care, […]

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Future Depends on Next Five Years Reforms – Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) ­ The Russian government’s work in the next five years will be crucial to improving the system of state governance and the business climate, essential to restoring investor confidence and the level of investment to modernize the economy, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday. Medvedev made his comments while unveiling a long-term budget […]

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Meteor Raises Security Concerns

Stylized Satellite View of Globe Highlighting Russian Impact Location for Meteor

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February  19, 2013) The meteor that struck outside Chelyabinsk on Friday with such suddenness and explosive force has prompted a question among some spooked observers: If Russian defense officials were unable to track an object 17 meters in diameter rocketing down to earth, how could they detect a much smaller but equally […]

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Disarray Among Putin’s Elites Deepens as Russia’s Self-Isolation Progresses

Putin Descending a Staircase file photo

(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 30  – Pavel K. Baev – February 18, 2013) The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in the early hours of February 15, as damaging as it was, produced even more jokes than material destruction. One of those was about the State Duma urgently approving legislation banning the incursions of celestial […]

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Illicit capital flight over $780 billion since 1994

File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Ben Aris, special to RBTH – Februray 19, 2013) The size of Russia’s shadow economy undermines recent efforts to improve the business climate. Russia has lost $782.5 billion in “illicit” capital flight over the last 18 years while $552.9 billion of illegal money has entered the country over the same period of time, […]

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No Plans to End US Cargo Transit via Russia – Deputy FM

Map of Afghanistan and Environs

MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has no plans to end US cargo traffic to Afghanistan via its territory despite differences in relations between the two states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Tuesday. “Cargo transit [to Afghanistan] via Russian territory is an important aspect of our cooperation, and we have no plans to end it,” Gatilov […]

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EVENT: February 20 Screening of the Film, “PUTIN’S KISS” in Washington, D.C.

Putin's Kiss Movie Poster

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 From: Sue Dorfman <Sedorf@comcast.net> Subject: PUTIN’S KISS on 2/20  in DC Matt Rojansky suggested I contact you to help spread the word on the upcoming screening of the film, PUTIN’S KISS. The film shows on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 pm at the West End Cinema, located at 2301 M St NW  Washington, DC 20037. […]

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G20 Leaders Pledge to Avoid Currency Wars

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 18, 2013) Leaders of the Group of 20 said Saturday that global economic growth remains weak despite government measures, but they agreed to avoid currency wars intended to stimulate the economy by devaluing their money. A meeting of the group’s finance ministers and central bankers was held in Moscow for the […]

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Russian NGOs: The Funding Realities

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(opendemocracy.net – Pavel Chikov – February 15, 2013) Pavel Chikov is chair of AGORA, an association of human rights organisations based in Kazan. Since 1999 Chikov has been a leading human rights lawyer and head of a number of Russian human rights organizations in Moscow and Kazan Continuing oDRussia’s debate on the future for Russian NGO funding, now a view […]

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Russian Minister Says His Deputy’s Media Freedom Remarks Not Official Position

File Photo of Russian Television Studio

(RIA Novosti – February 15, 2013) Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Communication Nikolay Nikiforov has said that remarks recently voiced by his deputy Aleksey Volin regarding the role of journalism in the Russian society do not constitute the ministry’s official position. Nikiforov said this at the Economic Forum in Krasnoyarsk on 15 February, as reported by Russian news agency […]

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Over half of Muscovites approve of President Putin’s work – poll

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Speaking with Flag Behind Him and Microphones in Front

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Some 56% of Muscovites approve of President Vladimir Putin’s work, the Public Opinion Foundation said after polling 3,632 adults on January 26 – February 7. Four percent said they knew nothing about Putin’s activity, 28% expressed their discontent and 11% could not answer the question. Fifty-one percent said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin was working well. […]

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Puff, puff, pass a smoking ban

No Smoking Symbol

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – February 18, 2013) Making a smoking section at a restaurant, as comedian George Carlin once put it, is like designating a urinating section in a swimming pool. The two are not separate, whether you like it or not. In Russia, a country where about 39 percent of people are regular smokers, coming […]

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Rogozin Tasked With Meteorite Prevention

Stylized Satellite View of Globe Highlighting Russian Impact Location for Meteor

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – Februray 18, 2013) In light of the meteorite blast that sent shock waves through the Ural Mountains city of Chelyabinsk on Friday, leaving more than a thousand people injured, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tasked his deputy, Dmitry Rogozin, with proposing ways to predict and prevent disasters from space. Rogozin plans to give […]

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Russian Meteorite May Be Named Chebarkul

Stylized Satellite View of Globe Highlighting Russian Impact Location for Meteor

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti) – The meteorite which fell in Russia’s Urals on Friday is likely to be named Chebarkul after a lake where it fell in and the eponymous city on the lake’s shores, a leading scientist said on Monday. The fragments of the meteorite have been found by scientists in Lake Chebarkul, in the Chelyabinsk Region, late […]

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Moscow Court Orders Officials to Respond to Protester Appeals

Moscow Protest file photo

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 17, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-russian-officials.html) Russian officials have ignored a 2004 law requiring them to respond to appeals lodged by demonstrators, but now some protesters and their lawyers are using the courts to force at least some government agencies to respond, a development that some say opens the way to a new […]

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Magnitsky to be posthumously tried for corruption today

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 18, 2013) Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer was allegedly killed while in pre-trial detention in 2009, will go on posthumous trial today in what is going to be Russias most controversial case since the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The Kremlin has been outraged by the so-called Magnitsky law, passed last year, which […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Putin Meeting with G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors

G20 Logo

(Kremlin.ru – February 15, 2013) The Kremlin, Moscow Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin with the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Russia is currently chairing the G20. The situation in global finances and the G20 countries’ actions to stimulate global economic growth and restore confidence in financial markets were the main subjects of discussion. The G20 […]

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Moscow Exchange IPO Yields $500M

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – February 18, 2013) The Moscow Exchange began trading its own shares Friday, successfully concluding the largest initial public offering in Russia since the 2008 financial crisis. The bourse, which was formed from the merger of the MICEX Index and the dollar-denominated RTS, sold 15 billion rubles ($500 million) worth of shares, indicating […]

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Senior senator hails Russian foreign policy concept

Mikhail Margelov file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, 17 February) The concept of Russia’s foreign policy that was voiced by Vladimir Putin is aimed at using economic diplomacy and applying “soft power” as well as “the democratization of diplomacy”, head of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov has said. “This concept reflects the fact that today international economic problems cannot always be resolved […]

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OECD Accession Progressing Slowly but Surely

OECD Logo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 18, 2013) The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development promised Friday that accession to the club of the world’s most economically advanced countries won’t take Russia as long as its entry into the World Trade Organization. “It will not take 17 years,” Angel Gurria told Finance Minister Anton […]

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Russia’s human capital gets its due in Krasnoyarsk

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – February 18, 2013) KRASNOYARSK – Sony opened an Internet cafe in Krasnoyarsk last week. The coffee was free, the Internet and the computer use were free, but there were two catches: first, it was only open three days, and second, you had to be registered for the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum to visit. […]

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Most Russians still see U.S. as unfriendly toward their country – poll

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – The United States is associated in the minds of a significant number of Russians with an aggressive foreign policy rather than democracy, and more than half of Russians believe the U.S. is pursuing a policy unfriendly to Russia, the Public Opinion Foundation found based on a public opinion poll it conducted on February 9-10. Asked […]

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Russia won’t discuss nuclear reductions without missile defense deal – newspaper

Missile Defense Control Room file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) – Moscow calls unrealistic the U.S. idea of unilateral nuclear reductions and refuses to negotiate the issue without a missile defense deal, Kommersant wrote on Friday. The U.S. initiative “does not fit present-day realities”, a source at the Russian General Staff told the newspaper. He described the unilateral disarmament idea as “a political move.” “They use […]

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SUMMARY: Gazprom’s Wednesday the thirteenth

Russian Gas Facility file photo

NOVO-OGARYEVO. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The day former Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) chief Rem Vyakhirev was laid to rest also proved to be grave in terms of the company’s strategic outlook. Russian rivals and officials have been talking seriously about ending the company’s export monopoly, approaching this delicate issue by scrapping the monopoly on LNG exports from offshore fields. Russian producers […]

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Russia’s Protests Researched by U.S. Scholars

File Photo of Moscow Winter Protest

(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting) Recent protests in Russia have been studied by scholars from the time they began in December 2011. In the last two weeks, the Harriman Institute held two discussion panels, at which US experts shared their thoughts about the prospects for Russia’s opposition movement. The […]

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Afghanistan may be threat to Russia’s security after 2014 – analyst

Allied Troops on High Ground Overlooking Afghan Valley

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Interfax – interfax.ru – February 14, 2013) After the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan, this country could become a source of a terrorist threat for Russia and the countries of the region, Army Gen. Anatoly Kulikov, the president of the Club of Commanders, told […]

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One More Try

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Alexander Podrabinek -February 14, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Despite its unfortunate historical experience, Russia is not destined for despotism. According to author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek, the liberal opposition still has a chance of success­provided it maintains its political identity and appeals to the “man from the street.” Russia’s […]

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North Korea seeks recognition of its de facto nuclear status – expert

North Korea Map and Flag

MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) – If South Korean reports on North Korean preparations for the next nuclear test are correct, this would indicate that North Korea want to strike a deal with the United States as an equal and receive a nuclear status similar to that of India, head of the Korean Studies Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences […]

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FSB Chief: US Steps Up Geopolitical Pressure on Russia

File Photo of Partial FSB Headquarters Building Facade

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov said on Thursday the United States has increased geopolitical pressure on Russia in 2012. “Last year saw an escalation in geopolitical pressure on Russia on behalf of the United States and its allies, who still regard our state as a rival on the international arena,” he told […]

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U.S. State Dept slammed for looking into ‘routine matters’ of Russian politics

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – A Russian deputy foreign minister has slammed the U.S. State Department for what he argued is too much attention to “routine matters” in Russia’s foreign policy. “It’s surprising that routine matters should be attracting such close attention, including public attention,” Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax on Thursday in comments on a statement by a State Department […]

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Mobile, Internet costs added to Russian consumer basket

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – February 15, 2013) In a sign of the times, Russias statistics agency, Rosstat, is going to add the cost of hooking up to the internet and monthly spending on mobile phone bills to the consumer basket that is used to calculate inflation, amongst other things. The Russian economy is increasingly being driven by consumer […]

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Now That The Thaw Is Over

File Photo of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin with Heads Bowed Over Microphone

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 14, 2013) Does anybody remember Skolkovo? What seems like eons ago, back when iPads were still must-have gadgets for the Russian elite, the scientific and technological center was the showcase project in Dmitry Medvedev’s efforts to modernize the country’s economy to make it less dependent on oil and gas. Well Skolkovo is back […]

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Ethics Chief Asks for Timeout After ‘Exposure’

Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 15, 2013) State Duma Deputy Vladimir Pekhtin asked to be temporarily relieved of his duties as chairman of the Duma’s Credentials and Ethics Commission until the conclusion of a probe into allegations that he failed to declare more than $2 million in property holdings in the U.S. state of Florida. Although […]

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Putin: Special services must not interfere in business disputes

File Photo of Partial FSB Headquarters Building Facade

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that special services’ interference in business disputes be stopped. “I want to emphasize particularly that being dragged into commercial disputes, putting pressure on business, and creating various artificial obstacles and barriers to the implementation of investment projects is unacceptable,” Putin said at a Federal Security Service (FSB) expanded board […]

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Tsipko Asks ‘Which Will Die First — the Russian State or Liberal Hatred of It?’

Map of Russia

[Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 15, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-tsipko-asks-which.html] Aleksandr Tsipko, who helped found the Gorbachev Foundation but in recent years has promoted the revival of the traditions and values of pre-1917 Russia, says that his country today faces a most serious question: “Which will die first ­ the Russian state or liberal hatred of it?” […]

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‘Vladentines’ Day Blog is ‘Putin’ the Charm on Americans

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Pilot in Hang Glider Airborne Next to Flying Cranes

WASHINGTON February 15 (RIA Novosti) “From Russia with Love” takes on a whole new meaning on the recently launched “Happy Vladentine’s Day” blog [http://vladentinesday.tumblr.com], a collection of photos with tongue-in-cheek Valentine’s Day captions that feature Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dubbed “love letters from a global badass,” the site shows imaginary, Putin-themed messages of endearment printed across some of the most […]

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Right to freedom of speech is inviolable – Russian president

Vladimir Putin file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The right to freedom of speech is inviolable, and no one holds a monopoly on the right to speak on behalf of Russia’s society, President Vladimir Putin said. “Citizens’ constitutional right to freedom of speech is inviolable and unshakeable. However, no one has a right to sow hatred and rock society and the country, thus […]

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Aggressive Nationalism and Anti-Americanism Are the Kremlin’s New Ideological Pillars

File Photo of Partial FSB Headquarters Building Facade

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 28 – Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – February 14, 2013) This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officials­the so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSB­Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still […]

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Why domestic philanthropy isn’t enough for Russian NGOs

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(opendemocracy.net – Michael Allen – February 14, 2013) Michael Allen is a Special Assistant in Government Relations and Public Affairs at the National Endowment for Democracy and editor of the Democracy Digest blog. Writing on oDRussia yesterday [JRL#31], Almut Rochowonski argued that Kremlin’s repression of NGOs could work in their favour by encouraging domestic giving. Her mistake was assuming Russian […]

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Russian Infant Mortality Up 20% in 2012 – Health Ministry

File Photo of Three Babies from pravda.ru

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – The infant mortality rate in Russia was 8.7 per 1,000 newborns last year, Health Ministry department chief Yelena Baibarina said on Thursday. “I have cited data from the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. During the 12 months of 2012, infant mortality rate reached 8.7,” she told a congress of pediatricians. Infant mortality in 2011 […]

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Putin Warns Against Foreign ‘Interference’ at FSB Meeting

File Photo of Partial FSB Headquarters Building Facade

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 15, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called on security service officers to shield Russians from an array of threats, including extremist groups, foreign-funded organizations and cyberattacks. “Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs, any form of pressure on Russia, our allies and partners is unacceptable,” Putin told senior […]

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