Big study of Russian youth sees Putin as a dragon

File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – April 22, 2013) A large study by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, Russias leading specialist on elites, into the attitudes of young people in 26 Russian cities found that Russias youth have a largely positive view of the president. The full report, available online at gefter.ru/archive/8369 and already the subject of discussions in Gazeta.ru (gazeta.ru/politics/2013/04/19_a_5261565.shtml) and PublicPost.ru […]

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Voters have the right to directly protest election returns in court – Constitutional Court

File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG, April 22, 2013) The Russian Constitutional Court has confirmed the right of voters to protest election returns in court and declared the practice of banning direct applications to courts unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court announced a corresponding resolution on Monday after checking several provisions of Civil Proceedings Code and federal laws on guarantees of electoral rights and […]

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State Officials Must Not Own Foreign Property – Kremlin

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 22, 2013) ­ A spokesman for the Kremlin said in an interview aired on Monday that state officials should not own real estate abroad, as it could leave them open to “pressure.” “Officials should not possess real estate in foreign countries,” Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said in an interview with the state-run […]

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More About Tsarnaev Brothers And Their Ancestral Homeland

Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(RFE/RL – rferl.org  – April 19, 2013) Two ethnic Chechens, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are suspected of having perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 that killed three people and injured 170 others. As information accumulated — and confusion swirled — about them, RFE/RL Central Newsroom Director Jeremy Bransten sat down with Aslan Doukaev, director of RFE/RL’s North Caucasus […]

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Profile of Tamerlan And Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Richard Solash, Claire Bigg – April 19, 2013) The young men identified as suspects in this week’s Boston Marathon bombing are brothers of ethnic Chechen origin with family ties in Central Asia, and at least of one of whom reportedly had taken an increased interest in Islam in recent years. The suspect who was captured alive […]

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Boston bombing suspects not known to Dagestani, Chechen security services

Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – MOSCOW/GROZNY/MAKHACHKALA. April 19, 2013) Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of committing the Boston Marathon bomb attack, are not on the Chechen or Dagestani law enforcement agencies’ wanted lists. “The Tsarnaev brothers are not on our databases of those wanted,” the Dagestani Interior Ministry told Interfax. “We have one Tsarnaev, who did not pay an administrative […]

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For Boston Suspects, Was Chechnya’s Violent Past a Motive?

File Photo of Groznya, Looking out Through Hole in Damaged Building at City Landscape in Daylight

(RIA Novosti – Nabi Abdullaev – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) ­ As investigators hunt for evidence about the Boston bombing suspects, some of their questions ­ like the American public’s ­ will focus on Russia’s restive North Caucasus, including the war-scarred republic of Chechnya, a region that has produced a number of violent militant groups, but none that has been […]

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Russia has no ‘operationally relevant information’ on Boston suspects – source

File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Interfax Moscow, April 20, 2013) Russia has been unable to provide operationally relevant information on brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnayev (Tsarnaev). “Since the brothers Tsarnayev lived outside Russia, our special services were unable to provide our foreign partners with any operationally relevant information,” a source in the Russian special services told Interfax today. However, the source said that “joint work […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#74 – 20 April 2013

Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#72 :: 18 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php 1. Reuters: Russia, U.S. to step up counter-terrorism cooperation: Kremlin. 2. Interfax: […]

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Chechen Brothers Linked to Boston Bombings

File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko, Jonathan Earle and Ezekiel Pfeifer – April 19, 2013) U.S. authorities have linked two Chechen brothers to the Boston bombings that killed three people and injured more than 170 this week, U.S. media reported Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry told The Moscow Times that it was aware of the reports and looking into […]

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Boston bombing suspect’s account tracked down to Russia’s VKontakte social network

Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – April 19, 2013) Internet users have tracked down an account in the social network VKontakte which allegedly belongs to a Boston bombing suspect. Links to the page which Boston Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnayev ran in the network, have emerged on other social networks. There is a notice on Tsarnayev’s page saying that its host last visited it at […]

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Boston bombing suspects’ father: My kids were framed

Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – MAKHACHKALA, April 19, 2013) An Interfax correspondent has managed to talk on the phone with a man introducing himself as Anzor, the father of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of committing the Boston Marathon bomb attack on Monday. “I learned about the incident from TV. My opinion is: the special services have framed my children, because […]

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Magnitsky’s Mother: ‘The List Is About People Who Must Answer For Their Actions’

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 19, 2013) The mother and widow of whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky were in Washington on April 17, just days after the White House issued a blacklist of more than a dozen Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s prosecution and death in jail in 2009. RFE/RL’s Richard Solash spoke to Magnitsky’s mother, Natalia, at a reception […]

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Russian deputy PM hints at political pressure on innovation centre graft probe

Skolkovo File Photo

(Interfax – April 18, 2013) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov said on 18 April that “certain forces” are trying to undermine the country’s budding innovation centre, Skolkovo, which is being investigated for embezzlement, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported. Surkov, who is a member of the Skolkovo Foundation’s board of trustees, was speaking following a raid by Federal Security […]

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Gref opposes internal offshore zones, proposes steps to bring capital back to Russia

File Photo of German Gref Shaking Hands with U.S. Official

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) The president and CEO of leading Russian lender Sberbank (RTS: SBER), German Gref opposes the idea of creating internal offshore zones in Russia, but is proposing that special measures be developed to bring capital back to the country, possibly even an amnesty for capital that now flees to offshore jurisdictions. “I don’t really believe […]

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Skolkovo Office Searched in Corruption Probe

Skolkovo File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 19, 2013) The downtown office of the Skolkovo Foundation was searched Thursday as part of an ongoing corruption scandal involving two former executives whom the Investigative Committee accused of using a fraudulent tender to steal 23.8 million rubles ($789,000). A spokesman for Skolkovo ­ Russia’s high profile project to diversify its […]

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Russian economy not in recession; no urgent need for economic stimulus – Shuvalov

Igor Shuvalov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 18, 2013) The Russian government does not have to undertake immediate action to stimulate economic growth, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. There is “dissatisfaction with the pace of economic growth,” he said, but the Russian economy is not in recession. “This is no place for emotions. Of course there can be stimulation of one […]

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The Future of Investigative Journalism in Russia

File Photo of Mourners with Photo of Anna Politkovskaya

(Kennan Institute – www.wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Mackensie Knorr – April 12, 2013) Meeting Summary “We strive to get all the information to put together the full picture.  All questions must be answered, and there shouldn’t be any holes in the story,” said Svetlana Reiter, freelance journalist for Bolshoi Gorod, among other magazines.  At a 12 April conference at the Kennan Institute, […]

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State controls media – Russian Union of Journalists secretary

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 18, 2013) Boris Reznik, secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists and a State Duma deputy, believes negative tendencies are emerging in Russian journalism. “The situation in information policies is worsening,” Reznik said at the tenth congress of the Russian Union of Journalists on Thursday. Specifically, Reznik said that “our media legislation needs further improvement.” “We […]

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Skolkovo Executive Linked to Payments to Opposition Lawmaker

Skolkovo File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – April 19, 2013) A prominent Kremlin critic in the largely rubber-stamp parliament, Ponomaryov suggested that ulterior motives lay behind Friday’s news. Investigators have accused a top manager at the government’s flagship Skolkovo Foundation of making $750,000 in improper payments to a State Duma deputy with close links to the street protest movement, […]

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Shuvalov Sees Anti-Corruption Drive as Risk for Government Staffing

Igor Shuvalov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 19, 2013) Overzealousness in the fight against corruption could drain the civil service of many valuable cadres, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. Speaking at the Russia 2013 business forum on Thursday, Shuvalov said that corruption is present around the world, but in Russia it has been blown out of proportion, Vedomosti reported. […]

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Putin’s annual Q&A session set for April 25 – Kremlin

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 18, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual question and answer session is due to start at noon on April 25, the Kremlin press service said. It will be broadcast live on the Channel 1, Rossiya 1 and Rossiya 24 television stations, as well as the Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio of Russia radio stations, it said. […]

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Russians Give Government ‘C’ Grade – Poll

Vladimir Putin file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) ­ Russians quizzed in an opinion poll released on Friday handed their government, headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the unflattering equivalent to a “C” grade for overall performance. The government scored 3.2 out of five in the poll, where a five would equal an “A” grade in Western parlance. In other findings […]

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Most Russians see no difference between Medvedev, Putin governments – VTsIOM

Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) The majority of Russians do not see any difference in quality of work of the governments of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, judging by a Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) poll. Some 71% of the respondents told VTsIOM that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s Cabinet was no better and no worse than Putin’s Cabinet. […]

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Senior Russian MP concerned about new European values

EU Map

(Interfax – April 18, 2013) New moral values that have recently emerged in Europe may seriously complicate Russia-EU relations, Aleksey Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, has said. He was speaking at parliamentary hearings in the State Duma on relations between Russia and the EU on 18 April, Russian privately-owned news agency Interfax reported on the same […]

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Kremlin Is Hiding Behind a Blacklist

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – April 19, 2013) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. You would have thought that the Kremlin would have shown a little more appreciation for the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama approved only 18 minor figures for the open portion of the Magnitsky list. After all, the original […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Dmitry Medvedev speech: Report on the Government’s performance in 2012

Russian Duma Building

(Government.ru – April 17, 2013) Good afternoon, Mr Naryshkin (Sergei Naryshkin, State Duma Speaker). Good afternoon, State Duma deputies, colleagues. Today for the fifth time the Government is presenting a report on the results of its performance over the past year. This tradition has become a logical step in the development of the modern political system, improving its openness and […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#73 – 19 April 2013

Map of Russia

[check back for updates, including more live links] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#73 :: 19 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Moscow TImes: […]

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Moscow Lacks Funds to Maintain Arctic Monopoly as China Gains a New Opening in that Region

Map of Barents Sea and Polar Environs

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 16, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-moscow-lacks-funds-to.html)  Despite Vladimir Putin’s promises to ensure that Russia kept its monopoly in the Arctic as the melting of the ice cap made that region more important, Moscow has cut back plans to build nine new icebreakers, a key to that control, because the finance ministry says there […]

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New Wealthy Russians Join Forbes Rich List

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

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 18, 2013) ­ Moscow’s chief obstetrician, a deputy to Russia’s voucher privatization architect Anatoly Chubais and the rector of a university where President Vladimir Putin defended his thesis are among the lucky ones who have joined Forbes’ 2013 Wealthiest Russian Businessmen List published on Thursday. Alisher Usmanov, the owner of Metalloinvest metals giant and a […]

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Most Russian regions would rank speculative grade – S&P

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 17, 2013) Most of Russia’s regions would rank speculative grade, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said. In an article published on April 16 and titled “Most Russian Regions’ Creditworthiness Is Below Investment Grade Due To A Weak Intergovernmental System, Economy, And Management”, S&P explains its estimate of the credit quality of all 83 Russian regions. The […]

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Unmasked, Still Golden: Awards for Theater Elite

Mayakovsky Theater at Night, file photo; adapted from image from Creative Commons/wikimedia/Shuvaev

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – April 18, 2013) The 19th annual Golden Mask Festival award ceremony began with a drum roll and a walking bass line from the Oleg Lundstrem Jazz Orchestra and ended with standing ovations for six veteran theater artists who were honored with lifetime achievement awards. As 47 awards were announced over the course […]

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Leading Russian human rights groups speak out for embattled NGO

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – Moscow, April 17, 2013) Heads of leading Russian NGOs disagree with accusations levelled by the authorities at the human rights association Golos facing a heavy fine. “We think it is absurd to say that the organization that led the fight for fair elections in Russia is acting in the interests of foreign states and is a foreign agent,” […]

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Independent journalism is key to Russian democratic development, civil society – Putin

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 18, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted the delegates of the 10th congress of the Russian Union of Journalists, the Kremlin press service said. “Your forum is important both for journalists and public life in Russia as a whole because journalists have always been not just “chroniclers”, but immediate participants in key events of Russian history. […]

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Putin Isn’t Restoring the USSR; He’s Seeking Support from Conservative Part of the Population, Gontmakher Says

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 17, 2013 – windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-putin-isnt-restoring.html) Several recent actions by the Kremlin restoring Soviet-era symbols have led to speculation that Vladimir Putin is returning Russia to the political-economic model of the USSR, but such speculation distracts attention from what the Russian president is really trying to do: generate support for himself among the […]

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Russian Communist Leader Zyuganov Slams Government Policy

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 17, 2013) The head of Russia’s Communist Party on Wednesday lambasted the government’s current social and economic policies, saying they are detrimental to the country’s economy and that a new cabinet is required to lead Russia out of a crisis. “We must warn society that should the current social and economic course be continued, Russia […]

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Putin generally happy with PM Medvedev’s Duma speech

Russian Duma Building

(Interfax – April 17, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin is generally “positive” about Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev’s annual speech to the State Duma on the work of the government on 17 April, presidential press secretary Dmitriy Peskov said on the same day, as reported by Russian privately owned Interfax news agency. Putin “on the whole gave a positive assessment of […]

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U.S. tragic events show world becoming less safe – Kremlin administration chief

File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 18, 2013) The world will find ways to respond to the terrorist threat, Russian presidential chief-of-staff Sergei Ivanov said. “First of all, I would like to offer my sympathy to the people injured in the explosions in Boston and the industrial catastrophe in Texas,” he said at a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Colin […]

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Academics predict new world war for next decade

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Inna Soboleva, RBTH – April 18, 2013) Russian researchers warn that a new world war might break out in the next 10 years. They proceed from the theory of economic cycles and their impact on the level of military aggression in the world. The origin of the next world war’s breakout is expected […]

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Kerry Lauds US-Russia Work on ‘Big-Ticket’ Issues

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

(RIA Novosti -WASHINGTON, April 17, 2013) ­ US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday praised cooperation between the United States and Russia on a range of issues and said he is “hopeful” that the two countries can bolster bilateral ties despite disagreements over adoptions and human rights. “Even though there have been some bumps in the road, I am […]

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Interview: ‘Magnitsky List Is Anti-Rights Violators, Not Anti-Russia’

Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 18, 2013) U.S. Representative James McGovern was one of the leading sponsors of legislation that mandated sanctions against Russians implicated in the prosecution and death of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, spoke to RFE/RL’s Richard Solash on the sidelines of a Washington reception held on April 17 honoring the Magnitsky family. RFE/RL: […]

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Moscow, Washington Agree Regular Dialogue on Adoptions

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

(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, April 17, 2013) ­ Russia and the United States have agreed to establish regular dialogue on the protection of rights of Russian children adopted by US families, a Russian diplomat said on Wednesday after talks with US officials in Washington. “There is a mutual understanding that the dialogue must be improved and expanded,” said Konstantin Dolgov, […]

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Georgian minister blames Saakashvili for prompting Russia to recognize S. Ossetia, Abkhazia

Georgia Map

(Interfax – TBILISI. April 17, 2013) Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili has accused President Mikheil Saakashvili for provoking Russia into occupying the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and then recognizing their independence. “For instance, in line with international agreements, Georgia did not have the right to deploy its troops in the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia controlled by […]

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Georgian parliamentarian slams Saakashvili recollection of U.S. role in August 2008 war

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

(Interfax – TBILISI. April 17, 2013) A member of the Georgian parliamentary majority harshly criticized some of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s recollections of details of the August 2008 war with Russia over South Ossetia in an interview shown on Rustavi-2 television. “Saakashvili’s statement that the United States considered the possibility of bombarding the Roki Tunnel during the August war will certainly […]

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Ivanishvili and Coalition Partners Threaten to Incriminate Georgia over 2008 Russian Invasion (Part Two)

Georgia Map

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 72 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Vladimir Socor – April 17, 2013) Georgia’s Prosecutor-General Archil Kbilashvili (formerly a legal counsel to the current Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili), Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani (who does not have a formal degree in law), Georgian Dream parliamentary majority leader Davit Saganelidze, and Defense Minister Irakli Alasania are […]

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Whistle-Blower’s Case Revives Concerns Of Punitive Psychiatry In Russia

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 18, 2013 – Robert Coalson) The whole process took less than an hour. At 10:26 a.m. on March 18, Lyudmila Popkova was handed a piece of paper ordering her to appear before Moscow Judge Tatyana Neverova. At 11 a.m. the same day. Hustled off to court by investigators, Popkova spent 15 minutes in front of […]

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Investigators ready to start trial on Politkovskaya murder

File Photo of Mourners with Photo of Anna Politkovskaya

(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – Igor Rozin, based on Interfax – rbth.ru – April 18, 2013) The Russian Investigative Committee has completed its inquiry into the murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Meanwhile, the defendants deny their guilt and want to be tried by jury. The Russian Investigative Committee has announced that it completed its inquiry into the assassination […]

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Russian Website Explains Decision To Publish ‘Secret’ Video Of Putin

Vladimir Putin file photo

(RIA Novosti, Moscow, April 17, 2013) The LifeNews (Internet) publication has admitted that it broke some rules when it published President Vladimir Putin’s remarks made at a closed meeting in Kalmykia. However, it thinks that the decision was right and says that the (possible) exclusion of its journalists from the Kremlin pool will not be a problem for the publication. […]

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Police Raid Medvedev’s Innovation Hub Over Fraud Inquiry

Skolkovo File Photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov & Henry Meyer – April 18, 2013) Russian police raided the Skolkovo innovation hub, a project championed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a day after his speech to parliament was overshadowed by a leaked video. Investigators talked today to the foundation’s head, billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, and other top officials, Skolkovo spokesman Roman Shcherbakov said […]

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Russian muckrakers tell their stories in D.C.

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nora FitzGerald, RBTH – April 18, 2013) It’s a tough and dangerous business and economically, journalism is wildly insecure. But some of Russia’s independent print journalists say their work is at a higher level than ever before. Elizaveta Osetinskaya, the husky-voiced, world-weary-at-36 editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine, made a statement […]

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