Interfax: West lacks irrefutable evidence of Syrian govt’s role in August 21 chemical attack – top Russian diplomat

Syria Map

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 24, 2013) Any arguments presented by the West that it was President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that carried out a chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21 can be overturned, which is being done today, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Strong objections can be presented in response to all of the arguments […]

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UN May Permit Force in Syria Only If Obligations Unfulfilled – Moscow

Syria Map

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 24, 2013) ­ The United Nations Security Council may permit armed intervention in Syria only if that government refuses to fulfill obligations, such as removing chemical weapons stockpiles, a senior Russian government official said Tuesday. Washington and Moscow are expected to clash at the UN General Assembly later this week over the terms of a […]

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Putin Outlines Priorities of Russia’s Presidency in CSTO

Map of European Portion of Former Soviet Union

(RIA Novosti – SOCHI, September 23, 2013) ­ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday named Russia’s priorities during its presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of former Soviet states. The CSTO Council, the organization’s supreme ruling body comprising leaders of the six member states, gathered in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Kyrgyzstan handed […]

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Merkel’s Re-Election Called Good for Russia

Angela Merkel file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – September 24, 2013) The victory of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party in the country’s general elections Sunday is expected to secure the stability of Russian-German relations for the next four years, despite German’s recent criticism of human rights in Russia. Taking 41.5 percent of the vote, Merkel’s conservative bloc  consisting of […]

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EBRD Chief Sees Opportunity in ‘Sluggish’ Russia

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 24, 2013) EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti acknowledged Tuesday that Russia’s sputtering economy combined with deeply ingrained problems such as corruption and a weak court system were deterring both foreign and domestic investors. But he insisted that the opportunities continued to far outweigh the risks and said the Russian authorities were taking much-needed steps to […]

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Medvedev approves road map for public oversight of monopolies

Empty Boardroom

(Interfax – September 24, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved a plan to create and develop mechanisms for public oversight over the activities of natural monopolies with input from consumers, along with the relevant road map, the government press service said. The goal of the document is to involve consumers in monitoring the development and implementation of monopolies’ investment […]

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Over 50 measures to boost business activity in Russia unfulfilled, PM says

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 23, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the pace at which the road maps to increase business and investment activity in Russia are being implemented, as nearly half of their measures have not been carried out on time. “We can’t in any case be happy with the pace of implementation of these road maps. Of the […]

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Pussy Riot and Prison Reform

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief of The Moscow News – September 23, 2013) This week, Lenta.ru published a letter from Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who is serving a two-year sentence in a penal colony for having participated in a “punk prayer” in Russia’s main cathedral back in the winter of 2012. Tolokonnikova is serving her time in a […]

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Moscow’s Plan to Restructure Academy of Sciences Will Spark Separatism, Scholars Say

Federation Council file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, September 24, 2013) If the Federation Council approves the government-backed and Duma-approved plan to restructure the Russian Academy of Sciences, a group of Russian scientists say, this will lead to a weakening or even breakdown of horizontal ties across the country and to “the growth of separatist tendencies.” In an open letter […]

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Roizman Inaugurated as Yekaterinburg Mayor

Yekaterinburg file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 24, 2013) Yevgeny Roizman was inaugurated as mayor of Yekaterinburg, just as the contest for city manager, which could well determine the influence Roizman will ultimately wield, began Tuesday. Six candidates have entered the contest, with the winner to be selected by the Yekaterinburg City Duma, RIA Novosti reported. Among them is current city […]

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Surkov Return May Signal Softer Kremlin Line

Vladislav Surkov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – September 24, 2013) The appointment of former “gray cardinal” Vladislav Surkov to a post in President Vladimir Putin’s administration has prompted a flurry of speculation among Kremlin watchers with some saying it signals a return to a more flexible policy in political affairs and others insisting it is just a sinecure for […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club (partial transcript continued)

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) SVETLANA MIRONYUK: Thank you. Mr President, Mr Rühe wants to respond. Mr Rühe, please go ahead. VOLKER RÜHE: President Putin, I go along with you, what you said on Iraq. And we were as critical; the French were, also. It was not a NATO ­ it was an American decision. But Libya was […]

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Russian Film Voted ‘Audience Favorite’ at U.S. Festival

Movie Theater file photo

(RIA Novosti – Maria Young – WASHINGTON, September 23, 2013) If you want to catch a rare glimpse of “the mysterious Russian soul,” you need only to watch a collection of short Russian films being shown at a prominent film festival in Washington this month, said a Russian filmmaker whose work was voted an audience favorite over the weekend. The […]

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A Dividing Issue, 20 Years On: Russia’s 1993 Constitutional Crisis

File Photo of Parliament Building Billowing Smoke in 1993

(RIA Novosti – Konstantin von Eggert – September 23, 2013) Konstantin Eggert was Diplomatic Correspondent for Izvestia in the 1990s and later the BBC Russian Service Moscow Bureau Editor. Konstantin has also spent some time working as ExxonMobil Vice President in Russia. Conflict is raging in Russia again. Luckily, not on the streets but in the country’s spirited blogosphere. The […]

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Russia to have austere 2014 budget – Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 23, 2013) The 2014 budget that is being drafted by Russia’s government is the most austere in years, according to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “It will be a difficult budget, the most difficult in recent years. It aims to ensure the stable development of Russia in a deteriorating global economic environment,” Medvedev said at a meeting […]

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Russian premier admits spending on army comes before welfare

File Photo of Russian Tanks in Military Parade

(Interfax – September 23, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has acknowledged that security and the armed forces are a priority for state spending and social needs will have to take their place in the queue, Interfax news agency reported on 23 September. “I hope that after we complete the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces, on which we’re […]

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Iran Takes Control Of Russian Built Nuclear Plant

Map of Iran with Stylized Radar Sweep and Radiation Symbol Background Image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 24, 2013) With news of a potential meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and his newly-elected Iranian counterpart President Hassan Rouhani raising hopes that the stalemate over Iran’s nuclear program might finally come to an end, Russia has handed over control of Iran’s single nuclear power plant to domestic specialists. Russia and Iran signed […]

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Red lights flashing for Ukraine as it sprints toward arms of EU

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 24, 2013) The drama in Ukraine is startling to look like a Hollywood B movie storyline. Hero wearing tattered clothes, bloodied and battered, staggers towards the sanctuary of the waiting plane/car/spaceship as the pack of ravenous dogs/savages/aliens pursue him with glitter of revenge in their eyes. Except in […]

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Tbilisi interested in dialogue with Moscow – premier’s envoy

Georgia Map

(Interfax – TBILISI, September 23, 2013) Special Envoy of the Georgian Prime Minister for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze believes that the format of his negotiations with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin is productive and that their dialogue will continue. “We had our fourth meeting last week and we can say that rather complex problems in the restoration of […]

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#173 :: Monday 23 September 2013

Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#173 :: 23 September 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. REUTERS SUMMIT – Russia can afford to keep Putin’s social […]

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Russia building its military presence in the Arctic

Polar Map Showing Permafrost Areas, Adapted From NOAA.gov Graphic

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Litovkin, special to RBTH  – September 17, 2013) Petr Veliky, the most powerful ship in the Russian navy, recently crossed the Northern Sea Route for the first time. Although the event was virtually unnoticed amid the escalating military conflict in Syria, pundits believe its implications are also important for international security. The […]

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Astakhov confirms commitment to ban adoption of Russian children for U.S. citizens

Pavel Astakhov file photo

(Interfax – September 23, 2013) The demands to rescind the law banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children are inhumane, bizarre and anti-patriotic, Russian children’s rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov said. “Any normal person should take the speculations and absolutely unlawful demands of certain abhorrent politicians and public activists [in Russia and in the United States] to cancel the ban, to […]

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Court Rejects Navalny Election Appeal

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ezekiel Pfeifer – September 23, 2013) A Moscow court on Friday rejected a lawsuit brought by opposition politician Alexei Navalny seeking to cancel the results of the city’s Sept. 8 mayoral election, in which Navalny placed second behind Kremlin-backed winner Sergei Sobyanin. Navalny’s team argued that the results were illegitimate because of violations including unequal […]

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Opposition’s Council Left in Limbo

Moscow Protest file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – September 23, 2013) An alliance of Russia’s nonparliamentary opposition that was formed at the peak of large-scale street protests in Moscow last year has seen an exodus of its leaders, prompting predictions of its impending political death. Former mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny, Solidarity co-leaders Boris Nemtsov and Ilya Yashin,  former State Duma […]

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Interfax: Cyrillic marking on rocket splinter doesn’t implicate Syria government – Kremlin official [Sergei Ivanov]

Syria Map

(Interfax – VLADIVOSTOK, Russia. September 21, 2013) The Kremlin’s chief of staff, in comments on a recent find in Syria, has dismissed suspicions that a Cyrillic inscription on a splinter of a rocket that apparently carried a chemical charge was evidence that the Syrian government was the perpetrator of last month’s chemical attacks near Damascus. “A marking in Cyrillic has […]

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Interfax: Kremlin aide [Sergei Ivanov]: attempts to export democracy via war don’t work

Sergei Ivanov file photo

(Interfax – STOCKHOLM. September 21, 2013) The Kremlin chief of staff has argued that foreign military intervention can neither democratize countries ruled by dictatorial regimes nor resolve domestic conflicts. “There hasn’t been any more democracy and freedom where military recipes were used, let’s not be hypocritical about that,” Sergei Ivanov said at the Global Strategic Review 2013 conference in Stockholm […]

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By Backing Those Who Make Nationalist Appeals, Russia’s Liberals are Destroying Themselves, Petersburg Student Says

Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, September 21, 2013) Russian liberals who back candidates that make nationalist appeals either out of calculation or conviction in the hopes that this will boost their poll numbers are sacrificing their own values and helping the authoritarian regime in the Kremlin, according to a St. Petersburg University student. In a letter to […]

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Kremlin Dismisses Putin Church Wedding Rumors

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 22, 2013) ­ Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has categorically dismissed online rumors that the Russian president has remarried in a church ceremony at a secluded monastery in central Russia. A Twitter message that swept through social networks on Saturday claimed that Putin, who divorced in June, tied the knot again earlier in the day at the […]

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Interfax: Russian pundits say Putin’s presidential bid natural

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Speaking At All-Russia Popular Front Gathering

(Interfax – September 20, 2013) Russian pundits seem not to be surprised with President Vladimir Putin’s statement that he does not rule out standing in the next presidential election in 2018. Putin said this during a question-and-answer session at the Valday discussion club in Novgorod Region on 19 September. They believe Putin considers this scenario as basic and that this […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club (partial transcript continued)

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) MODERATOR SVETLANA MIRONYUK: They say that Senator McCain followed your example and published an article of his own in Pravda newspaper. He probably remembers from the Soviet years that Pravda was a well-known publication and the most popular newspaper in the country. True, a lot of time has passed and things have changed […]

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#172 :: Friday, 20 September 2013

Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#172 :: 20 September 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Moscow TImes: Putin Talks Syria, Gays and John McCain at […]

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Putin Talks Syria, Gays and John McCain at Valdai

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – September 20, 2013) [View entire 3-hour event here http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-PtsodE-ZkY&feature=m-ch-fea] At the 10th-anniversary meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin lapped up praise for his recent New York Times op-ed on the Syria crisis and his “achievement” of averting a U.S. military strike. Putin addressed a wide array of […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club [partial transcript]

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The theme of the club’s anniversary session is Russia’s Diversity for the Modern World. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the place for your discussions, for our meetings is well […]

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Interview: McCain On Russia, Putin, And His Pravda.ru Op-Ed

John McCain file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – NEW YORK, September 20, 2013) U.S. Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona) has defended an opinion piece he wrote this week that was critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling Yuri Zhigalkin of RFE/RL’s Russian Service that his remarks were based on the facts about rights abuses in Russia. RFE/RL: Senator, I had the feeling that critics and […]

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Putin’s Spokesman Calls Presidential Bid Question ‘Rhetorical’, ‘Untimely’

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Outdoor Rally with Microphone in Hand and Heavy Coat

(RIA Novosti – September 19, 2013) The Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitriy Peskov, has said that the question put to Vladimir Putin during the meeting of the Valday (also spelt Valdai) discussion club on 19 September about the possibility of him standing in the 2018 presidential election was “rhetorical” and received an appropriate answer, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti […]

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Protest songs in Russia: A sign of democratic society

Map of Russia

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vasily Shumov, special to RBTH – September 20, 2013) In modern Russia, we can see that almost every public rally features a music performance that can be identified as a protest song. Russian protest songs have come a long way in the past 60 years following World War II­starting with songs created by […]

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U.S. financial woes source of anxiety for Russia – Putin

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

(Interfax – VALDAI, Russia. September 19, 2013) Russia is worrying about the current state of the U.S. finance system with its “unbelievable sovereign debt and budget deficit,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “How will the situation develop? This has a direct effect on the global economy, it’s a real source of anxiety for everyone,” Putin said at a meeting of […]

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Russia’s Growth Ranking Low, Hopes High

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – September 20, 2013) A study on economic factors that stimulate growth that was released Thursday puts Russia in 43rd place out of 60 countries, showing no overall improvement over last year’s ranking. The Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index for 2013, which combined 2012 results with economic development forecasts for 2013, placed Australia […]

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Ex-finance minister does not rule out new economic crisis in Russia with political repercussions

Alexei Kudrin file photo

(Interfax – VALDAI, September 19, 2013) Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that should another economic crisis break out in Russia, it might bring with it political consequences. “If a crisis occurs, it will trigger political repercussions,” Kudrin told reporters on the sidelines of the Valdai discussion club. The ex-minister, however, declined to forecast when a new crisis […]

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Timeline, Assad estimates $1 billion adequate for weapons disposal – Russian expert

File Photo of Bashar al-Assad and Sergei Lavrov

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 19, 2013) The estimates of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to which the disposal of Syrian chemical weapons would require approximately one year and cost about $1 billion, are fairly accurate, Chairman of the Council on the Foreign and Defense Policy Fyodor Lukyanov said. “It is probably close to the truth. What foreign countries are saying […]

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Ukraine can’t be ‘here and there’ at the same time – Medvedev on Ukraine’s integration

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 19, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has reiterated that Ukraine cannot combine its associated membership in the European Union with integration in the Customs Union. During a meeting with the participants in the 15th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia- Pacific News Agencies (OANA), he said such statements by the Ukrainian administration on its […]

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#171 :: 19 September 2013

Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#171 :: 19 September 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Valdai Discussion Club: LIVE: Broadcast of Vladimir Putin’s speech at […]

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Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin

John McCain file photo

(Pravda.ru – September 19, 2013) When Pravda.ru editor, Dmitry Sudakov, offered to publish my commentary, he referred to me as “an active anti-Russian politician for many years.” I’m sure that isn’t the first time Russians have heard me characterized as their antagonist. Since my purpose here is to dispel falsehoods used by Russia’s rulers to perpetuate their power and excuse […]

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Roofs and bottle caps: Deciphering Russian slang

File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Mikheev, special to RBTH – September 19, 2013) Matryoshka, kolhkoz, sputnik, perestroika­all of these original and untranslatable words have been borrowed in other languages from Russian at one time in history or another. This happened recently with another Russian word­krysha­in English. The word krysha itself is not new and simply means “roof.” […]

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The West Just Doesn’t Get Putin

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Dmitri Trenin, Director, Carnegie Moscow Center – September 13, 2013) U.S. reactions to President Vladimir Putin’s op-ed article in the New York Times this week, from outrage to ridicule, show just how badly much of the Western policy elite are misinterpreting Russia. This is largely the product of dashed and unrealistic expectations that many in the […]

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Pravda.ru: ‘McCain believes that God left people His Will in America’s national documents’

Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags with Number 200, 1807-2007

(Pravda.ru – September 19, 2013) Vladimir Solovyov: “This is Senator’s sincere belief that everyone dreams to live like the Americans, but this is not true. This is a traditional fallacy of not very young politicians of young nations, ” Russian TV host Vladimir Solovyov said in response to Sen. John McCain’s article “Russians deserve better than Putin,” published on Pravda.Ru. […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Moves Up, US Falls in World Economic Freedom Ranking

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(RIA Novosti – Karin Zeitvogel – WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013) ­ Russia has climbed 10 places since 1995 in a global ranking of economic freedom, while the United States has fallen 13 spots over the same period, according to a report from a Canadian public policy think-tank released Wednesday. Russia ranked 101st out of 151 nations, up 10 places from […]

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Navalny’s status as undisputed leader of Russian opposition questioned

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Interfax – Moscow, September 18, 2013) The apparent fact that Aleksey Navalnyy is popular in Moscow does not make him the sole leader of the opposition in the country, believes Boris Nemtsov, co-chairman of RPR-Parnas. “It is an apparent fact that Aleksey Navalnyy is the leader of the opposition in Moscow. However, it is too early to say whether or […]

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Russian Opposition Lawmaker Calls Large-Scale Protests Unlikely

Moscow Protest file photo

(RIA Novosti – VALDAI, Novgorod Region, September 18, 2013) ­ An outspoken Russian opposition lawmaker said Wednesday that political protest in the country was too fragmented to generate the kind of large-scale public discontent that erupted after parliamentary elections in 2011. “I’m convinced there will be no new wave of protests,” Ilya Ponomaryov of A Just Russia party said at […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Parliamentary Committee Approves NGO Snap-Check Bill

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 18, 2013) ­ A relevant parliamentary committee on Wednesday recommended that lawmakers pass a bill providing additional grounds for unscheduled checks of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The committee for public unions and organizations recommended that the bill, submitted by the Russian government in June, be passed in its first reading. According to the bill, grounds for […]

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