Interfax: More than half of Russia can’t name any Russians awarded Noble [sic] Prize – poll

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) – Russians are quite well-aware of the Noble Prize but only one in five follows news about it, sociologists said. According to the poll held by the Public Opinion Foundation in 43 Russian regions, 44% of 1,500 respondents are aware that the Noble [sic] Prize exists, other 42% heard about it, while 10% learnt about the […]

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RIA Novosti: ‘Foreign Agent’ NGO Forced to Stop Work in Russia

Kremlin and St. Basil's

KOSTROMA, October 29 (RIA Novosti) ­ A Russian rights organization that promoted public initiatives said Tuesday that it was suspending operations because it is unable to pay a $9,000 fine imposed for failing to register as a “foreign agent.” The NGO, based in the central Kostroma Region, said it was able to raise 100,000 rubles ($3,000) to pay a fine […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia to Consider Letting Ex-Convicts Run for Office

Russian Duma Building

MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russian lawmakers will consider letting people who have been convicted for serious crimes run in elections, on the condition that voters are told about their criminal records. “As it turns out, people’s rights are affected, even though they’ve already been punished,” state lawmaker Sergei Ivanov of the nationalist LDPR party and author of the […]

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Average funeral cost in Russia is $830

Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) – The average cost of a package of ritual services in Russia is now $830, Alexei Suloyev, chairman off the Guild of Ritual Service Organizations of the Moscow Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said. “Russia is at the bottom of the list for this indicator,” Suloyev said at an international conference of funeral business experts held […]

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Russians unhappy with permanent daylight savings time – poll

Analog Clock Artist's Rendition

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – October 29, 2013) An increasing number of Russians are tired of year-round daylight savings time, a recent survey shows. According to a poll released on Tuesday by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research, just 32 percent of Russians approve of not having to set clocks back an hour each fall, down from 73 percent […]

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Have we passed the point of no return on climate change?

File Photo of Polar Bear on Ice and Snow with Water Nearby

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Kislyakov, special to RBTH – October 28, 2013) The debate about the permanence of climate change goes on, but the effects of warmer temperatures can already be felt. In an article published in the journal “Nature” in mid-October, British scientists said they had defined a certain “point of non-return” for climate change […]

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Under Putin, Russia Becoming a Third World Country, Nationalists Say

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

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 28, 2013)  Russian nationalists and others have regularly criticized Vladimir Putin for building an economy and hence a state that relies on the export of raw materials rather than the development of industry and investment in human capital. But now two of them have stepped up this attack and argued that […]

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Interfax: Russia is ready for compromise, dialogue on missile defense – Lavrov

Mssile Defense Control Room

ROSTOV-ON-DON. Oct 28 (Interfax) – Russia is ready for constructive dialogue and compromise on missile defense with the United States and NATO. “We are ready for constructive dialogue with the United States and NATO. We are open to compromise. However, we will not pretend that talk of the (missile defense) system the Americans are creating does not need any changes […]

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With Saakashvili Out, Russia-Georgia Ties Set to Improve, but Slowly

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – October 29, 2013) Despite a complete change of leadership in Georgia sealed in Sunday’s presidential election, Russia and its southern neighbor remain on track only to crawl toward a strained reconciliation, due largely to the legacy of the bitter five-day war that the countries fought in 2008. Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s relentless modernizer […]

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Job Announcement: Center on Global Interests Program Director

Map of Former Soviet Union

From: Kerry Eickholt <keickholt@globalinterests.org> Subject: Job Announcement: Center on Global Interests Program Director Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 Center on Global Interests Program Director The Center on Global Interests (CGI) is seeking a Program Director to lead the development and implementation of its research programs. Our active programs focus on global governance in the 21st century, U.S.-Russia bilateral relations, and […]

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Eurasia Director postion

Eurasia Map

From: Jeff Yarborough <jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org> Subject: Eurasia Director postion Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 The Open Society Foundations are currently searching for a Director to lead our Eurasia Programs. The link to position is here: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/jobs/director-eurasia-programs   Jeff Yarborough | Russia Project | Open Society Foundations | T: 212-548-0128 |F: 646-557-2473 | jeff.yarborough@opensocietyfoundations.org

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New Issue of “Russian Life”

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

From: Paul Richardson <paulr@russianlife.com> Subject: The New Issue of Russian Life Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 RUSSIAN LIFE MAGAZINE NOV/DEC 2013 ISSUE 557, Vol 56, No. 6 http://www.russianlife.com/russianlife/magazine/ Science Wars MARIA ANTONOVA The government wants to reform the Russian Academy of Sciences. Scientists are having none of it. All a-Twitter MARIA ANTONOVA In our Trends section, editor Maria Antonova looks […]

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#193 :: Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Map of Russia

check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#193 :: 29 October 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 […]

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Putin Has Last Crack at Yanukovych’s EU Dream

File Photo of Ukrainians with Ukrainian Flag in Public Square Near Tower with Golden Dome

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – October 25, 2013) Turkey is interested in joining the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and India also wants closer ties with the organization, President Vladimir Putin said at the EurAsian Economic Community summit in Minsk on Thursday. But some political analysts saw the summit in Minsk, which for the first […]

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Amnesty will promote civil accord, dialogue between society, authorities – Russian rights activists

Russian Jail File Photo Showing Outer Wall, Windows, Barbed Wire

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – The leaders of Russian human rights organizations believe a broad amnesty timed with the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution will help establish effective dialogue between the authorities and civil society. “Will the authorities find the energy to build relations with civil society again” The best way out of this deadlock would be broad amnesty, […]

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Kremlin advises municipal authorities to cooperate with NGOs

Sergei Ivanov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian presidential chief-of-staff Sergei Ivanov has called on the municipal authorities to cooperate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) instead of shunning them. “You should not be afraid of NGOs. Rather, you ought to work together with them,” Ivanov said at a meeting of city mayors and city managers on Thursday. Practice shows that the municipal authorities […]

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Interfax: Democracy is bigger lie than Communism – prominent Orthodox priest

Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Protopope Dimitry Smirnov, the head of the patriarch’s commission on family and protection of mothers and children, believes that democracy is based on lies. “It’s just a lie. Communist is also a lie, but Communism has religious features. Communism seems to take a lot from true religions. The Communists have their own teaching, their own […]

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Kremlin official says part of Russian opposition ‘against the country’

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – Snegiri, Moscow Region – October 24, 2013) The Kremlin receives in a positive key the signal from the parliamentary opposition, which is calling for giving priority to ensuring the security of the state and does not support “orange forces” (reference to Ukrainian orange revolution which is seen as backed by the West), according to the head of the […]

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Interfax: Most of opposition members want the best for Russia – Kremlin official

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

SNEGIRI, Moscow region. Oct 24 (Interfax) – The Kremlin has welcomed the parliamentary opposition’s signal indicating its support for national security as a priority and its refusal to back so-called “orange forces”, director of the president’s homeland security directorate Oleg Morozov said. “We have heard the signal sent by the parliamentary systemic opposition, as it is called today, which really […]

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Business ombudsman Boris Titov proposes amnesty for migrants

Boris Titov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov said that the one-time migration amnesty that he has proposed would allow legalization of labor in the migration market and would bring 74 billion rubles to the treasury. “We propose a one-time amnesty for those who already are working in Russia on the condition of concluding a labor agreement and […]

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What awaits Russian science? The country’s scholars and scientists are outraged by reforms of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Adaptions of Image from Livermore.gov of Element 118 Atoms

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrey Vaganov, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, special to RBTH – October 25, 2013) A recently passed law on reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences is aimed at segregating scientific research from academic property management. The government argues the move will free science of an irrelevant burden. Academics, for their part, are convinced […]

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Russians differ on whether Russia has opposition – poll

Kremlin and St. Basil's

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Forty percent of the respondents surveyed by the Public Opinion Foundation believe Russia has political opposition, 30% believe it does not, and the others were undecided. The poll was conducted in 43 regions of Russia in mid October. It surveys 1,500 respondents. Only 4% of those who believe Russia has political opposition believe it has […]

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Interfax: Kremlin calls candidates’ groundless removal from elections ‘yesterday’s instrument’

File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

SNEGIRI, Moscow region. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian electoral authorities, including the Central Election Commission (CEC), have managed to minimize the number of situations where potential candidates are banned from running in elections for no discernable reason, head of the Russian president’s homeland policy directorate Oleg Morozov said. “I would like to thank our colleagues from the CEC and you […]

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Kremlin denies connection between low voter turnout, bad election date

Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Vyacheslav Volodin, first deputy head of the presidential administration said he disagrees with the fact that a single voting day, the second Sunday of September this year, was the cause of low voter turnout. “I disagree that September 8 is a day that does not give a high voter turnout,” Volodin said at a meeting […]

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Gazprom Completes First Solo Offshore Project

Map of Northern Japan, Kurill Islands, Sea of Okhotsk, Portions of Russian Far East

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – October 25, 2013) Gazprom has started to operate the first offshore field that it has developed on its own, in a test of its power to perform the challenging task without foreign partners. Sitting off the Pacific island of Sakhalin, the Kirinskoye field will feed natural gas to Asia, as demand from […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Says Snowden Leaks Won’t Hurt US Ties

Edward Snowden file photo

MINSK, October 25 (RIA Novosti) ­ Leaks by former US security contractor Edward Snowden regarding US intelligence-gathering on Russia will have no impact on relations between Moscow and Washington, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday. Sergei Lavrov said issues regarding Snowden were not high on Russia’s international diplomatic agenda. Emerging allegations that US intelligence operative have spied on the phones of […]

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Interfax: We won’t close market for Ukrainian goods but no more benefits – Putin

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russia will not close its market for goods from Ukraine if the latter signs an association with the European Union, but Ukrainian products will no longer enjoy benefits, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. There is a free-trade zone in the CIS of which both Russia and Ukraine are participants, he said at a press conference […]

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Political struggle to follow Georgian presidential election

Georgia Map

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Molly Corso in Tbilisi – October 25, 2013) With Georgians headed to the polls on October 27, it appears clear that Giorgi Margvelashvili will be the country’s next president. However, second place is nearly as important in this race, with the other candidates needing to draw support for the bitter political fight that will […]

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Mikheil Saakashvili’s Polarizing Legacy

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – October 24, 2013) Few leaders have been as polarizing as Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s outgoing president. To some, he is the hero of the “Rose Revolution,” the man who stamped out corruption and raised the country’s international profile. Others see him as an authoritarian leader who cracked down on dissent, persecuted his rivals, and […]

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10 Years on, Khodorkovsky’s Arrest Called a Turning Point in History

Mikhail Khodorkovsky file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – October 25, 2013) When Vladimir Pereverzin woke up on Oct. 25, 2003, he had no reason to suspect there would be anything unusual about the day. But when he clicked on the television, he saw mind-boggling news: billionaire Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man and Pereverzin’s former boss, had been […]

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Interfax: Georgia presidential candidate Burjanadze vows normal relations with Russia if she wins

Georgia Map

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Georgian presidential candidate from the Democratic Movement-United Georgia party and former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze vows that, if she wins the elections on October 27, she will work to normalize relations with Russia and settle the existing problems. “The unsettled relations with Russia pose a real threat to the country’s stability and normal development. My […]

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Post-Soviet States Increasingly Vary in Their Relations with Russia, Poll Finds

Eurasia Map

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 24, 2013) Some post-Soviet states have “left the post-Soviet space” for good, others are interested in closer ties with Russia, and still others are uncertain about where they are headed, a situation that is further complicated by differences between national leaders and their populations on this point. But any effort to […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Criticizes Results of London Diplomatic Meeting on Syria

Syria Map

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) ­ A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that a meeting of 11 nations on resolving the Syrian conflict resulted in a call for regime change, a challenge that upsets plans for a peace conference in Geneva. The final document adopted at the London meeting on Tuesday “again sets regime change in Damascus as the […]

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Interfax: European political forces tend to become radical – Dolgov

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

YEREVAN. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Russia is calling on the world community to work together on resolving issues in the sphere of human rights protection, Russian Foreign Ministry envoy on human rights, democracy, and supremacy of law Konstantin Dolgov said. “At the conference on the prevention of discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance in Europe held in Yerevan, we called on our […]

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Imposing political models on other states leads to escalation of int’l instability – Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Namely the United States urged at some point to prevent organizations under its control from actions, which could undermine the security of another country or which are aimed at changing political regimes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Washington. Everyone who is currently attempting to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries should be […]

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Russian diplomatic activity prevents foreign invasion of Syria – poll

Syria Map

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian citizens are aware of the Russian-U.S. agreements concerning Syria, which are supported by UN resolutions, and think the deal has helped prevent a military operation against Syria, sociologists from the Russian Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. Some 68% of the respondents showed an interest in Syrian events, among them, 15% constantly monitor the developments […]

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Russia will not abandon market reforms

Boris Titov file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gleb Fedorov, RBTH  – October 24, 2013) Business ombudsman Boris Titov tells RBTH why Russia needs an economic amnesty and how to improve the country’s business climate. Boris Titov, owner of Russia’s largest champagne producer, is no stranger to pressure from officials. Now, in the position of Presidential Ombudsman for Entrepreneurs’ Rights, he […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Authorities Dismiss Punk Rocker’s Jail Abuse Claim

File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russian investigators will not open a criminal case into allegations by jailed feminist punk rocker Nadezhda Tolokonnikova that a prison official threatened to kill her, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee said Thursday. “A decision has been taken not to open a criminal case because no crime was committed,” said Natalya Afanasieva, a spokeswoman […]

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New Way of Teaching History to Be Finalized by Next Month

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – October 24, 2013)  Government officials, lawmakers and education officials will finalize changes to the way history is taught in schools by Nov. 1, State Duma Deputy Speaker Lyudmila Shvetsova said Wednesday outside a roundtable discussing new state textbooks. New textbooks teaching children of various age groups a consensus opinion about historical events […]

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Russian cynicism: symptom of a stagnant society

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(opendemocracy.net – Lev Gudkov – October 22, 2013) Lev Gudkov is a Russian sociologist, director of the analytical Levada Center and editor-in-chief of the journal The Russian Public Opinion Herald. He is the author of numerous books and articles on sociology and inter-ethnic relations in Russia. Cynicism, originally a philosophy in ancient Greece, is now the prevailing mood in Putinist […]

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Obama Joins Putin War as Syria Jihadists Stalk Olympics

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer – October 25, 2013) President Vladimir Putin is turning to Barack Obama for help protecting the costliest Winter Games ever from attacks by Islamic extremists, including hundreds of battle-hardened jihadists now fighting in Syria. About 400 Russian nationals, mainly from the North Caucasus, are currently battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in […]

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Putin: Ukraine cannot be simultaneously EU associated member, Customs Union member

EU Map

MINSK. Oct 25 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed once again that Ukraine cannot be simultaneously an EU associated member and a Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union member. Speaking to journalists in Minsk on Friday, Putin pointed out that the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU says that all possible integration associations Ukraine would wish to join in the […]

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RIA Novosti: Moscow Needs More ‘Predictability’ in NATO Missile Defense Plans

Patriot Missile Launch file photo

MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russia aims to cooperate with Western powers on security issues but needs guarantees that a US missile shield in Eastern Europe would not target its nuclear forces, Russia’s defense minister said Wednesday. “We have failed to work jointly on this issue. The European missile defense programs are developing, and our [Russia’s] concerns are not […]

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Interfax: Opinion polls mirror improved public attitude to police – Interior Ministry

Biryulyovo Riots file photo

(Interfax – October 24, 2013) The number of Russians who claim that the police are one of the worst corrupt authorities has declined over the past year, a source from the Russian Interior Ministry told Interfax, referring to a Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) poll. “Currently, this opinion is expressed by 19 percent of the respondents. The indicator stood […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Mayors’ conference and seminar

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

(Kremlin.ru – October 23, 2013) Vladimir Putin spoke at a training seminar for mayors of Russian cities. The event, which took place under the Presidential Executive Office’s aegis, focused on domestic policy issues and modern effective management principles. Excerpts from the speech at the Mayors’ Conference and Seminar PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues. Today, we are meeting […]

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Russians Remain Culturally Soviet and That is the Source of Their Problems, Academician Says

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 23, 2013) The failures of Russia today are connected with the fact that everyone in it ­ including the authorities, the population, the church and those separate from the church ­ remain in a cultural sense “Soviet people” with all “the complexes” that entails, according to Academician Yury Pivovarov Pivovarov, director […]

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Russia Softens Charge in Greenpeace Case

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Vladimir Goryachev and Christopher Brennan – October 24, 2013) The Investigative Committee said it had dropped the piracy charges against 30 people who were on board Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship, replacing them with accusations of hooliganism. If convicted of the new charges, the 28 activists and two journalists who were taken into custody in September […]

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Moscow Denies U.S.-Based Diplomat Sought Young Spies

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrew McChesney – October 24, 2013) Moscow has angrily denied that one of its diplomats in Washington tried to recruit young Americans to spy for Russian intelligence agencies, calling the allegations a “horror story” reminiscent of the Cold War. The spy flap centering around the 59-year-old head of a Kremlin-funded cultural exchange program raises the […]

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Russian NGOs accused of being ‘foreign agents’ vindicated – report

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – October 23, 2013) A report published on the website of the Human Rights Council under the Russian president says practically all the cases in which the Prosecutor-General’s Office (PGO) accused NGOs of being in breach of the controversial recent law on “foreign agents” have been thrown out by courts, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 23 October. […]

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#192 :: Friday, 25 October 2013

Map of Russia

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#192 :: 25 October 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 […]

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