Surkov: God summons Putin to save Russia from ‘hostile takeover’

Vladislav Surkov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 27, 2013) Vladislav Surkov who stepped down from the vice-premier’s position in May said his attitude to President Vladimir Putin and the Russian opposition did not change after he quit politics. “My resignation changed nothing in the divine dimension. There is no reason to think differently,” Surkov said in an interview with the magazine Russkiy Pioner. […]

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Federal strategy on ethnic conflict resolution emerges

Migrant Workers file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Arina Obrazkova, RBTH – July 25, 2013) The document emphasizes various preventive measures, as well as cultural and educational events. The government of Russia has developed a special, 82-point plan to deal with inter-ethnic conflicts. Among the proposals put forth by ministers are: the funding of nonprofit organizations involved in the integration of […]

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Experts Say Upcoming Elections More Competitive

File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – July 26, 2013) The upcoming Sept. 8 regional elections across Russia will be more competitive than the previous ones, amid declining public support for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, experts say. Despite compounded bureaucratic obstacles for the registration of candidates, ongoing regional election campaigns show an increased outflow of candidates from the […]

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Putin’s pike photo new – Kremlin spokesman

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 28, 2013) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refuted rumors that the photo showing President Vladimir Putin pulling out a pike had been made before 2013. Runet users circulate rumors “for the lack of anything better to do in the summer time,” Peskov said in an interview with the Russian News Service on Sunday, commenting on reports […]

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Former Kremlin Insider Surkov Says No Regrets About Quitting Politics

Vladislav Surkov file photo

(RIA Novosti – July 27, 2013) Vladislav Surkov, who left his posts as deputy prime minister and government chief of staff in early May, has no regrets and was not sacked but resigned, he has said in an interview. “I went of my own volition. That’s what it said in the presidential decree and that’s how it was,” he told […]

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Russia’s Aleksei Navalny: Hope Of The Nation — Or The Nationalists?

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 28, 2013) Aleksei Navalny has been called the best hope for liberalization in Russia. And he has been called the most dangerous man in the country. Navalny has risen quickly to become the de facto head of Russia’s anti-Kremlin opposition — a rise based almost entirely on his relentless exposure of high-level […]

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Medvedev Blasts Weak Competition in Russian Economy

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 25, 2013) ­ Competition in the Russian economy is still weak, which is hindering the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the country, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday. “Our anti-monopoly legislation is quite strict, while competition is still weak,” Medvedev told a government meeting. The prime minister said problems remain on raw material […]

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Navalny and the Moscow Mayoral Election; Far-right nationalist group throws its support behind Navalny in Moscow mayor race

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 136 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Richard Arnold – July 24, 2013) The announcement by Vladimir Tor, the leader of the unregistered far-right National Democratic Party (NDP), that he will support anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny in the election for Moscow mayor (http://lenta.ru/news/2013/06/20/navalny/) may have gone unnoticed in the West, but it is one […]

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Mayakovsky anniversary reveals struggle over poet’s legacy

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Joy Neumeyer – July 22, 2013) On July 19, Moscow marked the 120th anniversary of Vladimir Mayakovsky, the rebellious Futurist poet who rose from a childhood in Georgia to become the voice of the October Revolution. The commemorations came on the eve of the controversial renovation of Moscow’s Mayakovsky Museum, which some fear will remove […]

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Acting Moscow Mayor Sobyanin vows to ensure as honest elections as possible

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 23, 2013) Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin running for reelection has reaffirmed his intention to do all he can to ensure that the mayoral elections scheduled for September 8 be truly honest. “We don’t need a victory at all costs. We need honest elections, I mean really honest elections,” Sobyanin said at a meeting with members […]

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Navalnyy’s support in upcoming Moscow mayor election stands at 9 per cent – poll

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Interfax – July 23, 2013) According to an opinion poll carried out in Moscow on 20-21 July, only 9 per cent of those polled would vote for opposition leader Aleksey Navalnyy in the Moscow mayor election to be held on 8 September, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 23 July.(1) The figure has gone up 1 per cent since […]

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Website to be launched to provide online cover of mayoral elections

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

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 23, 2013) A website, vybory.mos.ru, will go online soon to allow Muscovites to monitor the mayoral elections, Moscow’s IT Department head Artyom Yermolayev told the city government on Tuesday. “A technical scheme has been devised that will link up the video cameras intended for the police and housing utility services into an integrated video monitoring system, […]

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More Russians than not distrust local elections – poll

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

(Interfax – July 23, 2013) More Russian citizens than not distrust local elections, Russian Interfax news agency reported on 23 July, quoting an opinion poll by the Levada Centre. According to the poll, 34 per cent of the respondents (33 per cent in Moscow) are confident that local elections in the town, district or region are honest; 43 per cent […]

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Putin 3.0: The Economic Plan – Russian Analytical Digest new issue announcement

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

Subject: No. 133: Putin 3.0: The Economic Plan Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 From: “Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)” <newslist@isn.ch> RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST Newsletter 18 July 2013/No. 133 PUTIN 3.0: THE ECONOMIC PLAN To download this issue please click here: http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/DetailansichtPubDB_EN?rec_id=2626 Analyses The Political Economy of Putin 3.0, by Peter Rutland, Middletown, CT Economic Growth and Strategies for Economic Development in […]

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Four Paths for Russia Now Have Leaders, St. Petersburg Scholar Says

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 23, 2013) A year ago, Dmitry Travin, a professor at St. Petersburg’s European University, examined several possible trajectories for Russian development which he labeled the Polish, the Korean, the Mexican and the Russian, each of which he argued reflected radically different choices by the population and the elite. The Polish variant, […]

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Former Tula Governor Sentenced to 9 1/2 Years

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 23, 2013) Former Tula Governor Vyacheslav Dudka will spend nearly 9 1/2 years in a high-security prison in what marks the first time a former governor has received such a harsh sentence in modern Russia. Dudka was sentenced by a local court Monday for accepting 40 million rubles ($1.3 million) in […]

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Navalny’s catch-22

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow News – Anna Arutunyan, Editor and Correspondent at themoscownews.com – July 22, 2013) For all the Byzantine intrigue behind the decision to let opposition blogger Alexei Navalny go free pending appeals, I was sincerely glad for him, his family and his supporters. Last Thursday’s ruling, which slapped Navalny with a five-year term in a penal colony, brutally wiped out […]

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Interfax: Navalny has no chance to win and he doesn’t plan to – analysts

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 23, 2013) Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s participation in the Moscow mayoral elections will enhance their legitimacy, although no one thinks Navalny will win, political analysts said. “Navalny will definitely lose in an honest game,” Konstantin Kostin, chairman of the Civil Society Development Foundation, said at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday. The front-runner, Sergei Sobyanin, […]

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Why Navalny Is Winning

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – July 22, 2013) Vladimir Putin submerging into the depths in a submarine. Aleksei Navalny being greeted by an adoring crowd as he triumphantly returned to Moscow. Something old, something new. The two images bookended what was a remarkable — and highly consequential — week in Russia. As the Navalny saga was unfolding — […]

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Navalny: Out of the frying pan, into the Moscow mayoral race

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Kristen Blyth – July 22, 2013) Even for Muscovites who aren’t very much into politics, the September mayoral elections are about to get interesting. The surprising five-year sentence for opposition candidate Alexei Navalny – and the equally shocking decision to free him the very next day pending appeal – has both exacerbated political […]

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Vera Kichanova: Russia’s Opposition Must Go Bold, Even In Starting Small

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

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Richard Solash – WASHINGTON, July 20, 2013) It’s not every 22-year-old that gets a meeting at the White House with U.S. President Barack Obama’s national security adviser — and shows up for it in peach-colored knee-high socks. Meet Vera Kichanova, a young woman whose hipster garb belies her maturity, and whose fresh complexion has become one […]

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Navalny Highlights Investors’ Black-Box Conundrum: Russia Credit

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ksenia Galouchko & Vladimir Kuznetsov – July 22, 2013) The conviction of Alexey Navalny, a political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, highlights risks faced by investors as they weigh whether to buy assets in the world’s biggest energy exporter. Russia, which earned about $350 billion from oil and gas exports last year, has a Baa1 […]

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Interfax: Release of inmate at prosecutor’s demand is unprecedented – lawyer Reznik

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 19, 2013) Moscow Bar Association President Henri Reznik has called the release of opposition activist Alexei Navalny from custody with travel restrictions the day after his incarceration unprecedented. “I must tell you I cannot recall a similar situation. I cannot remember a single case of a prosecutors’ objection to the measures chosen by a court after […]

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RIA Novosti: Kremlin Denies That Putin Played Role in Navalny’s Release

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 22, 2013) ­ The Kremlin’s spokesman on Monday said President Vladimir Putin had played no role in opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s sudden release from jail last week. Navalny, who is running for mayor of Moscow, was taken into custody Thursday upon being sentenced to five years in prison for masterminding a 2009 embezzlement scheme that […]

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Newly Freed Navalny Sets Sights on Mayor’s Office

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko & Oleg Sukhov – July 22, 2013) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, unexpectedly freed by a Kirov court a day after being jailed on embezzlement charges, got a hero’s welcome from hundreds of supporters when his train arrived in Moscow over the weekend, and he immediately announced that he would pursue his long-shot bid […]

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Pyotr Ofitserov: The Man Who Stood Beside Navalny To The Bitter End

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – July 18, 2013) Opposition politician and anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny got all the press during the nearly four months of his trial. But he was not alone in the dock, as he took pains to point out during his closing remarks on July 5. “First, I would like to take this opportunity to […]

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Navalny Sentence a Blow to Business

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – July 19, 2013) The Russian stock market reacted pessimistically Thursday following the ruling of a regional court that sentenced opposition leader Alexei Navalny to five years in prison for embezzlement. The sentence is widely believed to be another blow to Russia’s image and is likely to result in an a more dramatic […]

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Russian rights official says Navalnyy sentence could have dramatic consequences

Vladimir Lukin file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, July 18, 2013) Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin hopes that the appeal will lead to a serious change in the sentence given to opposition activist Aleksey Navalnyy, whom a court in Kirov jailed for five years. “I have no right to comment on the political aspect of the events. However, there will, most likely, be an […]

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Conviction turns Navalny into nationwide political figure – analyst

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and head of the Efficient Politics Foundation, considers opposition activist Alexei Navalny’s conviction a mistake and believes this will only cause his popularity to grow. “Navalny made a lot of mistakes in the past. But in the past month, during the trial, Navalny has behaved very correctly, politically speaking. […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Railways CEO Denies Navalny’s Allegations of Corruption

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 19, 2013) The head of one of the world’s largest transport companies, state-owned Russian Railways, this week dismissed as unfounded corruption allegations made against him by opposition protest leader Alexei Navalny, Prime news agency reported. In a blog post earlier in the week, Navalny published details of property and offshore companies that he claims are […]

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Interfax: Protests against Navalny’s conviction will be insignificant – pro-Kremlin analyst

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The Russian opposition will try to take advantage of Alexei Navalny’s conviction in pursuing its political ends, but protests against this will not be very significant, says Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst and a member of the Public Chamber. “Some actions have been prepared and will be held, but they will be very […]

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Navalny’s Co-Defendant: Corrupt Biznes-man or Collateral Damage?

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Alexey Eremenko, RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ This week, a little-known Russian business consultant named Pyotr Ofitserov finally took his eldest daughter on a long-promised visit to Moscow’s famed Tretyakov Gallery. They squeezed in the outing between errands on Tuesday afternoon, as Thursday Ofitserov expects to be jailed for up to five years. “It’s funny how much […]

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Russians Losing Interest in Demonstrations, Poll Says

Moscow Protest file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 18, 2013) The number of Russians willing to participate in street protests has declined since its 2011 peak, a new poll from Levada Center shows. Only 11 percent of respondents would join political protests, while 16 percent would rally for social issues, Gazeta.ru reported Thursday. Sampling 1,601 adult Russians in 130 population centers throughout […]

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Navalny Verdict Dominates Russian News, Social Networks

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) ­ Russian public figures and foreign diplomats on Thursday weighed in on the five-year jail sentence handed down to anti-Kremlin activist Alexei Navalny, with opinions ranging from grim pessimism among liberals and “disappointment” from the U.S. ambassador to mixed forecasts by economic analysts and claims of a fair trial by pro-Kremlin pundits. – […]

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Navalny’s sentence to lead to outflow of young lawyers, businessmen from Russia – Prokhorov

Alexei Navalny file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The sentence of opposition activist Alexei Navalny is affecting the interests of small and middle-sized businesses and will lead to the outflow of young lawyers and businessmen from Russia, leader of the Civil Platform party Mikhail Prokhorov said. “The sentence passed on Alexei Navalny and Pyotr Ofitserov is not just a sentence to the […]

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Interfax: Presidential Human Rights Council to conduct independent analysis of Navalny case – Fedotov

Mikhail Fedotov file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) The Russian presidential Human Rights Council will conduct an independent public analysis of the criminal case in which a Kirov court sentenced opposition activist Alexei Navalny to five years in prison on Thursday. “I have already talked with a number of Council members. I believe the Council will decide to arrange a public legal […]

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Interfax: Superior court might change Navalny sentence – Russian Federation Council

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 18, 2013) Russian senators said they proposed waiting for a superior court ruling on the case of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, sentenced in Kirov to five years, and that if there was a political component in the trial, then only that Navalny’s violations had been checked in priority. “It is not a fact that superior agencies […]

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Intel, IBM Feel Putin Pinch as Medvedev Tech Hub Falters

Skolkovo File Photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Irina Reznik & Jason Corcoran – July 17, 2013) When Russian agents stormed the downtown offices of the Skolkovo technology hub being built near Moscow on April 18, a startled Intel Corp (INTC). executive got caught up in the raid. Dusty Robbins, head of global programs for the world’s largest chipmaker, was forced to […]

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Putin Angered by Lack of Far East Progress

File Photo of People Working on Car Amidst Siberian Woodlands and Meadows

(Moscow Times – themoscowtime.com – Anatoly Medetsky – July 17, 2013) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday again said the Cabinet was slacking off. He blamed ministers for getting behind schedule in executing measures to develop the country’s Far East. “I’ll tell you what, dear friends, will you ever get to work or not? What is this?” Putin said, according to […]

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Amid Controversy, New Pussy Riot Video Targets Oil Industry

Oil Well file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – RFE/RL’s Russian Service – July 16, 2013) Amid an apparent split in the ranks, the feminist punk performance-art group Pussy Riot has released a new music video lashing out at the oil industry; Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft; and others. Copies of the video were released to RFE/RL on July 16 […]

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Russians View Opposition Not as Alternative but as Communications Channel, New Study Finds

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 17, 2013) Russians do not view the opposition as an alternative to those in power but rather as “an additional” but very weak “channel of communication” between themselves and the authorities, according to a new study prepared by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The basic conclusions […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Meeting with Gogland 2013 expedition participants

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Kremlin.ru – Gogland Island – July 15, 2013) VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good evening! Where shall we start? NATALYA SOLOVYOVA: We are very happy to see you. And naturally, we would like for the head of the expedition to finally tell you about this island. VLADIMIR PUTIN: Please, go ahead. YEGOR BLOKHIN: My name is Yegor Blokhin. I am heading the Gogland […]

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[Putin] Trip to Gogland Island

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Kremlin.ru – July 15, 2013) Vladimir Putin visited Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, where he looked over a number of projects the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) is carrying out. The President attended a presentation of RGS’ Russia’s Marine Glory project and its deep-water research programme. The main goal behind these projects is to study and preserve Russia’s marine […]

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Russia Stands before Abyss of a New Totalitarianism, Pastukhov Says

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 17, 2013) Vladimir Putin’s “restorationist policy” is rapidly leading Russia to the abyss of a new totalitarianism, one in which political repression will spread across the entire society claiming ever new victims and ultimately Putin and his entourage as well, according to Vladimir Pastukhov, one of the most brilliant analysts of […]

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Vox Pop: Muscovites On The Navalny Verdict

Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – July 17, 2013) RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth asked Moscow residents ahead of the verdict on July 18 what they expected in the embezzlement case against Aleksei Navalny. Here are some of their answers: Igor, 25, transportation sector “I think Navalny will be found guilty. It’s most likely a political case and possibly was initiated to stop […]

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Opposition leader Navalny among six candidates registered to run for Moscow mayor

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – July 17, 2013) Six candidates will run for mayor of Moscow in the upcoming snap elections on September 8, Valentin Gorbunov, the chairman of the Moscow City Elections Commission, said on Wednesday, when the formal registration of candidates was concluded. Aside from Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who formally resigned and called the […]

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Rally in support of arrested Yaroslavl mayor brings together 5,000 – organizers

Yevgeny Urlashov file photo

(Interfax – YAROSLAVL, Russia. July 16, 2013) Supporters of the arrested mayor of Yaroslavl, Yevgeny Urlashov, have held a rally in the city on Tuesday. “We estimate that about 5,000 people took part in the rally,” one of the meeting organizers, Andrei Alexeyev, told Interfax. The head of the press service of the Yaroslavl regional police authority, Alexander Shikhanov, told […]

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The tsar files: Who killed the Romanovs

Romanov Family Photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yan Shenkman, RBTH – July 16, 2013) In the night between the 16th and 17th of July 1918 the family of Russia’s last Emperor, Nicolas II, was killed in Ekaterinburg. RBTH investigates the identities and lives of the killers of the tsar. Even now, 115 years after the murder of Russia’s last czar, […]

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Expectations High for New Moscow One Year On

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – July 16, 2013) [The Development of New Moscow One Year On chart here: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/expectations-high-for-new-moscow-one-year-on/482838.html] A little over a year after the territory of the city of Moscow more than doubled in size, real estate prices are stabilizing, and expectations for improving infrastructure are high. On July 1, 2012, almost 150,000 hectares of […]

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Reform of Russian Academy of Sciences to have no negative impact on employees – Putin

Adaptions of Image from Livermore.gov of Element 118 Atoms

(Interfax – GOGLAND ISLAND, Leningrad region, July 15, 2013) The reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences will have no negative impact on the work of the institute’s employees, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Actually, nothing will change for those, who work in institutes,” Putin said on Monday when answering questions of participants of the archeological expedition Gogland 2013. Institutes […]

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