Xenophobia – Page 3 – Johnson's Russia List

Johnson's Russia List

Russia’s ‘Foreign Agents’ Risk Losing Right to Run Media

August 21, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Daria Litvinova – August 21, 2015) As the crackdown on Russian NGOs continues, the Communications Ministry has suggested forbidding those labeled as “foreign agents” from launching and registering media outlets. The proposal, part of a bill that the ministry published on a government website for draft laws, stipulates that non-governmental organizations registered as “foreign agents” […]

Leave a comment Business, Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, Media, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Trade, Xenophobia

NEWSWATCH Wall Street Journal/Edward Lucas: “Russian Roulette. The regime has replaced institutions with one-man rule and treats criticism as treason. But it could get even worse.”

August 17, 2015 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Putin Descending a Staircase

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Edward Lucas reviews two books, Putinism by Walter Laqueur and Putin’s Russia edited by Leon Aron. Lucas assesses Putinism, unfolding under the extensive reign of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a negative light: Making sense of Putinism is rather like trying to analyze a Russian salad. Unappetizing cubes of meat and vegetables lurk in […]

Leave a comment Foreign Policy, Government, JRL NewsBlog, Newswatch, Politics, Putin, Putin Transition, Putinism, Russia, Russia and the West, Russian News, Slider, Ukraine, Xenophobia

Georgy Satarov: ‘The Opposition Needs to Put the Authorities in Zugzwang’

August 14, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – August 12, 2015) As part of the Institute of Modern Russia’s ongoing interview series with Russian and Western experts, imrussia.org editor-in-chief Olga Khvostunova sat down with INDEM Foundation president Georgy Satarov to talk about social discontent, the consequences of the law on ”undesirable organizations,” the principle of simplification in Putin’s politics, and the […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Kremlin Forms NGO Expert Group

August 14, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Kremlin and River

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 11, 2015) The Kremlin has announced the creation of an expert group to consider changes to a controversial law that labels NGOs receiving funding from abroad as “foreign agents,” the RBC news agency reported Monday, citing deputy presidential chief of staff Vyacheslav Volodin. The group will work within the presidential administration and will consist […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

‘Is your mum a foreign agent?’

August 12, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

Russian NGOs, large and small, are facing closure after the blacklisting of their foreign funders. Colta.ru speaks to some of the organisations affected. (opendemocracy.net/Colta.ru – EKATERINA SELIVANOVA, NADEZHDA KONOBEYEVSKAYA, and YAKOV KAPITONOV – August 11, 2015) Ekaterina Selivanova is a Moscow-based journalist. She writes for Colta.ru and The New Times. Nadezhda Konobeyevskaya is an independent journalist, and writes for Novaya […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Act, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Human rights activists fear Soros Foundation to leave Russia

August 3, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – August 3, 2015) The Soros Foundation could follow the MacArthur Foundation and National Endowment for Democracy and leave Russia, veteran of the human rights movement and head of the Civil Assistance committee Svetlana Gannushkina said. “I am afraid that the Soros Foundation is leaving Russia,” she said. According to Gannushkina, the probability exists that the Soros Foundation will […]

Leave a comment Committee against Torture, Federation Council, Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, Igor Kalyapin, MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Soros Foundation, Torture, Xenophobia

Putin Hurts a Think Tank by Not Banning It

July 30, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – July 28, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing if not cunning when it comes to dealing with his adversaries. When he signed a law allowing the government to ban any nongovernmental organization deemed “undesirable,” it was clear some foreign NGOs would suffer. What was less obvious — though, in hindsight, inevitable — […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

Interfax: Kremlin: Prohibition of NGOs’ operations in Russia does not mean restriction of access to democratic values

July 29, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – July 29, 2015) The inclusion of one or several non-governmental organizations (NGO) in a list of those whose operations on Russian territory are undesirable does not restrict access of Russian citizens to democratic values, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It would be absolutely wrong to say that, with the prohibition of this or that organization, Russian citizens would […]

Leave a comment Democracy, Government, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

U.S. embassy in Moscow concerned about NED’s designation as ‘undesirable organization’ in Russia

July 29, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

(Interfax – July 28, 2015) The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is concerned about the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office’s decision to designate the U.S. nonprofit organization National Endowment for Democracy (NED) an undesirable foreign organization in Russian territory. “We are deeply concerned about the effect of the so-called law on undesirable organizations,” U.S. embassy spokesperson Will Stevens told Interfax when asked […]

Leave a comment Democracy, Foreign Agent Law, Foreign Policy, Government, National Endowment for Democracy, NGO's, Nonprofit, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

U.S. National Endowment for Democracy declared unwelcome foreign organization in Russia

July 28, 2015 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Interfax – July 28, 2015) The United States’ National Endowment for Democracy has been declared an unwelcome foreign organization on Russian territory, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced on July 28. “Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Malinovsky signed a resolution declaring the National Endowment for Democracy an unwelcome foreign nongovernmental organization (NGO) on Russian territory,” the agency said. The activity […]

Leave a comment Democracy, National Endowment for Democracy, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

Russian human rights activists lodge appeals against law on “foreign agent” NGOs

July 23, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Interfax – July 22, 2015) A number of Russian human rights advocacy organizations have lodged court appeals against their classification as “foreign agents”, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 22 July. Earlier the Russian Justice Ministry released a statement saying it had sent messages to a number of NGOs working in the human rights sector and included on the […]

Leave a comment Civil Assistance Committee, Committee against Torture, Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, Memorial, Movement For Human Rights, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russian Election Monitoring NGO Golos Removed from Foreign Agents List

July 23, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – July 23, 2015) The Justice Ministry is revoking the registration of election-monitoring group Golos as a “foreign agent” and has refunded the fines the non-governmental organization has paid for refusing to register voluntarily, the group said. In a surprise announcement that followed searches at the organization’s offices and its employees’ homes earlier […]

Leave a comment Elections, Foreign Agent Law, Golos, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

MacArthur Foundation to close office in Russia over restrictive new laws

July 23, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anna Sorokina, RBTH, combined report – July 22, 2015) The U.S.-based MacArthur Foundation has announced that it is to cease its work in Russia in connection with new legislation that seeks to limit the activities of foreign organizations seen as a threat to national security. The MacArthur NGO, which receives no funding from […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, Government, Human Rights, MacArthur Foundation, NGO's, Nonprofits, Nuclear, Patriotic Stop-List, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

Will the patriotic stop list kill Russia’s NGOs? Since 2012, Russian NGOs receiving funding from abroad have had to register as ‘foreign agents’. A new patriotic ‘stop list’ might shut this funding off forever.

July 23, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(opendemocracy.net – Vyacheslav Kozlov – July 22, 2015) Vyacheslav Kozlov is a journalist for daily newspaper Kommersant. He writes on international relations, nationalism, extremism, narco-politics, the Russian opposition and the problems facing Russia’s NGOs. He has at various times worked for Vremya Novostei, Moskovskiye Novosti and the online publication Gazeta.ru. His work has also appeared in Novaya Gazeta and Lenta.ru. […]

Leave a comment Committee against Torture, Dynasty, Government, Human Rights, Mott Foundation, NGO's, Nonprofits, Police, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Torture, Xenophobia

Human rights NGOs hope to prove they are not foreign agents after Justice Ministry warning

July 22, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Interfax – July 22, 2015) Leading Russian human rights organizations that have received warnings from the Justice Ministry intend to go to court to seek their removal from the register of NGOS classed as foreign agents. “We disagree with being entered on this register. We will go to court,” Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the committee Civil Assistance, told Interfax […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, Human Rights, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

NEWSWATCH Deutsche Welle: Russia less-than-charitable toward charities.

July 21, 2015 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

Deutsche Welle covers governmental threats to charitable activities in Russia, including the saga of Dynasty and “foreign agent” labeling. … A law that calls those who receive funds from outside the country ‘foreign agents,’ an economic downturn that’s seen the market contract by 10 percent with no end in sight … sanctions that have seen the value of the ruble plummet to … anywhere […]

Leave a comment Dmitry Zimin, Dynasty, Finance, Foreign Agent Law, Nonprofits, Offshore, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russian Senators Propose Ban of 12 Foreign NGOs, Reining In Civil Society

July 9, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 9, 2015) In what experts see as Moscow’s latest bid to rein in civil society, Russian senators released a list Wednesday of 12 foreign NGOs whose work they believe poses a threat to national security, and who should thus be declared “undesirable” and prohibited from operating in the country. The Federation […]

Leave a comment Civil Society, Federation Council, Foreign Agent Law, NGO Raids, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

RIA Novosti: Russian officials express “regret” over closure of prominent “foreign agent” NGO

July 9, 2015 JRL Russia List Education, Academia, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(RIA Novosti – July 8, 2015) Russian officials have reacted with “regret” to the closure of the Dynasty (Dinastiya) NGO, Russian news agencies reported on 8 July. The Dynasty Foundation, headed by telecommunications tycoon and philanthropist Dmitriy Zimin, is one of major donors of academic research in Russia. In a highly controversial move, the Russian Justice Ministry has put it […]

Leave a comment Dmitriy Zimin, Dynasty Foundation, Education, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russia Can No Longer Afford to Be the Militarist and Expansionist Power It has Always Been, Shevtsova Says

July 9, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Paul Goble – Staunton, July 8, 2015) After a brief attempt to escape from its past in the 1990s, Russia under Vladimir Putin is “again returning to militarism … the model of existence in which Russia had existed for centuries” in order to prepare for war. No other such civilization exists in the world now, but Russia “cannot militarize as […]

Leave a comment Government, Imperialism, Military, Politics, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights slams law on “foreign agents”

July 8, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Interfax – Moscow, July 7, 2015) The Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights insists on the immediate cancellation of the Justice Ministry decision to include Dynasty [Dinastiya] and Liberal Mission foundations in the list of NGOs that are foreign agents and review of the law on NGOs. “Since the first days of the existence of this very approximate and therefore […]

Leave a comment Dinastiya, Dynasty, Foreign Agent Law, Liberal Mission, NGO, NGO Raids, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Federation Council to present ‘patriotic stop-list’ of 12 NGOs to Prosecutor General’s Office, Foreign Ministry

July 7, 2015 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities

Russia Regions Map

(Interfax – July 7, 2015) The ‘patriotic stop-list’ drawn up by the Federation Council consists of twelve foreign NGOs, Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko has said at a press conference. “At our meeting tomorrow we will pass a related appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Russian Foreign Ministry and will present our patriotic stop-list consisting of twelve foreign […]

Leave a comment Federation Council, Government, Human Rights, Matviyenko, NGO's, Nonprofits, Patriotic Stop-List, Politics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Russia, Russian News, Xenophobia

Overwhelming Support for Putin among Russian Intelligentsia has Three Sources, Kirillova Says

July 6, 2015 JRL Russia List Education, Academia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(Paul Goble – Staunton, July 6, 2015) There are three reasons why support for Vladimir Putin is so high even among educated Russians: fear that their country might descend into chaos without him, their lack of a positive image about the future, and a traditional Russian deference to the state on foreign policy issues, according to Kseniya Kirillova. One of […]

Leave a comment Education, Government, Intelligentsia, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Ukraine, Ukrainian News, Xenophobia

Russia Beyond the Headlines: Dismissal of American vice rector in Nizhny Novgorod causes controversy

July 3, 2015 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – July 3, 2015) The dismissal of an American lecturer from a leading position at a Russian university following an “incriminating” report on television sparked talk of an increase in the harassment of foreigners. Russian lawmakers are planning to introduce a “patriotic stop list” – a list of foreign funds […]

Leave a comment Academia, Business, Education, Investment, Kendrick White, Marchmont Capital Partners, Media, Nizhny Novgorod State University, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Television, TV, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

Russians See Western Sanctions as Plot to Weaken Them, Poll Shows

June 30, 2015 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – June 30, 2015) Two out of three Russians believe that Western governments want to “weaken and humiliate” Russia with their sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, and only 5 percent think the measures are aimed at ending the bloodshed in Ukraine, a new poll indicates. Nearly half of Russians – 46 percent – […]

Leave a comment Economy, Levada Center, Military, Polls, Russia, Russia and the West, Russian News, Russo-Ukrainian War, Sanctions, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Ukraine, Ukrainian News, Xenophobia

Consumer-Rights Advocate Calls Putin ‘Paranoid’ After ‘Foreign-Agent’ Slur

June 24, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, June 24, 2015) A Russian consumer-protection group lambasted by President Vladimir Putin as a “foreign agent” after giving cautionary advice to Russians traveling to annexed Crimea has accused Putin of “paranoia” and called him “badly informed.” Mikhail Anshakov, chairman of the Moscow-based Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights (OZPP), said his […]

Leave a comment Business, Consumers, Crimea, Economy, Government, Mikhail Anshakov, NGO's, Nonprofits, Occupied Crimea, Politics, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Travel, Ukraine, Ukrainian News, Visas, Xenophobia

Majority [of Russians] See FIFA Scandal as Attack on Russia

June 18, 2015 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Sports, Olympics, World Cup, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Men Sitting Around Long Oval Boardroom Table, File Photo of FIFA Officials Meeting with Vladmir Putin

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – June 18, 2015) Most Russians think that corruption allegations against officials at FIFA, football’s governing body, leveled by U.S. investigators last month are an attempt to prevent Russia from hosting the 2018 World Cup, according to a survey published Wednesday by state-run pollster VTsIOM. A total of 65 percent of respondents said […]

Leave a comment Corruption, FBI, FIFA, Football, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Soccer, Switzerland, U.S.-Russian Relations, World Cup, Xenophobia

Beleaguered Russian Science Foundation Dynasty Delays Decision on Closure

June 9, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Science, Technology, Engineering

File Photo of Test Tubes with Algae Displaying Different Colors, Part of U.S. Energy-Related Research; from nrel.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 9, 2015) Beleaguered science organization the Dynasty Foundation, which has been grappling in recent days with whether or not to shut its doors, announced that a decision on the matter will be delayed to provide time to wrap up ongoing projects, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday. Following its inclusion on […]

Leave a comment Capital Flight, Dmitry Zimin, Dynasty Foundation, Engineering, Finance, Foreign Agent Law, NGO's, Nonprofits, Offshore, Russia, Russian News, Science, Slider, Technology, Xenophobia

Interfax: Russians like Belarus and China, have aversion to U.S., EU and Ukraine – poll

June 8, 2015 JRL Russia List Belarus, China, Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(Interfax – June 8, 2015) Most Russians speak ill of the United States, the European Union and Ukraine and see Belarus, China and Kazakhstan as friends, the Levada Center has told Interfax. Seventy-three percent of 1,700 respondents polled in 134 populated localities on May 22-25 expressed negative feelings for the U.S., 15 percent said the opposite, and 12 percent were […]

Leave a comment Belarus, China, EU, Europe, NATO, Politics, Polls, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

NEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: For fear of ‘foreign agents,’ Kremlin blacklists a Russian charity

May 29, 2015 JRL Russia List Newslinks, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's

Dynasty, which promotes scientific education, is funded almost entirely by Russian communications tycoon Dmitry Zimin. Because he’s using offshore accounts to do so, he’s run afoul of Kremlin bureaucrats. Critics say it’s time for a rethink.

Leave a comment Dynasty, Foreign Agent Law, Newslinks, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russian Constitutional Court says election monitor not “foreign agent”

May 28, 2015 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's

Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Interfax – May 27, 2015) Russia’s Constitutional Court has again stated that a non-governmental organization (NGO) does not have to declare itself as a “foreign agent” if it has not used funds sent to its accounts from foreign sources, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 27 May. The court made the statement, published on its website, in response to […]

Leave a comment Constitutional Court, Elections, Foreign Agent Law, Golos, Human Rights, Law, Lilia Shebanova, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russian Rights Activist Alexeyeva Returns to Kremlin Council

May 28, 2015 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 28, 2015) One of Russia’s best-known human rights advocates and the founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, has rejoined the Kremlin’s human rights council, saying she intended to look into the persecution of nongovernmental organizations under the country’s “foreign agents” law. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday appointing […]

Leave a comment Alexeyeva, Foreign Agent Law, Human Rights, NGO Raids, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Rights Groups Condemn ‘Dangerous’ Russian Undesirables Law

May 27, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, May 26, 2015) Rights groups named as potential targets of a new law allowing the government to brand international organizations “undesirable” and shutter their Russia operations have criticized the legislation, calling it a “dangerous” new weapon in a Kremlin campaign to suppress civil society. Activists expressed concern on May 26 that the […]

Leave a comment Duma, Foreign Agent Law, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, NGO Raids, Nonprofits, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Undesirables Law, Xenophobia

Russia agrees to remove some NGOs from its “foreign agents” register

May 26, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Interfax – May 25, 2015) Three nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have become the first to be taken off the Russian government’s register of “foreign agents” after changes to the law made their removal possible, Interfax news agency reported on 25 May. In autumn 2014 an NGO in St Petersburg complained that it could not get itself off the register because there […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Dmitry Zimin plans to stop financing Dynasty Foundation

May 26, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Interfax – May 26, 2015) Founder of Russia’s non-profit Dynasty Foundation Dmitry Zimin has announced plans to stop providing money to the organization after it was assigned ‘foreign agent’ status by the Russian authorities. “Certainly, I will not spend my own money acting under the trademark of some unknown foreign state. I will stop funding Dynasty,” Zimin told Interfax on […]

Leave a comment Dmitry Zimin, Dynasty Foundation, Foreign Agent Law, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

NEWSLINK Washington Post: Legally silencing Russia’s undesirables

May 26, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Newslinks, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Russian State Duma Building file photo

Russia has just taken another step toward pernicious use of the law to buttress the authoritarian whims of its leader. Both houses of parliament recently passed legislation that would allow the government to label as “undesirable” — in effect, to outlaw — any foreign or international organizations deemed a threat to the “defensive capabilities or security of the state, to […]

Leave a comment Duma, Foreign Policy, NGO's, Nonprofits, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

More and More Russians See America as a Threat, Poll Reveals

May 14, 2015 JRL Russia List United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Gladkova – May 13, 2015) Amid soaring tensions over the Ukraine crisis, Russians have grown increasingly leery of the intentions and capabilities of the United States, according to the results of a survey released by independent pollster the Levada Center on Tuesday. According to the poll, which was conducted in April among 1,600 adults […]

Leave a comment Levada Center, Polls, Russia, Russian News, Slider, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

NEWSWATCH New York Times: A Parade Hailing Russia’s WWII Dead and Marching Further From the West

May 7, 2015 JRL Russia List History, Soviet Union, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Parade in Red Square from 2005

The New York Times covers Russia’s celebration of Victory Day amidst current international tensions. … Putin has recast what he calls the country’s most important holiday to celebrate the might of the Russian state, the days are over when … Western leaders joined Mr. Putin on the bleachers …. The nationalistic fervor surrounding the parade and the tensions over Ukraine mean that the […]

Leave a comment JRL NewsBlog, NATO, Newswatch, Putin, Russia, Russia and the West, Russian News, Slider, Soviet History, U.S.-Russian Relations, Ukraine, Victory Day, World War II, Xenophobia

NEWSLINK Washington Post: After the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. tried to help Russians.

May 5, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, History, Soviet Union, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Berlin Wall, Fencing, Barbed Wire, Women

Mr. Putin’s remarks reflect a deep-seated paranoia. It would be easy to dismiss this kind of rhetoric as intended for domestic consumption, an attempt to whip up support for his war adventure in Ukraine. In part, it is that. But Mr. Putin’s assertion that the West has been acting out of a desire to sunder Russia’s power and influence is a […]

Leave a comment History, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Soviet History, U.S.-Russian Relations, Xenophobia

Persecuted Russian Lawyer Finds New Ways Around Foreign Agents Label

April 29, 2015 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Sergey Chernov – April 29, 2015) The life of St. Petersburg human rights lawyer Ivan Pavlov has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. After his American wife was deported as a “threat to national security” in August, the family moved to Prague, but Pavlov returns regularly to lead high-profile cases and manage a group […]

Leave a comment Corruption, Courts, Foreign Agent Law, Freedom of Information Foundation, Government, Ivan Pavlov, Law, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Repression, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Civil Assistance NGO defies ‘foreign agent’ status, ready to go to ECHR

April 21, 2015 JRL Russia List Human Rights

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Interfax – April 21, 2015) The Civil Assistance human rights organization will appeal the Russian Justice Ministry’s decision to assign it ‘foreign agent’ status. “Naturally, we will lodge an appeal against this decision with the district court,” the organization’s lawyer Kirill Koroteyev has said. “We will also request a suspension of the Justice Ministrys ruling because the filing of a […]

Leave a comment Civil Assistance, European Court of Human Rights, Foreign Agent Law, Human Rights, NGO's, Nonprofits, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Experts: Putin’s New Ethnic Affairs Agency Aims to Thwart Political Threats

April 3, 2015 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 2, 2015) President Vladimir Putin’s recent decision to launch a government agency charged with maintaining interethnic and interfaith harmony in Russia is a bid to prevent foreign powers and internal opposition factions from seeking to exploit a weak spot in Russia’s power structure, analysts told The Moscow Times. Since the collapse of the […]

Leave a comment Ethnic, Extremism, Government, Politics, Putin, Race, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Russians’ Hatreds Easy to Unleash But Difficult to Limit, Reverse or Overcome

March 31, 2015 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 30, 2015) Many are taking comfort in the notion that just as Russians appear to have reduced their hatred of immigrants when encouraged by the Kremlin to hate Ukrainians instead so too their hatred against the latter could be ended relatively easily if Moscow changed course — and in any case […]

Leave a comment Ethnic, Extremism, Politics, Race, Russia, Russian News, Ukraine, Xenophobia

Putin Urges FSB: Harder, Faster, Stronger

March 27, 2015 JRL Russia List NATO, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Russia & the West, Spies, Spy Allegations

FSB Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – March 27, 2015) Western governments will attempt to discredit and destabilize Russia, but their efforts will be futile, President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s top security officials Thursday. “We have always had and always will have a proper response to all internal and external threats to national security,” Putin told senior officers of the […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, FSB, NATO, NGO's, Nonprofits, Putin, Russia, Russia and the West, Russian News, Slider, Spies, Xenophobia

Putin marks 15 years in power with harangue against West

March 27, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, NATO, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – March 27, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26 marked 15 years since he was elected as Boris Yeltsin’s successor by summoning the heads of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and warning them sternly that there was a western conspiracy to undermine and contain Russia. Putin struck a dark […]

Leave a comment Economy, Foreign Policy, FSB, NATO, Putin, Russia, Russia and the West, Russian News, Security, Security Agencies, Slider, Xenophobia

Botched Law Could Close Hundreds of Foreign Firms’ Rep Offices in Russia

March 15, 2015 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade

Tower and Building Inside Kremlin

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – March 11, 2015) Representative and branch offices of foreign companies working in Russia are in a race against time to re-register with the authorities or lose their license to operate in the country. The re-registration was intended to streamline bureaucracy for foreign firms, but organizational failures and lack of proper warning have […]

Leave a comment Business, Economy, Investment, Law, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Trade, Xenophobia

Russia Beyond the Headlines: New law will allow NGOs to lose ‘foreign agent’ tag – on certain conditions

March 4, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – March 3, 2015) Non-governmental organizations that were forced to register as “foreign agents” under controversial legislation will soon be able to lift that status – but only if they meet certain conditions that some NGOs say are unrealistic. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court has taken action to free NGOs from […]

Leave a comment Duma, Foreign Agent Law, Government, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Russia, Russian News, Slider, Xenophobia

Moscow Times: Russians Increasingly Worried About Foreign Military Threat

February 24, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 24, 2015) Russians are increasingly worried about foreign states being a military threat, a new poll revealed. The independent Levada Center pollster said Saturday that 68 percent of Russians believe a foreign power threatens Russia’s national security, a 24 percentage point increase over the decade. The poll, taken Jan. 23 to 26, revealed that […]

Leave a comment Foreign Security, Military, Polls, Russia, Russian News, Xenophobia

Interfax: Russians say external military threat has grown – poll

February 20, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Interfax – February 20, 2015) Sixty-eight percent of Russian citizens recently interviewed by the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) believe that their country faces a real military threat from outside, as compared with 52 percent of respondents in 2014, and 49 percent in 2000. Twenty-eight percent of those polled took the opposite view (42 percent in 2014). […]

Leave a comment Foreign Policy, Military, Polls, Russia, Russian News, Xenophobia

Interfax: Putin proposes bill on removing NGOs from foreign-agents list

February 5, 2015 JRL Russia List Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, Feb 4, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a bill on how to remove nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from the register of foreign agents. The bill has been registered in the lower house’s electronic database. Under the federal laws concerning public associations and NGOs functioning as a foreign agent, public associations which are legal entities and other […]

Leave a comment Foreign Agent Law, Government, NGO's, Nonprofits, Politics, Putin, Russia, Russian News, Xenophobia

Legislation proposes regulation of ‘undesirable’ foreign organizations

January 19, 2015 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – January 16, 2015) A bill that has passed its first reading the Russian State Duma would give the government the right to fine or ban foreign organizations it deems a security threat. Russia is trying to tighten its control over foreign organizations operating in the country. According to a […]

Leave a comment Business, Foreign Policy, Investment, Russia, Russian News, Xenophobia

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