“… Putin has imposed Stalin-like restrictions on speech about the military and its disastrous invasion of Ukraine. … [O]pposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 8½ years in prison for calling attention to possible war crimes … in … Bucha … another attempt to lock up the truth. … The barbarism that has taken place in Ukraine is being closely […]
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“The Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent has gone from being focused on particular targets to broadly criminalizing any criticism of the government or its war – and it is casting a pall over Russian society.” “… Mikhail Lobanov, a local political activist in the Moscow suburb of Ramenki, put a little sign on his balcony that said ‘No War.’ … [O]ne […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Alexander Kupatadze – Nov. 17, 2022) Alexander Kupatadze is a senior lecturer at King’s Russia Institute at King’s College London. Since the Euromaidan revolution of 2013-2014, Ukraine has made substantial progress against corruption, in my view. With the help of international donors and non-government groups, Ukrainian authorities have established anti-corruption infrastructure, adopted crucial legislation and […]
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(Moscow Times – Aug. 3, 2022) The head of one of Russia’s leading universities for civil servants was released from house arrest Wednesday in exchange for staying in the country during the course of a high-profile fraud investigation. Vladimir Mau, 62, was detained in late June in connection with a 21-million-ruble ($350,000) fraud investigation targeting a former senior education official. […]
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“To understand Russia today, it is necessary to reach back to Stalin’s Great Terror …. Everyone was scared[,] even Communist Party theorists … ‘frightened out of their wits like rabbits’ [as described by one commentator.] … [Similarly, today] Russian security services are grabbing people arbitrarily and imprisoning them for criticism of … Putin or his barbaric war against Ukraine. [According […]
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(Moscow Times – June 30, 2022) The head of one of Russia’s leading universities was detained Thursday in connection with a fraud investigation targeting a former senior education official. Vladimir Mau, head of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), was detained as a suspect in a 21-million-ruble ($399,810) embezzlement case, Russia’s Interior Ministry said. Investigators […]
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“Women and girls have recounted the abuse they have suffered at the hands of Russian soldiers.” “… [There is] a mounting body of evidence that summary executions, rape and torture have been used against civilians in areas under Russian control since the Kremlin launched the invasion [of Ukraine] …. Particularly difficult … to comprehend is the scale of the sexual […]
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“… It is becoming increasingly apparent that Putin’s invasion force has committed war crimes … echo[ing] the worst excesses of the totalitarian twentieth century. … reveal[ing] the genocidal intent at the heart of Putin’s Ukraine War. … bestial carnage point[ing] to a premeditated plan of extermination. Dead bodies lie strewn throughout the streets, many with … hands bound. Victims are […]
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“Global outrage spread … Monday at civilian killings in north Ukraine, including evidence of bound bodies shot at close range and a mass grave found in areas retaken from Russian troops, as fighting raged on in the country’s south and east. … Pictures of the destruction and civilian deaths in Bucha looked set to galvanise the United States and Europe […]
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“The atmosphere inside Russia has turned cold to anyone critical of the country’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. But some, especially youth, are still standing up for their values.” “Editor’s note: This article was edited in order to conform with Russian legislation criminalizing references to Russia’s current action in Ukraine as anything other than a ‘special military operation.’ … Welcome […]
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“Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has called on Russians to stage daily protests against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, depicting … Putin as an ‘obviously insane tsar.’ Navalny called for protests across the country and abroad to signal that not all Russians support the war and show solidarity with the thousands of people detained in anti-war protests in Russia …. Navalny […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Feb. 15, 2022) Star Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva said she failed a doping test due to a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication, an Olympic official told Reuters Tuesday. Olympic testers confirmed last week that Valieva — who led the Russian Olympic Committee to team gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics and is a […]
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(U.S. State Department – Jan. 23, 2022 – travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/russia-travel-advisory.html) Do not travel to Russia due to ongoing tension along the border with Ukraine, the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens, the embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, COVID-19 and related entry restrictions, terrorism, harassment by Russian government security officials, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law. Due […]
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“IT executive Vladislav Klyushin’s journey into U.S. custody is a blow to the Kremlin, say people familiar with a Russian intelligence assessment of what he may have to offer” Bloomberg reports on the extradition from Switzerland to the United States of Russian tech tycoon Vladislav Klyushin, the highest-level Kremlin insider falling into the hands of U.S. law enforcement in recent […]
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“… [A]mid a sweeping crackdown on Russian rights groups, independent media and opposition supporters[,] [t]he Moscow City Court’s decision to shut down the Memorial Human Rights Center came a day after Russia’s Supreme Court revoked the legal status of its sister organization, Memorial, … that drew international acclaim for its studies of [Soviet] political repression …. Russian authorities previously declared […]
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A court in Moscow on Tuesday began hearings into a request by prosecutors to shut down a key center of Russia’s leading rights group Memorial […]
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The Jehovah’s Witnesses say more than 70 members are incarcerated across Russia, while 265 probes have been launched against 574 Jehovah’s Witnesses since 2017 […]
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[W]e found that despite Russia’s high levels of corruption, Russian university students with a propensity to act dishonestly or corruptly self-select out of public sector employment and into the private sector …. These findings present something of a puzzle […]
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At least four cases have been launched in recent weeks against young people … posting sexually suggestive content on social media near places of worship […]
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A nationwide workplace shutdown was lifted across most Russian regions, even though the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths are hovering near record daily highs […]
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А former Russian inmate who leaked a massive cache of videos showing evidence of rampant torture in Russian prisons said he believes prison guards were prone to using sexual assault against their victims “because it is the cruelest” […]
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“‘… you have to remember how every single ruble ended up in your account.’ If a report is deemed erroneous, a designated “foreign agent” could face a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($4,250) or a prison term from two to five years […]
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Almost six in 10 Russians say they do not feel protected by the law, according to a new survey […]
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His supporters have rallied to his cause, alleging that he fell victim to a criminal case that was opportunistically used to target a plucky school that some officials see as an incubator of dissent […]
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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has revoked the right of a Russian laboratory to carry out blood sample analysis after it failed to comply with laboratory standards and ethics […]
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A prominent NGO that tracks abuses in Russia’s prison system says it has received “thousands” of leaked video clips showing inmates being beaten and tortured […]
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Moscow authorities attempted to raid the Communist Party’s city headquarters … minutes before a group of party lawyers was preparing to file a lawsuit to challenge controversial online voting results from last week’s parliamentary elections […]
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MOSCOW. Sept 28 (Interfax) – The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who is serving time in a penitentiary in Russia, and his close associates on counts of establishing and participating in the activity of an extremist network. “The Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Part […]
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Through an unrelenting campaign of intimidation and criminal prosecutions the authorities have purged the electoral field of all but a select few government critics […]
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Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Question about recent history Russian Travel advisory Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2021 From: Michele A Berdy <maberdy@GMAIL.COM> From: Justin Wilmes <upthera44@GMAIL.COM> Could anyone fill me in on the recent history of the U.S.’s travel advisories to Russia? Currently Russia has a rating of Level 4: Do Not Travel, but this it lists both Covid-19 and other reasons […]
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“There’s an election coming.” “… But going after politicians and the media, and arresting students and activists, is no longer sufficient. The Kremlin is now trying to get a grip over schools and universities in a more systematic way. In the past nine months some 20 universities and institutes across Russia have had their deans replaced. … Russian students and […]
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… the State Duma[] approved in its first reading a bill on “accidental corruption,” which would free officials and law enforcement officers from prosecution […]
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Many government critics across Russia have been excluded from participating in the upcoming vote […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax) – Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, has left Russia, two informed sources told Interfax. “Kira Yarmysh has left the territory of the Russian Federation,” one of the sources said. The second source said that she “has gone to Helsinki.” On August 16, the Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow sentenced Yarmysh to 18 months […]
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… the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin accelerates its campaign against independent journalism […]
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Putin has called for one-off cash payments to be awarded to Russia’s pensioners and military service personnel in a highly anticipated pre-election move […]
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… Created in 2000, Golos had notably denounced election rigging in the 2011 parliamentary election and the 2012 presidential vote which saw Putin return to the Kremlin […]
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… In the meantime, her team is putting their heads down to fight for every vote and the atmosphere on the street seems very different this time around, with United Russia polling record-low support […]
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As September elections approach, COVID-19 takes a mounting toll and wildfires burn across huge swaths of the country …. The Kremlin crackdown on dissenters, civil society, and independent media continues […]
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Calvey is the founder of Baring Vostok, one of the most successful investment funds in Russia, specializing in investing in technology and finance startups […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 29, 2021) Russian athletes have won a total of 25 medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the neutral Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) flag. Here’s our guide to team ROC: Why can’t Russian athletes compete under the Russian flag? In 2015, the Russian government was accused of doping — administering performance-enhancing drugs to athletes […]
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Calvey’s sentencing, … scheduled for Aug. 2, comes amid the lowest levels of foreign direct investment in Russia since the mid-1990s […]
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The designations are seen by Kremlin critics and analysts as an attempt to throttle independent journalism and retaliate against those who expose high-level corruption ahead of high-stakes parliamentary elections
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A 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of systematic, mass doping among Russian athletes, resulting in Team Russia’s ban from international competition […]
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Pavel Chikov leads the Agora group of more than 200 lawyers in a system with the odds stacked against them […]
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According to independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was the No. 1 “most-linked-to” in social-media posts […]
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… The measure appears to be a thinly veiled attempt at neutralizing Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which the authorities are seeking to have declared an “extremist” group ahead of parliamentary elections […]
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A Russian court has sentenced five former police officers to several years in prison for the 2019 arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov on trumped-up drug charges. … The journalist suffered bruises, cuts, a concussion, and a broken rib […]
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The crackdown is being seen as a sign that the Kremlin is playing closer attention to local power structures ahead of fall elections […]
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… The company filed a lawsuit April 23 against Roskomnadzor in the Moscow Arbitration Court […]
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