Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Gosling in Prague – June 3, 2014) Raising hopes that Moscow and Kyiv are now serious about finding a route out of the crisis in Ukraine, the EU reported late on June 2 that the pair is mulling a proposed compromise on gas. Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom earlier extended the June 2 […]
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(Interfax – June 2, 2014) The European Commission has effectively supported the Russian position in the second and third round of talks on payment of Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television. “I consider that the European Commission has behaved quite constructively at these and previous consultations and many of […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 28, 2014) The share of Russians who are “skeptical” about the value of political parties for themselves and their country is opening the way for a return to a one party system, in some ways resembling the one that existed in Soviet times, according to a Moscow commentator. In a Rosbalt.ru […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov, special to RBTH – May 30, 2014) The author is editor in chief of Russia in Global Politics magazine. The election of Petro Poroshenko marks a watershed moment in the Ukrainian crisis. There are now clear opportunities for both Kiev and the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” in the east of the country […]
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MOSCOW, May 29 (RIA Novosti) – The popularity of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev among Russians continues to grow, according to data released Thursday by the independent pollster Levada-Center. “Vladimir Putin’s public approval rating continues to grow, reaching its peak in the last four years,” an appendix to the survey reads. Eighty-three percent of respondents said […]
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[“Incoming Ukrainian President Poroshenko Requests Time on EU Deal; Officials See No Sign He Is Stalling on Agreement” – Wall Street Journal – Laurence Norman – May 28, 2014] The Wall Street Journal covers the future of relations between Ukraine and the EU in the aftermath of the Ukrainian presidential election: The winner of Sunday’s presidential election in Ukraine has told senior […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 28, 2014) Russians are now far more concerned about defending what they have than in getting something better, Lev Gudkov says. Consequently, if the Kremlin does try to take away something the majority thinks is rightfully theirs, such a step would almost certainly put the survival of the current regime at […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – May 27, 2014) The first actions and pronouncements of the new Ukrainian president, billionaire Petro Poroshenko, suggest that he intends to be a strong-arm leader in the traditional post-Soviet mold. A worthy adversary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, perhaps, but not quite what the pro-European protesters wanted when they overthrew another authoritarian leader, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – May 27, 2014) Once the darling of Russia’s opposition movement, Alexei Navalny has seen his reputation fall in recent months as he has made more headlines for the criminal cases launched against him than for his political activities. The number of Russians who have “nothing good to say about him,” increased from […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – May 25, 2014) There are still plenty of ways Russia can continue to meddle in Ukraine’s affairs. But with Petro Poroshenko’s apparent victory in the May 25 presidential election amid a solid turnout, Kyiv may have turned a corner. RFE/RL’s Brian Whitmore speaks to longtime Russia-watcher Edward Lucas, senior editor of the British weekly “The Economist.” RFE/RL: What is your […]
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KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Ex-boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, who claimed victory Sunday in Kiev’s mayoral vote, said that the Maidan protests have fulfilled their task and barricades in downtown Kiev must be dismantled. “I firmly confirm that the key task of the Maidan is fulfilled,” Klitschko told journalists Monday. “I am convinced that the barricades, to date, have […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Nicole Gaouette, Daryna Krasnolutska – May 24, 2014) The risk of Russia invading Ukraine is as high as at any time since the crisis began, with Kremlin agents stoking unrest in the east of the country preparing for elections tomorrow, according to Ukraine’s envoy to the U.S. Russia hasn’t taken any “practical steps” to ease tensions […]
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(Moscow Times – Christopher Brennan – May 22, 2014) In an unexpected move, Moscow authorities have reportedly approved a request by controversial political party The Other Russia to hold a freedom-of-assembly rally in the city center this month. Party member Alexander Averin announced via his LiveJournal page on Wednesday that city officials had sanctioned a “Strategy 31” event that the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – COMMENT – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 21, 2014) Hitler has followed me to Russia and won’t leave me alone. The cover of the Daily Mail on May 21 has a shock-sensation banner headline: “Charles: Putin is behaving like Hitler.” Before I go any further let me say for the record that Hitler […]
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(Interfax – May 20, 2014) The payment systems Visa and MasterCard will continue operating in Russia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Interfax on Tuesday. “We can’t abandon these systems since over 90 percent of those who use payment systems work with them,” he said. He did not say how the problem would be resolved with security deposits that Visa and […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 19, 2014) Putin’s Russia is “already almost a totalitarian state,” one in which “citizens are losing their individual rights” and “government propaganda is stupefying people,” according to a declaration of 52 leading human rights activists, opposition political leaders, and commentators, who collectively form the December Roundtable. Among those who signed it […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 20, 2014) The deputy chief of a pro-Kremlin television holding has dismissed as an “accidental error” his network’s use of footage from a gunfight in the North Caucasus to illustrate supposed recent anti-Russian violence in eastern Ukraine, a news report said. The footage – first used in a Rossiya television report […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – May 19, 2014) Russia reduced its 2014 domestic borrowing plan by 46 percent as the world’s largest energy exporter expects to turn a fiscal surplus, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. The government lowered the fundraising target to 435 billion rubles ($12.6 billion) from 808 billion rubles, Siluanov told reporters in Moscow today. The […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ryan Chilcote, Henry Meyer – May 14, 2014) Russia’s foreign minister softened his tone toward Ukraine, saying his country “can do business” with any elected president and warning that fighting in the country’s east risks undermining a ballot’s legitimacy. “If there is somebody who emerges as a figure with the support of the majority of Ukrainians, […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Kristina Silvan – May 8, 2014) Kristina Silvan is a 5th year Finnish undergraduate student from the University of Glasgow Every year the Seliger All-Russia Youth Forum brings together tens of thousands of engaged young Russians for a week of edification in an idyllic natural setting. Its goal is to promote patriotism in Russia’s future elites – and […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 14, 2014) “Russia is conducting against Ukraine a war of a new type,” one that is so different from military campaigns in the past that it is obvious that Moscow has been preparing for its current actions “for several years,” according to Mihail Koval, who is Ukraine’s acting minister of defense. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – May 13, 2014) In a tacit admission that the situation in the North Caucasus differs radically from that elsewhere in the Russian Federation, President Vladimir Putin has made a series of personnel appointments clearly intended to strengthen Moscow’s control over developments there. Putin has dismissed Aleksandr Khloponin, whom then-President Dmitry Medvedev had appointed in January 2010 to head the new […]
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Moscow, 13 May: Moscow Gay Pride activists have notified the Moscow mayor’s office that they will stage a “Conchita Wurst Bearded Women and Men March”, the GayRussia.ru portal reports. “According to the submitted application, the event should take place on Tuesday 27 May, on the 21st anniversary of the decriminalization of consensual gay sex in Russia,” the report says. According […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – May 14, 2014) Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and lingering patriotic fervor following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a poll published on Tuesday showed that Russians are more reluctant than ever to participate in political protests. The Levada Center, an independent research organization, found that a record high 85 percent of Russians […]
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MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will be obliged to take retaliatory measures if the West continues its sanctions policy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. “If the West continues these absolutely non-professional hysterical policies, we would have to think what we can do in return,” Lavrov said during an English-language interview with Bloomberg. The minister, however, emphasized […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 13, 2014) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the heads of Russia’s two largest banks – state-owned Sberbank and VTB – to report their income, expenses and assets as part of an annual anti-corruption checkup. Sberbank’s German Gref, a former economic development minister, and VTB’s Andrei Kostin were among those officials required to report […]
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MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russians have become more satisfied with their quality of life, while their desire to protest has decreased, according to polls by the Levada Center and the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) released Tuesday. Last month, 46 percent of Russians said they were generally satisfied with their quality of life, compared to 43 percent […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Danila Rozanov, special to RBTH – May 12, 2014) Two years ago, Russia’s opposition movement was in full swing as a series of street protests across the country drew huge crowds of people dissatisfied with the rule of Vladimir Putin. But amid infighting among opposition factions and a state crackdown on public protests, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – May 9, 2014) Gay rights activist Alexander Yermoshkin said Thursday that local authorities had approved his request to hold a public event against LGBT discrimination on May 17, a move that may see Russia’s controversial anti-gay propaganda law tested. Other gay rights activists, particularly Moscow’s Nikolai Alexeyev, have frequently complained of applications […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – May 7, 2014) The Kremlin launched a new initiative to outlaw the use of non-transparent trust funds for the holding of shares, Vedomosti reported on Tuesday. One of the biggest problems investigators face in Russia is the widespread use of trust funds to own shares in companies. Trust funds to not have to declare […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – May 8, 2014) Internet companies have found a forum to defend their interests before the government following a meeting Wednesday with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and an array of high-ranking officials. During the meeting, Shuvalov ordered a working group formed within the Communications and Press Ministry, which will bring together […]
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(Interfax – May 7, 2014) President Vladimir Putin has a confidence rating of 78.3% in Russia, and Russian society is drifting toward conservatism, according to the country’s Civil Society Development Foundation (FoRGO). “There exists demand for conservative policy in practically all strata of Russian society despite allegations by liberal critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” FoRGO said in a report […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 8, 2014) Fighter jets screamed across a snowy Moscow sky on Monday morning, in the last rehearsal ahead of Friday’s Victory Day parade on Red Square. But this year the annual occurrence evoked more than just the usual awe residents feel when glancing overhead, and some Muscovites noted on Twitter that […]
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(Interfax – May 8, 2014) Ukraine is prepared to complexly settle its debt for Russian gas within 10 days after Russian gas giant Gazprom agrees to return the price to $268 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas and sign the corresponding supplementary agreement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said. “As soon as such a price is set and an additional […]
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(RFE/RL – Luke Johnson – WASHINGTON, May 6, 2014) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina from the Pussy Riot art collective walked out of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting room to the snapping of cameras from the major television networks as around 20 reporters waited to hear them speak. “We have to talk about these people, we have to talk […]
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MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) – Russian citizens characterize Russian President Vladimir Putin as competent and focused, the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) sociologists said. According to the poll results released on Wednesday, 21% of respondents consider Putin to be competent, decisive and focused (20%), while last year such responses were given by 10% and 14% respectively. Twelve percent said […]
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(RIA Novosti – May 6, 2014) Russia would like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to play a more active role in establishing a dialogue between the Kiev authorities and the separatist forces in Ukraine’s southeast, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said. He went on to say that any format of future international efforts to resolve the […]
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MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – Tuesday marks the second year of Vladimir Putin’s third term as President of the Russian Federation, an anniversary that comes amid a turbulent time of tensions in Ukraine, a tightening pressure on Russia from the West and soaring approval ratings for Putin at home. Putin’s career at the helm of the Russian government kicked […]
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MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – The next US ambassador to Moscow should not expect his mission to be easy, a Russian deputy foreign minister told RIA Novosti Tuesday. “We had gone through a very difficult period when Michael McFaul was the ambassador. Under present circumstances, the future US ambassador will have a very difficult job, no matter who is […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – May 5, 2014) “Hamlet.” Has there ever been a better play to fall back on when you need to have a chat about Russia? “Words, words, words.” “To be or not to be.” “The rest is silence.” All phrases that sound loaded in many a Russian historical context. These days words get […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 4, 2014) Had Vladimir Putin accepted the Maidan’s ouster of discredited Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and agreed to accept the results of the upcoming elections, nothing that has occurred in Ukraine since that time would have happened, according to a Ukrainian commentator. “Thousands of people would not have suddenly discovered in […]
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(RIA Novosti – Slovyansk, May 3, 2014) The Russian president’s special envoy Vladimir Lukin has commented on an audio recording, posted online by the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU], which, according to the SBU, was Lukin’s telephone conversation with leader of the Slovyansk defence forces Igor Strelkov. According to Lukin, this conversation did take place but its content has nothing […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – May 2, 2014) Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said his surprise release from prison last December was facilitated by an agreement made with President Vladimir Putin to stay away from politics, but added that the deal expires in August. When asked about his abstention from political life since his surprise presidential […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 1, 2014) Nearly six in every 10 Russians think that their country is heading in the right direction, the highest number in more than two decades, a recent poll has shown. A total of 58 percent of respondents were pleased with the nation’s present course, up from 43 percent in January and 51 percent […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vsevolod Pulya, RBTH – April 28, 2014) The Russian search engine was actually registered in the Netherlands and received its first investments from foreign investors. Nevertheless, it believes that this is “common practice for any internet startup.” Russian search engine Yandex has responded to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin about foreign influences […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 28, 2014) Last week, the State Duma gave its final approval to a bill introducing criminal penalties for “spreading lies” about the Soviet Union’s role in World War II. The legislation, under which offenders face up to five years in prison, has prompted renewed allegations that the Kremlin is imposing a […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 28, 2014) Many in Russia and the West have speculated that the combination of Vladimir Putin’s policies against Ukraine, Moscow’s increasing isolation internationally, and deteriorating economic conditions at home will eventually lead to a Maidan-style challenge to his rule. That is possible, of course, but a man identified as a former […]
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(Interfax – Vladivostok, April 26, 2014) Many foreign investors that have long been working in Russia are not planning to leave the country and intend to make new investments in the Russian Federation despite Western sanctions, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said. “These are investors who have been working in Russia for many years and usually describe how […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 24, 2014) The Russian language and Russian culture are today “the main unifying factor[s]” for the citizens of the Russian Federation, unlike history which continues to be a source of divisions given that different groups have different understandings of past events, according to the Valdai International Discussion Club. The Moscow Higher […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 23, 2014) The best way to understand the events of the last several months, Stanislav Belkovsky argues, is to view them as a repetition of the August 1991 coup with only this difference: the leader of this coup is Vladimir Putin and the target of his radical shifts is the Putin […]
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