(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – January 14, 2014) Less than a month before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian investigators appealed to civilians on Tuesday to be more vigilant and help avert the threat of “terrorist” attacks. Insurgents who want to create an Islamist state in the North Caucasus mountains have threatened to attack the Games, and suicide bombers killed […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – January 13, 2014) The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for Americans traveling to Sochi for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics as security threats continue to emerge in southern Russia, which is set to host the Games next month. Over the weekend, police defused two handmade bombs in the North […]
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SOCHI. Jan 10 (Interfax) – According to the information of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the environmental situation has improved in Sochi amid the preparations for the Olympics. “Air and water in Sochi have become cleaner today than they were in December 2007,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters in Sochi on Friday. The data […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – NOVO-OGAREVO, January 10, 2014) Workers in Sochi are still building the city’s new power grid less than a month before the Winter Olympics get under way, the energy minister has said. Generators and other facilities are in place but the grid, with a web of 900 kilometers of power cable and 500 substations, is unlikely […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 9, 2014) A U.S. crisis-response firm will have five aircraft on standby during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the event that an emergency requires an evacuation. The private Global Rescue firm, which had announced in November that it would assist the U.S. ski and snowboard teams during the Olympics, will stand by […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – January 8, 2014) The ruble strengthened after the resumption of trading in Moscow as oil gained and investors bet next month’s Winter Olympics will support Russia’s currency. The ruble appreciated 0.4 percent to 38.4873 against Bank Rossii’s target basket of dollars and euros by 2:03 p.m. in Moscow. The yield on Russian government […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 2 – Paul Goble – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 7, 2014) Russian officials have repeatedly complained over the last 12 months that analysts in both Russia and the West will link, appropriately or not, everything that takes place in Russia before February 2014 with the Sochi Olympiad. There may be some justification […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 6, 2014) Former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Russia should not have been chosen to host the Olympics considering its role in global politics but the upcoming games in Sochi are likely to be as safe as any other. Romney, who led the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, told Fox […]
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(Bloomberg editorial – Bloomberg.com – January 3, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly intends next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi as a showcase for the country’s re-emergence as a global power. Given his recent diplomatic coups in Syria and Ukraine, maybe he thinks that he has plenty to show off. Yet this week’s twin suicide bombings in Volgograd, which killed […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – January 2, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for increased security across the world’s largest country after a pair of suicide bombings killed more than 30 people before the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in February. Authorities have detained more than 700 people as officers, including teams with search dogs, investigate the attacks on […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Khrennikov – November 29, 2013) Sergey Galitskiy took less than two decades to build OAO Magnit (MGNT) from scratch into Russia’s retail leader. With the wealth that’s brought him, the billionaire is training local kids to challenge the country’s soccer elite. Galitskiy, 46, created FC Krasnodar in 2008 and since then has spent more than […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – James Ellingworth, special to RBTH – December 26, 2013) For Russian sports fans, 2013 was all about looking ahead to next year – and the future’s bright If you struggled to wait for Santa Claus, spare a thought for Russian sports fans – their whole 2013 has been like an extended Christmas Eve, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Ben Priechenfried – December 31, 2013) Two bomb attacks in southern Russia before the country hosts the Winter Olympics are raising concerns that militants active in the region will target the games to gain international attention. The main threat is attacks by Muslim separatist groups in the North Caucasus that are at war […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 26, 2013) With Sochi quickly becoming a focus of world attention as the finish line for preparations approaches for the Winter Games, the venue that will host the opening ceremony of Russia’s largest international event in decades has still not been officially opened for use. Fisht Olympic Stadium, which will host […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – December 17, 2013) U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has spoken of the current state of bilateral relations, the upcoming Sochi Olympics, and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service. McFaul, speaking at RFE/RL’s Moscow Bureau, quashed rumors of a possible U.S. boycott of the Winter Olympics. He confirmed […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) US President Barack Obama dealt a sharp reprimand to Russia over its anti-gay laws on Tuesday by including two openly homosexual athletes in the official delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi and declining to attend the Games himself. The White House announced that Billie Jean King, a gay former tennis champion, and Caitlin […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 16, 2013) Whenever something bad happens in Russia, the last refuge of pro-regime commentators is to suggest that the ruler isn’t in charge and that underlings are to blame: the man in the Kremlin can thus continue to be given credit for anything good that happens but not be held responsible […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 2, 2013) President Vladimir Putin visited Sochi’s main Olympic stadium near the Black Sea coast on Friday only to see construction workers and equipment still spread around the venue, which is still unfinished just more than two months before it will host the opening ceremony of the Winter Games. Originally supposed […]
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Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 0 From: GORDON HAHN <gordon-hahn@sbcglobal.net> Subject: New white papers ANNOUNCEMENT The Geostrategic Forecasting Corporation has posted the first of its white papers: Gordon M. Hahn, The Caucasus Emirate Comes to America: The Boston Marathon Bombing (Chicago, Ill.: GFC, October 2013 Gordon M. Hahn, The Caucasus Emirate Threat to the Sochi Winter Olympics (Chicago, Ill.: GFC, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – November 25, 2013) A documentary about extortion and threats surrounding the construction of the Sochi Olympic Village is slated to premiere in Moscow next month, despite what its producer said were attempts to bribe her into canceling a screening at a European film festival this week. The film, titled “Putin’s Games,” features […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexey Mosko, RBTH – November 20, 2013) Contrary to previous media reports, journalists at the Sochi Games will be allowed to use mobile phones to photograph sportspeople and spectators during the Olympics. Journalists at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi will be able to take photographs and shoot videos for their own personal […]
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(Interfax – November 15, 2013) Moscow has called outrageous the U.S. senators’ demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) review its opinion on the Russian law banning homosexuality propaganda amongst minors. “We have paid attention to the letter sent by eleven U.S. senators to the International Olympic Committee president and their demand to review the official opinion of the IOC […]
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(Interfax – Sochi, November 8, 2013) The Russian Olympic Committee thinks the scandal around the sportsmen of non-traditional sexual orientation is artificially whipped up, while the athletes themselves will be taken up with a competition, not political issues. “I think that is just the whipping up of the atmosphere around the Olympics on purpose; when the Games start, the athletes […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Mark Galeotti – October 29, 2013) Mark Galeotti is Professor of Global Affairs at New York University’s SCPS Center for Global Affairs. He blogs on Russian security affairs at In Moscow’s Shadows and tweets as @MarkGaleotti. His most recent book is Russian Security and Paramilitary Forces since 1991 (Osprey, 2013) Russia is devoting considerable effort to trying to […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – October 29, 2013 – Jake Rudnitsky) One hundred days before the start of the most expensive Winter Olympics, President Vladimir Putin’s $48 billion vision of a newly empowered Russia rests in the hands and shovels of laborers working around the clock. Construction continues on the main stadium, hotels and athlete housing for the Feb. 7-23 Winter […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer – October 25, 2013) President Vladimir Putin is turning to Barack Obama for help protecting the costliest Winter Games ever from attacks by Islamic extremists, including hundreds of battle-hardened jihadists now fighting in Syria. About 400 Russian nationals, mainly from the North Caucasus, are currently battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 19, 2013) While opening an international competition in Russia’s second largest city St. Petersburg on Friday, President Vladimir Putin, an avid judoist, called martial arts “a philosophy” that helps people to gain confidence in themselves. During his opening speech at the World Combat Games 2013, Putin, a judo black belt, said martial arts were, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – October 11, 2013) At first, Sochi’s Fisht Olympic Stadium was meant to resemble a giant snowflake, a symbol of cold weather to balance out the city’s palm trees and beaches for the Winter Games. Then, the design morphed into two parallel mounds of snow, opened down the middle to present views of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – September 26, 2013) A state of emergency has been declared in Sochi as water and mudslides have blocked the Olympic resort’s newly built main roads, just as International Olympic Committee inspectors arrived for their final assessment ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. Many local residents could not travel to work Wednesday […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) TELEVISION PRESENTER KSENIYA SOBCHAK: Mr President, the first post-Soviet generation grew up during your time in power. This generation has shown that it is prepared to invest time in politics. We see that these people largely urban university graduates, middle or high income are willing to work as volunteers and election […]
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Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 From: PONARS Eurasia / IERES <ieresgwu@gwu.edu> Subject: REMINDER – PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference – September 23-24, 2013 IERES – The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies We are pleased to invite you to the annual PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference September 23-24, 2013 GW Elliott School of International Affairs 1957 E Street NW Washington DC […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vladimir Kozlov, special to RBTH – September 14, 2013) While the Russian capital has a way to go to improve the quality of life for athletes, running is increasing in popularity thanks to the efforts of local race organizers and the city government, which has cleaned up major parks. [DJ: In the early […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – James Ellingworth, special to RBTH – September 12, 2013) The Sochi Olympics are a “prestige project” and a symbol of “Russia’s rise” those are the alliterative buzz-phrases you’ll find in articles everywhere. But what does this Olympic prestige mean for Russians? The most obvious cultural link is to the 1980 Moscow Olympics, […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 12, 2013) The United States will not boycott the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia in light of the recently adopted Russian legislation banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships toward minors, the US ambassador said Wednesday. US athletes should not fall victim to politics, Ambassador Michael McFaul told the Dozhd TV channel as Russia […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – August 26, 2013) Public protests in heightened security zones in Sochi will be prohibited during the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games next year, according to a presidential order published Friday. Some activists have denounced the order as unconstitutional, though Human Rights Watch representatives said that protests might still be possible since the […]
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(Interfax – August 7, 2013) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitriy Kozak has said that there can be no infringement of the rights of people of nontraditional sexual orientation during the Sochi Winter Olympics, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 7 August. “There will be no infringement of (the rights of) persons on the grounds of sexual orientation during the […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 25, 2013) Tennis star Maria Sharapova has regained first place on a list of the most popular and richest Russian celebrities published by the Russian edition of Forbes magazine Thursday. The Forbes rating of Russia’s top 50 celebrities is compliled according to a combination of factors including annual income, print media coverage and hits […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Sergei Markedonov, special to RBTH – July 13, 2013 – Sergei Markedonov is a visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.) In February 2014, the famous Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi takes on the XXII Winter Olympic Games. For Russia, the forthcoming games will be not […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Pavel Koshkin, RBTH – June 3, 2013) U.S. congressmen and the Russian Federal Security Services hope to boost joint collaboration against global jihad and Islamism in time for the Sochi Winter Olympics. During a recent visit to Russia by U.S. congressmen, Moscow and Washington seemed to find an agreement over the need for […]
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(Voice of America – Jessica Golloher – May 28, 2013) Russia says it will ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep wrestling in the games. This after the IOC announced it would drop the sport from the 2020 Summer Olympics. The president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, says that supporters of wrestling worldwide are coming together to […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Daria Tikhonova, special to RBTH – May 28, 2013) The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games are set to become the most expensive Olympics ever. Russia will have spent more than $51 billion on the Olympics by 2014. By comparison, China spent $45 billion on the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and the UK invested […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 27, 2013) After the Boston bombings last month and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next February, U.S. authorities are expanding their work with the Interior Ministry by granting the Russians access to some FBI information. The development, which came during a visit by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Mark Galeotti, special to RBTH – May 27, 2013) New York University’s Professor of Global Affairs Mark Galeotti reflects on the long-term consequences of the recent spy scandal and whether it will affect U.S.-Russia cooperation on security during the 2014 Olympics. The Moscow spy case, with its cheap wigs, compasses and cash, initially […]
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(RIA Novosti – TBILISI, May 2, 2013) Georgia will not boycott next year’s Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi after the country’s National Olympic Committee voted unanimously Thursday in favor of taking part. The question of a boycott has repeatedly arisen in Georgia as a result of the 2008 war with host national Russia. The two countries still […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – April 30, 2013) SOCHI The problems on Ruslan Zokhidov’s mind are not typical for a young man of his age: he is the least likely person to be found nattily dressed at a trendy night club or entering a university lugging a pile of books. Instead, Zokhidov, 19, lugs building materials […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 29, 2013) With the end of ice hockey championships, Sochi 2014 organizer Dmitry Chernyshenko has declared that the dress rehearsal for the Olympics is a success. Test events held in the framework of the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games ended with the final game of the International Ice Hockey World Championships in Sochi […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 11, 2013) The number 303 stood Wednesday on a digital clock on Manezh Square that counts down the days to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and President Vladimir Putin is watching it closely as the government races to make the final preparations for the Games. But that clock may be counting down […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 9, 2013) Physical education and sport in Russia have improved over the past seven years in the eyes of respondents polled by the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM). The percentage of positive opinions grew from 42% to 59%. The negative opinions declined from 44% to 30%, VTsIOM told Interfax. The majority of positive opinions were […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – March 19, 2013) Russia’s Culture Ministry has presented to the government a bill on 10-day visa-free entry for “non-dangerous” foreigners to participate in cultural, sporting and business events, Minister Vladimir Medinsky said on Tuesday. “We have developed a number of draft laws in this regard,” Medinsky told Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – Februry 14, 2013) Hours after the International Olympic Committee’s Tuesday decision to remove wrestling from the Summer Games after 2016, Russia threw its full weight behind a campaign to bring the sport back. Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov a State Duma Vice Speaker and the country’s top Olympic official […]
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