Author: JRL Russia List

Daghestan a Failed State and Must Be ‘Built Anew,’ Abdulatipov Says

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism
Map of Dagestan, Georgia and Environs

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 24, 2013 – windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-daghestan-failed.html) The government of Daghestan “has been completely destroyed and must be build anew with the participation of various political forces” including the formation of new political parties, according to Ramaan Abdulatipov, who is the current acting head of that North Caucasus republic. Confessing that the situation is […]

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Russian Regions Increasingly Hollowing Out Demographically, Statistics Show

Population Disaster, Demographics, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
File Photo of People Working on Car Amidst Siberian Woodlands and Meadows

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 23, 2013)  The demographic decline of the ethnic Russians is leading to a hollowing out of predominantly Russian regions, leaving many of them with only a few cities surrounded by a decaying and increasingly empty countryside, according to the latest demographic data. With the release of ever finer-grained data from the […]

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Russia’s Smoking Ban to Save 200,000 Lives a Year – Medvedev

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
No Smoking Symbol

(RIA Novosti – GORKI, Moscow Region, April 24, 2013) ­ New legislation banning smoking in public places could save up to 200,000 lives annually in Russia, which has some of the highest rates of smoking in the world, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. “I hope that it [anti-smoking law] will contribute to reducing this factor [smoking],” Medvedev said […]

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Sobyanin Says Investment in City Economy Hits Pre-Crisis Level

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Sergei Sobyanin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – April 24, 2013) Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday that investment into the city’s economy reached the pre-crisis level, citing commercial real estate as an example. Twice as much is being invested in Moscow’s commercial real estate as in London, he said at a high-profile panel on the city’s development held by […]

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Shedding light on Russia’s tax system

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Evgeny Basmanov, special to RBTH – April 24, 2013) Why the country’s tax system is more trustworthy than those in most European countries. At the end of last year, celebrated actor Gerard Depardieu, unhappy with the high rate of tax in his native France, decided to move to Russia and change his citizenship. […]

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Experts Predict Recession Driven by Internal Factors

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 24, 2013) Intrinsic deficiencies rather than external shocks can turn the current slowdown in the Russian economy into a full-blown recession, research conducted at the Higher School of Economics has found. Valery Mironov and Vadim Kanonov from the school’s Center for Economic Development said Russia was vulnerable to sliding into an “autonomous recession” even […]

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‘Operative in the Kremlin’: De-mystifying Putin

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Gasyuk, special to RBTH – April 24, 2013) Alexander Gasyuk is Rossiyskaya Gazeta’s Washington Bureau Chief “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin,” a new book by the Brookings Institution pundits, analyzes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personality instead of surrounding stereotypes RBTH sat down with Fiona Hill, who serves as the director of […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#77 – 24 April 2013

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#77 :: 24 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

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Interfax: Most Russians’ attitude to opposition activist Navalnyy is negative – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Alexei Navalny Being Grabbed by Police at Protest

(Interfax – Moscow, April 23, 2013) Aleksey Navalnyy, one of the leaders of the Russian non-establishment opposition, is known to this or that degree to 53 per cent of Russians and 51 per cent perceive him negatively, VTsIOM (Russian Public Opinion Research Centre) pollsters have told Interfax news agency presenting the results of their study. According to the VTsIOM, Navalnyy […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#76 – 23 April 2013

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#76 :: 23 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php TSARNAEV 1. Reuters: Special Report: The radicalization of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. 2. Moscow […]

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The Boston Marathon Attack, the North Caucasus, and U.S.-Russian Relations

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Center for American Progress – Cory Welt – April 22, 2013) Cory Welt is an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for American Progress and associate director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs –www.ieres.org. In the days following the dramatic manhunt in Boston for surviving terrorism suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, […]

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For Tsarnaev Brothers, Family Model Broke Down

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 23, 2013) As more details surfaced Monday regarding the complex family history of the Tsarnaev brothers, suspected of detonating deadly bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the traditions of Caucasian families became a focus of inquiry into why Tamerlan and Dzhokhar may have turned into terrorists. The Tsarnaev […]

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Russian agency has suspected marathon bomber’s uncollected ID in its files – official

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – MAKHACHKALA, Russia – April 22, 2013) Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) has an uncollected Russian internal passport to the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in its files, a suspected co-perpetrator of the Boston Marathon bombings killed by police who tried to arrest him, a senior FMS official said. In July 2012, Tsarnaev “filed an application saying that he had […]

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Is the Boston Attack a Ripple Effect of the Conflict in the North Caucasus?

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Eurasia Daily Monitor – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 75 – Valery Dzutsev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – April 22, 2013) The focus of the media on the suspected Boston bombers, the Tsarnaev brothers is fully justified, but understanding the wider context of the crime may be just as helpful (http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/223152/). Whatever the brothers’ personal experience was, if […]

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Tsarnaev brothers have not visited Dagestan in past few years – Interior Ministry

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Dagestan, Georgia and Environs

(Interfax – MOSCOW – April 22, 2013) Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston terrorist attack, has not visited Dagestan in the past few years, the republic’s Interior Ministry, told Interfax. “Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar have not visited Dagestan in the past few years,” the ministry said. The ministry officials said they had learned about the Tsarnaev brothers […]

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The motivation of the Boston Bomber: The ethnic background of the Tsarnaev family must provide some clues to mass murder.

Central Asia, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(opendemocacy.net – Susan Richards – April 23, 2013) Susan Richards is a non-executive director and founder of openDemocracy. She has produced a number of feature films and written a prize-winning book, Epics of Everyday Life, about the lives of ordinary Russians in the transition from communism. Lost & Found in Russia, Encounters in the Deep Heartland, which covers the period […]

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Risks Seen as U.S. Media Spotlight North Caucasus

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Groznya, Looking out Through Hole in Damaged Building at City Landscape in Daylight

(RIA Novosti – Christopher Boian – WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013) A week ago, most Americans had never heard of the North Caucasus. But the region in southern Russia has abruptly filled TV screens in US homes after it became part of the Boston Marathon bombing story, and experts warn such speed reporting on a complex subject can distort as much […]

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Kudrin denies discussing his possible transfer to Kremlin with Putin

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Kudrin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 23, 2013) Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that he did not discuss any job offers with President Vladimir Putin on April 22. Kudrin attended a Putin-chaired session on economic issues in Sochi on Monday as an expert. “As I left the hall, I had a chance to meet with Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) on […]

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Navalny’s Request For Further Trial Delay Rejected

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Navalny file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 23, 2013) KIROV, Russia — A court in Russia’s Kirov Oblast has rejected a request from anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny for a further delay in his trial. Navalny had asked for more time for his lawyers to examine the 28 volumes of documents associated with his case. Navalny is accused of being involved in the […]

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Ethnically-Based Force Structures Make Clashes between Republics More Likely

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 22, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/04/window-on-eurasia-ethnically-based.html) The clash between Chechnya and Ingushetia over the border between the two became possible and is more serious because the authorities in each, with Moscow’s approval, have formed units in their force structures that consist largely or entirely of people from the titular nationality. And because that […]

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Court Upholds Right to Appeal Election Results

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – April 23, 2013) The Constitutional Court has ruled that Russian voters should be allowed to appeal election results directly, overruling earlier judgments that permitted only political parties and candidates to dispute official vote counts in the courts. The court’s ruling, published on its official website on Monday, follows complaints by human rights […]

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Russian liberal TV channel suspends opposition activist’s political talk show

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Ksenia Sobchak file photo

(Interfax – April 22, 2013) The format of Russian TV presenter and opposition activist Kseniya Sobchak’s weekly political talk show “Gosdep-3”, aired on Internet and satellite Dozhd TV channel, will be changed, Interfax news agency reported on 22 April, quoting Dozhd managing director Natalya Sindeyeva. “The programme is by no means being closed. We are suspending it in order to […]

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Talking to itself

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Russian Television Studio

(opendemocracy.net – April 23, 2013 – Zygmunt Dzieciolowski, Alexei Levinson, and Mikhail Sokolov) Mikhail Sokolov is an ex Radio Liberty journalist and a historian. Alexei Levinson is sociologist and senior researcher at the Levada Center, Russia’s leading polling organisation, Moscow. Zygmunt Dzieciolowski is a Polish journalist who has covered Russia and other post Soviet republics for European media since 1989. […]

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Putin Seeks Proposals to Spur Economic Growth

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – April 23, 2013) President Vladimir Putin has said he expects a list of proposals for spurring the economy to be ready by the middle of next month. The list must contain the often conflicting proposals that Cabinet ministers, Kremlin staff and economists put forward at a meeting Monday, Putin said. He made […]

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Belousov upbeat about investment inflow, says capital flight a myth

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – SOCHI, April 22, 2013) Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov has described claims that capital outflow from Russia has assumed a “gigantic” scope as a myth. “Assertions that capital outflow has assumed a gigantic scope, and that there are signs of capital flight are a myth,” Belousov told reporters after a meeting on economic issues chaired by President Vladimir […]

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Long-term consequences of extraordinary measures taken in Cyprus are not known yet – Putin

Cyprus, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cyprus Map

(Interfax – SOCHI, April 22, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said the long-term consequences of the extraordinary measures taken in Cyprus are not known yet. “We see what methods of resolving debt problems are used on specific countries, I mean Cyprus, where the measures that have been taken essentially undermine confidence in the financial system,” Putin told a meeting on […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#75 – 22 April 2013

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#75 :: 22 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php 1. Reuters: Hospitalized suspect in Boston bombings awaits charges. 2. Bloomberg: Bombing […]

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Bombing Motive Sought for Brothers Who Differed in Style

Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Goldman, Julie Bykowicz and Prashant Gopal – April 22, 2013) As investigators searched for a motive in the Boston Marathon bombings, the two brothers suspected in the attack emerged as markedly different personalities: the older moving closer toward Islamic fundamentalism, the younger socializing like a typical American college student. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, disrupted a service […]

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Hunt for Boston Clues Reveals Tangled Caucasus Web

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 22, 2013) The quest for answers to what possibly inspired Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev to plot two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon exposes the complex and convoluted history of the North Caucasus, which for centuries has instigated violence across Russia. The Boston bombings have shown how boiling […]

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Boston Bombing Seen as U.S.-Russian Intelligence Failure

Spies, Spy Allegations, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – April 22, 2013) Revelations that Moscow alerted Washington in early 2011 to suspicious behavior by one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, but did not provide additional information when asked, has raised questions about the effectiveness of bilateral counterterrorism cooperation. Though both sides have promised to focus on “all aspects of the […]

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No evidence of connection between Tsarnayev brothers and Doku Umarov – source

Caucasus, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 21, 2013) Information about possible contacts between the Tsarnayev brothers – the suspected Boston bombers – with extremist grouping calling itself the Caucasus Emirate will be checked but so far there is no reliable evidence to that end, a source in Russian law enforcement has told Interfax. Earlier certain foreign media reported a possible connection between […]

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Father Of Boston Bombing Suspects Says Situation Is ‘Clear Setup’

Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 21, 2013) MAKHACHKALA, Russia — As media outlets scramble to understand more about the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, many relatives linked to the family in Makhachkala, Daghestan, are declining to talk to journalists. Nonetheless, the men’s father, Anzor Tsarnaev, did speak from an undisclosed location via telephone to RFE/RL’s Tom Balmforth […]

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In Small Boston Diaspora, Echoes of Chechnya

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck – NEEDHAM, Massachusetts, April 22, 2013) ­ Echoes of Chechnya are everywhere at this small suburban Boston homestead. Traditional ram’s wool hats hang on the walls; a computer monitor glows with the green of the Chechen flag; and the sapling of a medlar, an ancient fruit-bearing tree rare in America but common in the North […]

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After Boston, Putin Faces Questions About U.S. Visas on Call-In Show

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 22, 2013) Russians want to ask President Vladimir Putin on his televised call-in show this week about whether they will face U.S. visa restrictions after the Boston bombing attacks and why he is cracking down on his critics. Those are among the 28 most frequently asked questions that have been submitted by telephone and […]

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Attitude of Russians to Lenin becomes more moderate – poll

History, Soviet Union
File Photo of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 21, 2013) Russians have become more reserved in their attitudes to Vladimir Lenin and they do not support the idea of returning the name of Leningrad to St. Petersburg, according to a poll taken ahead of the birth anniversary of the Russian revolutionary (April 22). Sociologists from Levada Center told Interfax that almost every third Russian […]

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Big study of Russian youth sees Putin as a dragon

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of U.S. Diplomat Teaching Class to Russian Students

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – April 22, 2013) A large study by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, Russias leading specialist on elites, into the attitudes of young people in 26 Russian cities found that Russias youth have a largely positive view of the president. The full report, available online at gefter.ru/archive/8369 and already the subject of discussions in Gazeta.ru (gazeta.ru/politics/2013/04/19_a_5261565.shtml) and PublicPost.ru […]

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Voters have the right to directly protest election returns in court – Constitutional Court

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG, April 22, 2013) The Russian Constitutional Court has confirmed the right of voters to protest election returns in court and declared the practice of banning direct applications to courts unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court announced a corresponding resolution on Monday after checking several provisions of Civil Proceedings Code and federal laws on guarantees of electoral rights and […]

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State Officials Must Not Own Foreign Property – Kremlin

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 22, 2013) ­ A spokesman for the Kremlin said in an interview aired on Monday that state officials should not own real estate abroad, as it could leave them open to “pressure.” “Officials should not possess real estate in foreign countries,” Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said in an interview with the state-run […]

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More About Tsarnaev Brothers And Their Ancestral Homeland

Central Asia, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(RFE/RL – rferl.org  – April 19, 2013) Two ethnic Chechens, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are suspected of having perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 that killed three people and injured 170 others. As information accumulated — and confusion swirled — about them, RFE/RL Central Newsroom Director Jeremy Bransten sat down with Aslan Doukaev, director of RFE/RL’s North Caucasus […]

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Profile of Tamerlan And Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Richard Solash, Claire Bigg – April 19, 2013) The young men identified as suspects in this week’s Boston Marathon bombing are brothers of ethnic Chechen origin with family ties in Central Asia, and at least of one of whom reportedly had taken an increased interest in Islam in recent years. The suspect who was captured alive […]

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Boston bombing suspects not known to Dagestani, Chechen security services

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – MOSCOW/GROZNY/MAKHACHKALA. April 19, 2013) Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of committing the Boston Marathon bomb attack, are not on the Chechen or Dagestani law enforcement agencies’ wanted lists. “The Tsarnaev brothers are not on our databases of those wanted,” the Dagestani Interior Ministry told Interfax. “We have one Tsarnaev, who did not pay an administrative […]

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For Boston Suspects, Was Chechnya’s Violent Past a Motive?

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism
File Photo of Groznya, Looking out Through Hole in Damaged Building at City Landscape in Daylight

(RIA Novosti – Nabi Abdullaev – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) ­ As investigators hunt for evidence about the Boston bombing suspects, some of their questions ­ like the American public’s ­ will focus on Russia’s restive North Caucasus, including the war-scarred republic of Chechnya, a region that has produced a number of violent militant groups, but none that has been […]

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Russia has no ‘operationally relevant information’ on Boston suspects – source

Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Interfax Moscow, April 20, 2013) Russia has been unable to provide operationally relevant information on brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnayev (Tsarnaev). “Since the brothers Tsarnayev lived outside Russia, our special services were unable to provide our foreign partners with any operationally relevant information,” a source in the Russian special services told Interfax today. However, the source said that “joint work […]

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JRL E-Mail Newsletter Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2013-#74 – 20 April 2013

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News
Map of Russia

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#72 :: 18 April 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php 1. Reuters: Russia, U.S. to step up counter-terrorism cooperation: Kremlin. 2. Interfax: […]

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Chechen Brothers Linked to Boston Bombings

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Boston Bombings Aftermath with Ambulance and Security Personnel

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko, Jonathan Earle and Ezekiel Pfeifer – April 19, 2013) U.S. authorities have linked two Chechen brothers to the Boston bombings that killed three people and injured more than 170 this week, U.S. media reported Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry told The Moscow Times that it was aware of the reports and looking into […]

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Boston bombing suspect’s account tracked down to Russia’s VKontakte social network

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – April 19, 2013) Internet users have tracked down an account in the social network VKontakte which allegedly belongs to a Boston bombing suspect. Links to the page which Boston Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnayev ran in the network, have emerged on other social networks. There is a notice on Tsarnayev’s page saying that its host last visited it at […]

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Boston bombing suspects’ father: My kids were framed

Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Terrorism, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Boston Bombings Suspects File Photo Adapted from FBI Image

(Interfax – MAKHACHKALA, April 19, 2013) An Interfax correspondent has managed to talk on the phone with a man introducing himself as Anzor, the father of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of committing the Boston Marathon bomb attack on Monday. “I learned about the incident from TV. My opinion is: the special services have framed my children, because […]

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Magnitsky’s Mother: ‘The List Is About People Who Must Answer For Their Actions’

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Memorial Flowers and Photo of Sergei Magnitsky

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 19, 2013) The mother and widow of whistle-blowing Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky were in Washington on April 17, just days after the White House issued a blacklist of more than a dozen Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky’s prosecution and death in jail in 2009. RFE/RL’s Richard Solash spoke to Magnitsky’s mother, Natalia, at a reception […]

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Russian deputy PM hints at political pressure on innovation centre graft probe

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Science, Technology, Engineering
Skolkovo File Photo

(Interfax – April 18, 2013) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov said on 18 April that “certain forces” are trying to undermine the country’s budding innovation centre, Skolkovo, which is being investigated for embezzlement, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported. Surkov, who is a member of the Skolkovo Foundation’s board of trustees, was speaking following a raid by Federal Security […]

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Gref opposes internal offshore zones, proposes steps to bring capital back to Russia

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of German Gref Shaking Hands with U.S. Official

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 19, 2013) The president and CEO of leading Russian lender Sberbank (RTS: SBER), German Gref opposes the idea of creating internal offshore zones in Russia, but is proposing that special measures be developed to bring capital back to the country, possibly even an amnesty for capital that now flees to offshore jurisdictions. “I don’t really believe […]

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