Ahead of Olympics, Russians Urged to Help Prevent Attacks

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(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 […]

» Read more

HIV Epidemic Plagues Russia as Government Rejects Prevention Methods

HIV Infection Microscopic Photo of Cells

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Simeon Bennett and Stepan Kravchenko – January 13, 2014) On a chilly September evening in Novogireyevo, a Moscow suburb of concrete apartment blocks about 16 kilometers east of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin compound, a young woman in an orange hoodie approaches Sasha Mazay with an offer that might save his life. Mazay, 33, is one […]

» Read more

Expulsion of U.S. Journalist Sparks Controversy Before Olympics

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – January 14, 2014) Russia has barred a U.S. journalist for five years in a move that has triggered a frenzy between Russian authorities and Western media on Tuesday, signaling possible heightened tensions ahead of upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. It was not clear whether David Satter, 66, was banned entry into […]

» Read more

Record Number of U.S. Visas Issued to Russians in 2013

Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags with Number 200, 1807-2007

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 13, 2014) A record total of about 250,000 U.S. nonimmigrant visas were issued to Russians last year, a jump of 15 percent compared to the previous record year, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said Monday. In 2013, more than 30 percent of Russians obtained U.S. visas without going through an interview due to […]

» Read more

Russia’s shiny new weapons

Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

(opendemocracy.net – Mark Galeotti – January 10, 2014) 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) ‘Drones are not toys,’ says Vladimir Putin, and […]

» Read more

Putin Gets Into the ‘Selfie’ Game

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 13, 2014) Though he may lack the Twitter following of his tech-obsessed Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin was social media star over the weekend, as a “selfie” photo of the president and a young boy made the rounds on the Internet. [https://twitter.com/koffboy/status/422411344927653888] The picture of an unidentified boy and Putin was published […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Russia’s Putin Named World’s Third Most-Admired Person

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named the third most admired person in the world, behind Microsoft founder Bill Gates and US President Barack Obama, according to a new poll for The Times. The newspaper reported that Putin’s popularity among Russians helped him secure the third place on the list. The poll conducted in […]

» Read more

Old New Year Has Enduring Popularity in Russia

File Photo of New Year's Eve Revelers With Sparkler Near Kremlin

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 13, 2014) Nearly half of Russians are planning to ring in the “Old New Year” on Monday night, in a sign of the enduring popularity of the holiday based on the old Julian calendar. “Old New Year” is a legacy of the calendar that the country used before the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. The Russian […]

» Read more

Russia’s Missed Opportunities for an Even Larger Empire Lamented

Map of European Portion of Former Soviet Union

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 13, 2014) Most Russians are profoundly aware of how much of their country’s empire fell away first after the 1917 revolution and then in 1991, but relatively few are aware of Russia’s numerous attempts, all of them ultimately unsuccessful, to establish Russian colonies further afield. How valuable these might have been […]

» Read more

LUKoil Hit With ‘Biggest Oil Spill Fine in Russian History’

Oil Well file photo

MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) ­ A subsidiary of the Russian oil giant LUKoil has been slapped with a fine of 614 million rubles ($18.5 million), which Greenpeace said appeared to be the biggest such fine in Russia’s history. LUKoil-Komi was fined for nine oil spills from 2011 in Russia’s northern republic of Komi, according to documents available on the […]

» Read more

U.S. Cautions Sochi Travelers Amid Threats

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(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 […]

» Read more

Decision Looms in $100 Billion Yukos Lawsuit

Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 13, 2014) Businessman Leonid Nevzlin said that he would continue a $100 billion legal battle with the Russian government over the assets of defunct oil firm Yukos, in contrast to his former business partner Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s recent promise not to participate in the litigation. Nevzlin, who emigrated to Israel in 2003 after the Russian […]

» Read more

Russia mulls return of ‘Against All’ option on election ballots

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

(Moscow News/RIA Novosti – Oleg Sukhov – January 13, 2014) Russian lawmakers are considering a measure to restore the “against all” option on ballots in elections. The initiative seeks to reinstate the opportunity for voters to oppose all the candidates running in municipal, regional and parliamentary elections. The measure is backed by Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the upper house […]

» Read more

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#9 :: 13 January 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#9 :: 13 January 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

» Read more

Interfax: Bill on criminal liability for terrorists’ relatives unlikely to be considered in State Duma – official

Russian State Duma Building file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The bill of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party faction member Roman Khudyakov to introduce criminal liability for relatives of terrorist is PR, head of the Russian State Duma legislation committee Pavel Krashennikov (the United Russia party faction) said. “To imprison for a brother, father, son – we remember when this happened and, thank God, we […]

» Read more

Kremlin official calls on prosecutors to step up oversight of terrorism and extremism cases

File Photo of Sergei Ivanov, adapted from defense.gov image

MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) – Prosecutors’ oversight of the course of investigations into terrorist attacks should become more effective, Russian presidential chief-of-staff Sergei Ivanov said. “Oversight of the course of inquiries into criminal offences, primarily crimes linked to terrorism, should be made more effective,” Ivanov said at a Friday session, dedicated to the Day of Russian Prosecutors. Terrorists who seek […]

» Read more

Expert Pavlovsky wonders about political meaning of legalization of gifts to officials

Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) – The Russian government’s decision to appraise gifts received by officials has certain logic but the possibility to prevent a gift business allowing officials to “launder” bribes is the question, Foundation for Effective Politics President Gleb Pavlovsky said. “What is the political meaning of this decision? It will make sense to decide whether we want officials […]

» Read more

All gifts received by Russian civil servants will be appraised

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Interfax – January 10, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a governmental resolution ordering an appraisal of all of the gifts received by the country’s civil servants during official events. The government’s press service said, citing the document, that Russian civil servants will be required to report all of their presents within three days after they were received […]

» Read more

Gifts to Officials Worth More Than $90 to Be Handed Over to State

File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 10, 2014) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed an order requiring state officials to hand over to the state any gifts they receive that are worth more than 3,000 rubles ($90), but gives them an option of buying the presents back. The anti-corruption measure requires government officials to report any gifts within three days […]

» Read more

Top Ten Most Popular Stories of 2013

New Year's Eve on Red Square with Fireworks, Kremlin, Saint Basil's, Crowds

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – January 10, 2014) The news in Russia over the course of 2013 had its ups and downs. Meteors and a NSA intelligence leaker appeared out of nowhere and landed in Russia while the Olympic torch relay was for the first time launched into the cosmos. Political movements came into their own, victories […]

» Read more

Russian Ex-Oil Tycoon Khodorkovsky Visits Israel After Release

Mikhail Khodorkovsky file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – January 10, 2014) Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia’s richest man before he was jailed in 2003, is visiting Israel after being freed by President Vladimir Putin last month. “It’s not a working or business trip; it’s a private visit,” Olga Pispanen, a spokeswoman for Khodorkovsky, said by telephone today, declining to comment on any meetings. […]

» Read more

Russian Village Reformer Released on Parole

Map of Russia

MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) ­ A Moscow artist was released on parole Friday after spending more than two years in jail for a bribery conviction that followed his move to a Russian village in a bid to bring culture to the provinces. Ilya Farber, whose case has become a cause celebre for many opposition activists, said on leaving his […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: 1 Million Foreigners Could Be Working Illegally in Moscow – Official

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) ­ About a million foreigners could be working illegally in the Russian capital, a top Moscow migration official suggested Thursday. Olga Kirillova, head of the Federal Migration Service’s Moscow branch, said in televised remarks to the state-run channel Moskva 24 that just over 415,000 foreigners work legally in the city. She said that the overall […]

» Read more

Russian Orthodox Deacon Fears Defrocking After Outing Church’s ‘Gay Lobby’

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Andrei Shary and Claire Bigg – January 9, 2014) A prominent theologian who claims to have outed a powerful “gay lobby” within the Russian Orthodox Church says he now fears being defrocked over his allegations. The allegations by Deacon Andrei Kurayev, a firebrand missionary who taught at the Orthodox Moscow Theological Academy, are potentially damaging and […]

» Read more

Interfax: Rights defenders say Okhlobystin’s idea to put gays in prison is obscurantist, odious

Lyudmila Alekseyeva file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) – Russian veteran rights defender, Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva has criticized the idea of actor and Euroset creative director Ivan Okhlobystin to restore the “sodomy” article in the Russian Penal Code. “That looks like obscurantism,” Alexeyeva told Interfax on Friday. “Why are they so keen on this subject? I cannot understand that; doesn’t the […]

» Read more

Interfax: Sochi air becomes twice as clean – Kozak

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

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 […]

» Read more

Lukashenka as Machiavelli

Belarus Map

(opendemocracy.net/PONARS – Arkady Moshes – January 9, 2014) Arkady Moshes is Director of The EU Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs For those who assume that the Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenka long ago lost his freedom of action vis-a-vis Moscow, his recent bout of assertive behaviour was unexpected. It delivered the desired result, though. […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: One in Three Russian Towns & Villages Have No Internet – Study

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) ­ People living in more than a third of Russia’s small towns and villages have no access to the Internet, a new government study shows. Despite the boom in Internet use in Russia, some 6,700 localities have no opportunity to get online, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media said on its website. The figure […]

» Read more

The Peculiarities of Terrorism in Russia

Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

(Institute to Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Alexander Podrabinek – January 8, 2014) Terrorism is a global problem that affects dozens of countries in today’s world. But, as author and analyst Alexander Podrabinek notes in this commentary, terrorism in Russia has its own­often unexplainable­”national peculiarities.” Terrorism is strange in Russia. Bombs go off in cars, on planes and at train […]

» Read more

Sochi’s New Power Grid Still Unfinished

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(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 […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Russia to Triple Uranium Production in Next 2 Years ­ Rosatom

File Image of Artist's Rendition of Uranium Molecules and Soil against Background Vista, adapted from image energy.gov image attributed courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

NOVO-OGARYOVO, January 9 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russia will nearly triple its production of natural uranium in the next two years, the head of the country’s state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom said Thursday. Sergei Kiriyenko said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that Russia had in recent years been producing some 3,000-3,200 metric tons of uranium annually. “In 2015, we will […]

» Read more

Interfax: Moscow, Washington convinced conference on Syria should be held on Jan 22 – Russian Foreign Ministry

(Interfax – January 10, 2014) Russia and the United States share the opinion that it is necessary to hold the international conference on Syria in the time scheduled, on January 22, and consider military resolution in the Syrian conflict to be not viable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the Russian-U.S. consultations on Syria. “The necessity to activate efforts aimed […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Russian TV Presenter Claims Strip-Searched at Miami Airport

Ksenia Sobchak file photo

MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russian TV celebrity and socialite Ksenia Sobchak has said she was strip-searched at Miami Airport after a security check wrongly detected explosives on her fingers, a claim the US authorities have denied. Sobchak, 32, formerly the host of a long-running reality show and now an anchor at an independent TV channel, claimed on Twitter […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Russia to be Ukraine’s Sole Gas Provider – Minister

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

KIEV, January 9 (RIA Novosti) ­ Ukraine has ceased buying gas from Europe and will instead purchase the fuel solely from Russia, as it offers the lowest prices, Ukraine’s energy minister said Thursday. Russian gas is “the most profitable [supply option] for today,” said Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavitsky. Kiev has been buying gas from Poland and […]

» Read more

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#8 :: 10 January 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#8 :: 10 January 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

» Read more

CIA Cuts Off Public Access to Its Translated News Reports

File Photo of CIA Seal on Floor

(Secrecy News – blogs.fas.org/secrecy – Steven Aftergood – January 8, 2014) Beginning in 1974, the U.S. intelligence community provided the public with a broad selection of foreign news reports, updated daily.  These were collected and translated by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), which was reconstituted in 2004 as the Open Source Center (OSC). But the CIA […]

» Read more

Orgs Ask DNI to Preserve Access to World News Connection

DNI Seal and Smaller Seals of Agencies Related to DNI

(Secrecy News – blogs.fas.org/secrecy – Steven Aftergood – December 23, 2013) More than a dozen professional societies and public interest groups wrote to the Director of National Intelligence last week to ask him to preserve public access to foreign news reports gathered, translated and published by the Open Source Center and marketed to subscribers through the NTIS World News Connection. […]

» Read more

Controversial Year for Ukraine: President Yanukovych Makes U-turn to Avoid Default

Viktor Yanukovych file photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 3 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Oleg Varfolomeyev – January 8, 2014) Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made a sensational U-turn last year, choosing Russian economic assistance over an association and free-trade deal with the European Union. The decision, which triggered the most massive anti-government protests since 2004, was dictated by a dismal state […]

» Read more

Why are there so many presidents in Russia? Russia’s complicated administrative division explained.

Map of Russia

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – January 9, 2014) Russia’s regional administrative division is complicated. There are regions, territories, republics, and federal districts. All these are formally equal under the constitution, but in reality there are considerable differences. Experts say this complex state administration system is a legacy of the Russian Empire and the Soviet […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: U.S. Senate Backs Sanctions Over Ukraine Violence

Maidan Square file photo

WASHINGTON, January 8 (RIA Novosti) ­ The US Senate has called for possible sanctions against individuals responsible for state violence against Ukrainian demonstrators protesting Kiev’s decision to abandon long-awaited trade and political deals with the European Union. “In the event of further state violence against peaceful protestors, the President and Congress should consider whether to apply targeted sanctions, including visa […]

» Read more

Interfax: Moscow says Senegal promises to give materials confirming violations of fishing regulations by Russian boat

Africa Satellite Image Map

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The Senegalese authorities have promised to provide Russia with materials confirming repeated violations of fishing regulations in the exclusive economic zone of Senegal by the crew of Russia’s Oleg Naydyonov vessel, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “On January 8 the meeting of the Russian Ambassador to Senegal and Senegalese Foreign Minister, Mankeur Ndiaye, took place […]

» Read more

Russia boosts oil output 1% in 2013

Oil Well file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – Russia’s oil and gas condensate output grew 1.0% year-on-year to 523.276 million tonnes (10.508 million barrels a day) in 2013, the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex (CDU TEK) said. Russia produced 44.964 million tonnes of oil in December, with the average daily produce of 10.632 million barrels. In 2013 Rosneft (MOEX: […]

» Read more

Prosecutors sanction over 500,000 requests for inspecting businesses in 2014

Empty Boardroom

MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has declined nearly half of a total of over 1 million requests from controlling agencies on inspecting small and medium-sized businesses in 2014, which makes nearly half of all such requests, the office reported on its website on Thursday. “In line with the law on state and municipal control, draft […]

» Read more

A Russian City Where Life Expectancy has Declined to 38 Years

Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 9, 2014) Karabash, a copper-smelting company town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, has seen the life expectancy of its residents fall to 38 years, the result of massive environmental pollution by a highly profitable company that has turned this city of 13,000 into a kind of hell, “one of the dirtiest in the […]

» Read more

Moscow State University ranked Top 10 in BRICS countries

Moscow State University

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anastasia Maltseva, special to RBTH – January 9, 2014) Russian universities have a good reputation in the developing world, even though they are falling behind their Chinese competitors. Experts say this is because historically, Russian universities have always prioritized education over research. Russian universities rank in the top 10 among the so-called BRICS […]

» Read more

U.S. Private Security Firm On Standby in Case of Emergency During Olympics

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(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 […]

» Read more

Moscow Police Hunt Quran Burners

Russian Mosque File Photo

MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) ­ Police in Moscow are investigating a video that shows alleged football fans burning a Quran and attacking Muslims in retribution for recent suicide bombings in Volgograd. The video, uploaded on YouTube on January 5, depicts a group of young men in the dark, burning a Russian translation of the Quran with several lighters. No […]

» Read more

Putin’s New National Conservatism Resonates in Russian Regions

Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 9, 2014) Support in the city of Moscow for Vladimir Putin’s new conservative message has always seemed “insincere,” according to a Russian commentator. But in ethnic Russian regions, that message has been warmly echoed by the actions of national conservative groups. In an essay on the Svobodnaya pressa portal yesterday, Vladislav […]

» Read more

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#7 :: 9 January 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#7 :: 9 January 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: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]

» Read more

In Praise of the Transactional – the Case Against a Strategic Russian-Western Partnership

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2014 From: Kirk Bennett <kirkbennett7@yahoo.com> Subject: In Praise of the Transactional ­ — the Case Against a Strategic Russian-Western Partnership In Praise of the Transactional ­ — the Case Against a Strategic Russian-Western Partnership By Kirk Bennett, U.S. Department of State, retired. The opinions expressed are his own and do not reflect the views of the […]

» Read more
1 286 287 288 289 290 341