Russia’s year in review: terror, political surprises, and hope

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – December 30, 2013)

From the sudden release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the tragic events in Volgograd, here are 10 top headline grabbers for 2013 according to The Moscow News staff.

1. Khodorkovsky bombshell

President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suddenly pardon oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was possibly the most unexpected news of the year. After two criminal fraud cases and 10 years in jail, with his Yukos oil empire partitioned, and with a possible third criminal case in the works, it was believed that Khodorkovsky would remain in prison while Putin was in power. Instead, Putin casually told reporters last week that a pardon was coming. The following day, Russia’s prisoner No. 1 was released from his Karelia penal colony and flown to Germany.

2. Pussy Riot walks free

In another sign of a ruler in a generous mood, Putin’s prison amnesty, passed by the State Duma last week, led to the release of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. They were serving a two-year prison term on charges of hooliganism and inciting religious hatred over their punk prayer performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral in February 2012. Their jailing had sparked an international outcry. The amnesty also applied to several anti-government protesters currently on trial, as well as 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists facing hooliganism charges over a September protest in the Arctic. Putin’s amnesty was widely interpreted as a bid to improve his image ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics – and remind everyone that there’s only one man calling the shots.

3. The West recognizes Putin

The president emerged as the most powerful man in the world according to Forbes, thanks to a couple of diplomatic wins. When NSA leaker Edward Snowden came knocking on Russia’s door, the Kremlin gave him asylum and highlighted the United States’ own treatment of whistleblowers in the process. Helping avoid a military strike on Syria by brokering an agreement to destroy its chemical weapons scored Putin some major points. A YouGov poll found that 49 percent of Americans believed Putin was the most effective world leader during the Syrian chemical weapons crisis.

4. Navalny runs for mayor

While incumbent Sergei Sobyanin won Moscow’s mayoral vote in September, the election stunned observers due to the participation of Putin critic, blogger and activist Alexei Navalny. Having emerged as a charismatic leader of the 2011-2012 street protests, Navalny was on trial on embezzlement charges, but not only was he allowed to run for mayor, he was publicly encouraged to do so by Sobyanin. Navalny got 27 percent of the vote – and though far short of Sobyanin’s 52 percent, the result was unexpected for an opposition candidate.

5. ‘Gay propaganda’ ban

The “non-traditional sexual relations” law created another setback for Russia’s relations with the West, as activists staged boycotts of Russian or perceived-to-be-Russian products, and even called for a boycott of the Olympics. Seen by foreign and Russian activists as infringing on the rights of the LGBT community, and by supporters as protecting children and encouraging morality, the law provides for fines for promoting non-traditional behavior of up to 5,000 rubles ($150) for individuals and 1 million rubles ($30,300) for organizations or corporations.

6. The price of the Sochi Olympics

The world has watched closely as Russia prepares for the most expensive Olympic Games in history. It’s a feat that Putin has invested heavily in (the tab stands at $51 billion), and not just financially. So it’s not surprising that tensions run high amid calls to boycott the Olympics – and amid accusations of embezzlement and environmental devastation in the resort city. Just before the end of the year, several world leaders began making official statements that they would not be attending the Games, citing a busy schedule. Those leaders so far include U.S. President Barack Obama, German President Joachim Gauck, French President Francois Hollande, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The question is, will that spoil the Sochi party in February?

7. Kazan Boeing crash

The November 17 crash of Tatarstan Airlines flight 363 was yet another tragedy that highlighted the need for reform in the aviation sector. Following the crash in Kazan, it was speculated that both of the pilots on board may not have had adequate training to initiate a go-around procedure while on final approach. All people on board – including 44 passengers and six crew members – died.

8. Historic relief effort for Far East

In Russia, the catastrophic floods that started in late July and lasted into September primarily affected the Khabarovsk and Amur regions, as well as the Jewish autonomous region and the Magadan region. Thousands of volunteers pitched in to the relief effort. A historic telethon on Channel One raised $13.5 million for victims. Many observers credited the unprecedented level of involvement from ordinary citizens as yet another sign that the notion of civil society is gaining ground in the country.

9. Scandal at the Bolshoi

The Bolshoi had what was possibly the most scandal-ridden year in its scandal-ridden history. In January, assailants flung acid in the face of Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Sergei Filin outside his Moscow apartment, mutilating his vision and prompting months of gossip about who orchestrated the attack. The case was closed in early December, when former Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko was sentenced to six years in prison, and two associates to four and 10 years. In November, an American dancer at the ballet, Joy Womack, said she was told to pay a $10,000 bribe to score a leading role, which the theater rebuffed with catty criticism of Womack’s dancing skills. Finally, earlier this month, conductor Valery Sinaisky abruptly left the theater shortly before a new staging of Verdi’s notoriously difficult opera “Don Carlo” was due to premiere.

10. Terror in Volgograd

With less than two months to go until Sochi, two deadly suicide bombings shook the southern Russian city of Volgograd on December 29 and 30. The first explosion on Sunday killed 17 people at a Volgograd railway station, the second ripped through a trolleybus on Monday, claiming at least 14 lives. The tragic events brought looming security fears to the fore: with so much effort invested into ensuring that the Sochi Olympic Games are safe, would Russian authorities be able to prevent attacks in other places?

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