Category: Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Indifference Not Support ‘Foundation’ of Putin’s Regime, Gudkov Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 30, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-indifference-not.html) A majority of Russians today does not feel any sympathy for the Putin regime or is not prepared to show any “active support” or “active opposition” to it, according to Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada Center. Instead, they manifest a kind of “inert indifference” about those […]

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NEWSLINK: Russian ex-finance minister tipped to be premier before long

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Kudrin file photo

(Russian ex-finance minister tipped to be premier before long – BBC Monitoring/Ekho Moskvy Radio – January 30, 2013) BBC Monitoring reports on Ekho Moskvy and Argumenty Nedeli covered of alleged systematic down-grading of how state-controlled Russian television presents Dmitry Medvedev to the viewing public: Russia’s national TV channels have been told to reduce their coverage of Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev, […]

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Journalist In Recent Row With MPs Is Among Best Trusted On Russian TV – Poll

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Duma Building

(RIA Novosti – January 29, 2013) Veteran journalist Vladimir Pozner is one of the three best known and most trusted TV journalists in Russia, a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) has shown, as reported by RIA Novosti news agency on 29 January, citing the organization’s website (http://fom.ru/SMI-i-internet/10793). The poll was conducted on 27 January among 1,500 respondents […]

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Majority of Russians against early Duma elections – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Duma Session file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) – A little more than half of Russians are against the hypothetical dissolution of the State Duma and early parliamentary elections – about twice as many as those who want new elections, an opinion poll suggests. Moreover, more than two-thirds of Russians don’t want to take part in protests such as those that have been rocking […]

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$60 Oil Price Will Eat up Russia’s Oil Fund ­ Survey

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Oil Well file photo

MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russia’s Oil Wealth Fund will be totally consumed if world oil prices plunge to $60 per barrel and stay at that level for a year, experts from the Russian School of Economics (VSE) said on Tuesday. That scenario presents “a shock not only for the budget system but also for the economy as a […]

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Pressure Growing on Serdyukov With New Allegations

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Anatoliy Serdyukov file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 29, 2013) The net appears to be closing on former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov after military investigators opened an investigation into extravagant improvements at a dacha belonging to his brother-in-law, a news report said Monday. Serdyukov resigned in disgrace last month amid allegations that several of his close associates had enriched themselves via the […]

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Liberal governor advised by Navalny has office searched; Firebrand opposition leader Alexei Navalny may be linked to the investigation into Nikita Belykh, the head of the Kirov region.

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Alexei Navalny file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva – January 29, 2013) The office of Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh was searched by investigators Tuesday in a probe into the privatization of a local vodka factory, which investigators claim was sold for a below-market price in 2010. Prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, who served as an adviser […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with CNN

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Government.ru – January 27, 2013) Fareed Zakaria: Mr Prime Minister, thank you for agreeing to this meeting. In 2009, when you were President of Russia, you wrote a very interesting and important essay about Russia’s future. You said that the two major problems of the Russian economy were excessive dependence on oil and excessive corruption. A look at current statistics […]

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Privatizations should be done in Russia, but infrastructure needs to be readied – Putin

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Speaking with Flag Behind Him and Microphones in Front

NOVO-OGARYOVO. Jan 25 (Interfax) – Privatization deals should be carried out on Russian markets, but the infrastructure needs to be put in place, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting dedicated to stock market development. “These deals should occur on Russian trading floors,” he said. “Privatization done within the country is testament to the fact that our plans to […]

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Dmitry Medvedev doesn’t rule out introducing progressive personal income tax, but not soon

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

(Interfax – January 28, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev does not rule out that the issue of introducing a progressive personal income tax might be raised at some point, but not in the near future. “At some point, of course, the issue of progress taxation might be put on the agenda, it seems to me that this is not […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview in Davos with the Vesti v Subbotu (News on Saturday) programme by the Rossiya television network

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of "World Economic Forum" Display at Davos from Past Session

(Government.ru – January 26, 2013) Sergei Brilyov: Mr Medvedev, I would like to come back to the Grand Hall meeting, where you took a seat in the audience. Why didn’t you go up on the stage straight away? Dmitry Medvedev: I wanted to see my colleagues present their scenarios. I enjoyed sitting in the audience. It’s better than being on […]

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Russian civil, administrative laws are quite modern – Medvedev

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) – Major amendments have been made to the Russian legal system but accusatory bias and mistrust in judges inherited from “the dark years of history” are still to be overcome, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung. “Concerning the adjustment of laws, the legal system and the […]

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Authorities against legalization of handguns

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Makarov Handgun file photo

(Interfax – January 26, 2013) The Russian government did not support the Liberal-Democratic Party’s (LDPR) idea to legalize the use of some types of short-barreled firearms for self-defense purposes. “Free circulation of rifled handguns would have a negative effect on public security in the country, would significantly complicate the law and order, and would cause growth in the number of […]

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State Duma may put “Pozner law” on hold

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Duma Session file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 28 (Interfax) – The State Duma is ready to accept apologies from television journalist Vladimir Pozner, saying the draft “Pozner law” will be “put on hold.” Pozner apologized for his earlier criticism of the State Duma on his program on Sunday evening. After that criticism, parliamentarians drew up a bill prohibiting journalists who have another country’s citizenship in […]

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‘We Live in Russia, Not Sodom and Gomorrah’

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – January 28, 2013) With a United Russia deputy declaring that Russia is not Sodom and Gomorrah, the State Duma gave tentative approval to a bill that would ban “gay propaganda” to minors. But the measure, which mirrors similar legislation in place in St. Petersburg and several other areas, met with unusually strong […]

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Russia’s Internal Affairs No Concern of US – Putin Spokesman

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) ­ The United States has no place in any dialog between Russia’s government and opposition movements opposed to President Vladimir Putin’s rule, Putin’s spokesman has told a US journal. “The dialog between the Russian government and the opposition cannot be a subject of the bilateral relationship between Moscow and Washington, and in no way can […]

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Russians Less Interested in Public Polls – Survey

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Crowd of Russians with One Waving Russian Flag

MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) ­ Most Russians trust public opinion polls but are increasingly disinterested in their findings, a survey by the state-run pollster VTsIOM shows. “Most Russians (65 percent) are interested in the results of sociological surveys but their number has fallen compared to 2005 (77 per cent),” VTsIOM said. According to the pollster, 29 percent of Russians […]

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Party Conflict Highlights Divisions in Opposition

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – January 25, 2013) The social-democratic Just Russia party issued an ultimatum Thursday to four members who are leaders in the anti-Kremlin protest movement, warning them to quit leadership roles in other organizations or face dismissal from the party. The demand threatens to further weaken and divide the already splintered opposition, which is […]

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[TRANSCRIPT] Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with NTV

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of "World Economic Forum" Display at Davos from Past Session

(Government.ru – January 24, 2013) Question: Mr Medvedev, you were here in 2007, one year before you were elected President. The key point of your policy speech then (which we all remember) was “Freedom is better than unfreedom.” What phrase would you use now, six years on? What would you say to the West with the same succinctness or perhaps […]

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Rogozin dismisses Kudrin’s reproaches of militarizing Russia

Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Russian Military Conscripts Boarding Train with Gear

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) – Russia is implementing a program of modernizing its Armed Forces which it has not done for almost a quarter of a century, Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in commenting on an interview with former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to Der Spiegel. “Why play along with the West and repeat the fundamentally erroneous claims […]

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As New Ban Looms, Gays in Russia Face Uphill Battle

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

MOSCOW, January 24 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti) ­ Pavel Samburov exudes confidence when he recalls the night in October, on International Coming Out Day, when a group of masked hoodlums stormed and ransacked a Moscow gay club. “They worked as a team,” Samburov says nonchalantly, taking a drag from a cigarette, then snuffing it out. “It was an organized attack.” […]

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Putin: Use Sport to Stem Population Fall

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, World Cup
Football - Soccer File Photo

[RIA NOVOSTI] MOSCOW, January 24 (R-Sport) – Sport is a crucial weapon for Russia to fight its demographic crisis by keeping people healthy, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Russia’s population has fallen by more than five million since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as a result of lower births rates and life expectancy, although recent government estimates […]

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Bill to Limit Gubernatorial Elections Approved

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – January 24, 2013) State Duma deputies on Wednesday overwhelming passed in its first reading a bill that would give regional assemblies the right to abolish direct elections for governors, likely weakening a key pro-democracy reform signed last year by then-President Dmitry Medvedev. A total of 403 deputies voted in favor of the […]

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Professional, independent board directors for govt companies have positive impact – Medvedev

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Empty Boardroom

MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) – Introducing professional and independent directors to the boards of government companies has a positive impact and the authorities continue to work toward this, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a plenary session of the World Economic Forum in Davos called “Development Scenarios for Russia.” “The boards of public companies mostly have professional and independent […]

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Liquidating Non-Russian Republics Would Be Dangerous for Moscow, Lazarenko Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 23, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-liquidating-non.html) There has been much talk about the possibility that Moscow will liquidate the non-Russian republics, but there has been almost none about exactly how the center would do that.  That makes such talks “unserious” because it means the advocates of such a change do not understand just […]

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Authorities Trying to ‘Break’ Putin Foe Razvozzhayev – Lawyer

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Leonid Razvozzhayev file photo with hand to ear, as if holding cellphone

MOSCOW, January 24 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti) ­ Prison officials in East Siberia are attempting to force a protest movement figure, charged with seeking to violently overthrow President Vladimir Putin, to implicate himself and others in the alleged plot, his lawyer told RIA Novosti on Thursday. Leonid Razvozzhayev, a leftist activist, was transferred from Moscow to a pre-trial detention center […]

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Sobyanin promises to get rid of corrupt officials

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Sergei Sobyanin file photo

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Evgeniya Chaykovskaya – January 23, 2013) Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin promised to rid the city authorities of any potential corrupt officials. “I would like to stress a position of principle for the Moscow government that finding corruption and detaining bribe takers is a big help to city authorities,” Sobyanin said at an open meeting of […]

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Davos Calls for Efficient State

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Past World Economic Forum

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – January 24, 2013) Improving the work of the government and fighting corruption should be key priorities on Russia’s reform agenda for the next few years, participants in the World Economic Forum said Wednesday. Almost 78 percent of them chose ensuring “good governance” as the No. 1 step for the country’s progress during […]

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Study: Popular Discontent Might Affect Economic Development

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – January 23, 2013) How popular discontent will play out is one of the key uncertainties that the World Economic Forum identified for Russia’s long-term economic development in a report released Tuesday. Attendees of the annual forum in Davos, Switzerland, which opened Tuesday, are set to question Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about this […]

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Suicide Sheds Light on Asylum Challenges

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Europe, EU, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Nikolaus von Twickel – Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 23, 2013) The suicide of activist Alexander Dolmatov in a Dutch extradition center has highlighted the challenges for Russian opposition members to get political asylum in Europe, but his tragic case does not mean that obtaining asylum has become impossible, experts said Tuesday. Dolmatov was found dead last Thursday in […]

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The Doors I Closed When I Came to the US

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
United States Map

(Voice of America – Anna Malinovskaya – January 22, 2013) Perhaps all international students discover at some point that going to college in the States costs more than they pay in money terms. I have experienced personal costs that will impact my life long after my education here is done. Some I was prepared to encounter, and others caught me […]

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Russian retirement: mixed outlook for 2013

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Two Elders Walking Outdoors

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anastasia Matveyeva, Moskovskiye Novosti – January 21, 2013) New calculations for pensions and a funded component, a possible luxury tax and a special structure that will come to manage Russian currency reserves are the main economic events that are expected in the coming year. How will these reverberate on us, and what will they will […]

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Defense Ministry top-dog arrested on embezzlement charges

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, Combined report – January 21, 2013) The biggest anti-corruption campaign in the Defense Ministry in years has yielded its first arrest, at the agency’s very top. The head of the ministry’s Facilities Department has been placed behind bars for two months. New arrests have been made as part of the high-profile […]

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Vote Watchdogs Urge Activists to Become Elections Officials

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Image of Map of Russia for Polling Place Webcams

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – January 22, 2013) A presidential election in Russia isn’t scheduled for another five years, but the people who will run the polling stations and count the ballots are already being selected. Regional elections officials have until April 30 to form more than 90,000 local elections commissions nationwide ­ one for every polling […]

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Russian Political Party Logos: Any Takers For ‘Skunk’ Or ‘Hamster’?

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

(RFE/RL – Tom Balmforth – January 22, 2013) Russian politics is so inclusive, pluralist, and teeming with new political parties that each party should adopt an animal as its insignia to make it easier for overwhelmed voters to remember which party is which. This is the solution put forward by Aleksandr Sidyakin, a 35-year old United Russia parliamentary deputy, to […]

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Russia to Keep State Control of Shelf – Dvorkovich

Arctic, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Barents Sea and Polar Environs

MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russia has no plans to allow foreign companies to work independently on the country’s continental shelf but will let them develop offshore deposits there in partnership with Russian state firms, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Tuesday. “As for the admission of foreign companies, no changes are planned, which means foreign companies can […]

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Ministers Offered WTO Training

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
WTO Logo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Roland Oliphant – January 21, 2013) Government ministers were offered a free crash course in WTO rules after one of the country’s most senior financiers savaged officials for failing to understand the organization Russia finally joined last year. Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization, said Friday that the group would be willing […]

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OECD Chief Says Accession Is a Learning Process

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
OECD Logo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – January 21, 2012) Accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development provides a good chance for Russia’s decision-makers to identify weaknesses in social and economic policy and respond with adequate reforms, the organization’s secretary general said. Jose Angel Gurria, who spoke at the Gaidar economic forum on Friday, said work on […]

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OSCE in need of renewal – Lavrov

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of OSCE Banners

MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) – The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe must get rid of imbalances and double standards by 2015, becoming a fully-fledged international organization with its own charter, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “Russia sees the Helsinki + 40 initiative as an important step that aims to launch the process of the OSCE’s renewal and […]

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Real Opposition to the Authorities is in the Provinces, Lipetsk Writer Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 19 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-real-opposition-to.html) The “real opposition” to the powers that be is not in Moscow but in the provinces, a Lipetsk writer says, because in Moscow, opposition figures simply want to replace one ruler with another while in the provinces people want the authorities whoever they are to play an ever-smaller […]

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Russian rocket designer, activist may have been tortured by foreign special service before committing suicide – Limonov

Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Eduard Limonov file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) – Alexander Dolmatov, a leading rocket designer and an activist of the unregistered leftist organization The Other Russia, committed suicide in the Netherlands after having been interrogated under torture by Western special services, says The Other Russia leader Eduard Limonov. “After Sasha Dolmatov’s suicide note was published, it is clear that he was interrogated by Dutch […]

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Pussy Riot member suspected of deal with prosecution and ‘betrayal’

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Pussy Riot Members in Courtroom Enclosure, With Man Showing Papers to One While Female Guard Looks On

MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) – A lawyer has expressed suspicion that there are string indications that the release of one of the three convicted members of the Pussy Riot punk rock band was part of a “bargain” between her and the prosecution and represented “betrayal of common interests.” Correspondence between the two other convicts, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, which […]

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The Duma Lacks Principles

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Duma Building

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – David Edwards – January 21, 2013) David Edwards is chief copy editor at The Moscow Times. An obscure Washington state politician once said her votes on proposed legislation were based on conscience, constituency and caucus ­ in that order. She may be on to something. United Russia deputies in the State Duma who voted for […]

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Russian Rocker Yury Shevchuk: Society Is Awakening, People Are Beginning To Think

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Yuri Shvchuk file photo, adapted from Voice of America image

(RFE/RL – January 21, 2013) Despite claiming that he’s not a politician, Yury Shevchuk, frontman for the legendary Russian rock band DDT, is quite vocal when discussing political topics. Speaking recently at the Brooklyn Public Library, Shevchuk said he and his band are seeking to bring about democratic change in Russia through music. Nikola Krastev caught up with Shevchuk in […]

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Russian Opposition Plans Next Mass Protest In Spring

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Moscow Protest file photo

(RIA Novosti – January 20, 2013) The opposition Coordination Council has decided to hold the next mass protest march in spring, Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported on 20 January. Twenty-six members of the Coordination Council voted for the proposal “to hold a nationwide mass protest in spring 2013, with the working title March against the Hangmen”. The exact date […]

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Opposition Figures’ Legal Woes Mount

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Leonid Razvozzhayev file photo with hand to ear, as if holding cellphone

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – January 21, 2013) Two opposition figures saw their legal troubles mount on Friday, as investigators pressed ahead with an embezzlement charge against protest leader Alexei Navalny and opened a criminal case into allegations that leftist activist Leonid Razvozzhayev falsely maligned them. Investigators presented the final version of a charge against Navalny that […]

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Politics and rivalries hinder Investigative Committee

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – January 21, 2013) Alexander Bastrykin’s Investigative Committee – which just celebrated its second birthday – is flexing its muscles in a much-touched anti-corruption crusade. But a look at its achievements in recent months suggests that while the body’s crime-fighting intentions may be sincere, Bastrykin’s caped crusaders are still far from Eliot Ness’ […]

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Russian Justice Ministry finds no NGOs falling foul of anti-Magnitskiy law

Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Kremlin and St. Basil's

(Interfax – January 18, 2013) Russia’s Justice Ministry has said that it has so far found no NGOs headed by or financed by citizens of the USA whose activities could be suspended under the “anti-Magnitskiy” law (also known as the Dima Yakovlev law). The law, better known for its controversial Article 4, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children, […]

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Navalny says prosecution aims to bar him from elections

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

MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) – Opposition campaigner Alexei Navalny said his prosecution in the fraud case connected with the Kirovles logging company is part of the law enforcement services’ plan to obstruct his political activities and prevent him from running in elections. “The goal is to obstruct my political activities and to prevent my running in elections, all of which […]

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Investigators Open New Case Against Putin Foe

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Leonid Razvozzhayev file photo with hand to ear, as if holding cellphone

MOSCOW/IRKUTSK, January 18 (RIA Novosti) ­ Investigators opened a new criminal case against opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev on Friday and denied media reports of his disappearance. Investigators accuse the activist of spreading false information, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told RIA Novosti on Friday, stemming from Razvozzhayev’s continuing claims that he was tortured into confessing his role in organizing mass […]

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