Alexei Navalny has launched an interactive website displaying the results of his investigations into corruption in the construction projects for the Sochi Winter Olympics. The report was translated by The Interpreter, and an analysis of the report has been written by our editor-in-chief, Michael Weiss. Below is an article published in Lenta.ru, a liberal Russian […]
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Russian State Duma Asks West To Not Interfere in Ukraine
On Wednesday the State Duma issued a statement on the events in Ukraine. As the Russian Foreign Minister did the day before, the deputies called on external forces to refrain from interfering in what is happening and to not aggravate the situation. “The State Duma calls on foreign politicians, who in violation of international law […]
Russian Prisoner of Conscience Platon Lebedev Released
Today or tomorrow, Platon Lebedev will be released [note – there are reports he was released Friday afternoon, after this article was published — Ed.]. It was decided by the Supreme Court as the result of hearings on the two “Yukos” cases. A month ago Platon Lebedev spoke about his upcoming release in an interview […]
Ukraine and Yanukovych: A Tug of War
This article was published yesterday in the business journal Vedomosti. Last night and today, clashes between protesters and Ukrainian security forces have intensified. — Ed. “The laws on dictatorship” adopted by show of hands by the Verkhovna Rada on January 16, were met by Ukraine that was in a state of a frozen political conflict. […]
High Treason and Anti-Aircraft Missiles
Valery Morozov is a whistleblowing businessman who fell foul of the Russian authorities in Sochi after reporting state bribery. He has been granted political asylum in Great Britain. Morozov posts this dramatic story. What starts as a conversation about Sochi, and corruption in Russia in general, ends in a revelation about the theft of one […]
Russian Foreign Ministry Accuses EU of Gay Propaganda
The Russian Foreign Ministry has released a report on the human rights record of the European Union. It begins with a rather honest and astute reflection of problems facing the EU: The most pressing human rights issues in the EU still include a steady growth of xenophobia, racism, violent nationalism, chauvinism and neo-Nazism. In the context […]
Skype Prepared to Provide Data About its Users to Russian Law Enforcement
The Microsoft Corporation (which owns the internet telephone service Skype) is prepared to store information on conversations and correspondence for six months, in order to provide it, along with user data from within the Russian Federation, to Russian law enforcement agencies, according to a response from Microsoft’s press service to a request from ITAR-TASS. “Microsoft […]
Latvia Will Miss the Paralympic Games in Sochi Due to Lack of Funds
RIGA, January 15. The Latvian national team will not take part in the Winter Paralympic games in Sochi because of insufficient funding from the state. This was reported to the media by the president of the national paralympic committee, Daiga Dadzīte. “There is not money,” said Dadzīte in an interview with radio Baltkom, speaking of […]
Ariel Sharon the Personification of Israel’s Dream and Tragedy
This is a translation of an article published in Izvestia, a pro-Kremlin publication, praising Ariel Sharon and drawing parallel’s between what happened in Gaza and what could happen in the Caucasus if Russia should withdraw. — Ed. The passing of Ariel Sharon came as an inevitable tragic outcome after eight years in which he was […]
Russian Nuclear Missile Cruiser Protects Syrian Chemical Weapons
Today, at a meeting in the Ministry of Defense they discussed the unique operation that Russian sailors, together with foreign colleagues, are carrying out in the Mediterranean. They are escorting ships filled with Syrian chemical weapons. It is understood that this deadly cargo, that includes about 20 tons of toxic mustard gas, needs to be […]