As the saga of fugitive Edward Snowden continues, reports that he has sought refuge in Moscow have caused many to warn of consequences for US-Russian relations. The Interpreter asked Russia expert and author of Deception: Spies, Lies and How Russia Dupes the West, Edward Lucas, for his take on the situation. The Interpreter: What is […]
The State Department has placed Russia in the same rank as North Korea and Iran regarding the level of counteraction to the slave trade. The US State Department included Russia in the list of countries failing to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” along with Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Eritrea. The […]
In a recent court decision “Coming Out”, a public organization advocating the rights of sexual minorities, has been declared a “foreign agent”, according to Interfax. A magistrate for the 19th district of St. Petersburg established the fact of administrative offence and imposed a fine in the amount of 500 thousand roubles. The defense said they […]
A new suspect has been detained in the criminal case concerning the embezzlement of several billion rubles from the Ministry of Defense through Oboronservis, a holding company. The Russian Interior Ministry reported the detention on its web site on 20 June. The name of the suspect was not given; however, it was reported that in […]
[Gazeta.ru examines the motivations behind the firing of prominent museum director Marat Gelman from the PERMM Museum of Modern Art, pointing to controversial exhibitions as the impetus behind his dismissal—Ed.] The Perm authorities announced the dismissal of Marat Gelman from the post of director of the PERMM Museum of Modern Art. Experts say this will result […]
[The following article describes measures taken by US legislators and adoptive parents to protest against the Dima Yakolev Law, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children. The concerned parties have asked President Obama to raise the issue when he meets with Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit this week.—Ed.] Lifting the ban on […]
The Kremlin is planning to set up its own publishing company with a conservative-leaning news angle, Kommersant has reported, citing Dmitry Badovsky, Director of the Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies Foundation (ISEPI), and formerly Deputy Chief of the Internal Policy Department in the President’s Administration. The founder of the new entity will be ISEPI. […]
In the run-up to the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland (17-18 June) and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (20-22 June), Vladimir Putin gave a long and rather dull interview to RIA Novosti on Russia’s priorities in foreign economic policy. Slon.ru has selected the most significant themes: What can be expected from these G8 and […]
[This article in The New Times argues that Vladimir Putin’s political control is eroding inexorably as a result of corruption from above and increasingly poor economic performance—Ed.] A year and a month after the third coming of Vladimir Putin, who in fact never left, it is becoming obvious that he will not fulfill the main demand of […]
Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civic Platform, announced today that he will not run in the elections for mayor of Moscow, and no one from his party will take part in them. “We will not take part in the extension of the acting government’s license. We will act according to the rule ‘the mayor is […]
