Staunton, October 2 – Moscow appears to be acting on the principle that if there is no ministry, there is no problem, officials in the Urals say, but in fact, by destroying the regional affairs ministry, the Kremlin has not only destroyed “the fragile balance” between the center and the provinces but convinced many that […]
Staunton, October 2 – There are many ways to destroy media freedom, but members of the Russian Duma have come up with a new one that may prove far more insidious than anyone may now imagine: They are calling for legislation that would preclude media outlets from carrying stories about subjects not defined as part […]
Staunton, October 2 – Draftees who maintain attachments on the basis of where they are are a greater source of violations of military discipline than are those who identify as members of a particular nationality, according to a retired Russian colonel who served as deputy commander of the unified Russian forces in the North Caucasus […]
Staunton, October 2 – The underlying premise of Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea is false: Crimea has not been part of Russia from time immemorial. Instead, it has had a complex history, one in which Russia’s role has been remarkably brief. As a result, it is important that the future of the peninsula be decided […]
Staunton, October 1 – In yet another indication of the way in which Vladimir Putin is imposing an intellectual straightjacket on the Russian population, a professor from the Yugra State University in Khanty-Mansiisk who specializes on Indian religions appears to have lost his job because he took part in an academic conference on religious issues […]
Staunton, October 1 – Anatoly Makarov, the head of the Russian foreign ministry department for work with compatriots, says Moscow is doing everything it can to make “our multi-million strong diaspora a reliable partner of Russia, from which we have the read to expect deep internal moral support and understanding of our foreign policy initiatives.” […]
Staunton, October 1 – When Vladimir Putin abolished the regional affairs ministry and transferred responsibility for nationality policy to the ministry of culture, he reassigned 40 officials from the one to the other. But now, the Russian Federation culture ministry says it needs 30 more and a deputy minister to oversee them. These numbers highlight […]
Staunton, October 1 – That Moscow is different from the rest of Russia is such a commonplace that many Russians and people in the West fail to recognize just how much, but new data provide a measure that highlights the difference: Muscovites, figures show, live on average six years longer than do residents of other […]
Staunton, October 1 – A dangerous but entirely predictable trend is occurring in both Russia and the West: Many who see what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine as a crime are saying he is mad or insane, an approach that simultaneously makes him less responsible for what he has done and leaves others less […]
Staunton, September 30 – The Russian general staff has announced that it will draft young men from Chechnya this fall for the first time in 20 years and will begin drafting that cohort from occupied Crimea and Sevastopol next spring, an indication of just how hard Moscow is having to work to compensate for demographic […]
