Staunton, December 5, 2015 In response to Vladimir Putin’s address and the arrest of Karelian regionalist writer Vadim Shtepa, Karelian head Aleksandr Khudilaynen says that the West is seeking to use Islamic fundamentalism against Russia just as it tried to use Nazism against the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Khudilaynen said that it was “not […]
Staunton, November 25 Given his reputation for the outrageous, few people paid much attention to Supreme Mufti Talgat Tajuddin’s observation two weeks ago that Russia’s Muslims already have a caliphate: “It is called Holy Rus”. But far more are likely to attend to the notion that “the best ideals” of Holy Rus are not only […]
Staunton, November 20 In Western countries, those who frequently use the Internet have higher levels of public trust, according to many studies; but in Russia, the situation is just the reverse, Olesya Volchenko says. There, Internet use has the effect of pushing down still further already low levels of public trust. Volchenko, a researcher at […]
Staunton, November 20 The flood of news stories from a country as large, diverse and often strange as the Russian Federation often appears to be is far too large for anyone to keep up with. But there needs to be a way to mark those which can’t be discussed in detail but which are too […]
Staunton, November 23 Even though Russians represent less than three percent of the world’s population, one of every six alcohol-related deaths in the world occurs within the borders of the Russian Federation, a figure that means Russia is overrepresented in this category by more than 500 percent. But as tragic as that figure is, the […]
Staunton, November 22 – What Vladimir Putin does in Syria clearly will have a powerful impact on what he does in Ukraine, Andrey Zubov says. If the Kremlin leader goes his own way to save Asad, he will be isolated and, in response, will be likely to intensify his aggression against Ukraine. If he chooses […]
Staunton, November 23 There are thousands more North Caucasians as well as other citizens of the Russian Federation fighting on the side of the Islamists in the Middle East that Moscow admits, Akhmet Yarlykarpov says, the result in large measure of an ISIS recruiting effort that the Russian authorities have not yet found a way […]
Staunton, November 16 Vladimir Putin should be compared with Stalin rather than with Hitler, Avraam Shmulyevich says, not only because he is seeking to use an east-west alliance to legitimize his seizure of territory but also because Putin has played “no less a role” in the creation of ISIS than the Soviet dictator did in […]
The Russian-language US Embassy Twitter account in Russia has uncovered an obvious forgery used by the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestiya in a disinformation claim to discredit a gay activst. Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue […]
Staunton, November 16 In the wake of the Paris tragedy, Vladimir Putin, Moscow officials and Russian commentators have precisely duplicated “the classical model of behavior of a racketeer,” pointing out to the West that because “you didn’t want to pay, now look how your store is burning to the ground,” according to Ukrainian commentator Igor […]
