A Russian court has sentenced a protester to mandatory psychiatric treatment in a case that has been widely criticized by human rights watchdogs. Mikhail Kosenko, who has been voluntarily seeking mental-health treatment for much of his life and is a productive member of society, was accused of assaulting a police officer during the Bolotnaya riots […]
Following weeks of alarming inter-racial violence, including anti-minority riots in Moscow, the Interior Minister and the head of the Federal Migration Service spoke with legislators in the State Duma about possible immigration reforms. Some of the suggestions were practical, and not dissimilar from other countries’ systems. Some of the talk, however, was more focused on […]
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is missing. Authorities say that she has been transferred to another prison, but her lawyers and family have had no contact with her since October 21st. Some have suggested that, based on standing regulations, she will be able to contact the outside world within five days of transfer. Below, we have published a […]
Guarantees of privacy and secrecy of correspondence are becoming more elusive. The Federal Security Service (FSB) intends to require providers to install new equipment for comprehensive monitoring of Internet traffic and email correspondence. From the draft joint order by the FSB and the Ministry of Communications, published on the ministry’s website, it is clear that […]
A prominent Russian businessman and former State Duma deputy Konstantin Borovoy writes this editorial for Echo Moskvy, a liberal online newspaper. At face value, it is an apocalyptic scare piece, but there is also insight about the geographical integrity of Russia. With the Russian economy sagging, there are now significant structural problems in many of […]
Police are searching for vandals who threw bottles with flammable liquid into a prayer house, using a videotape from a security camera at the scene. Investigators are studying frames of the video which clearly show how vandals threw Molotov cocktails through the window of the building. It is possible that this videotape will help detain […]
Russia has seen a significant spike in racial incidents and inter-ethnic rioting in the last two weeks. In Moscow, in the Buryulyovo district, an anti-immigrant pogrom began on October 13th after an ethnic minority reportedly killed a native Russian. In Moscow and in St. Petersburg, there were more riots over the weekend. However, police are […]
Yesterday, a suicide bomber targeted a bus in Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, killing 6 people. This was the first article that The Interpreter encountered, published on the pro-Kremlin Izvestia within hours of the explosions, not long after authorities began to release additional information about the identity of the bomber. Officials now say that the bomber, Nadia […]
On Friday night, there were more anti-immigrant riots in southern Moscow, this time in the southwest suburb of Lyubertsy (map). This follows last week’s riots in Biryulyovo (map), which have heightened ethnic tensions across the country. Nationalists also led riots in St. Petersburg on Sunday. – Ed. In Lyubertsy, just outside Moscow, police prevented a […]
There were several anti-immigrant riots across Russia this weekend, including in St. Petersburg. This follows a week of intense inter-racial tension, following last weekend’s anti-minority riots in Moscow – Ed. NTV.Ru got the first footage of the events in St. Petersburg, where nationalists rioted after an authorized rally In the footage, taken after a meeting […]
