[Lenta has posted this update on Alexey Navalny’s trial for embezzlement, noting that the oppositional leader has been denied the right to call witnesses in his defense. — Ed.] Judge Sergei Blinov refused to summon any of the witnesses, declared by the defense under the “Kirovles” Case. He ruled that in the motion to summon […]
[This article discusses the strategy behind the founding of the United Popular Front, a pro-Kremlin populist political movement headed by Vladimir Putin, and widely believed to have been established to distance Putin from the unpopular United Russia party—Ed.] The United Popular Front, a.k.a. the “United Front for Russia” (well, not for the USA, of course), […]
Because he was unable to rid himself of his foreign assets in time, Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civic Platform party has declined to take part in the mayoral elections in Moscow this year. As a result, the main candidate from the opposition is now Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of the Yabloko party, who told Izvestia […]
[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 […]
[On June 12, the national “Day of Russia,” Russia’s opposition organized their “March Against Butchers,” with an estimated turnout of between 6,000-30,000. This article describes the events of the day—Ed.] According to the Interior Ministry Main Department of the City of Moscow, no serious violations of public order were registered during the march of June […]
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 […]
To the Chairman of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Krasnov From Natalya Nikolayevna Magnitskaya 07 June 2013 Open Letter on the Case of Sergei Magnitsky Dear Dmitry Anatolevich, From media reports, I have learned that on 22 April 2013, the Council of Judges of the City of Moscow issued a […]
