Gary Kasparov, leader of the United Civic Front, has decided to refrain from trips to Russia. At a press conference in Geneva, the chess grand-master announced that he is afraid of criminal prosecution in his homeland in connection with the investigation of cases against the opposition. “I went there back and forth right up until […]
[Few of the Kremlin’s moves since Putin’s return to the presidency have engendered more homegrown protest than the NGO Law, which forces civil society groups that receive foreign funds or engage in nebulously defined “political” activity to register as “foreign agents.” Here, Aleksandr Rubtsov highlights the “theatre of the absurd”-qualities to the law’s implementation. –ed.] In […]
On June 4, Sergei Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, announced his resignation. He will be running for office at early mayoral elections that will be held in September According to Sobyanin, the majority of the capital’s residents support the idea of holding early mayoral elections concurrently with elections for the governor of the Moscow Region […]
[Russia’s security services have shocked the public by arresting Said Amirov, the Mayor of Makhachkala in the Republic of Dagestan, alleging his involvement in conspiracy to murder and involvement in the narcotics trade, among other serious crimes. Amirov has dominated Dagestani politics for fifteen years, and his arrest has raised questions of whether the state […]
[Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Justice Minister Aleksandr Konovalov met on April 27 with their employees who have been included in the so-called Magnitsky List. The list includes 18 judges and representatives of law-enforcement and other government agencies whom American authorities believe are complicit in the death in pre-trial detention at Matrosskaya Tishina Prison of […]
[Enhanced laws punishing individuals for offenses to religious feeling are being employed against artist Artyom Loskutov, who has been brought up on similar charges several times before for the content of his art. Kommersant reports on his latest offense.–Ed.] Artyom Loskutov, an artist from Novosibirsk known for organizing “Monstration” street art shows, is involved in […]
[The following article describes the latest developments in the investigation into the embezzlement of funds from the GLONASS satellite programme. Investigators have revealed that the management of a company affiliated by the programme are suspected of taking part in the theft, and the CEO of NPP Metromark Infosystems has been arrested—Ed.] There have been new […]
[According to the Central Election Commission data for 2012, the ruling United Russia party is the Russia’s wealthiest political party: its earnings amounted to 3.9 billion roubles ($122 million), most of which were received from the state budget. The emptiest coffers were those of RPR-PARNAS, that will have to finance its election campaign not from […]
[In his blog on The New Times, opposition leader Ilya Yashin reports on the court appearance of Vadim Korovin, an activist from the Federation of Car Owners, who allegedly ran into a Traffic and Road Safety Inspector after refusing to yield right of way to an official motorcade. His treatment has attracted the attention of civic […]
[This report in Vedomosti analyses the doubts expressed by some regarding the delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria by the Russian government. The article suggests that these systems may be of little use to the Assad regime, and are in fact more important as a source of international leverage for the Russian government.—Ed.] […]
