To many commenters and analysts, the concept of the inviolability of law and individual rights in Russia is almost assuredly viewed as a fanciful or abstract idea that has yet to reach its shores. One need only to look at the trials of dissidents, from Oligarchs and investors to punk rockers, political opponents and business […]
An explosion has ripped through a bus near the southern city of Volgograd (map), in the volatile North Caucasus region. Updates are below. Click here to jump to the end of the page where we have posted summary and background information. October 22, 1945 GMT: The passport mystery continues (see previous updates below), but a close […]
To say that racism is pandemic in Russia these days might be an understatement. Sunday’s race riots in Moscow were certainly not the first time The Interpreter has raised the alarm over the increasingly-radical nationalist movement. Over the summer, a Russian paratrooper was killed by a Chechen immigrant in the North Caucasus town of Pugachev. Though […]
Alexei Navalny walked out of a Russian court a free man this morning, after his five-year prison sentence was suspended. Over the summer, Navalny was convicted for embezzling 16 millions roubles (about half a million dollars) worth of wood. The initial trial was widely viewed as a political sham, as the defense was not allowed […]
Just as angry anti-migrant mobs raged in the provincial town of Pugachev and in St. Petersburg last summer, on Sunday night rioters rampaged in the drab industrial district of Biryulyovo in Moscow surrounding one of the largest vegetable warehouses in Europe. Two separate incidents led to arrests of some 450 people, 23 were wounded including […]
Recently, it seems that not a week goes by where the Russian military is not staging some very public exercise or announcing the arrival or planning of new equipment. Not since Peter the Great or the massive military buildup in WWII has the Russian military experienced such a windfall of money and political support. The […]
Today is Vladimir Putin’s 61st birthday. As such, we have decided to republish this article, originally published on June 3, 2013. – Ed. Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I’m 29 and I’ve been living for 14 years with the depressing thought that there will be nobody except you to rule the country forever. When thousands of Russians […]
It’s not that Vladimir Putin will suffer no rivals, it’s that his rivals will suffer. Sergei Magnitsky, Sergey Udaltsov, Leonid Nevzlin, Sergei Guriyev, Mikhail Khodorkovsky… these are just a few of the names of outspoken critics of the Russian government who have been imprisoned or who have had to flee the country to avoid imprisonment, just because they have angered […]
UN weapons inspectors have returned to Syria and have launched an investigation into seven alleged chemical weapons attacks across the country. Some of the sites were selected before the August 21st chemical weapons attack that brought the world to the brink of war, and some of them are new sites around Damascus. However, there is one location […]
Alexei Navalny and his campaign manager maintain that Sergei Sobyanin did not receive more than 50% of the votes, which would force a runoff vote between Sobyanin and Navalny, the top two vote-getters in Moscow’s mayoral election. For more background on yesterday’s elections, click here. For a summary of the election results as of this […]
