A prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, won an opposition party’s backing on Friday in a Moscow mayoral election, raising the stakes in a trial that may put him behind bars for a decade.
The widow of the murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has criticised David Cameron’s decision to meet Vladimir Putin in Downing Street on Sunday, in the run-up to next week’s G8 summit, saying it is morally wrong to “appease dictators”.
The mayor of Makhachkala, Said Amirov, formally charged in the murder of a local investigator, was briefly hospitalized after he inflicted wounds on himself while in pre-trial custody.
A Russian journalist has won a prestigious award for helping to expose high-level corruption in the country.
“In practice, nothing displeases the authorities more than someone writing the truth about them.” That’s prominent Russian environmentalist and blogger Suren Gazarian speaking to Reporters Without Borders in a Skype chat from Estonia a few months ago.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is to be forcibly brought back to Kirov at prosecutors’ request for the continuation of the embezzlement case against him, a news report said Thursday.
Thousands of Muscovites took the well-trodden path to Bolotnaya Ploshchad on Wednesday to voice their opposition to President Vladimir Putin‘s 13-year rule.
Germany has condemned a new Russian law banning homosexual “propaganda”, with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle – himself gay – saying on Wednesday that attempts to stigmatize same-sex relationships had no place in a democracy.
The controversial legislation banning “homosexual propaganda” is expected to be passed by the State Duma amid protests from gay-rights activists.
The All-Russia Popular Front (ONF) organization led by the ruling United Russia party has declared itself an official political movement.
