On December 12, 1993, Russia adopted its current Constitution. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the President and the State Duma will pardon a significant number of criminals. There has been a significant amount of speculation as to whether Pussy Riot, the Bolotnaya Square prisoners, the Greenpeace activists, and other high-profile convicts will be included in […]
The headlines over the last couple weeks have rightly been focused on Ukraine and its unenviable position as a pawn being torn asunder by the competing interests of the EU and Russia. The situation is merely another example of how Russia uses economic intimidation and its supply of hydrocarbons to enact foreign policy ambitions (Russia […]
Earlier, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, said that before the end of the year Washington could expand the “Magnitsky list”, which includes individuals who have been denied entry into the U.S. and whose property and accounts in U.S. banks are to be frozen. Moscow will respond in kind in case the “Magnitsky list” […]
Dmitry Kiselyov, general director of the news agency Russiya Segodnya [Russia Today] promised to preserve all of RIA Novosti’s brands on the base of which a new media will be created. He announced this at a meeting with the RIA Novosti collective, a videotape of which was published on 12 December on Youtube. On 9 December, […]
This week, the Russian government announced that it was shutting down respected news outlet RIA Novosti and rebranding it as Russia Segodnya (Russia Today). The new head of this venture will be Dmitry Kiselyov, one of the most vocal pro-Kremlin pundits in Russia, notorious for his homophobic comments. He’s said that the goal of Russia Today […]
All the factions of the State Duma endorsed the statement on the situation in Ukraine. In this statement the legislators express dissatisfaction with the actions of the opposition, including riots and destruction of monuments, as well as with meddling by western politicians in Ukraine’s affairs. In its statement the State Duma warns that “unauthorized rallies, […]
This week the Russian Supreme Court declared that the prison sentence given to Pussy Riot members was unlawful. The announcement came one day after Russian state news outlets carried a “leaked” report that the punk rockers were named in a draft amnesty bill. This led to many to think that Pussy Riot might have several […]
This summer, the biggest story in Russia was that, for the first time in recent memory, a serious opposition candidate, Alexei Navalny, could win an important election. Navalny was running for Moscow’s mayor against President Putin’s favored candidate, Sergei Sobyanin. Despite being arrested, tried and convicted for fraud, and then released, Navalny still received a […]
In a blow to President Vladimir Putin, German President Joachim Gauck’s has declined an invitation to attend the Sochi Olympic games. President Gauck’s gesture is also a boost for opposition leaders who believe the attendance by foreign dignitaries at the games would legitimize Putin and give tacit acceptance to his mounting campaign against Russia’s democracy […]
Georgia is considering getting rid of its Soviet and Russian weapons, primarily its T-55 and T‑72 tanks, and its Mi-8 helicopters. According to the Ministry of Defense there are “several dozen” of such machines. In the current conditions it doesn’t seem feasible to have them repaired in Russia or to get spare parts from Russia. […]
