Red Square was once again occupied by a group of protesters this weekend marking the 45th anniversary of the arrest of a group of activists and Russia’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. Recalling what happened 45 years ago, this protest was also dispersed by police, sparking an official complaint from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. 25 […]
As a former official of the Russian Foreign Ministry, I cannot pass by a turn in our foreign policy without comment. When I worked in the ministry, it was exclusively pragmatic: no ideology, only national interests, expressed primarily in cash. Visited by the young Putin in 2001, the Greeks laughed at him in their newspapers; […]
Opposition candidate for Moscow’s mayor, Alexei Navalny, was arrested over the weekend while speaking to voters. Even before this, however, he was under investigation for using “illegal campaign materials.” The house of one of his supporters was raided, and Navalny has been issued a verbal warning, but Navalny’s camp claims that, so far, no public […]
The opposition’s candidate for Moscow’s mayor is surging in the polls, despite a recent conviction for fraud. Though he is still a long shot to win Moscow’s mayoral race, he is polling higher now that the debates have started, especially since Moscow’s incumbent, Sergei Sobyanin, has refused to take place in the debates. Navalny was […]
Russia has been a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Since the crisis in Syria began in 2011, Russia has repaired Assad’s attack helicopters, has delivered weapons and munitions to the Syrian regime, and has continuously blocked all actions by the United Nations Security Council, even when those actions only consisted of statements […]
Russia has levied sanctions against Ukraine, backing up hundreds of freight trucks at the border, all in protest of Ukraine’s decision to enter the European Union instead of the Moscow-centric Customs Union. The move may cost Ukraine $2.5 billion this year alone. Now, there are signs that Russia could turn its already infamous anti-immigration policies […]
With the September 8 election fast approaching, the Moscow mayoral race is heating up. Thus far, the campaign has been the most contentious in a major Russian election in recent memory, with mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s surprise resignation and bid for reelection, and activist Alexei Navalny’s dramatic entry onto the electoral scene, despite a conviction for […]
The Central Election Commission (CEC) published data on financial flows to the accounts of political parties for the second quarter of 2013. It turned out that the largest party in the country [United Russia – Ed.] is rapidly losing sponsors. Now it takes only the fifth place in the list in terms of monetary contributions […]
The Ministry of Finance and independent experts figured out how to save the budget money. Over three years the measures they proposed will save more than 1.1 trillion roubles. The government expenditure optimization project has already been submitted to the government, the Ministry of Finance press service told “RG.” The authors of these proposals plan […]
One of Russia’s banks took a loan from Bank of Russia in order to stay afloat. However, that bank also owed creditors billions of rubles. An appeals court has pronounced that the bank rightfully transferred money to the Central Bank before its other creditors. This decision, however, means that now that the bank is bankrupt, […]
