Spotlight

Blonde With a Bat: An Anti-Immigrant Pogrom

August 9, 2013

Over the last several weeks, racist crowds have reportedly attacked markets in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, often with the assistance of the police. Without cause, immigrants selling fruit in marketplaces have been beaten or arrested, and their produce destroyed, often before they are even given an opportunity to present any documents that could prove […]

Criminal Case for Slavery

August 8, 2013

Wednesday we published a translation of a journalist’s tour of a refugee internment camp after police raids netted over one thousand illegal immigrants. Today, we publish a translation about how the Russian police are pursuing slavery charges against the “employers” of those migrant workers. It is worth noting that widespread police misconduct has been reported by […]

“Let’s Call it a ‘Special Settlement.’ Not a Prison, But No Better”

August 7, 2013

In recent weeks, widespread immigration raids have been reported, and that pace has quickened further in recent days. This is the story of one of the immigration camps where those detained in raids are taken. Update: A criminal case has been opened against the “employers” of these migrants. See our separate translation. – Ed. Massive raids […]

It’s Time To Reconsider the Sochi Olympics

Outrage at Russia’s new law against homosexual propaganda has coalesced around a campaign to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics, underscoring the complexities of navigating human rights activism and high-stakes international sporting events. The so-called “anti gay propaganda” law, which passed in June, criminalizes the distribution of information to minors that suggests that homosexual and heterosexual […]

The Communist Party’s Gay Propaganda

August 6, 2013

Few pieces of graffiti are more famous than Dmitri Vrubel’s My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love. The painting, sometimes called Fraternal Kiss, adorned the Berlin Wall between 1990 and 2009. It recreated a picture taken in 1979, on the anniversary of the founding of the Communist German Democratic Republic in East Germany. At that celebration,  two men,  Leonid […]

“Obama Has Ordered the Release Of Navalny”

Below is the transcript between between Aleksandr Bogomolov (Federal Patriotic Herald) and State Duma Deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov after opposition leader Alexei Navalny was temporarily released from prison so that he might pursue a campaign for Moscow’s mayor, pending his appeal.. -Ed. Novaya Gazeta has asked the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Health to […]

Deputy and Slon Journalist Beaten by Homophobes in Moscow Bar

Vera Kichanova, Slon.ru journalist; a municipal deputy for the South Tushino district; and [Kichanova’s] companions were beaten at Kamchatka bar. Some female guests at the bar, and then the men in their group, were unhappy with the way Vera’s friends looked and decided to demonstrate their dislike of homosexuals, not only by word but by […]

The Interior Ministry Initiates Criminal Proceedings Against Bloodhound Gang

August 5, 2013

In response to the “desecration” of the Russian national flag by the American rock band the Bloodhound Gang during a performance in Ukraine, Russia’s Interior Ministry (MVD) is seeking to file criminal charges and try the band’s bassist under Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code. However, the band and the member under question are […]

Record Amount of Candidates and Parties for Chechnya Elections

In Chechnya, the Electoral Commission registers anyone who wishes to participate in the parliamentary elections, which resulted in a record number of candidates for parliamentary seats. The majority of registered parties do not have their offices in the republic and are not going to spend money on campaigning. “Spoilers” will help to strengthen the position […]

Public Officials Transfer Their Balances from Foreign Banks to the VTB Group

Repatriation of balances from accounts in foreign banks by public officials contributed to a record growth of deposits in “VTB 24”, according to the bank’s president, Mikhail Zadornov. By July individuals’ balances in “VTB 24” reached 982 bn roubles, an increase by 163.6 bn, or 20% since the beginning of the year. This is a […]