[This article reports on new criminal complaints filed in relation to the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the GLONASS satellite navigation programme—Ed.] The Interior Ministry has filed a criminal complaint against the former managers of M2M Telematics, an IT company and a subsidiary of Sistema, JSFC. The company is suspected of involvement in the […]
The State Department has placed Russia in the same rank as North Korea and Iran regarding the level of counteraction to the slave trade. The US State Department included Russia in the list of countries failing to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” along with Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Eritrea. The […]
In a recent court decision “Coming Out”, a public organization advocating the rights of sexual minorities, has been declared a “foreign agent”, according to Interfax. A magistrate for the 19th district of St. Petersburg established the fact of administrative offence and imposed a fine in the amount of 500 thousand roubles. The defense said they […]
[This article examines the amendments proposed by Russia’s Ministry of Justice which would expand the state’s ability to inspect and interfere in the activities of NGOs, regardless of their funding sources. These measures would extend the law passed in 2012 requiring NGOs receiving foreign funding to register as “foreign agents.”—Ed.] Many hoped that Russian authorities […]
[Gazeta.ru examines the motivations behind the firing of prominent museum director Marat Gelman from the PERMM Museum of Modern Art, pointing to controversial exhibitions as the impetus behind his dismissal—Ed.] The Perm authorities announced the dismissal of Marat Gelman from the post of director of the PERMM Museum of Modern Art. Experts say this will result […]
On June 17, the G8 Summit was held in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, but President Putin held a series of bilateral meetings in advance, including his first meeting since June 2012 with US President Barack Obama. A month before, the presidents had exchanged messages; diplomats of both countries had said that at this meeting the […]
[Lenta has posted this update on Alexey Navalny’s trial for embezzlement, noting that the oppositional leader has been denied the right to call witnesses in his defense. — Ed.] Judge Sergei Blinov refused to summon any of the witnesses, declared by the defense under the “Kirovles” Case. He ruled that in the motion to summon […]
[This article discusses the strategy behind the founding of the United Popular Front, a pro-Kremlin populist political movement headed by Vladimir Putin, and widely believed to have been established to distance Putin from the unpopular United Russia party—Ed.] The United Popular Front, a.k.a. the “United Front for Russia” (well, not for the USA, of course), […]
Because he was unable to rid himself of his foreign assets in time, Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civic Platform party has declined to take part in the mayoral elections in Moscow this year. As a result, the main candidate from the opposition is now Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of the Yabloko party, who told Izvestia […]
[The following article describes measures taken by US legislators and adoptive parents to protest against the Dima Yakolev Law, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children. The concerned parties have asked President Obama to raise the issue when he meets with Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit this week.—Ed.] Lifting the ban on […]
