Staunton, March 28 – Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said and official Russian news agencies have reported that that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is going to have extremely deleterious effects on the Russian economy, including massive capital flight, and any hope of real economic growth this year. Kudrin said yesterday that Russia will […]
Tag: Kremlin
YouTube is the Continuation of War by Other Means
This video clip has been circulating in social media all today, but just now has been moved to “private” on YouTube and is no longer visible, although it is still shown on some news sites. It shows a woman who says she is from Odessa and has come to the Sevastopol State Region Administration to […]
Ukraine Liveblog: Day 4 — Yanukovych Teeters
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has lost much of his power base following the bloodiest day in a 72-hour period in Ukraine. He has now announced early elections, though without specifying when they might be held. Meanwhile, Russia has threatened military action in Crimea to protect ethnic Russians and a Russian military base there. Yesterday’s liveblog […]
Saudi Arabia is Trying to Buy Russia at the Expense of Syria?
The Kremlin has denied an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would provide Russia with massive arms contracts in exchange for dropping Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Before the denial, however, there was limited reference to the reportedly proposal in most mainstream Russian press outlets. However, one such mention was in MK, a kind […]
How Putin Uses Money Laundering Charges to Control His Opponents
Last Thursday, Sergei Magnitsky was convicted of tax evasion. The only problem was he was not there to hear the verdict read. Magnitsky was killed in Moscow’s Butyrka prison in 2009, likely as a result of beatings and a lack of medical treatment. His crime was uncovering a $230 million tax fraud involving members of […]
What Edward Snowden Can Expect Under Russian Law
Former NSA employee Edward Snowden, who remains in the transit area at Sheremetyevo Airport, could remain there indefinitely, even as the US attempts to have him extradited for the disclosure of information about government surveillance of electronic communications. This matter is regulated in Russia under Art. 31 of the Law on Entry and Exit. According […]
A response to Peter Pomerantsev’s exploration of the Kremlin’s weaknesses
A recent article by Peter Pomerantsev offers complex and essential insights for anyone who seeks to understand how support for the Putin regime was orchestrated. Pomerantsev, who worked as a producer at television network TNT, describes how the Putin regime is undergirded by political technologists who manipulate all forms of public discourse— from television to […]
G7+1, LGBT rights, Gazprom and E-mail Tricksters
Here’s a quick recap of some of today’s biggest news: – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper labeled the G8 summit as the “G7+1” in reference to Putin’s isolated stance on Syria. As The Moscow News reports, when asked if he felt “lonely” during the summit he replied, “Of course not. That’s absolutely not true. Somebody, apparently, […]
The Kremlin to Compete with Vedomosti and Kommersant
The Kremlin is planning to set up its own publishing company with a conservative-leaning news angle, Kommersant has reported, citing Dmitry Badovsky, Director of the Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies Foundation (ISEPI), and formerly Deputy Chief of the Internal Policy Department in the President’s Administration. The founder of the new entity will be ISEPI. […]
Protests, Whistleblowers, Political Parties and Blasphemy Laws
Here’s a list of some of today’s top news stories: -Moscow saw a large opposition rally in support of the arrested protestors who are set to go on trial from last year’s “Bolotnaya” protests. Estimates of the crowd’s size vary depending on sources, ranging from 6,000 to 30,000. The protest also saw the attendance of […]