Two weeks ago, The Interpreter‘s editor-in-chief Michael Weiss interviewed Oksana Forostyna, executive editor for Krytyka Journal (think Ukraine’s London Review of Books). An outspoken intellectual and pro-Euromaidan activist, she talked about what the protestors in Kiev, now facing the bloodiest day of a three-month-long uprising (for more on this, see our liveblog), really want and what […]
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot have been detained in Sochi while preparing for a demonstration. They have been detained as suspects for a “theft” in their hotel. The two were planning to perform a song called Putin Will Teach You To Love Your Motherland but were arrested “with force” along with several other […]
Due to the high price of the construction at Sochi, some investors are worried that they will not be able to recoup their costs. In order to avoid default, some have advocated for the construction of casinos and the creation of a “gambling zone.” However, President Putin is against the idea. — Ed. Russian President […]
With the opening ceremony now almost exactly 48 hours away, officials and construction workers in Sochi are now desperately hurrying to bring the Olympic facilities on line. Journalists, who have flooded Sochi in the last day so, have been met with clear evidence of this chaotic bolt for completion. Our liveblog continues here. 0004 […]
As Friday’s opening ceremony draws near, the Institute of Modern Russia, of which The Interpreter is a special project, has launched a comprehensive and interactive website detailing the myriad cases of corruption and controversies surrounding the Olympic Games in Sochi. The website, available in both English and Russian, presents “exclusive information on 26 Olympic-related objects, including […]
At least 32 people have been killed in two bombings over the space of less than 24 hours in the southern Russian city of Volgograd. Updates are below. Click here to jump to a summary. UPDATES: 1726 GMT: A total of 34 people have now died in due to the two bombings in Volgograd. ITAR-TASS […]
After reading the news about Francois Hollande, President Vladimir urgently convened his cabinet: “Yes, we can do the meeting without Dmitry at all. Let him finished his game of Angry Birds” – growled the President before hanging up. Five minutes later everyone was already in the room with their documents and pencil cases, someone even came […]
This is the first part of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s first interview after his pardon. Read part two — Khodorkovsky: Putin Sent a Message That He’s Stable and Not Afraid Black polo neck shirt, jeans – a change from the prison trousers, a gray “hedgehog” [short prison haircut], glasses in thin frames, a marked stoop, and on […]
The following is a translation a report written by opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and Solidarity activist Leonid Martynyuk, detailing allegations of rampant corruption in the preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics The original excerpted report was published on July 7, 2013. A significant update, with many new findings and some eyeopening headlines, has been published […]
Recent history of the Russian media shows how the media system was preconditioned by the country’s political development. In the 1990s the Russian media system underwent major transformations following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The media were introduced into new realities: the market economy, the end of ideological control of the Communist Party, political […]
