Staunton, July 21 – Mikhail Degtaryev, a Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Republic of Russia (LDPR), is preparing legislation to replace the current administrative-territorial division of the Russian Federation in regions, territories and republics with the tsarist-era one of provinces (guberniya) and districts (uezd), an action he says would restore “historical justice” and end […]
Staunton, May 16 – – At the end of Costa Garves’ classic 1969 film “Z” – Greek for “He lives” – about the suppression of an investigation by a Greek junta, the screen goes blank and then follows a list of things that the junta bans, including chewing gum, mini-skirts, Plato, and democracy. That now-distant […]
Updated Daily. The Russian parliament has passed a number of laws designed to rein in an increasingly free and outspoken blogosphere, lately filled with criticism of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. Legislators have passed a law mandating bloggers with more than 3,000 readers to register as mass media under the restrictive Russian press law. If dissenters […]
Staunton, April 6 – Aleksandr Dugin, who appears to be increasingly influential in Kremlin circles, says that Moscow views Baku’s UN vote on Ukraine a “an unfriendly act,” that “the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is in Moscow’s hands,” and that “an Azerbaijan hostile to Russia will instantly cease its existence.” Dugin, who describes himself as […]
Galina Starovoitova was a pro-democracy activist in the 1990s, a prominent member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and a defender of ethnic minorities. She was assassinated in 1998, soon after becoming the leader of “Democratic Russia,” a registered opposition party, she was assassinated outside her apartment building in St. Petersburg. Two men were arrested for […]
As the U.S. government shutdown continues, the Russian media hasn’t been shy about weighing in. Yesterday we published an article in the pro-Kremlin outlet Ria Novosti entitled “The American Government Doesn’t Exist – For Now,” where the author asked, “will tanks shoot at the Congressional Building?” This piece, published in the liberal outlet, “Snob,” is […]
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), accused Ponomarev of libel and unlawful commercial activity. According to Ponomarev, he now figures only in the investigation of the activity of Aleksei Beltyukov, vice president of Skolkovo. According to the investigation’s story, Mr. Beltyukov unlawfully gave Ilya Ponomarev, deputy of the State Duma, […]
