Tag Archives: Russia

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 23, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 23, 2013

TODAY: Amnesty highlights Russia’s rights failures; Pussy Riot member on hunger strike; witness called by Navalny prosecutors backs his innocence; Rosbank CEO dismissed, assets seized; Council of Europe to expand in Russia; Putin centralising control. Amnesty International’s country-by-country annual human rights report for this year remarks that Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency has curbed freedom [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 22, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 22, 2013

TODAY: Lavrov warns Azerbaijan over Eurovision sleight; Medvedev wants better weapons; Lebedev expects guilty verdict; Politkovskaya case returns to court; expelled Firestone was Magnitsky advocate; VTB offering; foreign banking in the spotlight; progress made on blasphemy bill.  Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov weighed in on the topic of the Eurovision Song Contest during a meeting with [...]

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The Last Remnants of Freedom

By Citizen M | Published: May 21, 2013

The Kremlin’s crackdown on human rights agencies and political organisations with foreign funding shows no signs of slowing.  Particularly chilling today was the news that the Levada Center is under investigation and may be forced to register as a ‘foreign agent‘.  This is a surprise: the center’s main activity is to conduct monthly, nationwide polls. [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 21, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 21, 2013

TODAY: Levada Centre may close over demands to label as a ‘foreign agent’; Kremlin accuses E.U. of ideology-based criticism; Skolkovo investigations politically motivated? Economic growth bleak, Kudrin says United Russia to blame; Razvozzhayev ‘kidnap’ will not be investigated; Syria, oligarch ‘tax’, Eurovision. Independent pollster the Levada Centre, which conducts public surveys, has warned that it [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 20, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 20, 2013

TODAY: St. Petersburg’s gay rights supporters outnumbered by Orthodox protesters; E.U. appeals to Russia over human rights; U.S. condemns Russian missile shipment to Syria; alleged spy Fogle leaves Russia; Supreme Court to hear Khodorkovsky appeal; Navalny’s father summoned; Synertech arrest; Gazprom’s crisis; robocops. A sanctioned gay rally held in St. Petersburg on Friday lasting just [...]

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Behind Russia’s Spy Scandal

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 17, 2013

Prof. Mark Galeotti has a good one on the arrest and expulsion of alleged spy Ryan C. Fogle from Russia this past week. The FSB, Putin’s own former service and once one of the dominant forces within the “deep state” of the inner elite, has been quiet of late. The oprichniki of Alexander Bastrykin’s Investigative Committee (SK) [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 17, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 17, 2013

TODAY: Golubkov charged with commercial bribery; Peskov says ban on foreign bank accounts has led to no resignations; rough economic times ahead, warns U.S. agency; Putin to fly to work; gay pride events organisers to appeal to Moscow court for permission to meet; corruption video seems to encourage vigilantism; Navalny says witness against him was [...]

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Cleaning Up the Russian Media

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 16, 2013
ryan-fogle-russia-spy

Despite Russia’s changing media landscape and increasingly widespread use of social media, Vladimir Putin continues to rely on television and other state media outlets as one of his core pillars of influence.

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How Surkov Interrupted Putin’s Game

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: May 16, 2013

A great article on the resignation of Vladislav Surkov by Brian Whitmore at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s blog, the Power Vertical. So is Surkov playing some deeper game here? Mikhail Rostovsky, chief political analyst for the daily “Moskovsky komsomolets,” thinks so. “Russia’s former chief puppet master has refused to play the role of the loser [...]

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RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – May 16, 2013

By Citizen M | Published: May 16, 2013

TODAY: Rosbank chairman held over suspected bribes; witness at Navalny trial says he did not have authority to commit the crimes he is accused of; Golos to continue actions despite ‘foreign agent’ threats; Medvedev on business laws, Putin on corruption; Fogle saga draws laughter; United Russia loses a member. A criminal case has been opened [...]

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