Year: 2008

March 3, 2008

China to Copy Russia’s Brand of Counterfeit Democracy?

Perhaps the worst part of the complacency with which the world has tolerated the Russia’s election farce is that many other authoritarian nations will take this as precedent – an understanding that skillful manipulation of democratic p...
March 3, 2008

Video: Election Day Round Up

Michael Idov of the New Republic had a hard time finding anyone who had actually voted in the Russian presidential election, apart from those who attended the polls for free food and prizes. Others he spoke with voted for Zyuganov simply because t...
March 3, 2008

Why Russia Holds Elections

Extremely few people, even Moscow’s strongest supporters and defenders in the West, would attempt to argue that yesterday’s elections were remotely legitimate. Even the leadership seems satisfied to absorb the criticism of the deeply f...
March 3, 2008

Energy Blast, March 3, 2008

Speaking two days before the deadline set by Gazprom, Yulia Tymoshenko said she was certain that “there will be no cutoff of gas […] no one is going to cut off anything.” But a deal has not yet been reached, and it was announced today that G...
March 3, 2008

Today in Russian Business

Barclays has unveiled a $745 million deal to buy Expobank, a retail and commercial bank concentrated in Moscow and St Petersburg, saying it planned to rebrand the company over time. Russia has been “hoarding gold”, and together with Qatari demands...
March 3, 2008

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – March 3, 2008

TODAY: “Boring” and “stage-managed” elections see landslide for Medvedev. Other Russia to protest today. Russia and China re-evaluating arms trade, UK Prime Minister to offer Russia a “fresh start”. Barroso fears economic Cold War. The elections w...
March 2, 2008

Interview with Lev Ponomarev, Part 2

I have just spoken by telephone with my good friend and leading Russian human rights advocate Lev Ponomarev, founder of the All-Russia Movement «For human rights» (see my earlier interview and translation). As you have probably heard, Lev has been...
March 2, 2008

Interview with Lev Ponomarev, Part 1

As we have already covered the outcome of Russia’s presidential elections a day before they were held, we are dedicating the day to human rights leader, colleague and friend, Lev Ponomarev, whose efforts to raise awareness about torture and ...
March 2, 2008

Russian Press on Ponomarev and YouTube

Following the reinstatement of our Lev Ponomarev video posted on YouTube after certain members of the community conspired to have it removed, the Russian press has reacted. The following exclusive translation come from News.ru: Video confirms huma...
March 2, 2008

An “Empty” Tale of Russia’s Political Reality

Last night I read a very interesting translation by Lyndon Allin of a censored article originally drafted for publication in Bolshoi Gorod, describing the author’s personal disenchantment with his great country’s diminishing freedoms i...