Russia

August 25, 2010

Putin’s Latest Action Photo Op

A day after Medvedev sipped tea with Bono on the sunny veranda of his summer villa, Putin chased whales in choppy waters near Russia’s Pacific coast. How symbolic of the role division in the Medvedev-Putin duumvirate. The AFP reports: Dresse...
August 25, 2010

Grigory Pasko: Dialogue of the mannequins

Pre-election stories from the hagiography of the Great and Inimitable Vladimir Putin – and this has been noticed not just by me for a long time already- have begun to appear more and more often in the Russian mass information media. You may ...
August 25, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Aug 25, 2010

TODAY: No conviction for Nemtsov; Putin immersed in wildlife; motorists protest zero-tolerance alcohol policy; local leaders protest Barnaul mayor’s dismissal; Russia’s Armenian defense deal ‘is not in Armenia’s interests&#...
August 25, 2010

Moscow Mayor is the Richest Russian Politician

Bloomberg brings a report about Russia’s richest politicians, originally published in the Russian edition of Forbes. Apparently, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has the highest household income. Here’s a short excerpt: Luzhkov, 73, earned 8 ...
August 24, 2010

Medvedev Meets with Bono

Ahead of U2’s first-ever concert in Russia, Medvedev, who claims to be a rock fan with a penchant for Deep Purple, met with Bono at his summer villa. Bono asked Russia to contribute to the fight against AIDS. Reuters reports: Bono, sporting ...
August 24, 2010

Shifting the Blame

Russia Profile has an article today about Putin’s latest proclamations about the fight against corruption. Analysts quoted in the article say Putin’s strong words belie an effort to simply shift the blame to the “lower and middle...
August 24, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Aug 24, 2010

TODAY: Medvedev appoints new Kaliningrad governor; Nemtsov warns of revolution; Moscow forest fires extinguished; Putin credits Yeltsin with inspiring his current position, is put right by scientist on climate change claims; visa-free travel, viol...
August 24, 2010

Nemtsov’s Speech for Black Ribbon Day

Boris Nemtsov gave a speech yesterday (via link) at the History, Memory and Politics in Eastern and Central Europe conference convened by the University of Toronto, where Robert Amsterdam was among the speakers.  Peter Goodspeed of the Nation...
August 23, 2010

Why Russian Hackers Have It Easy

The New York Times has an interesting article today about Russian hackers. A hacker operating under the moniker BadB was pursued by the United States Secret Service and arrested in France earlier this month. The difficulty in catching BadB, say ex...
August 23, 2010

Bout’s Clout

Journalist and author Douglas Farah writes about what intel Viktor Bout could (but would be unlikely to) share with U.S. authorities If the extradition goes through (and under Thai law there are no further appeals allowed), what could Bout offer i...