Russia

January 20, 2009

Watching Inauguration from Moscow

Today at noon in Washington DC, Barack Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States.  It was hard not to get swept up in the excitement of such a historical moment, even among us hardened cynics who may be wary of impossibly high ...
January 20, 2009

Grigory Pasko: Saint Putin

«Saint» Putin, with order, mounted Grigory Pasko, journalist Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда. I like Germany and the Germans. True, not all Germans. Those who at times forget about the rules of decenc...
January 20, 2009

The Prophetess Vanga

We’ve all heard the stories about Igor Panarin, the “academic” who has become extremely popular in the Russian state media for his prediction that the United States will dissolve into five separate countries within a year, but th...
January 20, 2009

Boundaries of Tolerance and Intolerance

This opinion piece from Alexander Arkhangelsky was published on RIA Novosti in Russian last week, and then translated a few days later (still before the double murder of Markelov and Baburova).  See Arkhangelsky’s earlier pieces and RA&...
January 20, 2009

A Lack of Accountability

From the editorial page of the Washington Post: The larger story here is of serial murders of Mr. Putin’s opponents, at home and abroad. Ms. Baburova, 25, is at least the 15th journalist to be slain since Mr. Putin took power. No one has bee...
January 20, 2009

RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Jan 20th, 2009

TODAY: Putin and Tymoshenko sign 10-year gas deal, networks to return to working order in 36 hours; Medvedev sanctions countries selling arms to Georgia; Human Rights Watch calls for probe into death of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova. ...
January 19, 2009

Grigory Pasko: R.I.P., Stanislav Markelov (1974-2009)

Yet another human rights advocate killed in the capital of Russia. Lawyer Stanislav Markelov was shot on Prechistenka street in the center of Moscow. Stanislav was only 34 years old, but he was well known not only in the milieu of human rights adv...
January 19, 2009

A Contract Hit on Markelov?

It would seem odd that your average extremist ultra-nationalist would use a professional silencer.  This comes from RFE/RL: Svetlana Gannushkina of Russia’s Memorial human rights center told RFE/RL’s Russian Service that Markelov&...
January 19, 2009

Numerous Warnings Preceded Murder of Lawyer

Today’s murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov was preceded by many clear warnings and physical threats, some indirect and others quite overt. In addition to being an outspoken human rights activist with a focus on Ingushetia, the South Caucasu...
January 19, 2009

Journalist Dies in Hospital After Shooting

Grigory Pasko has contacted us to inform that Russian media is reporting that Anastasia Baburova, the young freelance reporter from Novaya Gazeta who was accompanying Stanislav Markelov, has died in hospital while receiving urgent medical care for...