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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
September 1, 2010
Russian anti-government protests took place in London for the first time on Tuesday, when dozens of Russian emigres gathered outside the Russian embassy in Western London and chanted for freedom. Back in their homeland, over a hundred Russians were detained in the various country-wide “Strategy 31” rallies. As parliamentary and presidential election campaigns loom next year, the protests in foreign cities are key to winning support from Western leaders, protesters say. It is hard to imagine them having an impact, but four EU lawmakers from the human rights commission did attend the Moscow rally for the first time yesterday.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
August 30, 2010
The defenders of the Khimki Forest seemed to have won their battle last Thursday, when the ruling United Russia Party and President Dmitry Medvedev executed a choreographed about-face on the construction of the Moscow to St. Petersburg highway through the forest. This followed a weekend protest in central Moscow that drew 3,000 people as well as apparent endorsement from U2 front man and universal do-gooder Bono, who invited DDT singer and outspoken forest defender Yuri Shevchuk to sing at the band’s first Russian gig.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
August 24, 2010
As the blazing summer of 2010 crashes in a premature autumn, politicians are adding up the likely impact at the ballot box in October’s regional elections, with United Russia said to be changing tactics to cope with a popularity deficit. Meanwhile, an estimated 3,000 rallied in Kaliningrad to call for Vladimir Putin’s ouster Saturday, while another 3,000 demonstrated in central Moscow in defense of the Khimki forest. Is discontent making the “vlast” change its strategy?
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By Tai Adelaja, Russia Profile
August 24, 2010
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has launched new salvos in his battle against rampant corruption, as opinion polls show that many Russians are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the inability of his power vertical system to do something tangible about it. At a regular session of the Presidium on Friday, Putin berated the Volgograd City Hall for corruption and nepotism, charging that the city handed out most land plots for construction to its officials or their partners and relatives.
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By Svetlana Kononova, Special to Russia Profile
August 23, 2010
The heat wave that hit Russia in mid-June and lasted for more than two months has finally passed. Russians are now enjoying refreshingly chilly weather, while analysts count the economical consequences of the environmental disaster. But while farmers dismally survey their ravaged wheat fields, ice cream sellers are reveling in enormous profits.
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Comment by Sergei Markedonov, Special to Russia Profile
August 23, 2010
Residents of the Caucasian spa towns, and Pyatigorsk in particular, are difficult to surprise with reports of terrorist attacks. Since the 1990s the region has seen numerous incidents, including major attacks at a Pyatigorsk railway station in 1997 and the bombing of a train between Mineralnie Vody and Kislovodsk in December of 2003. However, the tragic incident that occurred in Pyatigorsk on August 17 stands out in this series.
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
August 19, 2010
Kaliningrad Governor Georgy Boos was ousted Monday when the United Russia ruling party did not include his name on the list of candidates for governor it presented to President Dmitry Medvedev in the process of gubernatorial selection. Boos had been under pressure ever since major demonstrations in the Baltic exclave in February, and President Dmitry Medvedev has acknowledged that the governor could not carry on without the “unconditional respect and trust of the citizens living in the region.” What was behind the apparently last minute decision to let Boos go, and what does it mean for Kaliningrad?
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By Roland Oliphant, Russia Profile
August 17, 2010
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has been blamed for the brutal suppression of opposition protests, sued into silence anyone who dares to suggest his billionaire construction tycoon wife might have benefitted from his position, and has been roundly condemned for vacationing during Moscow’s recent smog crisis. But he may be the Khimki forest defenders’ best hope.
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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
August 16, 2010
At the end of last week Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that he would forfeit his title of “president,” and that the five other North Caucasus presidents would be following suit. Analysts cannot agree on whether the Kremlin is pressuring regional heads to shed another vestige of regional autonomy – their own distinctive titles – to further tighten up its coveted “power vertical.” But as nationalist sentiment is stoked in Chechnya and Islamization in the republic grows, the Kremlin will hardly be displeased to see Kadyrov being so deferential.
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By Tom Balmforth, Russia Profile
August 12, 2010
Russian media this week reported record lows in the ruling tandem’s ratings, as the economic crisis continues to resonate and 2010 is marked by a series of disasters. But although the wildfires have cost Russia an estimated $15 billion and left thousands homeless, it seems that the drop in ratings has actually been exaggerated. The latest natural disaster has been a handy PR platform for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev to appear like decisive leaders, and some analysts say that Putin and Medvedev are actually benefitting from the polls as they seek to gauge public feeling and tighten up their own administrations.
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