By Petr Silantyev Ten years ago a man lay down in front of a tank on the embankment beside the Russian White House. The images taken by our camera team were shown all over the world. "The Transfiguration." That's what we called our report on... MORE

By Elena Dikun Roman Abramovich has a solid reputation as an all-powerful oligarch, a "Family" man, who used to "man the till," servicing the financial interests of the Kremlin, while from his office at Sibneft he controlled governments, summoning high-ranking officials to his office for... MORE

By Elena Dikun Rumors have recently started flying around Moscow that by the end of the year Russian President Vladimir Putin, now fully comfortable in his role, intends at last to begin recruiting staff from a source close to his heart. Allegedly, representatives of the... MORE

By Aleksandr Tsipko The summer began in Russia with attempts by the siloviki to expand their "lebensraum." I refer not only to their determination to exact revenge for their previous defeats at the hands of the liberals, but also to their attempts to influence the... MORE

Contemporary economists, sociologists, political scientists and even philosophers tend to focus their analyses solely on the reasons for the break-up of the Soviet Union and the collapse of what we called "developed socialism," or what the West called "communism." This is understandable: It is this... MORE

By Mikhail Zherebyatev Belgorod has passed a new law on missionary work that harks back to czarist laws. Will the federal authorities be able to quell the confrontation between the Moscow Patriarchy and the provincial bureaucracy? Missionary work is firmly associated with the spreading of... MORE

By Elena Chinyaeva August 19 of this year marked the tenth anniversary of the failed 1991 putsch, which brought an end to the Communist-dominated Soviet era. Ten years later, Russia still finds itself halfway through the transition process to a market-oriented economy and open society.... MORE

By Zaira Magomedova Whenever he visits the Russian regions, President Vladimir Putin always stresses that he plans to continue his work to strengthen the power vertical. "Our main task today is to ensure a clear distribution of powers between Moscow and the regions on the... MORE

By Sadji POLITICAL CUNNING BUT NO DIVIDENDS The propresidential media in Kyrgyzstan have recently stepped up their attacks on parliament. The esteem in which both houses are held by the public is being blatantly discredited in the eyes of the public. An analyses of articles... MORE

By Aleksandr Tsipko Political life in Russia has become dull and drab again over the last few weeks. News programs are dominated by floods, air crashes and, as always, high-profile murders. As many analysts predicted, Putin's rise to power has brought an end to the... MORE