President Putin on December 27 handed out awards to a variety of officials, artists and other VIPs, RIA Novosti reported. Among the recipients were Chechen President Alu Alkhanov, who received an Order of Bravery, and Ingushetian President Murat Zyazikov, who received a 4th degree For... MORE

Hundreds of people reportedly connected to the pro-Putin youth group Marching Together demonstrated near the home of actress Vanessa Redgrave in west London in December to protest her links to Chechen separatist emissary Akhmed Zakaev, Britain's Sunday Times reported on January 2. They also held... MORE

On December 23, two Russian military intelligence agents, who had been found guilty by a court in Qatar of the murder of former Chechen president and separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, returned to Russia. Their return was a result of a special agreement between the governments... MORE

Using its veto power in the OSCE, Russia has carried out its threat to terminate the mandate of the organization's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) as of December 31. This unarmed international mission, patrolling the Georgia-Russia border on Georgian territory, has played a key role... MORE

Russia's top brass have decided that the best way to halt the decline of Russian airpower capabilities is to upgrade equipment and transform some air elements into effective anti-terrorist strike forces. Therefore in 2005 the Russian air force will continue to rely heavily upon extending... MORE

The effective nationalization of Yuganskneftegaz, formerly the embattled Yukos oil company's main production unit, was completed on New Year's Eve, when the state oil company Rosneft announced that it had paid for a 76.79% stake in Yuganskneftegaz and become its legal owner. A Yukos source... MORE

Vladimir Putin's icy silence on Viktor Yushchenko's victory in Ukraine's marathon presidential race likely reveals the Kremlin's current strategic predicament. With the Orange Revolution triumph in Kyiv, Moscow faces a two-fold problem: how to reconcile itself with the political outcome it was striving to prevent... MORE

Some Western commentators have already called 2004 Russian President Vladimir Putin's annus horribilis. This year has seen the Kremlin's political failures in the Caucasus and Ukraine as well as Putin's recent loss of credibility throughout the world. While some Kremlin-connected foreign policy experts appear ready... MORE

The Russian government is expected to make the final decision on the destination of the Siberian oil pipeline as early as the next few days. The pipeline would link the Russian oil fields near Taishet, northwest of Lake Baikal, to either the Chinese city of... MORE

The presidential election drama in Ukraine has distracted attention from two key political developments in Russia that are also connected to executive-branch elections. First, on December 3 the Russian State Duma passed a law with new procedures for electing the heads of Russian Federation regions... MORE