Latest Articles about Russia
In Munich, Little Talk From or About Russia
Russian politics is currently heavily obsessed with the Winter Olympic Games, which will finally begin in Sochi this week (February 7). President Vladimir Putin is receiving reports about the heroic efforts continuing day and night to make sure the infrastructure is ready—which hardly bodes well... MORE
Authorities in Chechnya Seek to Uproot Some Islamic Teachings
A powerful propaganda campaign against Salafism, Habashism and other prominent Islamic teachings was launched in Chechnya in mid-January. Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov has brought up the issue of fighting unwanted Islamic teachings at every public appearance he has made since them, demanding that all population... MORE
Moscow and European Commission Negotiate Over OPAL Gas Pipeline
The European Union–Russia biannual summit, postponed from December 2013 and held on January 28, 2014, and reduced to three hours instead of the customary one and a half or two days, perforce omitted energy from its agenda. The severely abbreviated summit in Brussels had to... MORE
Gazprom Intent on Rolling Back EU’s Energy Market Legislation
With the backing of the Kremlin, and some help from interested European parties, Gazprom is intent on rolling back the European Union’s Third Energy Legislation Package on EU territory. The Russian government and Gazprom have signed inter-governmental and corporate agreements to build sections of the... MORE
Moscow Fails to Draw up a North Caucasus Action Plan
Increasingly it is becoming obvious that the leadership of Ingushetia and Dagestan are following the example of the Chechen government in trying to portray their regions as safe places in order to claim they have at least some level of popular support. However, there is... MORE
EU-Russia Summit Makes No Progress on South Stream Dispute
On January 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in Brussels that the European Union has agreed to give Russia full access to the OPAL pipeline in Germany, the largest natural gas pipeline in Europe. “We had problems with access to the OPAL gas pipeline, which... MORE
Clampdown on Free Speech in Russia as Fallout From Ukrainian Crisis
Moscow-based, independent television cable news channel Dozhd (meaning “Rain”) has been accused of “extremism,” and a number of cable TV providers threatened to remove it from the TV-channel packages that they offer their subscribers. On January 26, 2014, in “Dilettanty”—a panel discussion program on the... MORE
Balts Again on Collision Course With Moscow Over Georgia
Moscow commentators have already denounced the Baltic countries for supposedly helping to organize the Ukrainian revolution (windowrussia.ruvr.ru/2014_01_24/Baltijskij-sled-na-kievskom-evromajdane-5748/), and they have condemned Estonia, along with Finland, for supposedly stirring up the Finno-Ugric nations of the Middle Volga region of the Russian Federation (apn.ru/opinions/article30878.htm). But Moscow and... MORE
Economic Failures in Energy and Tourism Sector Plague the North Caucasus
As the Russian government has been investing tens of billions of dollars in the construction of Olympic infrastructure in Sochi, a previously hailed grandiose project for developing tourism in the North Caucasus has been gradually fading away. To provide a more appropriate background for the... MORE
Non-Traditional Threats to Sochi
The recent warning from the US State Department not to wear patriotic clothing outside of the “ring of steel” in Sochi proper might have been thought to forestall an attack from Islamists. But there are many other “non-traditional” threats to foreign visitors to the Winter... MORE