
Latest Articles about Russia

Russian Official Proposes Cutting Financial Aid to the North Caucasus
On July 10, Tatyana Golikova, chairperson of the Audit Chamber, Russia’s independent state budgetary watchdog agency, spoke about the country’s highly subsidized regions at a government meeting in Moscow. The Audit Chamber reviewed budget execution in seven highly subsidized regions to determine how well such... MORE

What Effect Will Asian Sanctions Have Upon Russia?
In the wake of the newest sanctions on Russia by the European Union and the United States, Washington is seeking to persuade its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, to follow suit (Yonhap July 31; Korea Times Online, July 29). While South Korea has hesitated... MORE

Russia’s Elite Airborne Forces Celebrate VDV Day
The annual celebration of Russia’s elite Airborne Forces (Vozdushno Desantnye Voyska—VDV) on August 2, 2014, combined shows of strength with loutish behavior. Traditional displays of strength range from breaking bricks on VDV personnel, hand-to-hand combat and other macho shows. Celebration is less restrictive, especially among... MORE

Putin Re-Interprets Russia’s Participation in the First World War
On August 1, at Moscow’s Poklonnaya Hill military memorial, President Vladimir Putin inaugurated a monument to Russian soldiers who fought in the First World War. On the hundredth anniversary of that war’s outbreak, the Kremlin has decided retroactively to honor those soldiers as heroes, and... MORE

Russian Economist Denounces Yevkurov’s Record in Ingushetia
Nikolai Petrov, the well-known economist from Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, has scathingly criticized the glowing reports made by Ingushetia’s Governor Yunus-Bek Yevkurov. In an article, published by the Vzglyad website on July 28, Petrov pointed out that Ingushetia’s economy showed some positive dynamics, but... MORE

West Pushes and Eases Putin Toward a ‘Diplomatic Solution’ in Ukraine
Bad news hit the Kremlin thick and fast last week, but on Friday evening (August 1), President Vladimir Putin answered a phone call from US President Barack Obama, who again stressed that the Kremlin’s mounting problems can be resolved diplomatically (whitehouse.gov, August 1). Putin’s personal... MORE

Is Moscow Rethinking Its Policy of Withholding the Bodies of Slain North Caucasus Militants?
The body of Anzor Astemirov, one of the best known leaders of the Kabardino-Balkarian armed resistance, who was killed in 2010, was handed over to his relatives for burial recently, more than four years after his death. Astemirov was one of the founders of the... MORE

Ukraine Claims Energy Losses for Crimean Annexation Reach $300 Billion
On July 28, Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan remarked that Russia’s March 18 unilateral annexation of Crimea has caused massive energy asset losses to Ukraine (uapress.info, July 28). Prodan said, “Taking into account all the energy facilities in Crimea, we are talking... MORE

Donetsk ‘Republic’ Leaders’ Morale Plummeting
Intercepts of Moscow-Donetsk telephone conversations, made public by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), reveal pessimism and demoralization on the part of at least some of the secessionist “republic’s” leadership. On July 28, the SBU released audio recordings with transcripts of two telephone conversations, both initiated from... MORE

Ingushetia’s Yevkurov Appears to Back Blood Revenge Against Militants’ Relatives
One of the favorite activities of the governors of the North Caucasian republics is to frequently count the number of rebels in their respective republics. Every year they lower the figure for the number of rebels in their region and highlight for Moscow their personal... MORE