Latest Articles about Russia
Will Karachaevo-Cherkessia Follow the Path of Destabilization of Other North Caucasus Republics?
On October 18, the Supreme Court of Karachaevo-Cherkessia concluded a trial of a group of 29 suspected militants. The process became the most massive case of imprisonment of alleged North Caucasus rebels in recent times, but it received surprisingly little coverage in the Russian press.... MORE
Putin Uses Symbols of Soviet Power to Announce Idea of Eurasian Union
On October 3, 2011, Vladimir Putin made headlines by putting forward the idea of a Eurasian Union including several post-Soviet states. This was his first foreign policy initiative since the announcement of his candidacy for a third mandate, made at the United Russia Congress at... MORE
Libyan Lessons For Putin’s Russia
The poignant comment by John McCain that dictators all over the world “may be a little bit more nervous” after the death of Muammar Gaddafi has generated sharp resonance in Russia because the outspoken US Senator named Vladimir Putin among the dictators in question (Moskovsky... MORE
Dagestan Hit Again By Abductions and Armed Attacks
In Dagestan, a local resident was abducted yesterday (October 20) in the city of Dagstanskiye Ogni by a group of men wearing camouflage uniforms and masks. The incident happened around 12:30 p.m., local time, near the headquarters of the city tax inspectorate, when a vehicle... MORE
Can Anyone Save the Russian Defense Industry?
In what might be called his presidential campaign speeches, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has promised that within a decade a three trillion ruble ($95.18 billion) modernization program will completely rearm the entire military as well as make Russia a paragon of global growth, science and... MORE
Ashgabat Unimpressed By Moscow’s Objections On Trans-Caspian Pipeline
The updated estimates of Turkmenistan’s vast gas reserves (see EDM, October 20) and the European Commission’s support for a trans-Caspian pipeline to Europe are unwelcome by Moscow. On October 14, President Dmitry Medvedev chaired a special meeting of Russia’s Security Council on Russia-EU relations in... MORE
Assassination Campaign of Chechen Opposition Figures in Turkey Reaches New Level
Turkish media have been grappling with finding a solution to the mystery killing of three Chechens in broad daylight in one of the tourist districts of Istanbul on September 16 (www.newsru.com, September 16). One of the three murdered Chechens, Berg-hazh Musaev, was close to the... MORE
The Great Russian People’s Jamahiriya
Last May, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the formation of an All-Russia People’s Front (Obzherossiysky Narodni Front – ONF) – an amalgamation of masses of different regional and national public organizations around the ruling United Russia party (URP). It was announced the ONF will be... MORE
Dagestan’s Tsuntinsky District Targeted By Russian Security Services
On October 17, details emerged of a controversial operation by the Russian security services in a remote Dagestani village of Khutrakh. Rights activists who clandestinely traveled to the sealed off area condemned the police operation as a manifestly punitive action. “[I]n Khutrakh we saw frightened,... MORE
Serdyukov Signals “First Stage” In “Military Reform” Nearing Completion
Russian Defense Minister, Anatoliy Serdyukov, has signaled a shift in emphasis in the effort to reform the Armed Forces. According to Serdyukov the “first stage” of “military reform” concerned organizational changes mostly affecting the staffing of the military, now the “second stage” has commenced, which... MORE