Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
Yanukovych Faces Uphill Struggle for Control of Ukraine, Despite Victory in Presidential Election
As expected, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has won the February 7 presidential election runoff. Unlike in 2004, when Yanukovych lost a controversial poll to Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters were accused of large-scale election fraud, this time international observers said the election was free and... MORE
Rights Organizations Recall Mass Killings in Chechnya’s Aldy
On February 5, the head of Makhachkala’s police force, Ahkmed Magomedov, was gunned down in the center of Dagestan’s capital. Magomedov’s driver and two his bodyguards also died in the attack. According to the investigators, the murder was likely to be connected to Magomedov’s professional... MORE
Appointment of New Kremlin Envoy to the North Caucasus Causes Concern for Kadyrov
The appointment of Aleksandr Khloponin to the position of presidential envoy to the newly formed North Caucasus Federal District marked the beginning of a new era for the North Caucasus elites, represented primarily by the presidents of that region’s republics –Ramzan Kadyrov (Chechnya), Mukhu Aliev... MORE
Russian Protests Grow as Economic Hardships Persist
The economic downturn in Russia seems to have transmuted into growing political discontent within the populace and the governing structures. Since last summer, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been proclaiming publicly that “the worst of the recession is over and growth is resuming” (Interfax, June... MORE
Belarusian Opposition Prepares for Local and Presidential Elections
On January 28, Ales Mikhalevich, the former Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, announced that he will run for the Belarusian presidency in the election anticipated next year (Belapan, January 28). He is the second oppositionist anticipated to participate, as Alyaksandr Milinkevich, the leader... MORE
After Silencing Criticism in Chechnya, Kadyrov Moves on to the Rest of Russia
On February 2, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov announced that Kadyrov had appealed to prosecutors to launch a criminal case against Lyudmila Alekseyeva and Vyacheslav Izmailov on defamation charges. According to Krasnenkov, at a May 2008 press conference Alekseyeva made the statement: “Kadyrov’s... MORE
Dagestan’s Political Uncertainty Joined by Turmoil, Technological and Social Failures
As of January 29, an estimated 50,000 inhabitants of Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala remained without central heating, water and stable electricity supply for several days. Officials said that cold weather was causing the disruption and they would attend to the problem. Over 100 protestors blocked railways... MORE
New Federal District Will Not Stabilize the North Caucasus
Against the backdrop of the unavailing year in 2009 for Russian soldiers in the North Caucasus, Moscow is trying to explain to the Russian people why other countries want to interfere in its internal affairs (www.infox.ru, January 16). Of course, one would think that it... MORE
Rights Activists Say Corruption in Chechnya is an “Unwritten Rule”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presided over a meeting of the collegium of the Federal Security Service (FSB) yesterday (January 28) devoted to examining the results of the agency’s work last year and its tasks for 2010. The Russian president said that the FSB’s main tasks... MORE
Russia Backs Yanukovych in Ukraine’s 2010 Elections
Russian media coverage of the 2010 Ukrainian elections from the outset portrayed it as a two-horse race between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko. In the first phase of the election campaign (October-November 2009), the Russian media did not express a preference, but since the first... MORE