 RFE/RL Russia Report 30.04.2009 A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about domestic and foreign-policy developments in Russia.For more stories on Russia, please visit and bookmark our Russia page . |
 Russia Agrees Cooperation With Breakaway Regions Russia's president and the de facto leaders of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have signed in Moscow agreements on cooperation in protecting the regions' border with Georgia. The regions declared independence following the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, and Moscow recognized them shortly after. Georgia regards them as occupied Georgian territory. More The editor in chief of the weekly newspaper "Corruption and Crime" is in a coma after he was severely beaten in the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-na-Donu on April 29, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Russia's 'Novaya gazeta' Wins Free Media Pioneer Award Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the crusading Russian newspaper "Novaya gazeta" has been named the winner of the International Press Institute’s Free Media Pioneer Award for 2009. More  Assailants Target Apartment Of Russian Rights Activist Unknown assailants shot at the windows of an apartment belonging to a local human rights activist in the southwestern Russian city of Samara, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More In March, we blogged about a picture making the rounds that possibly shows a KGB-era Putin as a "tourist" meeting U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1988. More The nephew of Khasavyurt Mayor Saigidpasha Umakhanov was killed on April 28 in the volatile Russian republic of Daghestan, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Obama Seeks 'New Basis For Relationships' Abroad The list of urgent problems facing U.S. President Barack Obama is no shorter than it was on January 20, but even critics acknowledge it's been a whirlwind start. And Obama has not let the economic crisis prevent him from tackling important foreign-policy initiatives. More  Who's The Boss? Yesterday morning, a small group of brave Solidarity activists held a tiny protest outside the massive walls of the Kremlin in Moscow. The group used a bunch of orange helium-filled balloons to lift a banner above the ramparts, a banner containing a open challenge to the professed liberalism of President Dmitry Medvedev. "Medvedev!," it reads. "Fire Putin! What if you really can?" More  Russian Caught In Spanish Legal Nightmare Spain has taken on a daunting task -- coming to grips with Russian organized crime in its midst. But its heavy-handed tactics in one case hint at a zeal for results that trumps considerations of due process, and law-based societies should uphold a higher standard. More  Nemtsov Vows To Contest Sochi Mayoral Results Opposition candidate Boris Nemtsov says he will fight to annul the results of the April 26 mayoral election in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi. More  Popular Russian Ballet Dancer Dies Prominent Russian ballet star Yekaterina Maksimova has died in Moscow at the age of 70. Maksimova was very popular in Russia and former Soviet republics for decades, where many described her as the most gracious ballet dancer in the country. More  Are EU-Russia Relations Stuck In A Loop? Despite more than a decade of close relations, the European Union and Russia remain at cross-purposes on most fundamental policy issues. A fresh Russia-EU meeting served to underline the depth of the disagreement between the two parties on issues stretching from democratization to economic reform. More  Georgia Denies Existence Of Chechen Resistance Fighters On Its Territory Georgian Foreign Ministry official Zurab Kachkachishvili has rejected as a provocation Russian claims that the counterterrorism regime imposed in several districts of southeastern Chechnya last week was necessitated by the danger that Chechen militants currently based in Georgia might seek to cross the border into Chechnya to stage terrorist attacks there. More  Interethnic Relations Still A Hot Potato In Daghestan Over the past six to 12 months, conferences, seminars and roundtable discussions on how to combat the perceived threat of Islamic terrorism have been held in one or another region of Daghestan almost every week. That emphasis created the impression that the North Caucasus resistance was the most serious, if not the sole threat to political stability in Daghestan. Last week, however, Daghestan's President Mukhu Aliyev argued that rivalry between the republic's numerous ethnic groups is a major threat, and he called for legislative amendments to allay it More  Requiem For A Godfather In St. Petersburg they called him the "Nighttime Governor," and the moniker fit. Throughout the 1990s and for a good part of the current decade, Vladimir Barsukov appeared to be the true ruler of Russia's second city regardless of who was formally in power. Barsukov was arrested in August 2007 and his trial began this month. More  Ruling Party Fighting For First-Round Win In Sochi Poll Critics charge that the mayoral campaign in the city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics has been highly stage-managed to the benefit of one candidate. Rivals have been harassed and shut out by local media, seemingly to ensure a victory this weekend for the ruling Unified Russia party's man in Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov. More  The Battle Of The Igors While many in Russia's political elite see an emerging catastrophe in the economic crisis, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov sees an opportunity. Shuvalov says falling oil prices gives Russia an opportunity to diversify its economy and escape its historically dangerous dependency on energy and commodities prices. But he has a powerful opponent: First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. More  Arms Control Redux: Let The Games Begin Arms control season kicked off in earnest today with negotiators from Russia and the United States meeting in Rome to lay the groundwork for a replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in December. And as both sides began laying down their early markers for a new strategic arms pact, key differences are already emerging. More  Photo Of The Day There is a mayoral campaign going on in the southern Russian city of Sochi, although if you live in the city, you might not know it. More  Russians Expand Chechen Counterterror Effort The latest measures follow the announcement on April 21 of rigorous inspections aimed at capturing hundreds of rebel fighters. More  Region Presents Tangled Web Of Shifting Allegiances Turkey and Armenia are moving quickly to restore relations, and the prospect of a settlement beckons in Nagorno-Karabakh. But as the South Caucasus seeks to resolve old conflicts, a battle for regional influence continues between the United States, Russia, Turkey, and Europe -- with energy raising the stakes. More |
