 RFE/RL Russia Report 04.06.2009 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 . |
 The Propaganda Machine About a month ago I wrote a post about the dueling polling agencies in Russia and discussed briefly the relations between the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) and the Kremlin (particularly with the office of the Kremlin’s domestic-politics curator Vladislav Surkov and with the United Russia party). More  Kadyrov Orchestrates Public Denunciation Of Second Chechen President For the second time in four months, Chechen television screened on May 29 a grandiose four-hour live talk show intended to vilify, and to demolish lingering public support for, the concept of an independent Chechen state. On both occasions, Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov presided over the proceedings and steered the discussion in the desired direction. More  Slighted By Russia, Ashgabat Courts EU Hastily arranged high-level meetings between Turkmenistan's Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and EU officials are being seen in the EU capital as a sign of Ashgabat's growing frustration with Russia. This spring, Russia reneged on an agreement to buy large volumes of natural gas from Turkmenistan at what was then a "European" price, causing the regime in Ashgabat to approach other potential suitors. More  Ukraine Asks Russia For Documents On 1930s Famine Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) has officially asked Moscow to provide classified archival documents on the famine of the 1930s in Ukraine that killed millions, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  Drug Agency Official Killed In Ingushetia An officer in the State Drug Control Agency has been killed in Ingushetia, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Geography Is Destiny Stratfor this week published a little paper called “The Geography of Recession” that is worth taking a look at, if only to be reminded of the old axiom that “geography is destiny.” More  Commentary: Islam's Reformation and Obama's Speech President Obama can say very little about the specifics of the ongoing reformation of Islam. But modestly voicing support for those brave Muslim champions of Islamic diversity and civiilizational richness would actually be saying a lot. More Inspired by The Atlantic's mock "World Leaders" Facebook group, RFE/RL presents a Facebook-style summary of last week's events. More  Russian Ombudsman Suggests Beating Children With Soft Belt Youth activists from Russia's opposition Yabloko party protested in St. Petersburg on June 1 against a controversial televised statement by the city's ombudsman about disciplining children. More  The Russian Racket “Novaya gazeta” this week reported the surprising information that on April 13 the son of Rosneft Vice President Mikhail Stavsky (also named Mikhail) was kidnapped. According to some information, the kidnappers are seeking 50 million euros in ransom, while other sources say no demands have been made in the nearly two months since the abduction. More  Connoisseur's Guide To Chiaroscuro In The Caucasus Just as in perusing Rembrandt's canvases you should never overlook the patches that look as though they were infused in dark-brown gravy, it makes sense every now and then to shine candlelight into the dark corners of the Russian state to glean insights into its internal politics. And what could be darker than the North Caucasus? More Several of the hunger strikers have been hospitalized since the protest began on May 14. More  Officials Turned Poachers Rile Russian Public In Russia, two fatal helicopter crashes this year have exposed a predilection among the country's political elite to engage in illegal hunting excursions. The incidents have sparked outrage among local populations who see the authorities as putting themselves above the law. More  Russian History In The Dock More  Fortunes Dim, Migrants' Children Get Left Behind The post-Soviet period has seen millions of people from Central Asia and the South Caucasus migrate to Russia in search of work. One consequence of that trend has been a rise in migrants' children living in Russian orphanages after being abandoned or taken away from neglectful parents. More  An Energy Opportunity The EU Seems Determined To Miss The EU must seize the opportunity and set out an unashamedly political external energy strategy that puts its own interests first -- preeminent among them reducing dependence on Russia as a supplier or transit country. More  Moscow Children's Home No. 19 Millions of migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus have sought work in Russia, but as jobs dry up, many are returning home. The wave of return migration has meant a rising number of children left behind. Ahead of International Children's Day, RFE/RL visited Moscow Children's Home #19, where many sons and daughters of migrant workers have been taken into care. More  If You're In The Market For A Good Embalmer, Just Ask Russia... Though they couldn't do the same for the Soviet economy, Russian scientists this week were given dozens of medals and other awards by Vietnam for their role in embalming and keeping Ho Chi Minh's earthly remains preserved for display in the 40 years since his death. More  Russia's Chief Auditor Implicitly Rejects Chechen Leader's Property Declaration Speaking to REN-TV after Russian Justice Minister Aleksandr Konovalov's report to the Federation Council on official corruption, Audit Chamber Chairman Sergei Stepashin was asked about the recent income and property declaration by Chechnya's Ramzan Kadyrov. Stepashin replied that "the entire republic is Kadyrov's property. There is no need to feel sorry for him." More  Czech Politician Pelted With Eggs Yesterday we published a commentary by RFE/RL Russian Service columnist Olga Serebryanaya about a Russian Livejournal mob that is pressuring Moscow police not to cover up an alleged hit-and-run accident that resulted in the death of a pregnant woman on May 13. More  New Free-Press Guidelines For Europe In the German city of Hamburg on May 25, 46 journalists and editors in chief from 19 countries signed the "European Charter on Freedom of the Press." The charter establishes basic guidelines for protecting the press from government interference and ensuring journalists access to sources of information. The document's creators hope the charter's adoption will become a condition in future EU accession negotiations. More  Green Shoots? It certainly won’t come as news to Power Vertical readers that the electoral system in Russia is a rigged sham. We can’t say it any better than former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (thanks to La Russophobe for the citation), who said on May 21: “The electoral system has been revised to serve the interests of a single party, the interests of those who are now at the helm. Step by step, we have been going back to the past.” More  Is A New Russia-Georgia War On The Horizon? Georgia is marking its Independence Day, but few are in the mood to celebrate. Russia is concentrating troops near the border and fears of a new invasion are gathering momentum. What is Russia's end game in Georgia and how do they hope to achieve it? More  Does Russia Even Need To Invade Georgia? Nearly nine months after the war between Russia and Georgia last August, the situation surrounding the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains tense. Some observers have warned that fighting in the region could flare up again within the next few months. But would a new war helpRussia achieve its objectives? More  Russia's Bloggers Stand Up To The Police On May 21, Aleksei Shumm posted a notice on his Live Journal page saying his pregnant wife had been struck and killed while crossing Ysenevoi Avenue in Moscow on May 13. Days later, he learned that no case had been filed against the driver, who has been identified as a police officer. More  Stop The World War II Revision Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has established a commission to protect against "falsification of historical facts," in particular reinterpretations of the Second World War. The move is a reaction to the way history is being used as a political tool to divide people and countries. More  On Useful And Harmful Falsifications Of Russian History RFE/RL's Viktor Sheinis never would have guessed the retreat from the liberty Russians gained during perestroika would go so far. But a presidential decree to establish a state commission to root out historical falsifications might have changed all that. More  Website Posts Photo Of Supposedly Dead Chechen Commander The Chechen resistance website kavkazcenter.com posted on May 21 a photograph it said it received earlier that day of Sulim Yamadayev, ex-commander of the Russian Defense Ministry's notorious Vostok Battalion. The photo shows Yamadayev dressed in black pajamas, propped up on pillows in a hospital bed, looking at the camera, and holding a mobile phone. More |
