 RFE/RL Russia Report 3/30/2010 8:03:25 PM 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 . |
 In Wake Of Metro Bombings, Putin's War On Terror Is Under Fire In the aftermath of the March 29 metro bombings in Moscow, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is talking tough, vowing to drag terrorists "from the depths of the sewer." But a growing chorus of voices is saying that Putin's antiterrorist policies are a failure. Citizens have sacrificed their political rights and civil liberties, but are still not safe. More A man wanted by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) for alleged extremist acts has been apprehended in Chelyabinsk Oblast near the republic of Bashkortostan. More  Second Official Jailed Over School Tragedy A local education official in Russia's Orenburg Oblast has been jailed for negligence in connection with the fatal collapse of a school wall. More  Moscow Mourns Victims Of Attacks Moscow today is holding an official day of mourning for the 39 people killed in the twin suicide bombings on the city's metro. Flags on government buildings are flying at half-staff and mourners have lit candles and laid flowers at the site of the attacks, which also left more than 70 people injured, many seriously. More  Russia, IAEA Agree To Establish World's First Nuclear Fuel Bank (INTRO) Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have signed a deal to set up the world's first nuclear fuel bank. The bank will sell low-enriched uranium to countries that comply with international non-proliferation treaties and want fuel for civilian purposes. RFE/RL's Central Newsroom reports. More Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry has announced its detention of eight people who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on a school and a kindergarten in the capital, Baku. More  A Mathias Rust Moment For The Siloviki? From the very second he came to power over a decade ago, and especially since the 2004 Beslan hostage siege, Vladimir Putin has justified restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms in Russia as necessary to keep the country safe from terrorism. In the wake of today's tragic bombings, will Russians begin to question that logic? More  Charges Dropped Against Moscow Official The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has announced that all charges have been dropped against Moscow Deputy Mayor Aleksandr Ryabinin. More  Flash Analysis: Reaction To Attacks Could Further Divide Russians While we were taping a few quick comments for our Flash Analysis today, RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Irina Lagunina talked about the divisiveness that attacks like the March 29 metro bombings in Moscow can have on Russian society. More  North Caucasus Link Suspected In Deadly Moscow Metro Attacks A day of mourning is being observed today for the 39 victims of the Moscow metro attacks. The head of Russia's national security agency says insurgents linked to the North Caucasus region are suspected of carrying out the two bombings. More  Thousands Protest Across Russia Thousands of people across Russia demonstrated today against increases in fees for housing and utilities. More  Death Toll Rises In Russian Gas Explosion The death toll in a gas explosion in an apartment building in a Moscow suburb rose to four today as rescuers pulled another body from the rubble. More Russia Reorganizes Its Time Zones The total number of Russia's time zones fell from 11 to nine today as part of an initiative backed by President Dmitry Medvedev to tighten the country's economic integration. More  Russians Protest Reopening Of Baikal Mill Small protests took place across Russia today against the reopening of a Lake Baikal paper mill over concerns it was polluting the world's largest freshwater lake. More  NATO Urges Russia To Help Create 'Security Roof' The head of NATO has called for a vast "security roof" -- including Russia -- to counter potential missile attacks from rogue states. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking today at a NATO conference in Brussels, said the alliance needed to reach a binding decision on missile defense by its next summit in November. More  Medvedev: Iran Sanctions 'Not Excluded' Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he supports diplomacy to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, but sanctions cannot be excluded from the international community's strategy for dealing with the crisis. More  Five Wounded Leaving Daghestan Mosque Five people, including an imam, were wounded when unknown attackers fired on them as they were leaving a mosque after Friday evening prayers in the village of Aksai in the Russian republic of Daghestan. More  Russia Plans Yeltsin Monument A monument to Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin, will be unveiled in his native city of Yekaterinburg next year. More Police have freed 30 Vietnamese nationals who were forced into slave labor at an underground garment factory in the town of Yegoryevsk, near Moscow, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Mayor Of Russian Town Severely Beaten The mayor of the town of Shatura, near Moscow, was severely beaten by three assailants on March 25. More  Russia Bans 'Mein Kampf' Russian prosecutors today banned Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" in a bid to curb the growth of militant far-right groups. More  NATO: Missile Defense A Priority The head of NATO will call on March 27 for making missile defense a priority for the alliance and to "use every opportunity to cooperate on this with Russia." More  Obama, Medvedev Agree On Landmark Nuclear Arms Reduction Pact The White House has announced that Washington and Moscow have reached agreement on a landmark nuclear arms reduction pact. U.S. President Barack Obama said he will meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on April 8 to sign the new treaty. More  Everyone 'Trololoves' Eduard Khil A nearly forgotten Soviet-era singer has become a global sensation after one of his music clips from the 1970s went viral on the Internet. More  Russia May Begin Marking Victory Over Japan Russia may soon join the United States observing a second day marking the Axis defeat in World War II: Victory Over Japan Day. The decision could raise eyebrows in Washington as well as Japan because of the Soviet Union's controversial role during the war in the Pacific. More An organization representing active and retired police officers held a protest against corruption in the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. More  Russia Jails Officers For Georgia Spying Two Russian officers were sentenced by a military court today to prison terms of 13 and 15 years for passing military secrets to Georgia ahead of the 2008 war between the ex-Soviet neighbors. More  Tatarstan's New President Sworn In Tatarstan's Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov has been inaugurated as the Russian republic's new president in a ceremony in Kazan. More Daghestan's Leaders Move To Placate One Ethnic Group As Moscow Antagonizes A Second As widely anticipated, Daghestan's parliament has unanimously approved the appointment of Magomedsultan Magomedov as its new speaker. The crucial factor in the choice of Magomedov was, however, his nationality: he is a Kumyk. The Kumyks are Daghestan's third-largest ethnic group after the Avars and Dargins; the Lezgins rank fourth and the Laks fifth. More  Kabardian Insurgent Leader Killed In Nalchik The website of the Kabarda, Balkaria, and Karachai jamaat of the North Caucasus insurgency this morning confirmed Russian military claims that its leader, Anzor Astemirov (nom de guerre Amir Seyfullakh), was killed late on March 24 in a shoot-out with police on the street in Nalchik. More  Shaimiyev's Long Reign Ends In Tatarstan An era ends in Tatarstan as Mintimer Shaimiyev steps down as the Russian republic's president after serving for nearly two decades. More Four Russian medical officials have been jailed for taking bribes for issuing false disability certificates. More Two policemen in Russia's southwestern Samara Oblast have been officially charged in the alleged beating of a man in their custody. More Police in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula are investigating a video that appears to show the violent killing of several men. More  Russian Activists Arrested Protesting French Nuclear Waste Five Greenpeace activists have been arrested at the French Embassy in Moscow while protesting the docking of a French ship in St. Petersburg that is carrying nuclear waste. More Russian Protesters Demand PM Resign About 500 protesters gathered in the central Russian city of Barnaul today to protest utility-price hikes and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. More  NATO Rejects Afghan Poppy Spraying NATO today rejected Russian calls for it to eradicate opium poppy fields in Afghanistan, saying the best way for Moscow to help control the drug would be to give more assistance against the insurgency. More  Ingushetian President Denies Pressuring Judiciary Senior judges in Ingushetia have written to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev complaining that republican President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov interferes in the work of the judiciary by dictating to individual judges what verdict to hand down. Yevkurov for his part has flatly rejected that accusation and insists that he only asks that judges should abide within the framework of the law. More Further Call For Repealing Daghestan's Controversial 'Anti-Wahhabism' Law Publicist and independent trade-union head Isalmagomed Nabiyev has written to Daghestan's new president, Magomedsalam Magomedov, urging him to annul the republican law passed in September 1999 banning "Wahhabism" and "other extremist activity." More  LUKoil Withdraws From Iran Project Russia's LUKoil has announced its withdrawal from an oil project in Iran because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran, according to Interfax news agency. More  Russia's Reclusive Genius Interesting piece in The Guardian about Grigory Perelman, a reclusive Russian mathmatics genius, who has spurned a $1 million prize. More  France Has 'No Choice' On Iran Sanctions French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has warned there is "no other choice" but to impose fresh sanctions on Iran. More Russian Cops Sentenced In Torture Case Five policemen have been sentenced in the western Russian city of Penza for assaulting a man and then writing a false police report. More  October 11 vs. March 14 So now we have two distinct models for fixing elections in Russia. The flagrant falsification of October 11 and the fake pluralism of March 14. So which one will be used in next year's State Duma vote? More  With Mafia Arrests, Spain Turns Suspicious Eye On Post-Soviet Immigrants Recent arrests in Western Europe have underscored the extent to which people from the former Soviet Union are seen as dominating much of Europe's criminal underworld. More The former rector of a university in Russia's Kirov Oblast has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Security Service (FSB), RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Court Postpones Karelian Unrest Verdict The Supreme Court in the Russian republic of Karelia says it has postponed issuing a verdict until March 29 on the deadly unrest in 2006 in the city of Kondopoga, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Russia Mulls Amnesty For Some Criminals The ruling United Russia party has proposed a bill to grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of criminals in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Yushchenko Defends Bandera Decision Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said he is concerned by talk of overturning his decrees awarding World War II-era nationalist leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych the Hero of Ukraine Order. More |
