 RFE/RL Russia Report 5/26/2010 9:48:38 AM 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 . |
 Grandmaster Karpov Prepares Next Move In Bid For FIDE Presidency Chess grandmaster and former world champion Anatoly Karpov says he is Russia's candidate for the presidency of the World Chess Federation. But his rival, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has the backing of a Kremlin aide. More  'Sakharov Monument' Planned For Kirov The late rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov's widow, Yelena Bonner, had protested at the idea of a monument bearing her husband's name being erected in Russia under the present circumstances. So it will be called "The Monument to the Honest Man." More Protests in Angarsk have been going on for months and Irkutsk Governor Dmitry Mezentsev has promised to resolve problems connected with high utility tariffs and corruption. But protesters say he has not kept his promises. More  Chechen Leader Challenges FSB Data On Insurgents Addressing a recent meeting of senior law enforcement officials, Ramzan Kadyrov questioned periodic estimates released by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) of the number of Islamic insurgents currently based in Chechnya, and that organization's criteria for determining who falls into that category. More  Interview: Anatoly Karpov On The Politics Of Chess Chess grandmaster and former world champion Anatoly Karpov, who has waged a highly public campaign in defense of his nomination as Russia's candidate for the presidency of the World Chess Federation, , spoke to RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Yelena Vlasenko about his plans as he moves ahead with his campaign. More  Russian Protesters Want Lake Baikal Protected Demonstrators gathered in the Siberian city of Irkutsk to call for the protection of Lake Baikal and the closure of a polluting paper mill. More  Russian Opposition Activists Ask Kremlin For Help Russian opposition leaders and human rights activists have called on President Dmitry Medvedev's chief of staff to intervene in their efforts to have their rallies approved by the authorities. More  Georgian Flights To Moscow Resume Georgian Airways resumed charter flights today between Tbilisi and Moscow. More  EU, East Meet Before Summit Ahead of a milestone EU-Russia summit next week, leading diplomats from the 27 EU governments met their counterparts from the six members of the bloc's Eastern Partnership -- Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan -- in what was meant by its Polish hosts as a show of support. More  Activists Protest Moscow Construction Some 50 opponents of a controversial development plan in a historic part of Moscow blocked the road leading to the construction site today, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Siberian Miner's Widow Alleges Widespread Extortion Over Compensation The widow of one of the miners killed in the recent Raspadskaya coal mine explosion in Siberia says the families of the dead or injured are being extorted by organized crime groups. More  Basketball Exchange Shows Lighter Side Of U.S.-Russia Relations A group of young Russians are in Washington to pick up some basketball tips and learn more about the country in the process -- the first exchange under a new program meant to improve U.S.-Russian cooperation after years of frosty relations. More  Khodorkovsky Arrest Was 'Political' Russia's former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has said in a Moscow court that the Kremlin ordered the arrest of Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky because he had angered the President Vladimir Putin by funding opposition parties. More  Brodsky on Donne: 'The Poet Is Engaged In The Translation Of One Thing Into Another' Today marks the 70th anniversary of the birth in Leningrad of poet Joseph Brodsky. In 1981, I interviewed Brodsky in London on the occasion of another anniversary -- 350 years since the death of poet John Donne. More  Joseph Brodsky, Remembered This week marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Russian writer and Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky. More  Writers Pick Up Mantle Of Russia's Rich Literary Tradition Four young Russian writers have just concluded a reading tour in the United States organized by the PEN international literary organization. They have lots to say about what it means to write in 21st-century Russia. More  Black Hole: Russian Mining Tragedy Stirs Old Questions Of Class, Privilege More than a week after explosions left 90 people dead at Russia's Raspadskaya coal mine, the accident -- and the too-little-too-late government reaction that followed -- is stirring class resentment. That, in turn, is spooking the authorities, who fear the specter of politicized miners. More  Russia Seeks Equal Partnership With EU Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov says visa-free travel and collaboration on economic modernization are Russia's top two priorities for the upcoming summit with the EU in Rostov-na-Donu later this month. Chizhov said both goals carry emotional importance for Russia, which is hoping to establish itself as an equal partner to the EU. More  Moscow, Washington, And The 'Near Abroad' In addition to encouraging "alliances of modernization" with the United States and the European Union, a new Russian foreign policy document also presages a fairly assertive Russian foreign policy in the former Soviet space. More  North Ossetia's Russian Mufti Under Fire On May 2, the news agency Regnum circulated what it billed as an interview with North Ossetia's mufti, Ali-hadji Yevteyev. Yevteyev himself subsequently claimed that it was in fact a "discussion" and not intended for publication. More  Kremlin, With Kyiv's Help, Ups Pressure Over Transdniester Moscow may be using Kyiv's newfound support to add muscle to its agenda regarding another former Soviet republic, after the two countries issued a statement on Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester. More  Prokhorov Shines In NBA Debut Following in the footsteps of Roman Abramovich (Chelsea Football Club) , kazillionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has joined the ranks of Russian oligarchs who now own Western sports teams. More  Cosmic Kirsan -- Russian Politician Claims He Was Visited By Aliens Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the colorful governor of Russia's Kalmykia Republic, claimed in an April television interview that aliens visited him in his Moscow apartment back in September 1997. More  Crunch Time For Khloponin The Russian government has granted North Caucasus Federal District head Aleksandr Khloponin sole authority to appoint and dismiss representatives in the North Caucasus of federal agencies subordinate to the Russian government. More It looks to be getting increasingly difficult to be a Somali pirate these days, judging by these recent Russian and American examples. More |
