 RFE/RL Russia Report 6/22/2010 6:03:51 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 . |
 Troubled Bridge Over Russian Water Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has just ordered officials in Volgograd Oblast to once again thoroughly check the safety of a bridge across the Volga River after it began undulating and swaying in the wind last month. He's also asking them to look into the construction and financing of the span. More  Semneby Downplays Fears EU Is Reducing Presence In South Caucasus Peter Semneby, the EU special representative to the South Caucasus, is downplaying rumors the bloc is planning to reduce its diplomatic presence in the region, saying all three nations are "important" individual partners. But Semneby refused to discuss a proposal that he and other EU special representatives will soon be losing their jobs. More  Poland's Tokarczuk: 'Literature Is Always Political' Olga Tokarczuk is one of Poland's most popular contemporary writers and essayists. During her appearance at a recent book fair in Prague, the 48-year-old author spoke to RFE/RL about the challenges of pursuing a literary career in Poland, and the role of writers in both democratic and authoritarian societies. More  So Close, Yet So Far: Polish Writers On Ties With Russia "Never trust Russian authorities," Andrei Sakharov once advised his friend Bronislaw Geremek, the renowned Polish scholar and pro-democracy leader. More  New Study Assesses Economic, Political Impact Of Holocaust In Russia A group of American researchers has issued a new paper demonstrating that the 11 regions of western Russia that were most severely affected by the Holocaust lag behind the rest of the country economically and are more politically conservative to the present day. More  Why I’m Not Joining The ‘31’ Demonstrations In Russia We have some very greedy and larcenous people in power. And what’s worse -- they are really stupid too, incapable of learning from historical precedents. And what’s worse still -- they are extremely poorly educated, honestly believing that capitalism is a world of money for the taking and that democracy is just a screen for the ruling class. More  A New Pragmatism In The Near Abroad? Does Moscow's response to the Kyrgyz crisis represent a turning point in Russian foreign policy in the former Soviet space? More  Holier Than Thou: Ramzan Kadyrov And 'Traditional Chechen Islam' Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov, arguably the most powerful -- and dangerous -- regional leader in the Russian Federation is resorting to increasingly draconian measures to impose his own eclectic vision of what constitutes "traditional Chechen Islam," along with the code of behavior, ethics, and dress he considers one of its key components. More |
