Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Russia Report 12/21/2010 7:13:14 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 .

 

Russia Rebuilds Georgian War Memorial Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has unveiled a new memorial dedicated to World War II veterans of the former USSR, replacing an older monument that was blown up by the Georgians a year ago. More   Stiff Upper Lip In Moscow As London Airports Paralyzed By Snow With travel in Europe paralyzed by snowstorms and forecasts of the worst winter in a century, perhaps the West should seek advice from a capital city used to coping with whiteouts: Moscow. More   WikiLeaks Cables Add To Speculation Over Litvinenko Some of the purported U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks this month appear to shed light on the killing of former KGB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, who died of radioactive poisoning in London in November 2006. So says the headline in "The New York Times," which reported the story on Monday. If anything, they add more circumstantial evidence of a possible Russian cover-up of the prominent Kremlin critic's murder. More   Russia's Minorities Have Plenty Of Questions For Putin In his recent, nationally televised question-and-answer session, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claimed that "the state exists to provide for the interests of the majority." Fair enough, but what about minorities? Who will protect them from the majority? More   Accidents In Siberia Leave Thousands Without Heat, Water Thousands of residents of the southeast Siberian city of Irkutsk have been left without heating and running water after a double accident. More   Fire In Russian College Dorm Kills Three Three students have died in a fire in the dormitory of a teacher training college in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk. More   Georgian President's Olive Branch Fails To Expedite Progress In Geneva Talks Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili recently affirmed that Georgia "will never use military force to restore its territorial integrity," meaning to reimpose its hegemony over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. But hopes for progress at the internationally mediated talks in Geneva proved illusory. More   Watching WikiLeaks' 'Cablegate' From Tbilisi In the end, opines Ghia Nodia, the cries to the effect that bold individuals have exposed repression and dark deeds by the mighty ring hollow. More   Artists, Writers, Actors Appeal To Medvedev Over Khodorkovsky Case Dozens of prominent writers, actors, artists, and human rights activists in St. Petersburg sent an open letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today urging him to protect former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. More   Russian Communists Protest Communists in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk started what they say will be a three-day protest today to highlight social and economic problems in the region. More   Nemtsov Plans To Sue Putin Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov says he and his colleagues plan to sue Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. More   Daghestan's President Tries To (Re)Make History On December 15, a congress of Daghestan's various nationalities took place in the capital, Makhachkala, which the republic's authorities touted as the third such congress in Daghestan's recent history. More   Whistle-Blowing Blogger Fights The Power He's been called Russia's one-man WIkiLeaks and blogger Aleksei Navalny appears to be getting under the skin of the country's power elite. More   Racist Rampage Casts Shadow On Russia's 2018 World Cup Dream The racially motivated rioting by ultranationalists and football hooligans this past weekend has shocked Russians. The violence, in which more than 30 people were injured, also cast a long shadow on Russia's victorious bid to host the football World Cup in 2018. More   Russian Sweep Nabs Samara Youths Police in the Russian city of Samara have detained more than 100 young people as part of a sweep in several cities aimed at preventing ethnic clashes. More   Putin: Russia Emerging From Crisis Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has boasted about his government's achievements, saying Russians' quality of life is improving two years after the global financial crisis battered his country. More   Moscow Arrests To Stave Off Riots Moscow police have arrested more than 1,000 people across the city center in a bid to prevent ethnic clashes from erupting following the deadly shooting of a football fan. More   Moscow Court Postpones Khodorkovsky Verdict In a surprise decision, a court in Moscow has postponed the reading of a verdict in the second trial of former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The judgment, expected to begin on December 15, has been delayed until the end of the month. More   Russian Human Rights Activist 'Attacked' Russian human rights activist says he was beaten in the village of Selyatino near Moscow on December 14. More   Russia's Khodorkovsky On Ice Ahead Of Verdict In Second Trial Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon who many now see as Russia's most famous political prisoner, faces an additional six years in jail in what his supporters say is really a verdict on the state of authoritarianism in Russia. More   Russian Gov't OKs Highway Through Khimki Forest After years of debate and escalating protests, the Russian government has given a green light to the construction of a controversial highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg passing through Khimki forest. The committee says alternatives would not only cost more money, but would displace more people from their homes. Ecologist and activists are appealing to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev not to approve the decision. More   Mass Hospitalization Of Siberia Soldiers The Military-Prosecutor's Office in the south-central Russian region of Kemerovo has launched an investigation after some 250 soldiers were hospitalized. More