RFE/RL RUSSIA REPORT
11/1/2011 8:01:43 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 . |
 Interview: Marshall Goldman On Russia's WTO Bid After waiting nearly two decades, Russian appears to be on the brink of joining the World Trade Organization. Marshall Goldman, the former associate director of the Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University and author of numerous books on the Russian economy, talked to RFE/RL about the implications of membership. More  Russian TV Yanks Torture Report Viewers in the Russian Far East this week saw a surprisingly hard-hitting news report about alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya. Normally, heavily state-controlled Russian television depicts the republic as a peaceful and thriving region. But viewers in European Russia did not see the controversial story after Gazprom's NTV television pulled it for "reworking." More  Russian Opposition Offices Searched Police in Yekaterinburg have searched the office of the unregistered opposition party PARNAS (Party of People's Freedom). More  Russian 'Slave' Soldier Charged A Russian soldier who claims he spent more than a decade in forced labor has been officially charged with desertion. More  Russia Sees WTO Deal By Mid-December After 18 years of talks, Russia appears on the verge of succeeding in its bid to join the world's leading trade body. More  Sheikh Killed In Southern Russia A Sufi sheikh has been shot dead at his home in a village in southeastern part of the Russian republic of Daghestan. More  Podcast: Bolshoi Welcomes An American; Political Murder In Kyrgyzstan; Loudmouth Luzhkov In Episode 42, we profile celebrated dancer David Hallberg, the first American to be welcomed into the Bolshoi Ballet. Plus, a look at Yury Luzhkov, the colorful former Moscow mayor who spoke frankly to RFE/RL and now finds himself immersed in legal woes, and a presidential vote in Kyrgyzstan stained by a grisly murder. More  Russia 'Still Committed' To Armenian Nuclear Project Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to help Armenia build a new nuclear plant, though it said the expensive project will not be easy to implement. More  Tajik, Russian Ombudsmen Sign Cooperation Deal Tajik Ombudsman Zarif Alizoda and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Lukin, have signed an agreement in Moscow on mutual cooperation. More  Silovikiland And Its Discontents Despite KGB veteran Vladimir Putin's imminent return to the Kremlin, there is a lot of angst in siloviki-land. More  Moscow Region Governor Accused Of Scheming To Fix Elections For Ruling Party A leading opposition lawmaker is calling for an investigation in the wake of allegations that Moscow Oblast Governor Boris Gromov ordered local officials to assure "maximum support" for the ruling United Russia party in upcoming elections to the State Duma. More  Victims Of Russian Theater Siege Commemorated Relatives and friends today commemorated the victims of the hostage-taking at Moscow's Dubrovka Theater on the ninth anniversary of the end of the standoff.More  Azerbaijani-Turkish Gas Deal Opens Southern Corridor In agreeing on gas shipments for Turkish consumption, Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders have resolved one of the biggest obstacles to sending Caspian region gas to Europe. Now the game is on to see which of three proposed pipelines, including the EU's long-delayed Nabucco project, gets the bid. More  Spate Of Suspect Deaths Casts Spotlight On Moscow's Remand Prisons The recent deaths of suspects held in remand has once again cast a harsh light on Moscow pretrial detention centers, known as SIZO's or "investigative isolators" in Russian, where, according to the Moscow Helsinki Group, some 50-60 people die in custody each year. More  Russians Rally For Khodorkovsky Opposition activists have rallied in St. Petersburg to demonstrate support for jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested exactly eight years ago. More  For Russia, Qaddafi's Downfall Is No Cause For Celebration The West views the overthrow and death of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi as a victory of democratic forces over a brutal dictator. But Russia sees Qaddafi's fall as the potentially illegal overthrow of a trusted ally. More  Ingushetian Leader's Guard Shot In Road-Rage Incident Road rage anywhere can be hazardous to your health. But in the unstable Russian North Caucasus province of Ingushetia, a fit of motorized anger escalated into a regional security concern on October 23, when an irate motorist shot a trusted member of regional President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov’s security detail. More |
