 RFE/RL Russia Report 2/2/2010 4:59:20 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 . |
 New Research Rejects Claim That 'Shock Therapy Reform' Kills Economists and sociologists have been examining a study published last year in a prestigious British medical journal that claimed to find a link between "shock therapy" economic reforms and death rates in former Soviet republics. The latest research rejects the widely-reported claim that mass privatization kills. More  Film On Russian Neo-Nazis Itself Faces Ban Under Antiextremism Laws In Russia, an award-winning film about skinheads has drawn both praise and condemnation, highlighting the country's ambiguous stance on the issue of ultranationalism. "Russia 88," a film widely praised for raising awareness about the country's devastating racist violence, is now facing a potential ban under antiextremism laws. More  Russians Protest French Nuclear Waste A dozen or so environmental activists in St. Petersburg have protested the arrival of 480 tons of uranium waste to the city, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Swedes, Poles Urge Tactical Arms Cut Sweden and Poland are calling on the United States and Russia to reduce their tactical nuclear arms in Europe, saying it's time such weapons were included under an arms control regime. The call comes as an international conference on nuclear disarmament opens in Paris. More  Georgia Satellite Channel Claims Kremlin Pressure Took It Off The Air Georgia's Russian-language television channel, First Caucasian, says it is being taken off the air by its France-based satellite provider due to pressure from the Kremlin. More  Russia's Historic Hammer-And-Sickle Building Faces Wrecking Ball Architectural preservationists in Russia are campaigning to save a unique Constructivist building in the shape of a hammer and sickle, which is threatened with demolition to make way for new development. The fight to save the Fabrika Kukhnya, or Kitchen Factory, in Samara comes as many Russian cities are facing the destruction of historic buildings in favor of elite construction projects. More  Is Ramzan Kadyrov's Star On The Wane? Just a few months ago, Ramzan Kadyrov's position as Chechen Republic head appeared unassailable. He was even named in December as a possible candidate for the post of federal official responsible for the entire North Caucasus. But since the start of the year, he has incurred veiled criticism from both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In addition, he has been the subject of damaging allegations from media outlets both in Russia and abroad. More  Russia's NATO Ambassador Tweets Holiday Snaps Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has obviously got himself a smart phone for Christmas. Check out his recent Twitpics from the Musee d'Armes in Liege. More  Guest Post: Don't Bother With U.S.-Russia Working Group The first meeting of the U.S.-Russia Civil Society Working Group, set up to reset relations between the two countries, was held in Washington on January 27. Afterwards, RFE/RL spoke to Michael McFaul, one of the two co-chairs of the group. More  Former Ukrainian President Says Political System Dysfunctional Five years after he left Ukraine's presidency in disgrace following the Orange Revolution, Leonid Kuchma speaks out about his legacy and political developments in his country. More  Exposure, But No Screen Time, For Young Russian Filmmakers At Sundance Four up-and-coming Russian directors who were at this year's Sundance Film Festival talk about their work and the difference between Russian and American filmmakers. More  Tatar Activists Upset Muslim Olympians Blessed By Russian Patriarch Some Tatar journalists and activists are protesting the blessing given by Russian Patriarch Kirill to Muslim members of the Russian Winter Olympic team at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior last week. More  Russian City Puts Lenin Up For Sale he southern Russian city of Voronezh has put its bronze statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin on sale, because it can't afford to maintain it any longer. More  Moscow Police Stop Rechnik Protest Police in Moscow stopped a group of homeowners from the suburban community of Rechnik and their supporters from reaching the Moscow mayor's office today. More  A New Tactic In Russia's War On Free Press The arrests at a regional Russian newspaper on charges of publishing articles in return for money surprised many in a country where the practice is common. But some say the detentions could actually be linked to the newspaper's stinging criticism of local authorities. More  Gunboat Diplomacy Moscow’s reported bids on advanced military hardware from NATO countries is making its neighbors nervous -- and dividing the alliance on how to respond. More  Working Together Isn't Working For all the talk of “reset” and “shared interests” and the like, cooperation between the United States and Russia is just not going anywhere. More  Kalashnikov Gun Factory Offers Food In Place Of Salaries The management at a factory producing Kalashnikov guns in Russia's Kirov Oblast is paying its workers in food in place of their regular salaries this month, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  U.S. Envoy For Eurasian Energy Explains Goals, Strategy For Region The White House's Special Envoy for Eurasian energy has laid out the U.S. government's policy strategy for the region, and says the key to its success will be engagement. More  At 150 Years, Chekhov's Appeal Remains Timeless It's been 150 years since the birth of one of Russia's most enduring literary talents, playwright and author Anton Chekhov. More than a century after his death, Chekhov is one of the most widely translated and imitated writers in the world. More  Hugh Grant Reaches Out To Russia And the Hollywood heartthrob's pronunciation is pretty darned good! More  Patriot Games Russia's mild reaction to the decision to deploy a U.S. Patriot missile battery in Poland, close to the border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, has been -- to say the least -- a bit strange. So what's going on? More  A Friend Indeed The website of “The London Times” today has a story that is full of wonderful ironies. I can’t help but imagine Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin giggling with delight. It seems too fantastic to suggest that he could have planned this, but he definitely kept his eyes open for opportunities and they all fell into place marvelously. More  Chekhov Was A Master In An Age That Needed No Geniuses January 29 marks the 150th birthday of Russian writer Anton Chekhov. And Boris Paramonov says it's a most appropriate jubilee. More  The Purge In The Regions: Who's Next? Every time a long-serving regional leader is removed, speculation builds that Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and Baskortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov will be next on the chopping block. Will the speculation prove correct this time? More  Interview: McFaul On U.S., Russian Stereotypes And His Controversial Co-Chair The first meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Civil Society Working Group was held in Washington on January 27. The group is part of a larger effort begun last summer by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to reset relations between the two countries and explore new opportunities for partnership. More  Birth Of A Monarchy I was talking to some colleagues yesterday about RFE/RL’s recent interview with Kremlin-connected political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky. There are a lot of great tidbits in this interview and we’ve been talking about it a lot lately. More We had a piece yesterday on the recent demolitions in the Moscow neighborhood of Rechnik, where residents have accused the city government of a "land grab" in order to clear prime real estate for lucrative development plans. More Demolition crews working for the Moscow city government today returned to the prosperous dacha community of Rechnik to tear down two more of the neighborhood's houses, after destroying four others last week. The city says the houses were built illegally. But residents argue Moscow officials are looking to seize prime real estate for lucrative development projects. More  Putin Crashes Medvedev's Party Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave a fiery speech at Russia's State Council meeting on Friday. But the most remarkable thing about Putin's appearance was that it wasn't supposed to happen at all. More  Can New Medvedev Vision Bring Stability To North Caucasus? Russia observers have spent a great deal of time trying to explain the rationale behind President Medvedev's appointment of Aleksandr Khloponin to oversee the new North Caucasus Federal District. But questions still remain. More |
