Claire Bigg covers Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet world, with a focus on human rights, civil society, and social issues.
When Moscow's Baumansky market collapsed in February 2006, crushing to death almost 70 people, Russian newspapers were awash with reports expressing shock over the accident.
Racial violence has hit a record high in Russia with 57 people killed so far this year. While ultranationalists once struck indiscriminately, Central Asian migrants now appear to be the chief victims of hate crimes.
Russia's new president makes his first trip West for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They are expected to discuss judicial reforms, freedom of the press, and human rights.
Moscow is bracing for the arrival of thousands of fans for the all-English Champions League final. In a move that could signal warming relations between Russia and Britain, Moscow has agreed to waive visas for traveling fans.
Russia is busy dusting off its heavy weapons for what will be the biggest military extravaganza seen on Red Square since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The message? No apologies for the past.
Dissidents are being rounded up. U.S. diplomats are being kicked out. And European officials are once again pointing accusing fingers at the continent's "last dictatorship."
Russians aren't waiting for Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration to poke fun at the new president. But the most scathing political satire has been driven from the political scene.
Thirty years ago, thousands of angry Georgians rallied to defend their native language. Eduard Shevardnadze, then leader of the republican Communist Party, recalls ordinary Georgians' first major victory over the Soviet leadership in Moscow.
A wave of hunger strikes appears to have gripped a number of post-Soviet countries. Faced with official indifference and flawed justice, growing numbers of people are choosing to starve to draw attention to their plight.
The U.S. and Russian presidents failed to resolve differences over missile defense, but used their farewell summit on the Black Sea to declare their readiness to seek compromise.
Georgia's and Ukraine's NATO bids have shed light on NATO's "Old Europe" and "New Europe" camps. Did the summit's strong show of support for the two post-Soviet hopefuls bridge the gap?
Georgia and Ukraine will be holding their breath for any announcement on their bids to obtain a Membership Action Plan (MAP) during this week's NATO summit.
The United States has agreed to cut its embassy staff in Minsk by almost half at the request of Belarusian authorities following the U.S. ambassador's forced departure from Minsk and accusations that the embassy was involved in spying activities.
Two vocal Kremlin critics are freed soon after the presidential polls close, while a third is jailed at the end of a busy day collecting evidence of voter fraud.
Crying foul, supporters of the Western-funded school are waging an intense Internet campaign to reverse the ruling. It's just one way that Russians are using the freedom of the web to beat the Kremlin clampdown on civic activism.
Ukraine and Russia have reached an agreement ending a three-day crisis over gas supplies. But with shady middlemen and Russia's use of gas supplies for political ends unlikely to stop, the two neighbors may go through the same thing again soon.
Calm has returned to the streets of Yerevan following an outburst of violence on March 1 in which opposition protesters clashed with police, leaving eight people dead and hundreds injured.
Faced with a demographic crisis and a presidential election, the Kremlin has introduced much-publicized "national projects" to overhaul Russia's frayed welfare system. But when one Moscow woman gave birth to an ailing child, she found out that competent medical care -- and compassion -- are still in depressingly short supply.
Russia's oil wealth may have trickled down, but not far enough to raise millions of Russians out of poverty. And the burgeoning middle class is determined to avoid the financial chaos of the 1990s. The Kremlin is popular, but to stay that way, it needs to spread the wealth.
After a spate of unexpected releases, opposition politician Alyaksandr Kazulin is now Belarus's last political prisoner. The case threatens to offset what little good Minsk may have done to improve its reputation abroad.
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