Claire Bigg covers Russia, Ukraine, and the post-Soviet world, with a focus on human rights, civil society, and social issues.
Moscow’s chief rabbi, Swiss national Pinkhas Goldschmidt, says Russian border guards denied him reentry to the country on 26 September when he returned from a trip to Israel. He says the border guards told him that his Russian visa had been annulled, but gave no further explanation. He then had to fly back to Israel. Jewish religious leaders both in Russia and abroad have expressed deep concern over the incident and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately let Goldschmidt return to Russia.
President Putin listening to a question during the teleconference (epa) Russian President Vladimir Putin today answered questions in a live televized show, the fourth of its kind since his election as president. The bulk of questions focused on social issues such as pensions, housing, health, and education, with people across Russia demanding that growing oil revenues be translated into improved living standards. But foreign policy issues were also discussed.
A Moscow court rejected oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovskii’s appeal against conviction for fraud and tax evasion on 22 September, but cut one year from his nine-year prison sentence. His lawyers vowed to take the case to a higher court and slammed the ruling, which also crushes Khodorkovskii’s parliamentary election bid. In a further blow to the defense team, Russian authorities have ordered one lawyer to leave the country and called for nine attornies to be stripped of their licenses.
Khodorkovskii and Lebedev in court (file photo) Jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskii's appeal against his fraud conviction was once again adjourned today (20 September) as wrangling over his defense team continued. Khodorkovskii, who was sentenced in May to nine years in prison for fraud and tax evasion, has been refusing to start his defense, urging the court to wait until his main appeal lawyer is out of hospital. Prosecutors accuse the tycoon of deliberately delaying the appeal process to prepare a parliamentary election bid.
Boris Berezovskii (file photo) Controversial Russian tycoon Boris Berezovskii has confirmed recent claims that he helped finance the political movement of Viktor Yushchenko ahead of his election as Ukrainian president. Yushchenko’s team strongly denies the allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated. The scandal adds to Ukraine’s growing political turmoil following Yushchenko’s recent decision to sack his government.
Mikhail Kasyanov (file photo) Mikhail Kasyanov, President Vladimir Putin's former prime minister, announced yesterday that he plans to run in the next presidential elections in 2008. Kasyanov has been one of Putin's most vocal critics since he was fired last year, accusing the president of stifling democracy and mismanaging the economy. He is now the first prominent politician to state his intention to run for president.
President Putin and Chancellor Shroeder in Kaliningrad in July Russian and German energy firms today signed a deal to build a $5.7 billion pipeline under the Baltic Sea to link the two countries. The signing comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today. The pipeline will allow Russia to boost its gas exports to the lucrative Western European market without paying transit fees to Poland and Ukraine. Poland yesterday attacked the deal for having been made without consulting the rest of the European Union.
Does Putin even want to run for a third term? President Vladimir Putin has once again dismissed allegations that he plans to amend the Russian Constitution in order to seek a third term in 2008. Speaking to international academics and political analysts at a closed-door Kremlin meeting on 5 September, Putin however suggested he may take up a postpresidential post in which he can use his experience to “benefit” Russia.
Zalina Guburova mourns the death of her son and mother in the siege Russia is marking the first anniversary of the Beslan hostage massacre in which over 330 people lost their lives, more than half of them children. While the small North Ossetian town mourns its dead under intermittent rain, cities across Russia are also paying homage to the victims with remembrance masses and demonstrations.
Galina Dagueva at her daughter's grave One year ago today, pro-Chechen separatist militants took hostage some 1,100 men, women, and children in Beslan’s School No. 1. More than one-quarter of the hostages lost their lives in the bloodbath that ended the ordeal two days later. Most of the victims were children. Today, grieving relatives are once again plunged into mourning as they begin marking the first anniversary of the tragedy. But among the laments that resound across the bereaved town, one question recurs: Why did so many die?
A funeral last year for one of the victims On 1 September 2004, School No. 1 in the southern Russian town of Beslan was preparing for the first day of classes marking the start of the new school year. But the festivities quickly turned into a nightmare when heavily armed gunmen seized the school, killed several adult male hostages, and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. Two days later, the hostage taking ended in a chaotic battle as Russian forces stormed the building. There were explosions and gunfire. The roof of the gymnasium collapsed, the building caught fire, and by the time the horror ended more than 330 hostages were dead, including 186 children. For those who survived, the approaching anniversary of the tragedy brings back painful memories.
Almost one year after their children were killed in a school hostage massacre, parents in the North Ossetian town of Beslan are still struggling to come to terms with their grief. But another feeling is simmering as well: bitter anger towards the authorities. Beslan mothers staged a 28-hour protest in the Vladikavkaz courthouse where the sole surviving hostage-taker is being tried. They demanded that top officials, including President Vladimir Putin, also be held to account for the bloodbath. Their pleas, however, seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Ilyushin IL-96-300 (file photo) Russia yesterday indefinitely grounded Ilyushin 96-300 passenger aircraft after transport inspectors pointed out malfunctions in the jets’ braking systems. The decision comes just weeks after a technical glitch in an Ilyushin 96-300 forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to fly in a back-up plane during a visit to Finland. It is likely to inflict huge losses on Russia’s flagship airline, Aeroflot, which owns almost half of these planes.
President Vladimir Putin (file photo) Russian President Vladimir Putin called yesterday for a timetable for pulling foreign troops out of Iraq. The Russian leader said many Iraqis view the foreign troops as "occupiers" and suggested the withdrawal will encourage insurgents to abandon violence in favor of contributing to the creation of the state. The United States was quick to reject his call, saying it is still too early for a pullout.
The Chinese and Russian chiefs of general staffs, Liang Guanglie and Yurii Baluyevskii, meet in Vladivostok on 18 August Russia and China kicked off their first-ever joint military exercises today in the city of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East. Some 10,000 troops from air, land, and sea forces are due to take part in the eight-day drill, which will be centered along China's northeastern coast. Both countries have actively sought to reassure the United States that the war games are not aimed at any third country. Experts say the goal of the drill, in fact, may be more commercial than military.
Eduard Limonov speaking at an NBP congress in November 2004 Russia’s Supreme Court has lifted a ban imposed by a lower court on the National Bolshevik Party (NBP). The radical youth movement, whose provocative antigovernment protests have long riled the Kremlin, had been outlawed in June for violating registration procedures. The party’s controversial leader, Eduard Limonov, hailed the decision, saying it gave him new hope for the future of Russia. Is the decision a sign of better times to come for the country’s many radical groups?
A skinhead protest in Moscow (file photo) More than half of Russians have xenophobic views -- that is the charge coming from Russian human rights campaigners today. In a new report, rights groups say that -- despite progress in some areas -- racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism remain rife in Russia. But what worries watchdogs most are recent moves by nationalist-patriotic movements to form paramilitary groups.
Masud in his Moscow apartment Moscow is a bustling city full of restaurants, cinemas, and fashionable boutiques. But such pleasures are largely reserved for the rich. Life is much tougher for average Muscovites, whose living conditions dip far lower than those of middle-income families in most industrialized countries. Russia is among the richest countries in transition -- its gross national income is $2,600 per person per year, compared to $970 in Ukraine, or $250 in Afghanistan. But the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, notes that Russia's wealth has been slow to trickle down to the middle class, particularly among families with children and single-parent families. The steady erosion of social welfare benefits has made the situation all the more challenging. As the UN marks the fifth anniversary of International Youth Day on 12 August, RFE/RL talks to a young Muscovite and his mother about their hopes for a better life.
Russia has a long history of bribe taking, and a new study released this week shows the country remains as true as ever to this time-honored tradition. According to a report by the Indem Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that monitors corruption in Russia, Russians spend 10 times more in bribes today than they did four years ago. Corruption, however, seems to be evolving with the times. While bribery is receding in some areas, the report says institutions such as the army are rapidly emerging as Russia's new top bribe takers.
Nashi youths at Lake Seliger in July. The T-shirts are emblazened with the Russian national anthem With the arrival of hot temperatures and summer recess, thousands of young Russians have traded city life for the peace of Russia's picturesque countryside. But at a pro-Kremlin camp north of Moscow, young Russians have little time for barbecues, mushroom picking, and lazy afternoons. They have come to learn how to defend their country -- and President Vladimir Putin. The government, meanwhile, this week approved a comprehensive five-year program to raise patriotic feelings among youth.
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