Elections, protests and the challenges of a third (fifth?) Putin term
From the euphoria of last winter, reality has bitten Russia's opposition. President Putin is resurgent, popular interest in politics is waning and doubts are emerging about the self-styled leader of the protests, Alexei Navalny. Ben Judah wonders if there is an easy way back for Russia's opposition. 
The recent election to the Coordinating Council of the Russian opposition was a first. Run across the whole country, entirely online, it demonstrated an unprecedented unity between the various factions. Organisers Fyodor Krashenninikov and Leonid Volkov, take a long hard look at its successes, failures and implications for the future of Russia.
Many democratically-minded Russians have seized upon the recent
On 10th
July a Moscow court extended the pre-trial detention of three members of
feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot, charged with hooliganism after they
performed a ‘blasphemous’ and anti-Putin song in the city’s main cathedral in February.
Vladimir
Pastukhov believes there is much the case tells us about the relations between
the Putin government and the Russia’s Orthodox Church.
As Putin’s new
government beds in and shows its teeth against the protesters, Dmitry Travin
takes a look at the generational differences among the opposition. Life experience makes many of the older generation more weary of street protest, yet on other fronts people are beginning to speak with one voice. 
Despite a
heavy riot police presence, a spirit of optimism and unity was tangible at
Moscow’s ‘March of Millions’ yesterday, says Susanne Sternthal. The
self-proclaimed ‘leaders’ of the opposition, on the other hand, were reduced to
playing a secondary role.
Vladimir Putin unexpectedly pulled out of last weekend’s G8 summit in the USA, sending Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his place. He gave as his reason the need to finish work setting up his new cabinet, but eminent Moscow journalist and music critic Artemy Troitsky has another explanation for the president’s change of plan.
Vladimir Putin’s swearing-in as President last
week was accompanied by protest rallies that were brutally broken up by police,
and their organisers imprisoned. But as the Occupy Abay sit-in and organised
‘strolls’ through the centre of Moscow have shown, protesters are gaining
confidence and adopting new tactics. Journalist
Tikhon Dzyadko, who was himself hurt in the recent clashes, reports. 
As Vladimir Putin embarks on his third presidential term,
the inevitable question must be how long he will be able to use old techniques,
political technologies, to keep the lid on the pressure cooker of discontent.
In the new situation the political and economic cost to Putin of continued
repression is considerably higher, but, most importantly, the Grand Illusion,
which kept the ratings high, is now over, says Andrew Wilson
Are we witnessing the death throes of Russia’s ruling tandem? Since last September, when their (apparently) joint decision to swap posts was announced, speculation has been rife about who President Putin’s next prime minister will be. He made a public promise to Medvedev, but now another infinitely more acceptable candidate is positioning himself for the job, says Daniil Kotsyubinsky
A month ago today, more than twenty people joined ex-candidate Oleg Shein in a hunger strike against disputed mayoral elections in the regional capital city of Astrakhan, south Russia. As the health of those still protesting continues to decline, Svetlana Reiter spoke to two of the strikers to discover what propelled them to such a radical form of protest. 
In the second of his analytical articles, Dmitri Travin gives further consideration to Russia’s way forward under its new (or not so new) president, Vladimir Putin. Will he insist on keeping to his hard line or might he take the ‘soft’ option? That too is fraught with potential risk.
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Russian rights at the crossroads
Beyond the gastarbeiter: post-Soviet migration
Madeleine Reeves (Manchester University, UK) presents the other side of post-Soviet migration.
Regions
Russia's year of elections
Women, tradition and power in the North Caucasus
Project_ID
Privatizatsiya, twenty years on
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
Russian economy: trying to please people doesn’t help, Dmitry Travin
Privatisation, but no private property, Andrei Zaostrovtsev
Is corruption in Russia's DNA?, Pyotr Filippov
The Russian banking system: between the market and the state, Pavel Usanov
Russia’s crony capitalism: the swing of the pendulum, Vladimir Gelman
Russian reforms, twenty years on. Introduction to the series, Dmitry Travin
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