Moscow’s protest movement is gathering momentum, bringing in greater numbers and a wider constituency of supporters. What is as yet unclear, however, is whether it has the organisational clout to become a sustained force for change, write Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov.
Recent Russian protests against a stolen election were on the whole peaceful and well-policed. At similar protests in Minsk in December 2010, the Belarus police over-reacted, resulting in beatings and imprisonment for many of the demonstrators. Strong Russian support for the Lukashenka regime coul
Tjebbe van Tijen presents a montage of graffiti and photographs in honour of Václav Havel
One of least believable returns in Russia’s disputed elections was a figure that put United Russia’s vote in Tatarstan at nearly 80%. Last Saturday, some 2,000 Tatars braved the cold to demonstrate against the obvious fraud. Authorities were infuriated by their inability to find the "organisers" o
Is it possible to challenge censors without losing your livelihood? Polina Bykhovskaya interviews the men and women who wanted to change the world but ended up in the business of job preservation (their's and Putin's)
Anti-corruption blogger and activist was arrested and jailed for 15 days on Dec. 5, during the first day of protests against the fraudulent Duma election. Navalny coined the now eponymous phrase “Party of Crooks and Thieves,” in referring to the ruling party of United Russia. He wrote this letter
The protests against widely perceived fraud in Russia’s parliamentary elections were broadcast throughout the world and went viral on the internet. The role of social networks in spreading discontent and organising the demonstrations in Russian cities is a crucial development, but with the leaders
A British theatre company has brought a play about final hours of Sergei Magnitsky’s life to the London stage. Irina Shumovich reviews “One hour eighteen minutes”.
The catcalls that greeted Vladimir Putin when he appeared at a sports event in Moscow show that for many Russians, the once fearsome leader has been turned into a largely ludicrous and contemptible figure. For Daniil Kotsyubinsky, the blame for such a damaging collapse can be placed firmly at the
In a Russia that is neither a traditional authoritarian regime run by hereditary dynasty, nor a true democracy with power focused in official institutions, the distribution of power is best understood as a web of unofficial networks. This, explains Vadim Kononenko, is why the return of Putin to th
This year marked the seventy year anniversary of the Siege of Leningrad, which saw three quarters of a million of the city’s residents perish during 872 days of cold and hunger. For years, little was written about what was a hollow and Pyrrhic victory for the Soviet authorities; later the realitie
The European Union has an uncertain relationship with the ex-Soviet states to its east. A meeting in Poznan under the auspices of the union’s “eastern partnership” is a timely moment to examine what Europe needs to do to revivify its engagement, says Gevorg Ger-Gabrielyan.
