Traditionally, Soviet and Russian Defence Ministers have carried the military rank of General. Anatoly Serdyukov, recently dismissed by President Putin, was an exception, and his civilian status reflected a desire to make the MOD more subject to political control. Aleksandr Golts discusses the imp
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, fai
Primary and secondary education In Russia is supposed to be free, but parents are being forced to pay for all kinds of necessities — from building repairs to expensive textbooks. However, as Oleg Pavlov reports from Tatarstan, some parents have had enough, and they are finding allies in the legal
The Russian Defence Minister was recently sacked, ostensibly for corruption. The apparent weakening of the Putin myth and resulting unease inside the Kremlin must lead to a search for a new leader. Perhaps he has already arrived, muses Andrei Piontkovsky
The Russian regime may present a united front to the world, but behind the scenes the cracks are beginning to show. In the week when Putin fired a senior government member, Dmitry Travin looks at the people and the issues that divide them.
Responding to reports of an activist being kidnapped in Kyiv and then imprisoned in Moscow amid allegations of torture, the newly-formed Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition released a statement. oDRussia reproduces the text in English translation.
Today marks ten years since the start of the Nord-Ost theatre siege, which ended tragically with a bungled special forces operation and the deaths of at least 170 people. Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov, reporters on the scene, reflect on those dramatic days and the lack of a proper investigatio
Doctor Leonid Atlashkin spent almost 20 years in the Soviet prison camps. Unlike many, he went there of his own accord as a young doctor in 1953, and just stayed on. He retired a long time ago, but he has his memories, as Ekaterina Loushnikova discovered when she went to see him.
The gradual intrusion of the Orthodox Church into Russian secular life and the state is something that went largely unnoticed by the Russian public. The Pussy Riot trial is beginning to change all that, writes Sergei Lukashevsky.
Anna Sevortian and Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch present a new week-long series on openDemocracy Russia
The protests surrounding Putin’s third ascent of the presidential throne were dramatic and the new laws show the regime is fighting back. It will not be easy, says Nicu Popescu, and could turn into a protracted tug of war.
