Russia's ruling tandem have hung their economic policy high up on a mast: oil prices will hold, they say … and, well, even if they do drop, dwindling reserves should just about cover it. As ex-Finance Minister Kudrin realised, this is a foolish game that runs the risk of total catastrophe, writes
Russian political observers have been titillated by Medvedev’s announcement that he will not be running for president. But what were they expecting? Andrei Konchalovsky was under no illusions: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
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The liberals' reaction to President Medvedev’s voluntary political suicide might well be described as ‘gloating disillusion.' For Daniil Kotsyubinsky, the surprising thing was some believed democratic evolution was a real possibility.
Internal and external pressures seem to have triggered a radical readjustment in the Kremlin’s pre-election planning. The consequences may prove long-lasting, writes Nikolai Petrov
Alla Pugacheva has ruled Russian pop for more than 40 years, surviving criticism and change while endearing herself to ordinary Russians. Her recent foray into politics, supporting the billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov and ‘Just Cause’ was less successful, but she will rise above the problems, just as
Five years ago today, on 7 October 2006, investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s was found murdered in her apartment block. Colleague Yelena Milashina remembers that fateful day.
The presidential election is still 6 months away, but speculation about who would stand i.e become president had reached fever pitch. A section of society really hoped that Medvedev would continue his liberal policies, even though signs that this could happen were few and far between. Now there is
Hardline pro-Soviet provocateurs are exploiting Ukraine's dark history of violence against Jews to depict the country's modern national identity as anti-Semitic, writes Roman Kabachyi.
Russian society has never learnt what it is to feel responsibility for anything. Serfdom was abolished 150 years ago, engendering feelings of panic in many of the ‘liberated’ peasants. Ivan Karamazov uses the Legend of the Grand Inquisitor to demonstrate that it’s easier when there is no freedom a
Formal hostilities may have ceased in Chechnya, but civilians continue to be abducted, tortured and murdered by the authorities in the region. Igor Kalyapin, head of the Committee Against Torture, talks to Svetlana Reiter about the remarkable and dangerous work being done to seek justice for the v
