Russian Deputy PM Dmitry Rogozin announced yesterday a massively ambitious programme to build submarines and aircraft carriers. At a press conference Rogozin – Russia’s straight-talking former ambassador to NATO – told reporters that by next year “production capacity will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year”. He went on to [...]
Disputed South Ossetian presidential election – candidate announces own inauguration
The disputed South Ossetian Presidential election took another twist today as Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate who claimed victory in November’s annulled poll, announced that her inauguration as South Ossitian President would be held on 10 February. “I will assume office on February 10,” Dzhioyeva told reporters, adding that “I can’t tell you about the [...]
Nerpa Nuclear Submarine delivered to India
Russia has formally handed over the Nerpa, an Akula class nuclear submarine, to India. The Nerpa, along with a second Akula submarine to be handed over shortly, will be leased to India for ten years in a deal thought to be worth $2 billion. Under the terms of the deal, once the ten year deal [...]
Yavlinsky and Mezentsev barred from Russian Election
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has confirmed liberal Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky and independent candidate Dmitry Mezentsev will not be allowed to enter the 2012 Russian Presidential Election. Although both candidates claimed that they had obtained the 2 million signatures needed for a candidate from a party not represented in the Duma to secure a [...]
Mystery of Russian Spy in Canada
After Canadian Navy officer Jeffrey Delisle (pictured, left) was arrested, accused of spying for Russia, the Canadian Government moved quickly to expel four Russian diplomats. Or did they? The Russian Government has hotly denied that its diplomats were linked to Delisle, and claimed that they left Canada as part of a long-planned rotation of embassy [...]
Prokhorov and Yavlinsky collect 2 million signatures needed to run for Russian President
Opposition politicians Mikhail Prokhorov and Grigory Yavlinsky have each announced that they have collected the two million signatures needed for them to enter the 2012 Russian Presidential election race. Prokhorov, who with $18 billion to his name is Russia’s third richest man, plans to run as an independent candidate with no party backing and Yavlinsky [...]
Phobos-Grunt Mars Probe falls to earth
Phobos-Grunt, the Russian space probe intended to explore Mars, crashed back to earth late on Sunday evening. Defense Ministry official Alexei Zolotukhin told reporters tersely that “Phobos-Grunt fragments have crashed down in the Pacific Ocean”. There’s not much official news from the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos yet though, other than information narrowing down the ultimate [...]
Russia Population 2012
The latest available Russian population data is from the 2010 Russian census, which tells us that the total population of Russia in 2010 was 142,946,800 people. The results came as a bit of a surprise because they were slightly higher than the predictions of the state’s information agency, Rosstat, which had believed that the population [...]
Medvedev promises reforms in his final State of the Nation address
Outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used his final State of the Nation address to promise a “comprehensive reform” of Russia’s political system. Key proposals include directly elected regional governors, making it much easier for new political parties to register for parliamentary and presidential elections, and a form of proportional representation in the State Duma. Reform [...]
CSTO slams door on US bases in Central Asia
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) today announced that no-one will be able to establish military bases on the territory of a CSTO member state without the express agreement of all other member states. In practice, this is a setback for the United States, who will find it next to impossible to establish a new [...]