The Russia Blog
The Russian People’s Freedom Party (Parnas), a slightly motley coalition of marginalised opposition groups and parties, has been denied registration as a political party in Russia.
Registration rules in Russia are overly bureaucratic – naturally, this is Russia after all – but it appears that their registration has only been denied on a… Read the rest
I’m constantly amazed about how baffled people are when presented by Russia’s leadership tandem. How many people simply cannot grasp the concept of a country splitting ultimate responsibility between one or more politicians, rather than having a single, undisputed leader.
Take, as just the most recent among many examples, this quote from a… Read the rest
For months now, Kremlinologists have been fantasising about Putin and Medvedev stepping into the ring and duking it out in public for the title of Russian President. An electoral death match, if you will, for the fate of an entire country.
It was a fanciful notion at best, brought on by boredom and the… Read the rest
For the first time ever, Russia parachute drops an armoured personnel carrier – with crew inside!
Lake Baikal, near Irkutsk in Russia is one of the most beautiful Lakes in the world, and it isn’t surprising that there are many Baikal films in existence. In this post I’ve compiled a list of some of my favourite films about Lake Baikal.
First up, here’s a great little documentary about Baikal:
One… Read the rest
Yet another horrendous month for Russia, as a dam explosion kills 70, a suicide bomber kills 20, and a freighter goes missing very publicly in the Atlantic.
Putin goes on holiday, and gets his top off for the ladies… again.
Now here’s an interesting rumour circulating around the Russian language blogs – 26 year old Russian Olympic gymnast turned Duma Deputy Alina Kabaeva has just given birth to Vladimir Putin’s son.
After your sage advice from last week I’ve decided that, rather than post a weekly news update (which, lets face it, you can get anywhere) I thought I’d re-start my weekly roundup of great posts from around the Russia blogs.
So, drumroll please…
The best posts from the last week or so are (in no… Read the rest
A Sochi court kicks Alexander Lebedev out of the race to become Sochi’s next mayor.
If you’re in Russia and looking for an unusual night out, you might want to check out British band the Tiger Lillies (here’s the Russian Tiger Lillies site), who are playing at the Cisterna Hall, Moscow on 3rd April and at the Glav Club, St Petersburg on 4 April.
This is one of… Read the rest
Garry Kasparov – from the world’s greatest chess player to a minor Russian politician with lousy choice in friends.
And now, film star.
In the Holy Fire of Revolution, directed by Masha Novikova, follows Kasparov’s doomed attempt to stand for the Presidency of Russia last year.
I haven’t seen the film yet – it’s London… Read the rest
I’m really beginning to enjoy Dmitry Medvedev’s no-nonsense approach to assessing Russia’s weaknesses and to telling people off.
He certainly doesn’t mince words, but what I particularly like is that he doesn’t restrict his criticism to safe, relatively unimportant targets. Take, for example, his lambasting of Russia’s prosecutors following the shambolic trial of Anna Politkovskaya’s… Read the rest
Russian loony Far Right leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has been setting working hard to save his roubles in the current financial crisis.
Clearly no fan of personal hygeine, he explains his money saving regime:
“I have been thrifty. I am not having my hair cut. My hair has already grown longer than ever. I only shave
Dmitry Medvedev gives his first annual state of the nation speech, and announces that he’d like to extend the Russian Presidential term from 4 to 6 years. So what does the world’s press write about?
That Russia plans to deploy missiles close to the EU’s border to neutralise the US missile shield. Oh, and… Read the rest
Nikolai Makarov is the Russian armed forces’ new Chief of Staff, and he has a mandate to reform one of Europe’s most powerful, yet backward, militaries.
How Russian women are running their own online businesses that make fashion affordable – and make a profit.
