If you’ve been grumbling about Russia’s elections, spare a thought for those poor unfortunate souls in the democractic wasteland that is Turkmenistan. For they have apparently re-elected Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov as their President with a spectacular 97% of the vote, based on a 96% turnout. The result is a dramatic improvement on Berdimuhamedov’s performance in the [...]
South Ossetia’s Dzhioyeva hospitalised in mysterious circumstances
Alla Dzhioyeva, who claimed victory in the disputed South Ossetian Presidential elections, has been hospitalised after suffering a small stroke. The circumstances surrounding her hospitalization are confused and, many of her supporters believe, suspicious. Their suspicions have been aroused by the timing of her hospitalization – less than 24 hours before her planned (and unauthorised) [...]
Russians drill into Antarctic Lake Vostok
After 20 years of hard work, Russian scientists this week announced that they had drilled through 2.2 miles of Antarctic ice and finally reached the subglacial Lake Vostok. A breathlessly excited Alexander Yelagin, head of the Russian Vostok mission, told reporters that “An event that has been keeping the world scientific community on tenterhooks for [...]
Six new Russian submarines and a new aircraft carrier – every year
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Russia Jupiter mission agreed with ESA
Russian space agency Roscosmos today announced that it had agreed in principle to undertake a number joint missions with the European Space Agency. The agreement was reached at a meeting in Moscow between Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Roscosmos and Jean-Jacques Dordain, the ESA’s Director General. The first, and most headline-worthy, is a mission to Jupiter [...]