The Russia Blog
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… Read the rest
Protests took place in Moscow on Monday as people unhappy at United Russia’s manipulation of Sunday’s Russian Duma election took to the streets.
Numbers are difficult to judge, but it appears that around 5-6,000 people protested earlier in the day, breaking off into a smaller group of around 1,000 that then went on to… Read the rest
United Russia won 49.54% of the popular vote in this weekend’s Duma Election, which was just enough to secure it an overall majority in the Duma.
By and large, election observers felt that the ballot itself was run fairly across the country, BUT, there were a few ballots in which the results were just absurd.… Read the rest
The big story of this year’s Russian Duma election is that United Russia’s share of the vote has dropped below the psychologically critical 50% mark. With 95% of ballots counted, United Russia has 49.67% of votes which, because of the 7% threshold needed for parties to enter Russia’s Duma, means that United Russia will actually… Read the rest
Opposition to legislation designed to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality to minors is gathering pace, both around the world and in Russia itself.
The bill, which would punish any “public activities promoting sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgender identity” with a fine of up to $1,600 (50,000 roubles) was passed by an overwhelming majority in… Read the rest
Not content with being Russia’s next Prime Minister, it appears that Vladimir Putin also has his sights set on being the head of the ruling United Russia party. According to news reports, he’ll be announced as party boss next week.
