Russia’s summer of the wildfires brought about a change in society, says Andrei Loshak. Previously the only possible options for those disenchanted with the system were to take the streets or pack our bags and leave. Now we have another: self-help and self- organisation, much in the spirit of the
Oleg Kashin, a journalist for Kommersant newspaper, was brutally beaten in Moscow last weekend. Unknown assailants broke his jaw, legs and bent his fingers. He remains critically ill. Here we publish a selection of Kashin’s blog entries.
Bill Bowring is well known to anybody interested in international law, and especially in human rights in Russia. Professor of Law at Birkbeck College and a practising barrister, it was he who in 2002 established the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, which has since helped many applicants, mai
In Stalin’s time there were nearly a hundred GULag camps in Ivdel. Today, the maximum security penal colony FBU-IK 56 survives in their place. Ekaterina Lushnikova travelled there to speak to the inmates — some of Russia’s most hardened criminals.
A vital national debate about constitutional reform is under way in Ukraine. But the debate often takes no account of international political discussions or recent scholarly research. Can the new regime embrace this opportunity to lay down the foundations of a democratic future for Ukraine? Andrea
When Sergei Magnitsky died in police custody last November, few believed it would lead to anything more than a domestic ripple. Eleven months on, however, his case is being discussed by UK foreign secretary William Hague, and his name adorns a Congress bill banning US travel for Russian officials
A city with a grand architectural heritage, Samara is today under threat, pincered by the greed of corrupt developers and impotence of government agencies. Clementine Cecil, co-founder of the MAPS architecture preservation society, writes on the spirited campaign to save Samara’s buildings.
Since Abkhazia declared its independence from Georgia in 2008, Russian money has been pouring in. But when it comes to doing business there, Russians can find themselves coming badly unstuck, as one investor from the Urals found. Anton Katin reports
The sleepy city of Oryol has erupted in terrorism. Investigations revealed how frustration at the state of Russia led security officers — the new nobility as their former boss calls them — to join the Oryol Partisans. Is this a one off or part of a wider movement?
A suicide bombing in the restless north caucasian province of North Ossetia kills at least 18 people. A protest in Afghanistan against the proposed burning of Qurans by Florida Pastor Terry Jones leads to bloodshed. Street gangs shut down El Salvador’s public transport for a third day. A suicide a
Last month amendments were passed to the law codifying the FSB’s surveillance of those citizens deemed to be threats to national security. Nicolai Petro, unlike some Western commentators, sees these as potentially making Russia's domestic security procedures among the world's most transparent.
The imprisonment of military researcher Igor Sutyagin for alleged espionage has long troubled Russian human rights campaigners, writes Zoya Svetova. He is now free, but only after agreeing to agree he was a spy. Those familiar with Russian prisons will understand why he acted as he did, but he fac
