Amid growing proof of ‘dirty tricks’ during Sunday’s presidential election, the new Russian government has made it clear that the opposition can expect no concessions. Protesters at rallies in Moscow and St Petersburg have been arrested and subjected to police brutality. Tikhon Dzyadko, a journali
This Sunday Russians elect their new president in an election Putin is virtually certain to win. Putin's campaign has been notable for its anti-western and anti-American rhetoric, writes Susanne Sternthal. Will this aggressive rhetoric help Putin withstand the challenge of an awakening Russian civ
Which ever way the forthcoming election swings, Russians will soon be looking for a new leader. With much of the current elite either of retiring age or discredited with voters, Andrey Kolesnikov wonders what a future presidential run-off could look like.
All across the world, authoritarian governments are crashing, and new forms of democratic and term-limited regimes are arriving in their place. Sooner or later this wave will reach Central Asia. When it does, the Kyrgyz model of slow political and economic reform might be the most effective way to
Navalny’s campaigns against corruption and his clever campaigning have won him a central role in the protests against Putin. But Navalny has also many critics. In his controversial article Daniil Kotsyubinsky, who saw how Navalny’s nationalism ruined a previous protest wave, wonders whether his pr
While teaching students about the architecture of his native Perm, Roman Yushkov has seen many of the Russian city’s finest buildings become history. He laments their passing, criticises the officials who let it happen, and wonders what the future holds for a place with no visible past.
In a move likely to lead to federal legislation, St Petersburg is seeking to pass a bill outlawing ‘gay propaganda’. This would put Russia’s beleaguered gay community even more at risk, Kathryn Dovey reports for Human Rights Watch
Yesterday saw the final episode of ‘Putin, Russia and the West’ aired on BBC2. The four-part documentary has attracted a huge amount of criticism — yet most of it has been undeserved, says Fydor Lukyanov. Those who watch the films with an open mind will see they contribute much to our understandin
The strategic significance and territorial claims on the region of Abkhazia have meant its citizens have become used to a life lived in geopolitical limbo. Following the 2008 South Ossetia war, however, a small number of small countries began to recognise Abkhazian independence. A tailor thought o
Critical human rights reports from Western agencies have long been the source of consternation among Russian officials. At the end of last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry launched a counterattack, publishing a report highlighting supposed violations in the West. Oliver Bullough was surprised a
oD Russia continues publication of a remarkable exchange between two leaders of the Russian protest movement — writer Grigory Chkhartishvili, a.k.a Boris Akunin and politician-blogger Aleksey Navalny. In this part, the discussants compare their forecasts for the year ahead. 2012 will present an hi
By electing to follow an aggressive policy of imperial nationalism, Putin and his inner circle missed the emergence of a serious domestic crisis that threatens the very existence of their regime. These same factors may also, however, subvert the country’s growing pro-democratic protest movement, s
