Выступления против передачи Исаакиевского собора Русской Православной церкви называются акцией «в защиту» собора. Никакого парадокса, если внимательно разобраться, в столь странной формулировке нет.
Mariinsky-2, the new theatre in St Petersburg’s renowned artistic complex, opened to fanfares of national pride and triumph. Many locals are not so sure. Was it worth it and what is the end result?
The collapse of the USSR replaced the perennial shortages of goods and services with the problem of low incomes and rising prices. Today management is grossly inefficient, but rampant corruption blocks any moves to improve the situation. People complain, but they still vote as they’re told at elec
St Petersburg used to be called Russia’s second capital. As Putin’s home city, it enjoyed popularity and success when he became president in 2000. But not any longer. The distinctly uncharismatic governor, appointed to make cuts and keep order, is both the symbol and cause of that, says Mikhail Lo
LGBT issues have taken a battering in Russia over the last year, with a number of regions introducing repressive laws against the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. The changes are part of a wider agenda to split Russian society, whipping up feeling against people ‘not like us’, says Igor Koc
Apparent fraud in Russia’s parliamentary elections has unleashed an unprecedented display of anger against Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party. Many Russians who had been happy to go along with the political status quo finally decided that they had had enough. Last Monday, Alexandra Krylenkova at
The trial of Mikhail Suprun has become the latest cause célèbre in Russia’s continuing history wars. A trumped up charge, a sloppily worded article in the Criminal Code: the case should never have come to court. Now the verdict is about to be handed down – though the expected bad publicity is bein
This year marked the seventy year anniversary of the Siege of Leningrad, which saw three quarters of a million of the city’s residents perish during 872 days of cold and hunger. For years, little was written about what was a hollow and Pyrrhic victory for the Soviet authorities; later the realitie
Russia’s strongman Vladimir Putin has decided that the time has come for him to return to Kremlin. oD Russia author Dmitri Travin is a native of Putin's home city of St Petersburg, and is well familiar with the conditions which shaped the Russian leader's mentality. The following article was origi
The Okhta Centre protestors have achieved the relocation of the project to another part of St Petersburg. But it will be built, as will the much protested motorway through Khimki Forest, maintains Mikhail Zakharov. Protest movements are facing the serious possibility of running out of steam.
Mary Dejevsky was surprised when her enthusiastic profile of St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko in Britain’s The Independent newspaper elicited strong criticism from Russia’s blogosphere. Dmitri Travin’s response on openDemocracy Russia questioned her knowledge of the Russian political s
To the amusement of the Russian media, an article appeared in Britain’s The Independent on 6 September suggesting Valentina Matviyenko, Governor of St Petersburg, might be a candidate for Russian president in 2012. St Petersburger Dmitri Travin explains why this conjecture is so wrong.
