Russland

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The Moscow Times, December 14, 2010: The gap between Russia’s authorities and citizens has become larger than ever. The country’s kleptocracy has degraded to such a level that criminal gangs and government officials have teamed up to create powerful organized crime syndicates. This was demonstrated in the recent Kushchyovskaya tragedy, but there are hundreds — if not thousands — of Kushchyovskayas across Russia - Silencing the Whistleblower

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Yahoo! News, February 1, 2011: Russia's top military and space official launched a search Tuesday for a missing military satellite that apparently was put into the wrong orbit shortly after its launch. The Russian defence ministry confirmed that it had lost sight of the craft -- a dual-use vessel that can draw a three-dimensional map of the Earth and locate the precise positions of various targets. The incident came just a month after President Dmitry Medvedev sacked two top space officials for a similar setback and delivered another humiliating blow to Russia's much-maligned space industry - Russia loses military satellite: reports

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Reuters, February 11, 2011: Does the sun revolve around the Earth? One in every three Russians thinks so, a spokeswoman for state pollster VsTIOM said on Friday. In a survey released this week, 32 percent of Russians believed the Earth was the center of the Solar system; 55 percent that all radioactivity is man-made; and 29 percent that the first humans lived when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. "It's really quite amazing," spokeswoman Olga Kamenchuk said of the survey - Third of Russians think sun spins round Earth: poll

Most Russians believe global warming real - poll

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Jerusalem Post, May 13, 2011: Russia is attempting to suppress a United Nations report that says Iran has been breaking a UN arms embargo by shipping weapons to Syria, Western diplomats said on Thursday. "Russia has objected to the publication of the report as an official Security Council document," a council diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Several other diplomats confirmed it. "It's obviously an attempt to protect (Syrian President) Bashar Assad," who is coming under increasing international pressure over his violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, another council diplomat said. The confidential report, obtained by Reuters, said most of Iran's breaches of the embargo have been deliveries of weapons to Syria, which Western diplomats say were to be passed on to Lebanese and Palestinian militants - 'Russia blocks UN report on Iran arms sales to Syria'

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Reuters, May 19, 2011: Russian Interior Ministry troops were fed dog food earlier this year to save money, a former officer in the ministry said Thursday. A rare whistleblower in Russia's expansive security forces, ex-Major Igor Matveyev said officers tried to cover up the scandal and other alleged wrongdoing at the Interior Ministry troops base where he served in the far east city of Vladivostok - Whistleblower says Russian troops fed dog food

Russia’s Defense Industry Faces Deep Crisis

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Reuters, May 24, 2011: A fifth of Russia's state defence spending is stolen every year by corrupt officials, dishonest generals and crooked contractors, Russia's chief military prosecutor said in an interview published on Tuesday. President Dmitry Medvedev says endemic corruption is holding back Russia's development, but anti-bribery groups say the problem has become worse since Medvedev was steered into the Kremlin by his mentor Vladimir Putin in 2008 - Russia says a fifth of defense budget stolen

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Yahoo! News, May 30, 2011: Russia's Orthodox Church teamed with Conservative parliamentarians Monday to push legislation that would radically restrict abortions in a nation struggling to cope with one of the world's lowest birthrates. The legislation would ban free abortions at government-run clinics and prohibit the sale of the morning-after pill without a prescription, said Yelena Mizulina, who heads a parliamentary committee on families, women and children. She added that abortion for a married woman would also require the permission of her spouse, while teenage girls would need their parents' consent. If the legislation is passed, a week's waiting period would also be introduced so women could consider their decision to terminate their pregnancy, Mizulina said - Russia's church, lawmakers want to limit abortion

Church grateful to city authorities for preventing Moscow gay parade

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The Jamestown Foundation, June 2, 2011: A group of 14 acclaimed Russian intellectuals, including human rights activists, artists, film directors, writers and aides of the late President Boris Yeltsin have published an open statement condemning the present regime for “completely destroying the institution of democratic elections in Russia.” Election results are shamelessly falsified by the authorities, while opposition parties and activists are “unconstitutionally” denied registration to run in elections under cooked up pretexts. As a result, subjects of the Russian state are disfranchised from the political system rendering it illegitimate. The statement describes as “vicious” the so called “vertical of power”—a system of personalized authoritarian rule the prime minister and leader of the ruling United Russia Vladimir Putin has been building since 1999. This “vertical of power” has created a rubberstamp misrepresentative parliament, a “paralyzed Dmitry Medvedev presidency” and dysfunctional regional and municipal authorities - Putin Moves Russia From Authoritarianism to Totalitarianism

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American Thinker, June 12, 2011: Russia is an 'entire society' that is becoming 'morally corrupt to the core.' If you think that statement was made by a reckless, rabid, rampaging Russophobe, think again: It was made by Vladimir Ryzhkov, a fourteen-year veteran of the Russian parliament. And when you read his evidence, you may think Ryzhkov was being much too easy on his country. Ryzhkov explains how Vladimir Putin's party of power, United Russia, managed to go from 35% voter support in polls in the region of Tambov in April 2011 to 65% support at the ballot box a month later. And it wasn't a Trumanesque comeback. It was truly epic and terrifying fraud - Obama and Russia's descent into tyranny

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The Washington Examiner, June 22, 2011: Russia on Wednesday denied registration to a new political party created by three prominent opposition leaders, effectively barring them from participating in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. The Justice Ministry's decision on whether to register the People's Freedom Party was seen as a test of President Dmitry Medvedev's pledges to increase political competition in Russia. Opposition parties were squeezed out of politics under his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, who remains powerful as prime minister - Russian opposition party barred from vote

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The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 12, 2011: An exposé in the Russian edition of Esquire has roiled education and health officials here by detailing the corruption at six medical schools. The magazine in April published nine short articles by medical students describing the various ways they can pay professors in exchange for passing tests. It is not exactly breaking news that bribery exists at Russian universities. According to a May poll of 17,500 people by the Public Opinion Foundation, an independent group in Russia, respondents identified higher education as the most corrupt sector of public life, with traffic cops coming in second. But the news that future doctors, dentists, and surgeons often buy grades instead of actually learning the material triggered an immediate uproar - Corruption in Russian Medical Schools Triggers Uproar

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The Washington Times, July 21, 2011: A bomb blast near the U.S. Embassy in Tblisi, Georgia, in September was traced to a plot run by a Russian military intelligence officer, according to an investigation by the Georgian Interior Ministry. Shota Utiashvili, the most senior official in charge of intelligence analysis for the ministry, said in an interview with The Washington Times that the recent spate of bombings and attempted bombings - including what he said was a blast targeting the U.S. Embassy - was the work of Russian GRU officer Maj. Yevgeny Borisov. A Georgian court has charged Maj. Borisov, who is based in the Russian-occupied province of Abkhazia, with being the mastermind behind a spate of 12 bombings and attempted bombings throughout the country in the past year - Russian agent linked to U.S. Embassy blast

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The Washington Times, July 27, 2011: U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia’s military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September. The highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to The Washington Times by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer. The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili, director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov. “It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Georgian account,” said one U.S. official familiar with the U.S. intelligence report. This official added that it specifically says the Russian military intelligence, or GRU, coordinated the bombings - Classified report: Russia tied to blast at U.S. embassy

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France 24, August 17, 2011: Russia is continuing to supply weapons to Syria despite international pressure to cease trading, the head of the arms export agency told journalists on Wednesday. "While no sanctions are announced, while there are no orders or directions from the government, we are obliged to fulfil our contractual obligations, which we are now doing," Rosoboronexport chief Anatoly Isaikin said. Speaking at the MAKS international airshow outside Moscow, he said that Russia supplied Syria with Yak-130 jet trainers and military hardware - Russia 'still supplying weapons to Syria'

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Worldcrunch, August 24, 2011: In Russia, mayor has become a high-risk line of work. Over the past decade, more than 40 top city officials around the country have been either seriously injured or killed in targeted attacks. It happened again this week when Evgeny Dushko, mayor of a popular Russian tourist town, was shot dead in broad daylight in what investigators suspect was a contract killing. Dushko, 35, was killed Monday on his way to a meeting to discuss a crisis over municipal services in Sergiyev Posad, a city 40 miles north of Moscow best known as the home of the Trinity Lavra, a 14th century Russian Orthodox monastery. Prior to his death, Dushko had aired corruption allegations against local officials. He had a tense relationship with local companies and his father said local officials may have been involved. Police say his death was likely to be connected to his job - The Most Dangerous Job In Russia: Mayor

Possible breakthrough in Politkovskaya killing