Vladimir Putin will take a bath tonight after the cleanest elections in history.
lucian in moscow
Everyone was taken by surprise by the anti-government protests that broke out after Russia’s disputed parliamentary elections in December 2011. After watching the number of attendees increase by the hundreds every time I refreshed the Facebook page dedicated to the first organized rally, I jumped on the next plane to Moscow. My blog chronicling Russia’s protest movement was born.
Conversation with a Contrarian
Robert Shlegel, the rising star of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, is both the total outsider and the consummate insider.
Putin’s Willing Helpers: The Billionaire
Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is using his presidential campaign to position himself as the leader of a new generation of Russian liberals.
Moscow Sees Off Winter
Last week Vladimir Putin recalled the heroic defense of Moscow against Napoleon in an effort to rally supporters. But it’s too late. Putin has already lost Russia’s capital.
Russia Fakes a Rally for Putin
A Soviet-era joke need only be slightly tweaked to describe Vladimir Putin’s grip on power: “They pretend to rule us, and we pretend to support them.”
Putin’s Willing Helpers: The Apparatchik
Gennady Zyuganov was once seen as the greatest threat to Russia’s fledgling democracy. The fact he’s still around is more a testament to the Communist Party’s inertia than to any leadership traits such as intelligence, eloquence or charisma.
Putin’s Willing Helpers: The Buffoon
I distinctly remember when Vladimir Zhirinovsky appeared in my parents’ living room 20 years ago. There was nothing soft and cuddly about this liberal democrat.
Putin’s Willing Helpers: The Geologist
Nobody knows why Sergei Mironov wants to be Russia’s next president. It seems he himself isn’t quite sure.
Fear and Loathing in Moscow
About a dozen opposition demonstrators were detained in Moscow today. The participants in an anti-government protest near Red Square this afternoon were bundled into police buses without being informed of the reason for their detention.
The Disposable President
Poor Dmitry Medvedev. As if being the world’s first voluntary lame-duck president wasn’t bad enough, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has indicated he will rescind the only Medvedev reform that had any effect on the lives of ordinary Russians.
