Russia takes aim at dissent, media criticism … and high heels?
Russia’s parliament has been in overdrive in recent weeks, working on legislation targeting free speech, women’s heels, and the use of foreign words like “hamburger.”
Fred Weir
Russian PM chastises US for doing ‘what the Soviet Union did in the past’
By Fred Weir
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev argued that President Obama’s lack of tact is ‘slowly but surely moving’ the US and Russia ‘toward a second cold war.’
Did the Kremlin just ‘unfriend’ the founder of Russia’s Facebook?
By Fred Weir
VKontakte founder and CEO Pavel Durov says he was fired over his resistance to Moscow’s efforts to monitor and control access to the popular social media platform.
A bit of satire in Russia earns a big backlash
By Fred Weir
A newspaper editor in Vologda posted a tongue-in-cheek letter to Putin, asking him to help topple the Russian city’s ‘corrupt oppressors.’ Vologda’s governor was not amused.
How a poll about Nazis brought a Russian TV station under Kremlin assault
By Fred Weir
The backlash plays into government efforts to monopolize the media’s message.
Ukraine minister ups stakes in Kiev with ‘state of emergency’ warning
By Fred Weir
A state of emergency would authorize army intervention. While the protesters have vacated the justice ministry, they warned they could return.
Kiev protests turn deadly. A line crossed in Ukraine?
By Fred Weir
Violence has been taboo in recent Ukrainian political upheavals, including the Orange Revolution. But last night’s deaths amid clashes in Kiev may have changed that.
Black widows: Russian experts warn terrorist threat to Sochi is ‘serious’
By Fred Weir
‘Black widows’ – female suicide bombers – have Sochi on high alert. Russian security sources are feeding the furor with atypically copious media leaks.
Kremlin locks down Sochi, but neighborhood still looks dangerous
By Fred Weir
Though the Winter Olympics site is heavily fortified, terrorist threats – and deadly attacks – plague the nearby northern Caucasus region.
How big a snub to Russia is Obama’s Sochi ‘boycott’?
By Fred Weir
President Obama is one of several world leaders planning to skip the Sochi Olympic ceremonies in a low key but pointed criticism of Russia’s increasing hostility to LGBT citizens.
Putin tosses a lifeline to Yanukovych as Ukraine seethes
By Fred Weir
With economic default looming in Ukraine, the Russian president agreed to a $15 billion loan and cut the price for natural gas.
Putin to Ukraine: the door’s still open to a trade pact
By Fred Weir
Vladimir Putin suggests that politically divided Ukraine could pursue both Eastern and Western integration approaches during an annual address.
Arctic resource race heats up, as Russia, Canada stake new claims
By Fred Weir
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a rollout of Arctic military bases, one day after Canadian officials said they would claim jurisdiction over the North Pole.
Ukraine’s president tries to defuse crisis as police, protesters square off
By Fred Weir
With thousands of protesters still jamming Kiev’s streets, President Yanukovych calls for political talks to resolve country’s worst crisis in a decade.
Pro-Europe Ukrainians march as Kiev balances Moscow and Brussels
By Fred Weir
Days after Ukraine announced it was freezing its association agreement with the EU under pressure from Russia, tens of thousands took to the streets.
Moscow mayor: No more mosques in my city
By Fred Weir
The mayor says that the move is meant to discourage illegal immigration, but critics say it is corruption that is fueling migration, not mosques.
Might be time to pay your bills, Russia warns West-looking Ukraine
By Fred Weir
Russia warned today that Ukraine’s failure to pay its bills for Russian gas is becoming critical – just weeks before Ukraine plans to sign a deal with the EU that Russia opposes.
President Saakashvili’s exit promises more Georgia-Russia civility, but will ties thaw?
By Fred Weir
Retiring President Mikhail Saakashvili, whose electoral successor was announced today, has long had a tense relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Russia needs immigrants, but can it accept them?
By Fred Weir
Russia’s population is shrinking, making immigrants critical to the country’s well-being. But xenophobia – highlighted by a Moscow race riot two weeks ago – is on the rise.
Beaten diplomats and ‘bad’ tulips: Russian-Dutch ties get worse
By Fred Weir
The assault of a Dutch diplomat in an apparently homophobic home invasion is just the latest in a series of incidents putting Russia and the Netherlands at odds.