Russia Blog

The Misconception of Russian Authoritarianism:
Part 1 - Defining Democracy in Russia

Can Russia be classified as a democracy - even an immature one? Yes, says Kevin Cyron, an American graduate student in Russia Editor's note: Kevin Cyron, an American living in the Russian Federation who recently graduated with a Masters...

Posted by Kevin Cyron on July 10, 2008 5:09 PM

Russian Ambassador to NATO Dimitry Rogozin:
"Northern Civilization" Must Unite

Rogozin's Rodina party was briefly banned after running a racist ad during the Moscow municipal elections in 2005 Dimitry Rogozin is an exceptionally clever Russian politician who has never shied away from the spotlight. Rogozin's nationalist Rodina (Motherland) Party...

Posted by Charles Ganske on April 1, 2008 11:00 PM

Financial Times:
Let the Russians Sort out Russia

Before reading the article itself, we strongly recommend looking at the letter to the editor "End Putinphobia and Try to Normalise Relations" that was sent by Professor Padma Desai to the Financial Times on March 14, 2008. Prof. Desai's...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on March 19, 2008 12:33 AM

Timati: A New Message and Sound in Russian Music

Visit Timati's MySpace page to listen to his music On my recent trip to Moscow the first song I heard on the radio, right off the plane, was “V Klube” (In the Club) – a new smash hit by...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on February 26, 2007 12:20 AM

St Petersburg - One City, Two Points of View

In the anticipation of the G8 summit this week in St Petersburg, we present two different stories about the city hosting the gathering of world leaders. One is from Good Morning America shown today on ABC, a video report...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on July 13, 2006 12:18 PM

Coverage of Intolerance in Russia and Abroad

By Michael Averko African and Russian students protest neo-fascist violence The following commentary originally appeared in the Sunday, May 7, edition of Johnson's Russia List. Two classic and different approaches highlight the diverse manner in how Russia is covered. One...

Posted by Charles Ganske on May 15, 2006 11:51 AM

Racist Christmas in St Petersburg

Christmas Eve, 7:50 pm, St Petersburg - a group of youths ages 16-20 attacked three African students. Mvangi Eddi Mayna from Kenya was stabbed twice in the back with a knife, but he managed to run away, and made...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on December 26, 2005 5:37 PM

Rodina is in Trouble

Russian Supreme Court has upheld the decision of a Moscow City court banning the Rodina party from the city elections. Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s LDPR requested that the elections committee prohibit Rodina from running in the elections based on two reasons: 1)...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on December 2, 2005 5:47 PM

Another Black Student Assaulted in Russia

Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia - November 27, a black medical student from Mauritania and his Russian friend were beaten up and slashed with a knife by a gang of young people in downtown, not far from the Novgorod Medical University. Local...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on November 28, 2005 5:48 PM

Communism Over; Now Fascism

Moscow Friday, November 4, 2005 - 5,000 people paraded through downtown, carrying icons of Jesus Christ among other symbols. There was no violence, a great attitude, and very loud shouts of “Seig Heil”, “Heil Hitler”, along with “Russia for...

Posted by Yuri Mamchur on November 7, 2005 3:13 PM