The political highlight in October became the mass ethnic riot in a Moscow’s uptown district of Birulyevo. The unrest proved the rise of ethnic problems in big cities. While the authorities met the rioters’ local claims (they found the killer and shut down the vegetable warehouse with a...

Although January 2014 saw few politically or economically significant events, it certainly witnessed an upsurge of debates on economic issues. Thus, top government officials, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, expressed their somewhat conflicting views on Russia’s economic policy at the...

February saw a sharp deterioration of Russo-Ukrainian relations in the aftermath of the bloody conflict in Ukraine that led to President Viktor Yanukovych’s flight into Russia and to the Crimean parliament’s refusal to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities. Russia’s authorities have so...

The October 2012 single day of voting produced approximately the same results for United Russia as were achieved by it in the 2011 parliamentary elections. The CPRF also had a good showing at the polls. The two other parliamentary parties – Fair Russia and the LDPR – did not manage to...

Against the backdrop of dramatically fluctuating oil prices, the main news of January were the plans declared by the Russian government, in particular the budget expenditure cut by 10%, the possibility of privatization of certain big state-owned entities, and the renewal of external borrowing....

In December, President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered the Annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. During the traditional press conference he expressed his approval of the policies pursued by the RF Government and the Bank of Russia, noting that the current situation was...

As far as Russia is concerned, the main news of May 2015 was the celebration of the 70th anniversary of VE day. Inside Russia, this country's victory in WW2 was celebrated with true enthusiasm on a massive scale. However, an overwhelming majority of foreign heads of state had chosen to ignore...

In March 2015, the topmost headline-makers were various economic issues, including the ongoing discussion on the new draft budget for 2015-2017 and on the future course of Russia's economic policy. However, the beginning of March was also marked by two very serious and purely political events:...

A new truce was arranged in Ukraine in February 2015, following a meeting involving the leaders of Russia, France and the German Chancellor. However, the very context of Minsk II Agreements repeats the numerous understatements of Minsk I Agreements and can be broken any time unless solid...

In January 2015, the Russian Government approved a plan providing for 10% budget spending cuts (except defense, social benefits, agriculture costs and external debt repayment) and extensive financial aid to the banking sector. Most of the proposals on supporting small businesses and lowering...