In November 2012, RF Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdiukov, accused of abetting corruption in his ministry, was sacked from office; former Deputy Minister of Regional Development was arrested; criminal proceedings against the managers of Rostelekom and the former top officials of the RF Ministry of...

The top news story of November was the indirect polemical dispute between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, centered on the RF Investigative Committee's attempt to restore at least one of its previous established powers – the right of investigators to open tax fraud cases without a request...

In August, Victor Ishaev was dismissed from his post as Russia's Minister for the Development of the Far East – his extravagantly costly approaches to solving the region's problems without having made even a feeble attempt at setting any priorities, had finally infuriated both the RF...

In July 2013, Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was sentenced to five years in prison. It appears, however, that he would be allowed – on procedural grounds, since no appeal hearing has been held yet – to run for mayor in mayoral elections in Moscow on September 8, 2013. A...

In June 2013, the ruble was slightly devaluated with a view to increasing ruble budget revenues amid slow-down in economic growth. A. Ulyukayev was appointed a new Minister of Economic Development, replacing A. Belousov, which most probably means an attempt to observe moderation in government...

The situation in Ukraine ratcheted up sharply in April 2014 in the Dontesk and Lugansk Regions, where armed insurgents seized the regional administration buildings. Negotiations in Geneva between officials from Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union came to an agreement on...

In December, the Russian authorities made several symbolic gestures designed to sway public opinion both at home and abroad in favor of their policies. Thus, they pardoned Michail Khodorkovsky, Russia's number one political prisoner, and declared a large-scale amnesty marking the 20th...

In July 2015, the SCO and BRICS held their simultaneous summits in Ufa. The main result of those summits was the conclusion of agreements on the creation of the BRICS contingent reserve and the establishment of the New Development Bank. Another major event of July was the so-called Iran Nuclear...

In June 2015, the EU states extended for another six months the economic sanctions introduced against Russia, as before linking this issue to the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum held this month, several deals were concluded, the biggest...

In March, Russia was faced with the unsavory prospect of a considerable loss of funds kept by Russian enterprises and individuals in Cyprus, traditionally one of the most attractive jurisdictions for Russian businesses A significant portion of those funds was frozen or seized by the Cypriot...