Putin's Russia

Stories

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June 2009
- We'll Dump Nukes If Everybody Does: Putin
  
  Associated Press | Jun 10, 09 12:46 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - Russian PM Vladimir Putin says his country is willing to abandon nuclear weapons if the US and all other nuclear-armed countries do the same. Putin was speaking at a meeting with Germany's foreign minister, who said earlier that the idea of scrapping nuclear arms altogether was a real prospect. The US and Russia previously agreed to draft a new treaty to reduce their nuclear stockpiles. More »
May 2009
- Moscow Cops Smash Gay Protest
  
  BBC | May 16, 09 6:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Moscow police broke up a gay rights demonstration today and arrested at least 20 protesters, the BBC reports. The activists, marching to draw attention to what they describe as deep prejudice, timed the protest to coincide with a European song contest popular in the gay community. "This shows the Russian people are not free," said British gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell as police dragged him away. More »
- West 'Wasted 20 Years' After Berlin Wall Fell: Gorbachev
  
  Reuters | May 13, 09 3:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Europe has squandered two decades of potential cooperation since the Berlin Wall fell, Mikhail Gorbachev says. At a Moscow event sponsored by his foundation, the former Soviet leader criticized Western leaders who viewed the 1989 event as their victory over Eastern Europe, rather than an opportunity for common good, Reuters reports. More »
- Putin Hints at 2012 Comeback
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 11, 09 6:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Vladimir Putin dropped his strongest hint yet last night that he may seek to return to his country's top job in 2012. In an interview with Japanese media, Russia's president-turned-PM said there was no decision yet on whether he or Dmitry Medvedev would run for president at the end of Medvedev's term. Putin said the two would decide together. More »
- Georgia Sees Russian Hand in Mutiny, Coup Attempt
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 5, 09 6:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A revolt has broken out at an army base near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, which the government is calling a Russian-backed military coup, the Guardian reports. The Georgian defense minister says the soldiers were being confined in their barracks, and at least one person has been arrested. The Georgians say that the plot was timed to disrupt NATO military exercises in Georgia, which begin tomorrow. More »
April 2009
- Moldovan 'Twitter Revolution' Organizer Goes Into Hiding
  
  Guardian (UK) | Apr 15, 09 5:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The journalist who used Twitter to organize last week's mass protests in Moldova has gone into hiding for fear of arrest. Journalist Natalia Morar, 25, told the Guardian she is avoiding telephones and the Internet in case the same tools she used to rally supporters are used against her by the ruling Communist Party, whose election victory ignited widespread dissent. More »
- Pentagon Game Simulates Global Economic Warfare
  
  Politico | Apr 9, 09 9:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Last month, the Pentagon hosted a new kind of war game, focused not on a “shooting war,” but on how hostile states might damage the US economy, Politico reports. Instead of decorated military brass calling the shots, shirt-sleeved hedge fund managers, academics, and executives played out scenarios shifting the global balance of power through financial moves. The outcome: China won while the US and Russia got beaten by trying to beat each other. More »
March 2009
- Russia to Build 6 New Nuclear Submarines
  
  CNN | Mar 28, 09 7:15 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Russia is building at least six new nuclear submarines equipped with long-distance cruise missiles, according to state-connected news agency Itar-Tass. One is expected to be on line by 2011, the rest by 2017. A Russian defense ministry source say the missiles, capable of carrying low-capacity nuclear warheads, "would be designed for strikes on aircraft carriers of the enemy" as well as land targets. More »
- Litvinenko Murder Suspect Halts Mayor Bid
  
  Reuters | Mar 24, 09 12:16 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The UK's top suspect in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko has quit the mayoral race in the Russian city set to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics, Reuters reports. “The leadership of the party took a final decision that my candidacy would not be put forward,” Andrei Lugovoy said, adding that he would stick to Russia's parliament. Lugovoy didn’t have enough support in the race, his party said. More »
- Litvinenko Murder Suspect to Run for Mayor of Olympic City
  
  Los Angeles Times | Mar 23, 09 8:12 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Russia fought hard to win the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, reports the Los Angeles Times , and now a second battle is heating up: the race for mayor of the Black Sea resort town, which is beginning billions' worth of construction. Among the contenders are a media magnate with a KGB past, a deputy PM who's been blacklisted, and—most surprisingly of all—Andrei Lugovoy, the man internationally wanted for the 2006 polonium murder of Alexander Litvinenko. More »
- 1988: Reagan, Right; Putin, Left
  
  Radio Free Europe | Mar 16, 09 2:34 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - It’s 1988. President Ronald Reagan is making a visit to the Soviet Union, where he tours Moscow’s Red Square alongside Mikhail Gorbachev. He stops and takes questions from a group of tourists about human rights in the United States. Except they’re not tourists, Radio Free Europe reports. They’re KGB agents and their families. And one of them is Col. Vladimir Putin. More »
- Russia May Land Bombers in Cuba, Venezuela
  
  Bloomberg | Mar 14, 09 12:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Russian bombers may find a home in Latin America, Bloomberg reports. Venezuela and Cuba have offered to let Moscow use their airfields, and a top military official seems to like the idea. “If the heads of the two countries show the will, the political will, then we are prepared to fly there,” said Major Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev. The Kremlin says it's all just speculation at this point. More »
- Euro Song Contest Bars Georgia's Putin Putdown
  
  RussiaToday | Mar 10, 09 3:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A veiled Georgian attack on Vladimir Putin has been barred from this year’s Eurovision, a flashy annual international music contest, RussiaToday reports. The disco tune contains the lyrics, “We don’t wanna put in/The negative mood/It’s killing the groove,” with the words “put in” sounding like the PM’s name, the AP notes. The oft-outrageous event will be hosted in Moscow in May. More »
- US Will Collapse by 2010: Russian
  
  Associated Press | Mar 4, 09 11:24 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The “collapse of the American dream” is complete, says a Russian scholar, and President Obama will declare martial law and the US will splinter into six regions by the end of 2010, the AP reports. Igor Panarin, the dean of Russia's Foreign Ministry school, cited school shootings, the prison population, and the number of gay men as indicators of the US’ social breakdown at yesterday's lecture. More »
- Russia's Money Troubles Divide Putin, Medvedev
  
  Guardian (UK) | Mar 3, 09 12:28 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The financial crisis in Russia is driving a wedge between Vladimir Putin and his protegé, the president he handed off his office to, the Guardian reports. Dmitry Medvedev has sided with liberal economists in the crisis, while Putin is torn between his personal ties to the economists and his long association with their rivals, security officials known as the siloviki. The struggle is chipping away at Putin’s power while Medvedev gains confidence, experts say. More »
- Obama Offers Russians Deal on Missile Shield
  
  New York Times | Mar 3, 09 1:39 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - President Obama has offered to cancel a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Russia will help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, administration officials tell the New York Times . The agreement, outlined in a secret letter delivered to Moscow last month, would remove a major source of Russian-American friction. Russian leaders have signaled they are prepared to consider the proposal. More »
February 2009
- Before Obama Visited Canada, Russian Bomber Did
  
  National Post (Canada) | Feb 27, 09 2:42 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - On the day before President Obama’s recent visit to Canada, that nation’s warplanes turned back a Russian bomber, the National Post reports. The plane did not enter Canadian airspace, but the incident still alarmed officials, who have striven to enforce sovereignty. “When we see a Russian bear approaching Canadian air space, we meet them with an F-18,” said Defense Minister Peter MacKay. More »
- Obama a Spineless Leader Thus Far: Krauthammer
  
  Washington Post | Feb 20, 09 7:01 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama has faced a spate of little challenges thus far from Russia, Iran, and Pakistan—and flunked them all, writes Charles Krauthammer. While Putin compounds his military strength and Ahmadinejad insults America, the new president has exhibited "utter passivity" on the world stage. In just one month, says the Washington Post columnist, the US has become "a grinning Goliath staggering about sporting a 'kick me' sign on his back." More »
- 4 Acquitted in Russian Journalist's Murder
  
  Guardian (UK) | Feb 19, 09 8:28 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Four men were acquitted today on charges related to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist shot dead in 2006. Two Chechen brothers and a former Moscow policeman were found not guilty of offering operational support to her killer, and a Russian spy was cleared in a related case. Politkovskaya's murderer is still at large, and her colleagues suspect someone powerful ordered her killing, the Guardian reports. More »
- Bye, Bye, Petro-Czars
  
  Newsweek | Feb 15, 09 6:02 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - There is one silver lining to the global recession: The economic and political fortunes of America’s oil-rich antagonists have been tarnished, Rana Foroohar writes in Newsweek. Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez have all been humbled by the falling price of oil, which has plummeted to $37 a barrel from from $147 last summer. More »