Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev delivered another lofty message last week, speaking for a record one hour and forty minutes during his second State of the Nation Address. Medvedev reiterated the scathing analysis of Russia's problems and the country's failure to

The Russian Constitutional Court has ruled to extend the moratorium on the death penalty until it is formally abolished by ratification of article six of the European Convention of Human Rights. This "final and un-appealable" decision effectively puts an end

Sponsors of President Dmitry Medvedev's anti-corruption campaign have little to celebrate a year after its launch, since on November 17 Transparency International (TI) reported next to no improvement in Russia's endemic corruption problem. TI's Corruption Perception Index for 2009 ranked

Russia and the European Union made a show of putting climate change on the agenda at their summit in Stockholm on Wednesday. But while Europe is increasingly anxious to ensure emissions can be slashed by 20 percent before 2020, Russia

On November 11 President Dmitry Medvedev made his annual State of the Nation Address to the Federation Council. But if a year ago, the head of the Russian state focused on the challenges of foreign policy, this year the central

Europe's stalling Nabucco gas pipeline project took another blow on November 14, as Slovenia's economy minister signed a deal in Moscow confirming Slovenia's participation in the rival South Stream pipeline. The Russian-led project, which will deliver Russian gas to Europe,

A recent poll has dispelled the stereotype of the Russian mail order bride after finding only a small percentage of Russian women interested in marrying a foreigner. However, dating agencies dispute the claim that the popularity of foreign husbands is

Russia's attitude toward Stalinism is rightly perceived not merely as an internal issue, but as a matter of interest for all the nations that suffered from this evil. However, the United States, the EU countries and the Western community at

The recent anniversary, 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, spurred a welter of negative emotions. Some people claim that the years following the collapse have been a major disappointment, that many other barriers have sprung up in

World leaders gathered in Berlin this week to praise the fall of the Berlin Wall as the event that united Germany, freed Eastern Europe and ended the Cold War. But seen from the vantage point of the past two decades,

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issued another call for Russia's modernization in his State of the Nation Address on November 12, but critics say the speech lacked practical substance. Medvedev promised to set forth "concrete plans" for carrying out Russia's modernization

Director Karen Shakhnazarov's film "Ward 6" will fly the flag for Russian cinema at the Academy Awards next year as Russia's nominee in the "best foreign film" category. But how likely is this picture to win, and will it even

In the summer of 1999 Vadim Chuganov was drafted into the army. In the spring of 2000 he was killed in one of the most disastrous (and celebrated) battles of the second Chechen war. Now his mother is suing the

A month ahead of schedule, the first phase of the nationwide A/H1N1 vaccination program kicked off in Russia on November 9, amidst "epidemic" levels of flu. As the swine flu panic escalates, so do the prices of anti-viral drugs, both

For the first time since last year's five-day war, the Belarusian authorities took some concrete steps in broaching the question of officially recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia. On November 5, the deputies from the two chambers of Belarus' national parliament

A Krasnodar Region police officer made headlines over the weekend when he posted an online video appealing to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to tackle endemic corruption, poor working conditions and abusive superiors in the police. Major Alexei Dymovsky was fired

Russians do not have a habit of smiling at strangers, the way Westerners do it just to appear polite. On the contrary, we often accuse our foreign counterparts of being dishonest and superficial when they flash their readymade smiles at

Russia's Supreme Court has filed a petition with the country's Constitutional Court asking for a ruling on whether Russia should continue with its self-imposed moratorium on capital punishment. Russia has maintained a moratorium on capital punishment since 1999, when the

Russia's ailing car industry took another blow on November 4, as America's General Motors unexpectedly cancelled the proposed sale of its German Opel unit to a consortium of Russia's Sberbank and Canada's Magna. The collapse of the deal, which comes

Two former members of an obscure neo-Nazi organization have been arrested for the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Natalia Baburova, Russian media have reported. But is it not just the slightest bit suspicious that somebody chose to leak this information