Aug

30

The Kadyrovtsy’s Methods

August 30, 2006 | 5 Comments

Since I’m already on the topic of Chechnya, I urge readers to check out C. J. Chivers’ piece in the NY Times on the torture of Malika Soltayeva, a Chechen woman who is suspected of adultery. It seems that Kadyrov’s Chechnya is turning out to be no different than the late Shamil Basaev’s would […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

30

Interior Ministry Releases Casualties in Chechnya

August 30, 2006 | 2 Comments

Exact Russian military casualties in the Chechen War have been hard to pin down. The problem is that the Defense Ministry is known to keep such figures guarded from public scrutiny. According to Mosnews, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces claims that 3,826 troops were killed, 17,892 were wounded, and 1,906 […]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Aug

28

Demon Caster Claims Stalin was Possessed

August 28, 2006 | 28 Comments

Stalin and Hitler were possessed by the devil. So says Pope Benedict XVI’s so-called “caster out of demons” and founder of the International Association of Exorcists, Father Gabriele Amorth. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Amorth said,
“Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Aug

25

FSB Flashback from Ryazan

August 25, 2006 | 6 Comments

I got this email from a friend in Ryazan the other day:

Dear Sean!
I’ve just met one friend of mine who works in FSB. He told me about your problems with FSB, when you were in Ryazan. I’m sorry that you could remember my country by this accident.

The “problems” my friend refers to was when […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

22

Yuri Slezkine on Beneath the Surface

August 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago, Suzi Weissman, who has a weekly program called Beneath the Surface on the local Pacifica station (KPFK) here in Los Angeles, interviewed Berkeley historian Yuri Slezkine on his outstanding book, The Jewish Century. I wrote a review of it months ago. You can read it here. I recommend the […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

22

Putin’s Young Guard

August 22, 2006 | 3 Comments

Yesterday, I wrote about Putin and the task of controlling the regional power. An article in today’s Kommersant gives a picture of one of the methods the Kremlin is using to not only combat political opposition to its rule, but to combat corruption and oppositionists within United Russia itself. However, while this may […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

22

Moscow’s Man in Chechnya

August 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Who is Razman Kadyrov? The Times London’s Tom Parfitt provides the answers in his Sunday feature, “The Republic of Fear,” on the 29 year old Chechen Prime Minister and son slain Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov. Last spring, Parfitt followed the Moscow puppet for three days in his compound in his hometown of Tsenteroi. […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

21

Assessing the “Accidental Autocrat”

August 21, 2006 | 7 Comments

Will Putin seek a third term? The question comes up often in the Russian and Western press. The speculation will only intensify as 2008 approaches. For Putin to stay changes to the Russian Constitution are required. As Kommersant notes, the voices calling for him to remain in office are already starting. […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

16

Popular Resistance in August 1991

August 16, 2006 | 8 Comments

Next week will mark 15 years since the August Putsch. On August 19, 1991 a group of Soviet politicians calling themselves the State Executive Committee (Gosudarstvennyi Komitet po Chezvychainomu polozheniiu, GKChP) attempted top seize power in Moscow. The “putsch” took a very Soviet form. The Committee announced that Gorbachev was ill and […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Aug

16

An Unlikely Unity in the Midst of War

August 16, 2006 | 1 Comment

Since the mid-1980s it is estimated that over a million Russians have immigrated to Israel. With a population of just over 6 million, this makes the Russian immigrant community a strong voting block in the Jewish state. Politically, they are considered a staple of the Israeli right wing.But as Lily Galili reports in Haaretz, war […]

Popularity: 1% [?]

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