Aug

31

The House of Cards Trembles

August 31, 2007 | 5 Comments

It’s already falling like a house of cards.  Two more suspects in the Politikovskaya murder were taken off the list today.  Prosecutors announced that Oleg Alimov, one of the former Moscow police officers, has been freed from custody.  Alimov and his three colleagues were suspected of working with former FSB officer Pavel Riaguzov, police Major […]

Popularity: 5% [?]

Aug

30

Lugovoi the Liar

August 30, 2007 | 27 Comments

With all the hoopla around the Anna Politkovskaya murder case, we’ve forgotten to check in with good ol’Andrei Lugovoi to see how he’s doing. Whether valid or not the Politikovskaya murder is often linked with the Litvinenko murder with the following terms–dissident, “fierce Kremlin critic,” Berezovsky, Chechnya, KGB/FSB, and, of course, Putin.
Unlike the Politkovskaya […]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Aug

30

And Then There Were Nine . . .

August 30, 2007 | 4 Comments

Scratch two off the list of suspects in the Anna Politkovskaya’s murder.  Yesterday, authorities released Alexei Berkin from police custody for lack of evidence.  Prosecutors initially believed that Berkin was in league with the Chechen based Lasagna criminal gang (no really that’s what the article says ‘lasagna”  Man, these guys really need to lay off […]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Aug

30

The Hubris of the Populist Race Card

August 30, 2007 | 2 Comments

Alexander Zaitchik and Mark Ames tackle the rise of skinhead violence in Russia in the latest issue of the Nation. As they point out, what was a trademark of Islamists–i.e. the beheading video–has now been adopted by Russian skins. In addition to the video, they note other signs of an escalation in skinhead […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Aug

29

From the Komsomol Archive

August 29, 2007 | 19 Comments

I’m currently writing a chapter about expulsions in the Komsomol. The section I’m writing at the moment concerns denunciations. I thought I would share the following denunciation letter from 37 Komsomols from a cell in Chernishevsky school in Nizhny Novgorod in 1926.

To the Komsomol Bureau.
From the Nizhny Novhorod cell from the Chernishevsky School
[…]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Aug

29

Supposed Killers and a Just Plain Crook

August 29, 2007 | 138 Comments

More information is coming out about the individuals arrested for Anna Politkovskaya’s murder. Moskovskii komsomolets gives a run down of the suspects. The most high profile suspect is Pavel Riaguzov, 37, a former FSB lieutenant-colonel at the Moscow City Directorate. Riaguzov has been under FSB suspicion for some time for his alleged involvement […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Aug

28

The List

August 28, 2007 | 3 Comments

From Polit.ru:
On Tuesday the tabloid Tvoi den’ published [the names of] all the arrested for Politkovskaya’s murder. It’s interesting that according to this newspaper there seems to be 11 not 10 as [Prosecutor General] Chaika said.
1. Alexei Berkin
2. Dmitri Lebedev
3. […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Aug

28

Speculation Nation

August 28, 2007 | 12 Comments

One day later and Russia and world have reacted to the arrest of 10 suspects in Anna Politkovskaya’s murder. Most of the Russian media have led with the story.  The Kremlin funded English language Russia Today provided an overview of the story and the subsequent international reaction.  The popular daily Komsomolskaya pravda hyped the fact […]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Aug

28

Novaya in English

August 28, 2007 | 24 Comments

The acerbic and often controversial Novaya gazeta is now available in English.  Check it out.
Popularity: 3% [?]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Aug

27

Ten Arrested in Politkovskaya Murder

August 27, 2007 | 48 Comments

They say it’s ten but no names were given in the interest of the investigation of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder. The ten comprise of a Chechen native who’s a specialist in contract killings, two security officers, one from the MVD and the other FSB, and three former police officers. The other four have yet […]

Popularity: 3% [?]

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