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Today's paper. Last Updated: 02/08/2012
Articles by Alexander Bratersky
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Lavrov in Syria to Strongly Back Assad

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, sending a clear message that Russia intends to stand by its strongest ally in the Middle East amid an international outcry over the country's response to a civil revolt.

Protest Fever Stays High Despite Cold

Bone-chilling cold did little to lessen the spirit of protesters calling for political reform as tens of thousands took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday in a show of strength that does not appear to have diminished.

Prospects Improve for Mixing Politics and Faith

A Soviet-era dissident and a star of 1990s politics, Viktor Aksyuchits, made his name as the founding father of the Christian Democratic movement — an effort to forge a potent alliance of religion and politics that collapsed when he landed on the wrong side of the 1993 effort to oust Boris Yeltsin.

Moscow Ready for Dueling Protests

Forecasts say the temperature in Moscow will be about minus 16 degrees Celsius Saturday when tens of thousands of people will take to the streets, both in support of and in opposition to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's run for the presidency.

Volgograd Balks at Medvedev's Pick

President Dmitry Medvedev has met rare resistance in the appointment of a new governor, with supporters of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin balking at accepting a candidate tainted with vote-rigging allegations.

Protest Leaders Skip Duma Round Table

Organizers of the recent election protests skipped a meeting Thursday put together by senior United Russia party leaders to open a dialogue over the turbulence unsettling the country's political establishment.

Protests' Ogre Churov Insists He Is Apolitical

Caricatures of him as a sneering, bearded magician are seen at almost every protest, and the Russian blogosphere is filled with satirical diatribes painting him as an evil puppet master manipulating the electoral system from behind the scenes.

Film Festival Aims to Bring More Horror to Russia

Horror film aficionados can wrap themselves in the dark night of a festival this weekend as a gathering of foreign stars comes to Moscow for the Kaplya, or Drop, horror film festival aimed at boosting the local fright movie industry.

Prosecutor Gets Upper Hand

The Prosecutor General's Office has gotten a boost from President Dmitry Medvedev with a bill proposing to increase its power amid an ongoing turf war with the Investigative Committee.

Kadyrov Says Protesters Should All Be Jailed

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov flexed his strongman muscles Tuesday, saying he would throw all the protesters who recently took to the streets in Moscow into jail as they represent the "enemies of Russia."

FSB Weighs In on Spy Rock

The Federal Security Service said a Russian nationalist accused of feeding classified information to four British diplomats through a fake rock was a government official.

Putin Says Nationalism a Danger to the State

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out Monday at nationalists who call for cutting off government funding to the Northern Caucasus as well as those who want to create regional separatist parties, saying their positions could lead to the collapse of Russia.

Election Webcam Installation Begins

In this historic city that was once the cradle of Russian democracy, an unprecedented new campaign kicked off over the weekend to install web cameras in every polling station around the country in an effort to prevent voting fraud.

U.K. Spy Rock Confirmation May Boost Putin

A former British official has acknowledged that London spied on Moscow with a fake rock that contained electronic equipment, confirming Russian intelligence claims from 2006 that were mocked but gave Vladimir Putin justification to crack down on nongovernmental organizations.

Medvedev Fires 3rd Governor After Lackluster Vote Results

President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday fired Volgograd's unpopular governor just two years after he appointed him to the post, marking the third time he has dismissed a governor after last month's State Duma elections.

In New Tact, Putin Courts Middle-Class Voters

Trying to win back the hearts and minds of people he until recently dismissed, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appealed Monday to the middle-class voters who took to the streets in protest last month, to help sweep him back into office as president in March.

Prokhorov Secures Required Signatures

Billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov says he has successfully collected the 2 million signatures required to allow him to run for president.

Putin Pledges to Fight Own Legacy

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed a radical rollback of his own social and fiscal policies in a draft of his presidential program, which touts economic modernization and strengthening rule of law.

Spy Who Saved Stalin, Roosevelt Dead

Gevork Vartanyan, the legendary Soviet spy who foiled Nazi Germany's assassination attempt on the leaders of the Allied powers in Tehran in 1943, died in a Moscow hospital Tuesday. He was 88.

Putin Pens First Platform In Years

Faced with dwindling popularity and an angry public, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spent the New Year's holiday personally penning his own political program for his bid to return to the presidency for a third time.

Church Chimes in on Political Crisis

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church weighed in on the ongoing political crisis, urging the Kremlin in a Christmas sermon to cooperate with anti-government protesters who rallied in Moscow in tens of thousands last month.

Metro Pickets Planned for Ill Activist Osipova

Activists will on Tuesday stage protests across Moscow in support of a severely ill opposition activist-turned-housewife who was jailed in Smolensk on questionable drug charges.

Spin Doctor Surkov Leaves Kremlin

The Kremlin's longtime political mastermind Vladislav Surkov was removed from his post Tuesday in what observers called a response to recent anti-government protests.

Rally Suggests Protest Mood Is Growing

The holiday mood, winter chill and end-of-the-year fatigue failed to dampen the country's newfound political activism, with a protest on Moscow's Prospekt Akademika Sakharova on Saturday garnering more people than Dec. 10's rally.

News Analysis: Medvedev's Pledges Are Too Little, Too Late

President Dmitry Medvedev's promises in his state-of-the-nation speech to liberalize the political system were a reaction to growing public discontent, but they come too late, analysts said.

New Duma Speaker Allows Debate

With new Speaker Sergei Naryshkin promising to allow debate, the newly elected State Duma opened Wednesday with one of its most quarrelsome sessions in years — but United Russia still managed to dominate the proceedings.

Kim's Death 'Won't Hurt' Ties

The sudden death of maverick North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il cast a cloud over the future of the world's last Stalinist state, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that it should not affect relations between the two countries.

Leaks Target Nemtsov Before Rally

Days before a Moscow opposition protest that is expected to attract tens of thousands of people, a pro-Kremlin tabloid has leaked the private phone conversations of one of the rally's main organizers, Boris Nemtsov.

Presidential Race Lacks Independents

The Communist and Yabloko parties held anti-Kremlin rallies over the weekend and, disappointing some supporters, nominated their old-guard leaders to run in a presidential election where they are unlikely to pose a threat to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Vysotsky Recreated for First-Ever Biopic

Thirty-one years after Vysotsky's death during the Moscow Olympics, the first-ever biopic has made it to the screen, drawing crowds, controversy and some displeasure from fans of one of the most revered artists in the Soviet Union.
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