The trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is approaching its final stages in Kiev. Amazingly, just 18 months ago, Tymoshenko was only a few percentage points away from winning the presidential election, and today the leader of Ukraine's largest opposition party, Fatherland, is sitting behind bars in pretrial detention.

Aug. 19, 1991, is probably one of the few days of my life that I will always remember down to the smallest detail. I was an anchor at "Vesti" news, and at 6 a.m. my editor woke me with a phone call. "Get up and turn on the television!" he shouted. "A military coup is under way!"

How can I explain to today's journalism students that Russia once had independent television? Accustomed to watching today's NTV and the other government-controlled channels, how can those students even begin to imagine that Russia really had a private television network that didn't maintain a "blacklist" to keep opposition members off the air, and didn't take orders from the Kremlin on what to show or not to show?

Most of the commentary regarding the firing of Yury Luzhkov can be summed up as, “The jackals have eaten one of their own.” Unfortunately, that conclusion is based on a large misconception.

When Vladimir Putin took the co-pilot’s seat in an emergency aircraft and doused two fires, with the footage shown on Kremlin-controlled television, the stunt revealed a total lack of tact. Yet if presidential elections were held this weekend, Putin would win hands-down.

Unlike the old and senile Leonid Brezhnev, today’s Russian leaders are youthful, athletic and energetic, but their certainty that their hold on power will continue until they die could sink the country into the same swamp of Brezhnev's stagnation.

With the gas-for-base deal, there are various reasons for the generous terms offered by Russia, and one is that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is playing a tricky political game.

In Brussels, Viktor Yanukovych shook off his anti-West label. In Moscow, his task was to improve relations with Russia.

By attending Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill’s prayer service in Kiev, newly elected President Viktor Yanukovych provoked accusations that he “ran to the Moscow ‘pope.’”

Is Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych’s tough stance against Moscow just empty words, or does he mean what he says?

As president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych could not wholly embrace Russia because of Ukraine's dependence on the West for investment.

There are no great reformers like Yegor Gaidar left in Russia; instead, the elite is dominated by status quo bureaucrats.

Even the most seemingly trivial factor can spark a historical event.

Many people who are personally acquainted with Yulia Tymoshenko are convinced that if she wins the elections, she will try to establish an authoritarian regime along the lines of the one built by Vladimir Putin.

There is an old Russian anecdote that would shock most people in the West, but it reflects the mores here all too well.

Russians love to celebrate anniversaries, especially “jubilee anniversaries” — that is, those that are marked by round numbers (10 years, 20 years, 30 years, etc.)

Depite the much-discussed diplomatic blunder four months ago, when U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton gave Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a red button with the word peregruzka (overload) instead of perezagruzka (reset), both Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev are sincerely interested in resetting U.S.-Russian relations.

I would be fascinated to know if Westerners can fully appreciate the political significance behind President Dmitry Medvedev's decision to create a special commission ""for counteracting attempts to falsify history to the detriment of Russia's interests.""

After British writer H.G. Wells met Vladimir Lenin in the Kremlin in 1920, he described the visit in his book ""Russia in the Shadows.""

Nearly two months have passed since a second round of charges was brought against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Wednesday was the 200th anniversary of Nikolai Gogol's birth. One hundred fifty-seven years have passed since his death.

The authorities initiated new legal actions against former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Tuesday.

Kirill was enthroned on Sunday as patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although most Russians consider themselves Orthodox, only about 13 percent of them regularly attend church.

It is too early to tell if the gas wars between Russian and Ukraine have ended for good.

Under a new amendment to the law on treason, which was sent to the State Duma on Dec. 12 for approval, I could get 12 to 20 years in prison for the article you are about to read.

History is full of examples of how quickly the people's attitude toward their rulers can turn from love to hate the moment hard times hit, which is why Svetlana Medvedeva's spread in Kommersant's "Style" section is a little surprising. The leaders in the Kremlin are so removed from reality, they don't have the slightest idea of the political danger that they are in.

If Putin returns to the presidency, his number of years as leader could total 25 years. In the 20th century, only Stalin ruled the country that long. Could it really be that history, as Karl Marx is reputed to have said, repeats itself, first as tragedy and second as farce?

The election of the 44th U.S. president elicited an unusually large amount of interest from the Russian people from the very beginning of the campaign two years ago.

Kiev is caught up in a turbulent political crisis. Against this backdrop, it is interesting to take a look at Russia, where the political scene is like the Dead Sea -- thick, swampy and lifeless. You can't swim in it.

On Sunday, state-controlled television station Rossia will air the first program in a new series titled ""The Name of Russia.""