Russia... The Eight Continent.

Russian President Calls for Cyrillic Domain Extension.

2008-07-01T20:21:00.000-04:00

Multi-lingual Search.com:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined calls for the country to be assigned an Internet domain name in the Cyrillic script, reports the Moscow Times on Wednesday as part of a Kremlin drive to promote Russian as a global language.

He said 300 million people worldwide used Russian media and that a Cyrillic domain name would be a key part of raising the importance of the language, a task he said was his personal priority as president.

«We must do everything we can to make sure that we achieve in the future a Cyrillic Internet domain name — it is a pretty serious thing. It is a symbol of the importance of the Russian language and Cyrillic. … And I think we have a rather high chance of achieving such a decision.»

Kharkov pensioners break a memorial desk to the SS spiritual guide.

2008-06-29T07:30:00.001-04:00

Interfax-Religion:

A memorial granite desk to the 'patriarch' of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) Joseph Slipyj was broken in the center of Kharkov.

According to witnesses, a group of «exalted elderly» people performed the act of vandalism, the website of the Komsomolskaya Pravda Ukrainian version has reported on Wednesday.

One of the witnesses reported the accident to the police. Criminals haven't been detained yet.

The memorial desk was at the house where the 'patriarch' used to stay. Earlier that building housed a transit prison.

Kosovo Serbs form own parliament, ignoring independence declaration and defying U.N. - International Herald Tribune

2008-06-29T07:11:00.001-04:00

IHT:

Kosovo's hardline Serb leaders formed their own parliament on Saturday, ignoring Kosovo's declaration of independence and defying its United Nations administrators.

The action in the Serb-controlled half of the divided town of Mitrovica represents an attempt by the Serbs to split the disputed territory, which they claim as their own despite the Kosovo Albanian majority's Western-backed secession in February.

The assembly consists of 45 Serb representatives elected in Serb local elections in Kosovo, held in May. Serbs control about 15 percent of Kosovo's territory in the southeastern corner of Europe.

«The assembly is the foundation of the Serb protection of Kosovo, said Marko Jakšić, one of the hardline Serb leaders. «We will not allow the formation of another Albanian state in this part of Europe.»

Hiddink wants Euro 2008 to spark Russian resurgence .

2008-06-29T06:58:00.001-04:00

IHT:

Guus Hiddink wants his young team's defeat by Spain in the European Championship semifinal to be the start of a Russian football renaissance, not the end of one.

«Russian football is coming alive and so is the national team,» said Hiddink.

It has been in a long hibernation. The Soviet Union won the first ever European Championship in 1960 and was runner-up three times, most recently in 1988, when Marco van Basten's amazing volleyed goal led the Netherlands to a 2-0 win.

But since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia had never reached the knockout stage of a major tournament.

Hiddink earns traitor status, steers Russia to historic Euro victory.

2008-06-25T05:53:00.001-04:00

AFP:

Russia coach Guus Hiddink got the result he wanted to become a traitor in his native Holland after his team's 3-1 quarter-final win after extra-time dumped the Dutch out of Euro 2008.

The 61-year-old former Holland coach had said he would be happy to be a Dutch traitor if his Russian team beat his countrymen and two goals in extra time broke Dutch hearts on Saturday.

Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy had headed home an 86th minute equaliser to give the Dutch a life-line - and take him alongside Johan Cruyff on 33 goals for the national side - but super sub Dmitri Torbinsky grabbed a second in the 112th minute, before Andrei Arshavin settled it with a third on 116 minutes.

WWII memories unite Russia and Belarus.

2008-06-25T05:50:00.001-04:00

RussiaToday:

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been to Belarus to commemorate the day on which Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The city of Brest was the first to be attacked in 1941.

The Nazis planned to conquer the city’s fortress in eight hours, but in the end, it took them more than a month.

Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart, Aleksandr Lukashenko, visited the Brest Hero Fortress memorial complex, laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame, and spoke to World War II veterans.

Russian and Belarusian leaders meet to discuss long-debated merger - International Herald Tribune

2008-06-25T05:48:00.001-04:00

IHT:

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met with the president of Belarus on Sunday to discuss the merger of the two former Soviet countries into a single state.

«The movement forward is very good,» Medvedev said after talks with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Russia and Belarus signed an agreement in 1996 that called for close political, economic and military ties — and eventually a full merger — but negotiations on strengthening the union of the two countries have stalled.

«Politically and legally we created a union state, and now it is important to fill it with real content,» Lukashenko said.

Russia bet looking good as Hiddink's young guns fire.

2008-06-25T05:46:00.001-04:00

Scotsman.com:

A few people had a bit of a laugh behind my back when Russia opened the tournament with a 4-1 defeat to Spain. But my 40-1 each way bet on Guus Hiddink's side doesn't look quite so daft now!

There are four good teams in the semi-finals and no-one will be all that surprised to see the likes of Germany or Spain in there but, at the start of the tournament, I put my head on the chopping block and said that I thought Russia were vastly under-rated and that they were capable of doing something.

I feel justified now because after that disastrous first game everyone was writing them – and me – off. But they have really come into their own and with Andrei Arshavin back after suspension, he really looks capable of being the catalyst for them. He has really been the player of the tournament for me so far. Roman Pavlyuchenko is another one who has impressed me and they have a few options up front.

Collapse of Estonian Economy.

2008-06-21T12:22:00.000-04:00

RIA Novosti:

The media have been extensively covering economic issues. Politicians attribute a sharp reduction in Russian transit to Moscow's decision to use its own ports. «We have to realize that Estonia is no longer a major transit country between the West and the East. This wonderful time has gone never to return. Russia is now sticking to its own plan, and will send the majority of its massive supplies to its own ports.» (Eesti Paevaleht, 13 June)

«Prime Minister Andrus Ansip believes that Estonia should forget about Russian transit, and find another source of revenues... He explained that Russia has actively invested in the development of its own ports, and will now use them extensively.» (Postimees, 14 June)

Businessmen believe that the transfer of the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn in April last year has speeded up the collapse of the economy, and that it can only be stopped if relations with Russia return to normal. «Since April 2007 it seems that we can no longer count on profitable transit, or we need to find some magic Chinese trick to outwit the current strategy of our big neighbor Russia... If the Estonian Republic succeeded in restoring good economic relations with Russia, we could even increase the transit of some categories of goods. When relations are good, the transit is there, but when they are bad, there is is no sense in talking about transit.» (Eesti Paevaleht, 13 June)»

Russia's Hiddink wants to be the Dutch traitor of the year.

2008-06-21T12:18:00.000-04:00

AFP: Russia's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink says he wants to be the traitor of the year in the Netherlands and see Russia knock his countrymen out of Euro 2008 in Saturday's quarter-final.

Despite being a proud Dutchman, the 61-year-old has guided Russia into the quarter-finals from Group D and is hoping his side will beat the «Oranje» at St Jakob-Park stadium here.

More than 100,000 Dutch fans—many bedecked totally in orange—are expected to descend upon Basel and Hiddink was asked if he would feel like a traitor if Russia won.

«I want to be the traitor of the year in Holland, because if I am the traitor of the year back home, it will have meant we won the game,» joked Hiddink, who coached Holland between 1994-98.

Russian Press Exhibition.

2008-06-21T12:16:00.000-04:00

Pravda.Ru:

The vast but little-known world of the Russian press abroad, ranging from Hertsen's newspapers Kolokol (The Bell) and Polyarnaya Zvezda (The Polar Star) to the newspapers Our Texas, Seulsky Vestnik (The Seoul Herald) and Russkie Emiraty (The Russian Emirates) are on view at a Moscow exhibition for the first-ever time. The «Russia that We Have Saved» exhibition opened here on Wednesday within the framework of the 10th World Congress of the Russian Press, which is currently under way at the Moscow Centre of International Trade.

Chief of the Exhibitions Department of the Russian State Library (RSB) Yelena Novokreshchenova told Itar-Tass that visitors of the exposition were able to trace the entire history of the Russian press abroad, starting from the mid-19th century to our days.

The exhibition could be conventionally divided into three sections. The first one features editions of the Russian pre-revolutionary press. «an original 1857 copy of the newspaper Kolokol, which was published by Hertsen and Ogarev, a 1857 edition of the newspaper Polyarnaya Zvezda, and the Bolshevik newspaper Iskra (The Spark) hold pride of place among the exhibits on view, Novokreshchenova noted."

Discovery of remains of 180 Napoleonic soldiers who died in battle.

2008-06-20T09:11:00.001-04:00

IHT:

A Defense Ministry official in Belarus says the remains of 180 Napoleonic soldiers who died in a major battle against the Russian army have been found in the former Soviet republic.

Tens of thousands of French troops were killed when the Russians attacked Napoleon's army as it was crossing the Berezina River in November 1812 on the punishing retreat from Moscow.

The soldiers' remains are located about 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of Minsk near the town of Borisov.
The grave is adjacent to another site where authorities ceremonially reburied 223 French soldiers last year.

Col. Viktor Shumsky said Thursday that a reburial ceremony was also likely for the Napoleonic soldiers pending agreement from France.

Hammon's dream has Russian accent.

2008-06-20T09:10:00.000-04:00

Boston Globe:

Is Becky Hammon a traitor? Or just a woman chasing her Olympic dream?

Russia Defense Watch: Crimea fleet stays.

2008-06-20T09:09:00.001-04:00

UPI:

A change of presidents has not softened Russia's determination to hold on to its historic Black Sea naval facilities in the historic fortress-port of Sevastopol.

Russia's deputy prime minister and former defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, pledged Friday that the Kremlin would continue to base its Black Sea fleet in the city and ignore any Ukrainian protests and pressure to try to force the ships out.

Transitions Online: The Politics of Faith.

2008-05-12T14:50:00.001-04:00

Transitions Online:

ATHENS | The Eastern Orthodox Church is influencing international affairs again as it previously did during the NATO Kosovo campaign in 1999. Back then, the reactions of many Europeans reflected their cultural and religious backgrounds; many Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians, Cypriots and Russians were against the bombing of their Orthodox brethren in Serbia.

US can attack Russia in 2012-2015: Russian military analyst.

2008-02-25T19:22:00.001-04:00

Interfax:

After 2012-2015, the U.S. will be able to annihilate Russian strategic nuclear forces by a non-nuclear preemptive strike, said Konstantin Sivkov, the first vice president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems.

« declare that the likelihood of a military threat is great as never before now,» Sivkov told Interfax on Saturday.

Western military experts have recently started to talk about the possibility of attacking Russia and annexing its territory, Sivkov said. 'Russia is supposed to be dismembered into three parts, with the Western part going to the European Union, the central part and Siberia to the US, and the eastern to China. This is a rough scenario,' he said.

Russian armed forces will be unable to successfully counter an aggression, Sivkov said. «At the present time, the conventional armed forces cannot properly perform their duties in a regional war, like the Great Patriotic War, even in theory. Even if fully deployed, their potential is limited even in local wars. The only factor that deters [the US] now is the nuclear arsenal,» he said.

Events planned again in Latvia to honor pro-Nazi force.

2008-02-25T19:21:00.001-04:00

Interfax:

The Riga city legislature keeps receiving applications for permission to hold events on March 16 to commemorate so-called «legionaries,» Latvian soldiers who fought against the Soviet Union on Nazi Germany's side during World War II.

Two applications came in on Monday, legislature spokesman Ugis Vidauskis told the Baltic News Service.

Annual events on March 16 by veterans of the Latvian Legion of German security force Waffen SS and their supporters, particularly street processions and laying flowers at the Freedom Monument, always cause a powerful backlash both within and outside the country though the ex-legionaries deny having been SS soldiers proper.

One of the applications the Riga legislature received on Monday sought permission for a street march from the Occupation Museum to the Freedom Monument 'with the aim of drawing attention to the deplorable position of pensioners and residents of denationalized buildings.'

The other was about a planned procession by about 50 people to honor the Latvian Legion. It came from a veteran of Perkonkrusts (Thunder Cross), a Latvian nationalist organization set up in the 1930s. «Thunder Cross» was a term for the swastika.

Earlier, applications came from two other groups, Daugavas Vanagi (Daugava Hawks) and National Strength Union."

An era of opulence in Russian vodka.

2008-02-23T14:33:00.001-04:00

LA Times:

NOT long ago, Stolichnaya was the only Russian vodka Americans seemed to know about. But if you look around today, you can find up to 35 brands -- and the pace of new arrivals is picking up."

The Real Story Behind Kosovo's Independence.

2008-02-23T13:46:00.001-04:00

AlterNet:

The Bush administration acknowledges there is a such thing as international law.

But, predictably, it is not being invoked to address the US prison camps at Guantanamo, the wide use of torture, the invasion and occupation of sovereign countries, the extraordinary rendition program. No, it is being thrown out forcefully as a condemnation of the Serbian government in the wake of Thursday's attack by protesters on the US embassy in Belgrade following the Bush administration's swift recognition of the declaration of independence by the southern Serbian province of Kosovo. Some 1,000 protesters broke away from a largely non-violent mass demonstration in downtown Belgrade and targeted the embassy. Some protesters actually made it into the compound, setting a fire and tearing down the American flag.

Kosovo throws wrench into US-Russian relations.

2008-02-22T18:58:00.001-04:00

msnbc.com:

A generation ago, Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin defined the no-go zone between East and West. If you listen to Russian officials these days, that geopolitical schism has now shifted to the Serbia-Kosovo border.

On one side, Russia defends its nationalist proxy, Orthodox Serbians, who say they will never accept a non-Serbian Kosovo; on the other side, Kosovars – more than 90 percent of whom are Albanian Muslims – are backed in their desire for independence by the United States and most of Western Europe.

For the Love of Kosovo: Let’s Kick Some Putin Ass.

2008-02-20T20:45:00.001-04:00

The Brussels Journal:

On Tuesday morning, 19th February, a man called the Foreign Office in London to express his opposition to London’s decision to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. He was surprised to be put through immediately to the Kosova desk, where an official took the call – just hours after the British envoy in Pristina had been to the government of the newly independent province to present his credentials. He delivered his protest but in vain. The official already had the official arguments well rehearsed, and indeed they were presented to the public on the radio on Monday morning, the day after the proclamation of independence, by the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.

Comment is free: Abandoned in Kosovo.

2008-02-20T11:22:00.001-04:00

Guardian:

For almost a decade western attitudes to Kosovo have reinforced Oscar Wilde's adage that the truth is rarely pure and never simple.

In 1999, George Robertson, then Britain's defence secretary, claimed that Nato had undertaken a «fight for a downtrodden people and it has won». I've no doubt that forces controlled by Slobodan Milosevic were responsible for heinous crimes against the ethnic Albanian community that Robertson purported to champion. Yet there were other sections of Kosovo's population whose abject suffering that year was arguably just as serious and yet was considered far less worthy of our collective attention

Russia's Surging Economy.

2008-01-09T15:28:00.001-04:00

Forbes.com: With the firm belief that, especially in Russia, past is prologue, the first and most important economic trend of 2007 was that nation's continued political and economic stability. This has made possible, and will continue to enable, reliable forecasts of economic trends, and has attracted a great deal of foreign investment in Russia.

Such an ongoing process has also caused Russian entrepreneurs to maintain and increase their domestic investments, rather than invest abroad, as they did before. Moreover, it has resulted in job creation and stimulated economic growth, which is now approaching 8%.

Which indicators are proving the increasing stability and predictability of the Russian economy? First, there's the unprecedented rate of growth of foreign investment, which surged by a factor of 2.5 in 2007. None of the world's 15 leading national economies can compete with this achievement. Some $100 billion was invested in Russia from abroad over the last 12 months, an all-time record for any emerging market country and a milestone of great historical and psychological significance for Russian business.

Putin sends Christmas greetings.

2008-01-09T15:28:00.000-04:00

AFP: Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to Orthodox believers and met Santa on the Russian Christmas Day Monday, as United States presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton claimed Putin had no soul.
«This festival has for centuries brought the light of faith, hope and love,» Putin said in the Christmas message released by the Kremlin on the Orthodox Christmas day, January 7.
«It draws us towards primordial spiritual values uniting millions of people, values that play a special role in the history of Russia and nourish our national culture,» Putin said.

The Russian president also met «Grandfather Frost» in the snow-covered northern town of Veliky Ustyug where the Russian variation of Father Christmas is thought to reside, and visited a theme park.

Prsident Vladimir Putin: New Year Address to the Russian Nation.

2008-01-03T06:45:00.000-04:00

31 December 2007
The Kremlin, Moscow

A New Year Address to the Nation

Dear fellow citizens of Russia, Dear friends.

Today I would like to say something special to you. As we see off the outgoing year, I want to sincerely thank you for everything that we have done together with you during the past eight years.

All that we have managed to achieve would have been simply impossible without your steadfast support, without your trust, without your direct participation in the revival of our country.

We have not only restored the territorial integrity of Russia. But once again we are able to feel we are a united people. And all these years we worked together to preserve our country, to transform it into a modern, free, strong state able to provide its citizens with a convenient and comfortable life.

We have seen how, from year to year, Russia has been gaining in strength and becoming stronger. How our economy has been growing. How new opportunities have been opening up for the people.

To be sure, we have not managed to do everything. But I am quite certain that the road the people have chosen for Russia is the right road and that it will lead us to success. We have everything to achieve our goal - our great history, colossal resources, courage, industriousness and intellectual potential of our great nation.

Dear friends,

In a few minutes, we shall usher in the New Year. This is a holiday filled with love for our dear ones, with the warmth of our homes. A holiday of hope and belief that everything will turn out the way we want it to turn out. That our life will become better. That our children will be happy. That our elderly people will be healthy and safe. That our country will become stronger and blossom.

So let us wish each other new achievements. And, of course, we shall raise our glasses to the health and happiness of our near and dear, to those whom we value and cherish more than anything else in the world. To whom we give the warmth of our hearts and with whom we want to be together.

So may your most cherished dreams come true!

Be happy, dear friends!

I wish you all the best for the New Year!

V.V. Putin, «Time» Man of the Year 2007.

2007-12-21T13:14:00.000-04:00

TIME: How do you see the relationship between Russia and the U.S., going forward?

Russia and the U.S. were allies during the Second and the First World Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult times. Today to be successful, one must be able to reach agreements. The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.

Russian gas deal dashes EU hopes.

2007-12-21T13:04:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS: Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have signed a landmark deal to build a gas pipeline.

The pipeline will strengthen Moscow's control over Central Asian energy export routes, analysts said. It also deals a blow to European Union hopes of securing alternative routes that would bypass Russia.

The pipeline will skirt the Caspian Sea from Turkmenistan to southern Russia via Kazakhstan and will be built by the end of 2010.

The trilateral agreement was signed in Moscow in the presence of President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

A REAL Winter Palace in St Petersburg!

2007-12-21T09:34:00.000-04:00

English Russia: So when it’s minus sixty seven - what do people do? Oh they have some fun, for sure. For example how about building a big ice palace on the city square putting outside real bowls with plants and inside cakes made of snow…

RRussia & Belarus push ahead with union pact.

2007-12-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

RussiaToday: President Putin is spending a second day in Minsk, to try and nail down a pact with Belarus, including a draft constitution and a deal on future gas deliveries. It is Putin's first official visit to the country in more than 5 years and comes in the dying months of his presidency.

On Friday, Putin and Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko will take part in a meeting of the Union State Council. $US 160 million has been set aside for the 2008 budget, but this won't be enough to have a smooth transition to a full union state.

For years, analysts have criticised the two countries' relationship.

Meet the First Lady in Waiting.

2007-12-14T15:51:00.000-04:00

Moscow Times: As world attention falls on Dmitry Medvedev, the spotlight has flickered and fallen on everything around him -- including his wife, Svetlana, who seems certain to succeed Lyudmila Putina.

Should she become first lady, Svetlana Medvedeva -- who reportedly counts singer Alla Pugachyova and designer Valentin Yudashkin as friends -- will enter a world that differs little from the one she inhabits now.

Medvedev's childhood sweetheart, Medvedeva has received a medal from the Orthodox Church for her social work, has been a curator of fashion shows in Milan and has shown a distinct lack of political ambition.

Judging by previous presidential wives, it's just the combination that Russians like in a first lady.

'What can I say about Sveta?' Irina Grigorovskaya, who taught both of them for five years at School No. 305 in St. Petersburg, said by telephone Tuesday. 'She was a good student and a very pretty girl. By nature she always seemed like a homebody to me, a humble girl. It was obvious that she would grow into a real woman.

'She was very nice, easy to talk to, and I think she has stayed the same,' Grigorovskaya added.

The two were married in 1989 and have a 12-year-old son, Ilya. Medvedeva studied at a financial academy in the northern capital.

Russia's Modern Czar.

2007-12-14T15:49:00.000-04:00

UPI: Russia's next president, Dmitri Medvedev, known to his friends as Dima, is a fan of the rock groups Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. He swims a mile every day, and he is very flattered when anyone tells him he looks the spitting image of Russia's last czar, Nicholas II.

And now that President Vladimir Putin has named Medvedev as the preferred successor, Medvedev at 42 will be the youngest incumbent of the Kremlin throne since the last czar.

He is married to his childhood sweetheart, Svetlana, who he met at the age of 7 in their native St. Petersburg. His wife now chairs the council of trustees of the faith-based program Spiritual and Moral Culture of Russia's Younger Generation. Launched with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy, it promotes the establishment of Orthodox Church orphanages, educational and research expeditions for young people and pilgrimages to Russian patriotic and religious shrines.

Welcome to the new Russia, which is starting to look like a modernized version of the old Russia before the Communists took over and the revolution of 1917 toppled the czar and marginalized the Orthodox Church.

No wonder they like Putin.

2007-12-08T20:33:00.000-04:00

Times Online:

Vladimir Putin's victory in the Duma elections on Sunday was widely foreseen, but the result has been grudgingly received in the West. The official election-observing worthies wagged their fingers: there were rumours of ballot-stuffing, or of intimidation in workplaces, and they complained that the Russian media had presented an almost uniformly glowing report of the Government for weeks before the elections. No doubt there are elements of truth in this.

A Russian electorate is still rather a strange animal, a hybrid of old and new. In the old Soviet days, elections were an excuse for a party - an event in some provincial, dead place. Little old ladies turned out in great numbers, and voted fairly resolutely for the one-party candidate who was offering the tea and cakes (and music, generally heavily amplified). The same still happens, and there was also, again from Soviet times, an element of the rotten borough about the election: people will vote for the boss or his candidate, much as vast estate-owners used to do in England.

But there is also a new feature in Russian political life, the emergence of a real public opinion, and no amount of criticism will sweep that away. President Putin is popular, and from a Russian perspective, you can easily see why. Indeed, the outcome of his recent election more than slightly resembles General de Gaulle's success in 1958.

Думский квартет�

2007-12-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

Российская газета:

Места в Государственной Думе пятого созыва смогут занять четыре партии - «Единая Россия», КПРФ, ЛДПР и «Справедливая Россия». Такой вывод можно было сделать из итогового выступления председателя Центризбиркома Владимира Чурова, состоявшегося вчера в Информационном центре "Выборы-2007".

В 10 часов по московскому времени было обработано 97,9 процента протоколов с 94 тысяч избирательных участков (всего их насчитывается свыше 95 тысяч). По данным ЦИК, 2 декабря правом голоса воспользовались 63,7 процента избирателей. "На прошлых думских выборах подобный показатель составил 55,8 процента", - удовлетворенно заявил глава ЦИК.

И тут же огласил: «Единая Россия» набрала 64,1 процента голосов, за ней следует КПРФ, завоевавшая 11,6 процента. Семипроцентный барьер также преодолели ЛДПР и "Справедливая Россия" - им доверились 8,2 и 7,8 процента избирателей соответственно. Пятую строчку прочно заняла Аграрная партия России с 2,3 процента. Далее идут «Яблоко» - 1,6 процента, "Гражданская сила" - 1,1 процента, Союз правых сил с одним процентом, «Патриоты России» - 0,9 процента, Партия социальной справедливости - 0,2 процента и Демократическая партия России - 0,1 процента.

Putin added to United Russia 12 seats.

2007-12-04T09:36:00.000-04:00

ПОЛИТ.РУ:

The Russian president Vladimir Putin described the passed elections as legitimate. 'The legitimacy of the Russian parliament has undoubtedly grown', the president told journalists. “The previous membership of the parliament was supported by 70% of the electorate, the present one rests upon 90%; only 10% of voters have supported parties which haven’t entered the parliament. This is a high degree of the legitimacy of our Duma”, explained Putin.

Napoleon's Soldiers Reburied in Belarus.

2007-12-04T09:27:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press:

The remains of more than 200 Napoleonic soldiers who died in a major battle with the Russian army were reburied Sunday with the assistance of historical re-enactors. Tens of thousands of French troops and civilians perished when the Russians attacked Napoleon's army as it was crossing the Berezina River in November 1812 on the punishing retreat from Moscow.

Blowback From Moscow.

2007-12-01T08:26:00.000-04:00

antiwar.com

Our next president will likely face a Russia led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, determined to stand up to a West that Russians believe played them for fools when they sought to be friends. Americans who think Putin has never been anything but a KGB thug will reject accusations of any U.S. role in causing the ruination of relations between us

Russian folk choreographer Moiseyev dies.

2007-11-04T10:49:00.000-04:00

AFP: Igor Moiseyev, a celebrated Russian choreographer who left the Bolshoi Ballet in 1937 to form a world-renowned folk ballet troupe, has died, the Agency for Culture and Cinema said Friday. He was 101.

Северный полюсъ: Русская земля!

2007-08-04T10:09:00.000-04:00

Russia greets flag team heroes as the world condemns Arctic stunt Times Online:

The explorers who planted the Russian flag beneath the North Pole were given a heroes’ welcome yesterday in defiance of the international condemnation of Moscow’s territorial claims.

Russia released the first pictures of the moment the tricolour was placed on the Arctic shelf at a depth of more than two and a half miles in a mission intended to advance the country’s claims over the region’s vast untapped mineral resources. It announced on Thursday that two of its submarines had successfully reached the bottom of the Arctic Ocean under the pole. But the symbolic planting of a rust-proof titanium Russian flag drew scornful responses from Western nations with Arctic ambitions.

For a glum Ford, Russia ends up as a bright spot.

2007-07-17T11:09:00.000-04:00

International Herald Tribune:

MOSCOW: In the United States, Ford Motor hardly has reason to celebrate.

Just in the first six months of this year, U.S. sales were down 11 percent. Higher gasoline prices are driving consumers away from pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, a cornerstone of Ford's business in America.

The New Ice Age: Talking With Russia — or Not.

2007-05-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

Spiegel Online:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel left last week's EU-Russia summit disappointed. Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggressive posturing is splitting Europe, and the German government, over how best to engage Moscow.

Vladimir Putin hadn't come for a polite chat. With a stony expression on his face, the Russian president sat at the table long before his guest Angela Merkel did. The gesture made very clear that this was his meeting, and he set the tone for the European Union-Russia summit in Samara on the Volga River last week.

The Act of Canonical Communion is Signed.

2007-05-22T14:11:00.000-04:00

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia:

The Act of Canonical Communion is Signed and the First Joint Celebration of Divine Liturgy by the Primates of the Two Parts of the Russian Orthodox Church Takes Place in Christ the Savior Cathedral

On 4/17 May 2007, the day of the Ascension of the Lord, the Act of Canonical Communion between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate was signed. The ceremony of the reestablishment of the fullness of communion within one Local Russian Orthodox Church was attended by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, along with other government officials.

Актъ о каноническомъ общеніи.

2007-05-22T14:06:00.000-04:00

Патриархия.RU:

Мы, смиренный Алексий Второй, Божией милостью Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, купно с Преосвященными членами Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви — Московского Патриархата, собравшимися на заседание Священного Синода 3/16 мая 2007 года в Москве, и смиренный Лавр... (текст)

If Only There Was More Bread Кад би хлеба било више

2007-03-24T20:50:00.001-04:00


Short documentary about the life of Serbs in Kosovo and efforts of NGO «Majka devet Jugovica» from Gracanica to sustain a Homeless Shelter and Soup Kitchen in Prekovac for the poor and unemployed.

When will the West wake up?

2007-03-19T20:26:00.000-04:00

Serbianna.com:

Bosnian Muslim immigrant's rampage at a Utah shopping mall, killing five Americans while shouting Allahu Akbar or Allah is Great before being gunned down by police is a 'textbook study of a jihadist attack' claim authors at the independent PipeLineNews.org

According to the report, the evening before going on a killing spree, the shooter, Bosnian Muslim Sulejman Talović, told his girlfriend that «Something is going to happen tomorrow that you'll never be able to forgive me about» and that the event will be «the happiest day of his life and that it could only happen once in a lifetime.»

….

«I am amazed that the media is so obsessed with portraying Talović as some dreamy, visionary Muslim kid and no one pays attention to the dead he left behind,» says Olivia Hill, an American from Texas.

«Salt Lake Tribune talks about his favorite colour, favourite food, how he loved outdoors, fishing... and not a word on the dead and the pain these families are suffering and frankly, I am offended by this glorification of a killer... is it because he is a Muslim?» asks Hill.

Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline.

2007-03-19T11:25:00.000-04:00

Energia.gr:

The signing last Thursday, in Athens, of the tripartite agreement (between Bulgaria, Greece and Russia) for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline makes Greece an indispensable link in the global hydrocarbon supply chain. In 2011, 35 million tons of crude oil (to be increased to 50 million eventually) from the oilfields of Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will pass annually through the port of Alexandroupolis, in northeastern Greece, on the way to the big consumers in the West.

Turkey left out of Russian-Bulgarian-Greek pipeline equation.

2007-03-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

JTW News:

The Greek-Bulgarian«Burgaz-Dedeagac» pipeline is coming into being. In his visit to Athens tomorrow, Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign agreements with the Greek government giving the go-ahead for the long-awaited Russia-Bulgaria-Greece pipeline which has been stalled for 15 years now, and which will by-pass the Turkish straits.

Putin's visit to southern Europe is after yesterday's stop in Italy, where he and Prime Minister Romano Prodi held important talks on energy cooperation between the two countries.

Russia fears NATO more than terrorism.

2007-03-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

Sydney Morning Herald:

RUSSIA is to replace its military doctrine with a more hawkish version that boldly identifies NATO and the West as its greatest danger. In a statement posted on its website, Russia's powerful Security Council said it no longer considered global terrorism to be its biggest danger. Instead, Russia was developing a new national security strategy that reflected changing «geo-political» realities, and the fact that rival military alliances were becoming «stronger» - «especially NATO».

Ethnic Hatred Lingers in Croatia: God May Forgive, We Don't.

2007-03-07T16:17:00.000-04:00

SPIEGEL ONLINE:

Not far inland from Croatia's tourism hotspots on the Adriatic coast, ethnic tensions run deep between Croats and the Serb minority now gradually returning 12 years after the end of the civil war.

The nights scare Sofia Skoric most. The 71-year-old Serb woman sits in her sparsely furnished sitting room, her wrinkled skin bronzed by decades of sunshine. It's getting dark outside and she no longer feels safe. It's night again, and she and her husband Svetozar feel they may again fall victim to the rage of their neighbors.

Закончился XI Всемирный русский народный собор.

2007-03-07T13:57:00.000-04:00

Столетие:

Всемирный русский народный собор, XI съезд которого завершился сегодня в Москве, заявил о недопустимости попыток расколоть Церковь, которые совершаются под видом заботы о ее благополучии.

«Мы должны ясно и во всеуслышание обличать тех, кто, смущая верных, под видом заботы о церковном или государственном благе пытается разделить Церковь по национальному, политическому, культурному или социальному признаку, превратить живые разномыслия в убийственные распри», -говорится в одной из резолюций Собора. «Нам не нужны расколы ни слева, ни справа. Нам нужна единая Церковь, хранящая в мире Отечество земное и ведущая православный народ к Отечеству небесному», - сказано в документе.

We're Both Number One.

2007-03-07T09:01:00.000-04:00

Real Russia Project:

With the Joyal and Safronov incidents in Washington and Moscow occurring so close together, it presents a chance to put in perspective an issue of concern to the average citizen of any country: How safe are you?

The comparison is apt as both cities consistently win their respective continent's Murder Capital titles. Using census data from 2005 and rates of homicide given by Russian and American government sources, Moscow’s rate of homicide is 9.13 per 100,000 inhabitants, whereas Washington D.C.’s comes in at a whopping 35.42 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Knowing this, perhaps it is understandable why some aspects of emulating America can be troubling to foreigners who grow weary of the “rule of law”-mantra when these invectives are lobbed from a glass house.

Setting aside that the rate of political murders has decreased every year that Putin has been in power and ignoring the fact that these recent murders harm rather than advance Putin’s agenda, let’s pose a question for the unrepentant conspiracy fans out there: If Russia’s president is responsible for every murder in his capital, does that mean America’s leader is culpable for the same in his own backyard?

Meanwhile, only time will tell if the D.C.-area security forces prove to be any better at solving these sorts of incidents than their Moscow counterparts.

US Stance Hardens on Russia.

2007-03-03T10:55:00.000-04:00

KommersantЪ:

United States National Intelligence Director John Michael McConnell has warned in remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the recent tendency towards a harsher line from the Kremlin will inevitably lead to increasing antagonism between Russia and the United States. His statement is not only one of the most open expressions of Washington's displeasure with new trends visible in Russian politics. It also signifies that, although George Bush has made conciliatory remarks about continuing cooperation with Russia, the White House is not ruling out a reappraisal of its relationship with Moscow.

День Георгиевских кавалеров вновь становится праздником.

2007-03-01T21:53:00.000-04:00

ПОБЕДА.RU:

16 февраля в третьем окончательном чтении Государственная Дума России приняла закон об установлении новой (а, по сути, восстановлении старой) памятной даты - Дня Героев Отечества. Согласно поправкам в закон О днях воинской славы и памятных днях России', этот праздник будет отмечаться 9 декабря, однако выходным днем он не будет.

26 ноября по юлианскому календарю (9 декабря по новому стилю) 1769 года Императрица Екатерина II учредила высший военный орден Российской Империи - орден Святого Георгия Победоносца, имевший девиз "За службу и храбрость" (в 2000 г. орден восстановлен как высшая военная награда России). Награду получали воины, проявившие в бою доблесть, отвагу и смелость. В этот же день в России широко отмечался Праздник Георгиевских кавалеров, когда чествовали всех кавалеров Георгиевских отличий - от таких прославленных людей, как Александр Суворов, Григорий Потемкин, Михаил Кутузов, до простых солдат, матросов и казаков, награжденных Георгиевскими крестами и медалями. Эта традиция сохранялась до Октябрьской революции. В последний раз праздник Георгиевских кавалеров торжественно отмечался 26 ноября 1916 года.

US diplomat urges better dialogue with Russia.

2007-03-01T19:27:00.000-04:00

washingtonpost.com:

The United States and Russia need to improve dialogue on Washington's plans for a missile defense system and the future of nuclear arms reduction treaties, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow said on Thursday.

William Burns warned against what he called «miscommunication» after a frosty few months, in which senior US and Russian officials have traded barbs over everything from Iraq to a missile defense shield in Europe.

Russia foreign ministry voices regret over unfriendly comments by US spy chief .

2007-03-01T19:26:00.000-04:00

IHT:

Russia on Thursday voiced regret over what it said were «unfriendly» comments made by new US spy chief Mike McConnell, who warned this week of increasing Russian assertiveness and growing antagonism with the West.

«It is deplorable that a senior US administration official has articulated unfriendly comments concerning Russia,» Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying.

«We believe that Russia and the United States, despite the existing discrepancies in approaches to certain issues, remain partners and must build their relations on the basis of a constructive dialogue,» he was quoted as saying.

In comments Tuesday before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, McConnell, the US national intelligence director, warned that Russia was exploiting high world energy prices to increase its clout and was «increasingly using strong-arm tactics against neighboring countries.»

Putin and the Geopolitics of the New Cold War.

2007-03-01T00:06:00.000-04:00

engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net

The frank words of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to the assembled participants of the annual Munich Wehrkunde security conference have unleashed a storm of self-righteous protest from Western media and politicians. A visitor from another planet might have the impression that the Russian President had abruptly decided to launch a provocative confrontation policy with the West reminiscent of the 1943-1991 Cold War.

However, the details of the developments in NATO and the United States military policies since 1991 are anything but ‘déjà vu all over again’, to paraphrase the legendary New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra.

Solzhenitsyn: Russia dogged by problems similar to those that led to 1917 revolution .

2007-02-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

The Independent:

Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn warns in the preface to a newly republished article that Russia is still struggling with challenges similar to those of the revolutionary turmoil of 1917 that led to the demise of the czarist empire.

The article - which will appear tomorrow in the influential government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta - analyzes the roots of the February revolution 90 years ago that forced the abdication of the last czar, Nicholas II, and helped pave the way for the Bolsheviks.

«It's all the more bitter that a quarter of a century later, some of these conclusions are still applicable to the alarming disorder of today,» Solzhenitsyn wrote in a preface to the article first written in the early 1980s.

Belarus official: Austrian bank will invest 1.3 billion $.

2007-02-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

Monsters & Critics:

Austrian's Raiffeisen Bank will invest the equivalent of 1.3 billion dollars in Belarusian business during 2007, a senior government official said on Monday.

The one billion Euro sum will go into Belarusian banking, manufacturing, fund investment, and export financing, said Sergei Sidorskiy, Belarusian Prime Minister, according to a Belapan news wire report.

Estonia, Russia Rift Averted.

2007-02-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

The Moscow Times:

Estonia's president has vetoed legislation that called for the relocation of a Soviet war memorial, averting at least temporarily a confrontation with Russia.

The bill, which had provoked an angry response from Moscow, now goes back to parliament, where lawmakers could override the veto.

The measure would prohibit the public display of monuments that glorify the five-decade Soviet occupation of Estonia. It was specifically aimed at the Bronze Soldier, a World War II memorial in Tallinn, the capital, that has become a rallying point for Estonia's Russian-speaking minority, about one-third of the 1.3 million population.

Russia’s Grasp on the Ukraine Rising.

2007-02-26T13:04:00.000-04:00

CBS News:

Ukraine's main opposition leader, on the eve of a trip to the US, warned Saturday that the former Soviet republic is at risk of sliding back under the influence of Russia.

Yulia Tymoshenko said she will reassure US leaders on her visit starting Sunday that the Orange Revolution team which set Ukraine on its pro-Western path has reunited and will provide tough opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Russian-leaning government.

US tries to calm Russian fears about antimissile system.

2007-02-25T08:04:00.000-04:00

«Gentlemen, Russia has returned! It should be reckoned with.» Sergei Yastrzhembsky.

Сергей Ястржембский: «Господа, Россия вернулась!»

IHT:

Senior U.S. officials in Washington and Moscow tried to allay Russian concerns about planned antimissile facilities in Eastern Europe, but they also issued a firm message: NATO would not be cowed or deterred from continuing to enlarge to the east.

«Russia has to understand that NATO is not directed against Russia but is a force for peace and security,» Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Thursday in Washington, according to The Associated Press. [And Samovar has a bridge in Brooklyn for sale...]

Moscow demands clarification from US over Gates remarks about Russia threat.

2007-02-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

People's Daily Online:

«Russia has demanded an explanation from the United States over Defense Secretary Robert Gates' remarks, which suggested that Russia was being identified as a potential threat,» the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

«Russia has asked the United States to clarify whether Gates' remarks represented the official position of the US administration,» said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin in a statement.

Greenhouse on Moscow's fringe symbolizes Russia's transition.

2007-02-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

IHT:

In a city starved for winter light, little could seem more out of place than this: On a day dimmed to gray by a canopy of clouds, Russian workers in short sleeves picking green lettuce and fresh herbs, all while illuminated by brilliant light.

L’Amérique descend, la Russie remonte!

2007-02-01T16:07:00.001-04:00

24 Heures:

La Russie a pratiquement disparu de nos radars. Elle peut faire aujourd'huià peu près n'importe quoi sans que ni les Etats-Unis ni l'Europe ne s'en émeuvent réellement. Quand l'on songe à quel point la Russie nous obsédait lorsqu'existait encore l'Union soviétique! En ce temps-là, l'URSS jouait pour nous, carrément, le rôle d'ennemie fondatrice, raison pour laquelle, lorsque le Mur de Berlin s'est effondré et qu'elle-même est partie en morceaux, nous avons, en Occident, ressenti à la fois une grande joie («on a gagné!») et un grand vide.

Закат Америки - восход России!

(24 Heures, Швейцария) ИноСМИ

Какой парадокс: в момент заката Америки начинается восход России!

Россия практически исчезла с наших радаров. Сегодня она может делать, что ей вздумается, и ни США, ни Европа не будут по этому поводу всерьез волноваться. А вспомните, до какой степени мы были одержимы Россией во времена существования Советского Союза! В ту эпоху СССР в наших глазах, несомненно, играл роль главного противника, и именно по этой причине после падения Берлинской стены и развала СССР, мы на Западе одновременно почувствовали великую радость (мы победили!) и огромную пустоту.

Putin Touts Resurgent Russia.

2007-01-24T13:53:00.000-04:00

RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Kremlin critics of trying to weaken Russia's increasing influence as a global power.

The Russian president used an interview with Indian media, and a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, to hit back at Western critics who he says are trying to put Russia in its place.

In the interview -- broadcast on January 23 in India ahead of Putin's scheduled trip there -- the Russian president dismissed those who he said were accusing Russia of trying to regain its former «superpower» status.

He said the use of such Cold War terminology is an attempt to «undermine trust in Russia» and «create some sort of enemy».

Monarchist Nostalgia Remains Powerful.

2007-01-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY:

The recent reburial of the remains of Maria Fyodorovna, the Danish princess who married the future Aleksandr III of Russia in 1866, is the latest episode in a long-standing effort to cultivate the idea of restoring the monarchy in Russia. The idea gained currency under President Boris Yeltsin in 1997, when his close circle, alarmed by the Russian president's ailing health, started to think about a possible successor. Some of them turned their attention to the living descendents of the Romanov dynasty. That same year, renovation work began at the Kremlin to restore the coronation hall and the tsar's throne. In 1998, Yeltsin attended a state ceremony to bury the remains of the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II, and his family, who were killed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

Russia Weathers a Disturbing Warm Winter.

2007-01-20T21:07:00.000-04:00

Guardian Unlimited:

It was one of Russia's traditional days for taking a dip and swimmers were complaining - because it was too warm outside. Countless Russians every year mark the Orthodox Epiphany religious feast by plunging into water through holes in the ice and shivering vigorously in the frigid air. On Friday, the ice was either thin or absent and the air wasn't especially cold.

First home of modern man in Europe was Russia.

2007-01-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

Independent Online Edition:

A Stone Age archaeological site on the banks of the river Don in southern Russia has been identified by scientists as the earliest known settlement of modern humans in Europe.

Poles return to Russian language.

2007-01-09T08:56:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS:

The Russian language - once widely despised in Eastern Europe, when it was compulsory under communism - is making a comeback in Poland, a Polish newspaper reports.

The daily Rzeczpospolita says the incentive seems to be that many Western companies are stipulating a knowledge of Russian as a job requirement.

Kiev becomes latest property hotspot.

2007-01-09T08:42:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS:

When you think about property hotspots in Eastern Europe, Prague, Warsaw or even the Baltic states may spring to mind. Few people would necessarily put the capital of Ukraine in the same category. Yet Kiev is now believed to be the most expensive city in Eastern Europe in which to buy a home.

Russian-style Orthodox church to be built in East of Helsinki.

2006-12-18T15:52:00.000-04:00

Helsingin Sanomat:

The Orthodox Congregation of St. Nicholas, which functions under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate, and which has operated in Finland since 1927, plans to build a new church in the Itäkeskus suburb in the east of Helsinki.

The small congregation, with about 1,500 members, has found that its present facilities are being stretched to the limit, thanks to increased immigration from Russia.

The congregation’s main church building, next to the Orthodox cemetery in Hietaniemi, was built in 1937, and it was expanded in 1952. A few years ago the congregation opened a small church in the Vesala area in the east of Helsinki.

Daisies by Kremlin as European Russia warms up.

2006-12-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

Reuters AlertNet:

«Muscovites are smiling: they don't have to wear hats and the grass is green like in some kind of England,» wrote popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets, adding Russia could only gain from a warmer global climate.

Siberia in that case will become the world's granary and Russia will be a clear winner.

NATO Interview: "Russia Sees Itself as a Country that Is Self-Sufficient" - 2 - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

2006-11-27T20:51:00.000-04:00

NATO Interview: "Russia Sees Itself as a Country that Is Self-Sufficient" - 2 - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News: "These are not sanctions. We no longer operate direct flights to Tiflis because Georgian airlines owe us money. You were the ones who introduced us to the market economy in the 1990s. Now we are sticking to it and you come to us with accusations. We cannot accept the fact that Georgia continues to insult us. It is clear to us that the Georgian leadership is dragging NATO and the EU into its efforts to solve its internal problems."

BBC NEWS | Europe | Belarus buries Napoleonic troops

2006-11-26T22:58:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | Belarus buries Napoleonic troops: "A ceremony has been held in Belarus to bury the remains of 224 Napoleonic soldiers killed in 1812 as the French imperial army retreated from Russia.

Their bodies were discovered last year and their regiments identified from remnants of their uniforms."

Georgia-Russia tensions spilling over | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

2006-11-19T19:30:00.000-04:00

Georgia-Russia tensions spilling over | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "TSKHINVALI, Georgia — Passing through the armed, garbage-strewn checkpoint, travelers get a warning from a Georgian guard: Once you cross, you're on your own.

The barrier is a stark image of Georgia's failure to assert its authority over its breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has just voted to ratify the breakup, raising the stakes in a struggle for control of the multiethnic, multireligious Caucasus that some fear could come to echo the Balkan wars."

Volumes of first full Solzhenitsyn collection published in Russia - iht,arts,books,Russia Solzhenitsyn - Culture - International Herald Tribune

2006-11-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

Volumes of first full Solzhenitsyn collection published in Russia - iht,arts,books,Russia Solzhenitsyn - Culture - International Herald Tribune: "The wife of Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn on Thursday presented the initial three volumes of the first full collection of his works to be published in Russia — a country still struggling with the legacy of the oppressive era he documented.

It was a cherished moment for the aging writer, who has been through prison camps and exile and, Natalya Solzhenitsyn said, feels the 'draining of the life force' as his 88th birthday approaches. He was not at the presentation."

Interfax-Religion

2006-10-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

Interfax-Religion: "Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Holy Mount Athos were tense throughout the last century, primarily because of the ambiguous policy of the Greek government and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

This conclusion was made at the international theological conference on Russia – Athos: A Thousand Years of Spiritual Unity by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna in his paper devoted to relations between the Russian Church and Athos in the 20th century. "

Проект РОССИЯ / Вступление

2006-09-29T21:37:00.000-04:00

Проект РОССИЯ / Вступление: "Когда Александру Македонскому предложили напасть ночью на превосходящие силы персидского царя Дария, он ответил: «Я не краду победу». Кто-то счел это легкомыслием, но Александр правильно рассчитал. Такой мощный враг, как Дарий, не капитулирует из-за материального и человеческого урона. Обладая гигантскими ресурсами, пер�"

Russia Profile - Monarchist Past and Future

2006-09-29T21:36:00.000-04:00

Russia Profile - Monarchist Past and Future: "Thousands of Petersburgers and millions of television viewers yesterday witnessed the culmination of a promotional campaign: A magnificent ceremony of reburial of the Danish-born Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna – the mother of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. It is a fitting moment to speculate on the place of the monarchist idea in modern Russia.

First of all, I should state that I have not been part of any discussions of a monarchist plan with any group, however legitimate or even remotely proximate to the corridors of Russian power. Nor have I any evidence that such discussions have taken place or are under way."

Russian royals bid farewell to last tsarina - World - smh.com.au

2006-09-29T15:51:00.000-04:00

Sunday Morning Herald:

SURROUNDED by one of the largest gatherings of her descendents on Russian soil since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the mother of the last tsar, Nicholas II, has been buried in the Romanov family crypt 78 years after her death.

As cannon fire boomed across St Petersburg's Neva River, the dowager empress Maria Fyodorovna was lowered into a white sarcophagus to lie beside her husband, Tsar Alexander III, ending a week of solemn commemorations that began when her remains were exhumed in her native Denmark.

87 Years After Fleeing Revolution, Russia's Last Dowager Empress Returns.

2006-09-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

The New York Sun:

To the sounds of a 31-gun salute, the remains of Russia's last dowager empress returned to her adopted homeland yesterday almost nine decades after she fled the Bolshevik revolution that claimed the lives of her son and grandchildren.

Mother of Nicholas II, Russia's last tsar, Maria Fyodorovna, will be laid to rest today after three days of commemorations that will force Russia to consider the bloody end of its imperial past.

Religion enters Russian schools.

2006-08-31T08:05:00.000-04:00

BBC:

The Orthodox Christian religion is being made a compulsory school subject in four of Russia's regions.

Pupils in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Smolensk regions will be taught the basics of Orthodox Christianity. It will also be included as an optional subject in the school curriculum in 11 other regions across the country. Supporters say the move will help protect traditional spiritual values in Russia.

Moscow Metros 172nd Station.

2006-08-31T07:54:00.000-04:00

Moscow Times:

With City Day just around the corner, Mayor Yury Luzhkov followed his newly minted tradition and opened a new metro station, the city's 172nd.

The new station, Mezhdunarodnaya, is on the Filyovskaya (light-blue) line, and, in the near future, it will serve as a rail hub for express trains to two airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo.

GAZ says it's not interested in buying Jaguar.

2006-08-31T07:48:00.000-04:00

MarketWatch:

Russia's GAZ Group (GAZA.RS) said Wednesday it's definitely not interested in buying Ford Motor Co.'s (F) luxury Jaguar brand as it goes against GAZ's strategy of tapping Russian and international commercial vehicles markets.

Earlier this summer, GAZ bought a battered U.K.-based light commercial vehicle maker LDV and hired an ex-Ford official Martin Leach as head of GAZ International, sparking rumors in the U.K. press that the company was also interested in buying Jaguar.

«I understand where that rumor is coming from - we have the financial resources and we have good managers," Matveyeva said, referring to GAZ's cash-rich shareholder, financial-industrial group Basic Element. "But the truth is, we're not interested. We see no synergies for us in buying Jaguar and we try to be very careful with our acquisitions.»

Ford in Russia.

2006-08-31T07:42:00.000-04:00

July was Ford's best-ever sales month in Russia, and the company is building on this with the introduction of several new models at this week's Moscow Show.

This is the first time that Russian customers have come face to face with the Galaxy and the Focus Coupé-Cabriolet, which go on sale next month and early next year respectively. The Show also marks the first appearance in the country of the new Transit, and the European premiere of the US-built Explorer.

Ford is also displaying the S-MAX, which went on sale in Russia in July, and iosis concept car.

«The Moscow Motor Show is a perfect place to showcase Ford's tremendous success in Russia," says Ford of Europe CEO John Fleming. "Our industry-pioneering plant in St Petersburg has built more than 100,000 new Ford cars since it opened in 2002.»

Russia puts its gold into resort's Olympic dream.

2006-08-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

Times Online:

A Black Sea holiday city wants the Winter Games to come to its land of palm trees

ON A tropical mountain near the Black Sea, a newly built ski lift stretches up into the clouds, while a lone worker blinks sleepily in the heat. “That’s where they’re going to build the winter Olympics village,” says my guide.

This is Sochi, Russia’s biggest resort on the Black Sea coast. Every year, three million Russians descend on the town for summer, drawn by its beaches, casinos and brash discos. It is not a place one immediately associates with alpine sports.

Heads to roll in Russia's artwork scandal - World - theage.com.au

2006-08-09T21:07:00.000-04:00

Heads to roll in Russia's artwork scandal - World - theage.com.au: "RUSSIAN museums are in a spin after art thefts at the famous Hermitage in St Petersburg exposed nationwide security problems. Cultural heads may have to roll before the scandal subsides."

Russia tells west to stay out of its affairs.

2006-07-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

FT.com:

Sergei Ivanov, Russia’s defence minister, on Thursday warned the west to stay out of its internal affairs saying it would use its “military might” as a deterrent and a guarantor of its sovereignty. His comments came as President George W. Bush sought to put democratic freedoms in Russia back on the agenda for the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg this weekend.

Сволочь сволочей успешно...

2006-07-11T07:53:00.000-04:00

УНИЧТОЖЕН!

Guardian Unlimited

«Beslan massacre mastermind dies in blast as Russia says he was plotting new attack»

· Anti-terror triumph for Putin on eve of G8 summit
· 12 others die with 'enemy № 1' in vehicle explosions

Russia's security service announced the death of Shamil Basayev yesterday, the country's 'terrorist № 1' and the man who was the self-confessed mastermind of the Beslan massacre.

In a victory for President Vladimir Putin ahead of his chairing a G8 summit this weekend in St Petersburg, Russian television showed pictures of burnt-out cars and a truck in the southern republic of Ingushetia, which neighbours Basayev's native Chechnya. He and 12 other militants were killed in a blast that destroyed the vehicles, apparently caused by an assault early yesterday morning by the security services. His body was reportedly disfigured in the blast but was identified by some of its parts [head, which was decapitated in the blast].

$380K/minute 24/7/365.

2006-07-06T15:30:00.000-04:00

WashPost

Russia has come a long way since its 1998 default on $40 billion of Soviet-era debt, burying its image of a handout-hungry giant and positioning itself as one of the world's energy superpowers.

But with oil revenues gushing in and its state-controlled oil and natural-gas companies in the ascendancy, the Kremlin's oft-stated goal of diversifying the economy away from its reliance on hydrocarbons and turning Russia into a high-tech hub seems far in the future.

Russia Will Bring Back Emigres to Solve Demographic Crisis.

2006-07-05T13:33:00.000-04:00

MOSNEWS.COM

Officials in Russia say they hope to attract tens of thousands of Russians living abroad through a state program encouraging voluntary resettlement. President Vladimir Putin issued a decree launching the program in June. It aims to ease Russia’s demographic crisis, caused by low birth rates and high mortality, BBC reports.

Breaking ice with Russia is the Finnish line as EU chief .

2006-07-05T12:28:00.000-04:00

The Australian

It fought two wars and spent 60years resisting the icy grip of its giant neighbour. But Finland is now calling on members of the EU to make relations with Russia a priority and to coax Moscow into a warmer embrace with loans, know-how and dialogue.

After taking over the EU presidency at the weekend, Finland wants to make the Northern Dimension, the regional co-operation pact that binds Scandinavia with Russia, a model for EU co-operation with its neighbours.

Russia's New World Order.

2006-07-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

TIME Europe Magazine

Buoyed by expensive energy and a booming economy, the Kremlin is once again flexing its muscles abroad — but very carefully

There aren't many clubs harder to join than the G-8. You have to be at the top of the global heap: one of the very richest industrialized countries, potent enough to help steer the world's economy. And you're supposed to be a functioning democracy too. So when Vladimir Putin opens this year's G-8 summit next weekend at the sumptuous Palace of Congresses overlooking the sea 15 km from St. Petersburg, the famously stone-faced Russian President can be forgiven a brief flicker of a smile. The former kgb officer in East Germany will be in charge of a gathering to which, by any objective measure, he should not have been invited.

Russia makes ruble fully convertible .

2006-07-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

Forbes.com

The authorities here lifted currency controls Saturday in a sign of new-found economic confidence less than eight years after Russia defaulted on its massive domestic debt, devaluing its currency and wiping out its people's savings.

The controls were lifted in accordance with a government decision taken Thursday.

«Now it will be more attractive to invest in Russia—this will increase investors' interest in Russia,» Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on national television, adding that he expected no capital flight from Russia to result from the reforms.

Янки сдались без боя.

2006-06-17T21:48:00.000-04:00

СТОЛЕТИЕ.РУ

В воскресенье, 18 июня, в Крым прибудут 35 американских военных, чтобы обеспечить отправку груза, который должен был использоваться на межнациональных учениях «Sea Breeze-2006». Об этом сообщает представительство президента Украины Крыму.

How embarrassing.

2006-06-06T08:49:00.000-04:00

MOSNEWS.COM:
US Sailors Trapped by Protesters Freed by Ukrainian Troops.

Ukrainian troops freed American sailors trapped by anti-NATO demonstrators in Crimea Sunday, Scotsman.com news website reported.

Protesters had surrounded a sanatorium where the 120 crew from a visiting navy ship were staying close to the Black Sea port of Feodosiya. The sailors arrived on the US navy cargo ship Advantage on 27 May to bring equipment for a military exercise, Sea Breeze, scheduled for this summer.

[US Sailors essentially held hostage by rag-tag group of babki da djedy. Channel 1 Russia reports that food was passed to the humiliated sailors in plastic shopping bags through holes in the fence of the sanatoriumm.]

Crimean Parliament Opposes NATO Exercises.

2006-06-06T08:35:00.000-04:00

DefenseNews.com:

The largely pro-Russian parliament of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine, said on June 5 it was against planned military exercises involving Ukrainian and NATO forces in Crimea. The Sea Breeze 2006 exercises are due to start this month and continue to August in Crimea, a peninsula on the Black Sea coast in the south of the former Soviet state.

NATO's supporters, opponents prepare for battle in the Ukraine.

Kyiv Post:

When U.S. Marine reservists disembarked in this ex-Soviet republic, they expected a quick and simple mission: installing new showers and toilets at a military training facility, then leaving.

The 200 Americans could hardly have anticipated the anti-NATO blockades and protesters shouting «Occupiers go home!» that greeted them upon arrival.

The angry welcome in the Crimean port of Feodosiya—led by a radical pro-Russian party and the Communists—is widely seen as the opening volley in the battle over Ukraine's bid to join NATO, an issue now forced to the top of the nation's political agenda. [Why is «pro-Russian» called radical? Communists? What Communists? —У Самовара]

Uniats attempt to seize Orthodox church.

2006-06-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

Interfax-Religion:

On Sunday, the Greek Catholics attempted to seize the John the Baptist church in the village of Shandrovets, Lvov region. The church belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox church (Moscow Patriarchate), a source in the Lvov diocesan administration told an Interfax correspondent on Monday.

The parishioners managed to defend their church. The diocesan authorities think, however, that representatives of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church will continue their encroachments.

Rights advocated by homosexuals are nothing else than right to vice.

2006-06-05T18:17:00.000-04:00

Interfax-Religion:

Refusal to give a moral assessment to the essence of homosexuality is fraught with the biological destruction of society – this is the opinion expressed in an interview to Interfax-Religion by Irina Siluyanova, PhD., head of the biomedical department of the Russian State Medical University and deputy chair of the Church-Public Council for Bioethics at the Moscow Patriarchate.

Orthodox Crimea protests NATO occupation.

2006-06-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

REGNUM:

Opponents of Ukraine’s joining NATO have continued to block the port of Feodosia, although the US Advantage vessel under NATO flag already left the port after it unloaded armaments and military equipment. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, in the night of May 30 all possible ways out of the port remained blocked by Crimeans, participants of the Anti-NATO action to prevent from moving the load to the Old Crimean Military Ground, which is in a 25 km distance from Feodosia.

Крымчане теснят американцев к Алуште.

2006-06-03T19:54:00.000-04:00

Столетие.ру

Группа американских военных, прибывших на Украину для участия в учениях «Sea Breeze-2006», так и не смогла попасть на полигон в районе поселка Старый Крым. Участники акций протеста против военного присутствия США на полуострове блокировали все подъезды к полигону, так что в конце концов американцев пришлось отвезти в Алушту и разместить в одной из местных гостиниц.

Накануне в аэропорту Симферополя совершил посадку самолет НАТО, на котором прибыли 150 американских солдат. Они были встречены активистами крымского молодежного движения «Прорыв» кторые пытались всячески воспрепятствовать незваному визиту. Между тем украинские авиадиспетчеры и летчики на всем протяжении полета НАТОвского самолета сообщали крымчанам, в какой аэропорт он направляется. Чтобы найти жилье, американским военным после схода с трапа пришлось исколесить около 500 километров крымских дорог и провести ночь в автобусах, потому что пикетчики несколько раз узнавали конечный маршрут движения (хотя он постоянно менялся) и перекрывали трассу. В итоге американских солдат поселили в санатории МВД Украины «Дружба» в Алуште. [Молодцы! Выставляйте НАТО вон!! Незабываете НАТОовское бомбирование братской Сербии. —У самовара.]

Также ЧАС:

Протесты, вызванные заходом американского корабля под флагом НАТО в порт Феодосии, принимают все более массовый характер.

С минувшей субботы жители Феодосии, а также представители Компартии, Партии регионов, Прогрессивной соцпартии и организации «Русская община Крыма» блокируют морской порт и не позволяют натовскому кораблю Advantage разгрузиться. Люди уверены, что власти обманули их относительно того, что корабль прибыл для учений. К жителям Крыма присоединяются другие украинские города: в порту Феодосии ожидаются делегации из Донецка, Днепропетровска, Николаева, Одессы и Запорожья. Охрану порядка осуществляют у ворот порта феодосийские казаки.

Инцидент с незаконным заходом американского корабля и разгрузкой военной техники и строительного оборудования вызвал бурные протесты жителей Феодосии и Крыма, в центральных и восточных областях Украины, среди многих политических сил страны. Накануне вечером у закрытых ворот порта сотни людей слушали сменяющих друг друга ораторов и овациями встречали возгласы «Наше будущее с Россией», «Россия - друг, НАТО - враг», «Позор предателям!».

Также Православные Крыма противостоят оккупации Феодосии блоком НАТО www.otechestvo.org.ua:

Пока в парламенте представители политических сил вот уже второй месяц делят шкуру неубитого медведя, в условиях практического отсутствия в стане легитимной власти, министерство обороны Украины «под шумок» сдает НАТОвской военщине Крым. Так, 27 мая в Феодосийский морской порт вошел корабль "Adventure" с боевой техникой на борту. Как сообщают информационные агентства «Новый Регион» и «Регнум», на борту судна находится: военная техника - 2 пулемета, более 100 винтовок, пистолеты, патроны, 4 военных джипа, запчасти, радиостанция, компьютеры, 500 кроватей, лекарства, подъемный кран, бульдозеры, каток; рота солдат, вооружение, предназначенное для совместных учений Украина - НАТО. Также присутствуют материалы для строительства совместной Украино-НАТОвской военной базы. НАТОвцы уже выгрузили на причал инженерно-военную технику, несколько автомобилей "Хаммер" и несколько БТРов. 150 человек прибыло из военной роты НАТО. В порт подошла и украинская военная техника для разгрузки корабля. Очевидно, что эта акция специально запланирована на выходные дни, во избежание огласки через СМИ.