Russia
Smaller than expected Tsunami reaches Japan, Russia
February 28, 2010A tsunami generated by Chile's massive earthquake reached the shores of Japan and Russia Sunday, but waves were smaller than expected and did not cause damage or casualties. Japan had ordered hundreds of thousands of people to move to higher ground along...
Russia's smoking and drinking chimp
February 26, 2010Reuters picks up a "Komsomolskaya pravda" report on a chimpanzee whose smoking and boozing have landed him in hot water with his Moscow zookeepers. And zoogoers are tired of the shakedowns, too. They're sending Zhora the former circus chimp...
Bolshevik crimes: Last Tsar's murder probe
February 18, 2010By Claire Bigg A Moscow court is due to start hearings today into a dispute pitting the self-proclaimed heir to Russia's imperial throne against the Prosecutor-General's Office. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who styles herself as the head of the...
Russia: Calling for killing at birth babies with mental disabilities sparks furor
February 10, 2010By Claire Bigg, Lyubov Chizhova, Aleksandr Kulygin Russian Call For 'Postnatal Abortion' Sparks Furor Among Parents Of Disabled In late December, Snezhana Mitina received a tearful phone call from her friend Svetlana. Sobbing, Svetlana explained she...
One-third of Russian militiamen psychopaths or alcoholics
January 19, 2010By Paul Goble Nearly one in every three militiamen in Russia is likely a psychopath or an alcoholic, the result, a leading specialist says, of the attraction militia service has for such people, the end of psychological screening of applicants...
Life expectancy figures failing to recover in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
January 04, 2010By Paul Goble Most post-communist countries experienced major declines in life expectancy figures during the 1990s, but only the three Slavic countries – Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – have not seen a significant recovery in those figures...
Russian governor calls to deliver vodka to isolated villages
December 31, 2009By Paul Goble Bryansk Governor Nikolay Denin’s directive this week that officials there deliver vodka, champagne and other goods to isolated villages for the New Year’s celebration highlights the increasing isolation of many Russian...
Christmas dispute underscores Orthodox Church's mounting clout
December 24, 2009By Claire Bigg When, exactly, is Christmas Day? The answer may seem evident to many, but in Moldova this question has been spoiling the seasonal cheer for almost two decades. There are three kinds of Christmas revelers in that small nation on...
Closure of NKVD's SLON where ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ first appeared
December 21, 2009Closure of Soviet Concentration Camps Where ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ First Appeared Recalled By Paul Goble The theft of the sign, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which hung over the entrance to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz...
Mixed feelings, as Russia marks 130 years since Stalin's birth
December 21, 2009By Kevin O'Flynn Millions of Soviet citizens perished in prison camps and ethnic-deportation campaigns under the reign of Josef Stalin. Nonetheless, he remains one of Russia's most popular historical figures, remembered fondly as a strong leader who...
