VIDEO REPORTS
Mortgage Owners Will Not Vote For Putin
Mortgage owners, unable to pay back loans they originally took out in US dollars, gathered yesterday in front of a fashionable Moscow restaurant where the financial elite was meeting to protest Russia’s banking policies and announce they won’t be voting again for Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Russian Service)
Propaganda Scares Kids in Russian Schools
School children in Russia’s Ural region are being fed some of the most vicious propaganda stories of the last two years, with the approval of local authorities, and to the dismay of local parents.
Anti-Obama Banner On Display Near U.S. Embassy In Moscow
A pro-Kremlin art group called Glavplakat this week displayed a huge banner of Barack Obama with the slogan “killer” opposite the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in protest against U.S. military involvement in Syria.
Is Reconciliation Between Ukraine and Russia Possible?
Most Muscovites in an informal street poll strongly favored reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine, pointing to the benefits of peace and economic cooperation and citing both countries’ shared history, although some expressed reservations about Ukraine’s present leadership. (Ukraine Service)
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Ukraine Reorients Army Positions
Ukraine’s security council announced on January 28 a new military doctrine establishing Russia as an adversary and according to which Ukraine would shift most of its military, currently located mainly on its western border, to positions along its south-eastern frontier. (In Ukrainian)
In Reversal, Russia Confirms Possibility of OPEC Cooperation
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on January 28 in St. Petersburg that he is ready for such talks, adding that a meeting with member and nonmember countries could take place in February.
Piontkovsky To Be Investigated For “Extremism”
Russian authorities have accused prominent mathematician and political commentator Andrey Piontkovsky of calling for actions against Russia’s territorial integrity after he published an article saying that Chechnya does not comply with Russian laws. (In Russian)
As Belarus Graffiti Trial Continues, Protesters Beaten By Police
Activist Pavel Sergei said police brutally beat and shouted gay slurs at him, journalist Pavel Dobrovolsky, and a friend after they were kicked out of the courtroom during the trial of three graffiti artists in Minsk on January 25. (In Belarusian)
Responding to remarks by U.S. officials that Russian President Vladimir Putin is corrupt, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on January 29 that, "In general, we see that overseas they have started preparing for Russia's presidential election, which is still more than two years away."
Majority Of Russians Reject Threats To Opposition
According to a Levada Center poll, 59 percent of Russian respondents consider recent statements by Russian authorities referring to opposition figures as "enemies of the people" to be “unacceptable.” (In Russian)
Chechnya To Build Massive Skyscraper
The 108-story Ahmat Tower, styled after an ancient Chechen watchtower, is expected to be one of the tallest buildings in Europe and Russia and cost between $125 - $500 million. (Current Time TV)
Call To Register 'Traitors' Sparks Outrage In Croatia
An official of the newly elected Croatian government lit a powder keg when he proposed creating a registry of people who "betray" nationalist values.
Joseph Brodsky, a Russian and American poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987, died 20 years ago on January 28. His poems were first heard by many audiences in Russia on RFE/RL broadcasts in 1964, and are remembered here. (In Russian)