Irina Lagunina is the special projects editor for RFE/RL's Russian Service.
As part of an occasional series on how the end-of-year holidays are celebrated in our broadcast region, we talked to Irina Lagunina from RFE/RL's Russian Service about seasonal traditions in her country.
Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, spoke to Irina Lagunina of RFE/RL's Russian Service in Prague on April 12. Huntsman raised concerns about the recent arrests of members of religious minorities in Russia, and shared hopes for the democratic outcome of the presidential election in Ukraine.
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman says he has seen no evidence to back up espionage charges against Paul Whelan, an American detained in Moscow. In an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service on April 12, Huntsman said he hopes the cases of two Americans detained in Russia are resolved quickly.
Fabricated criminal cases, farcical trials, inhumane prison conditions. A new grassroots group in Russia's east tries to combat what it says are particularly egregious signs of a dysfunctional justice system.
As RFE/RL’s Russian Service marks the 60th anniversary of its first broadcast, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, a dedicated listener of Radio Liberty since 1954, evokes her lifelong relationship with the radio, both on and off the microphone.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has imposed visa bans on Russian officials connected to the 2009 prison death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The move comes as a more aggressive measure to sanction those officials is being considered in Congress, and amid concern that U.S. action could endanger the hard-won ‘reset’ of relations with Moscow.
A U.S. congressman has pledged to introduce legislation to lawmakers lifting U.S. visas and banning investment in the U.S. economy for some 60 Russians connected to the prison-death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The group includes top Russian government officials. RFE/RL correspondent Richard Solash reports.
The death of an attorney for Hermitage Capital in a Moscow prison has put a spotlight on the bitter fight between the investment fund and the Russian authorities. Sergei Magnitsky's colleagues say he was being pressured to give false testimony, and that pressure included denial of basic medical treatment.
Eighteen years after the end of communist rule and the Cold War, the Czechs find themselves caught again in a conflict between rival superpowers.
Four years ago, 129 hostages died during a seige in Moscow's Dubrovka theater. Among the hostage takers were 19 women.
RFE/RL's Russian Service spoke with a senior NATO adviser about the broader strategic response to insecurity in southern Afghanistan, the alliance's commitment, and cooperation with Pakistan.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Randy Beardsworth in Salzburg (RFE/RL) Recently, RFE/RL interviewed U.S. Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Randy Beardsworth on what the United States is doing to protect its borders and ensure there is no repeat of the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001. The interview was conducted at this year's Salzburg Seminar, in Austria.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Randy Beardsworth in Salzburg (RFE/RL) Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, U.S. government officials have been forced to rethink -- and ultimately refashion -- their approach to domestic security. In the wake of the 2001 attacks, security procedures at U.S. borders and ports had to be tightened almost overnight. At a recent session of the Salzburg Seminar -- an independent NGO bringing together experts, academics, and politicians from all over the world -- in Austria, RFE/RL conducted a wide-ranging interview with U.S. Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Randy Beardsworth on the lessons the United States has learned ( click here for full transcript --> http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/03/51c44ef9-5b1f-4afd-a31b-8effab9424b1.html ).
Refugees fleeing the violence to neighboring Chad (file photo) The U.S. government yesterday called what is happening in Sudan's western region of Darfur "genocide" for the first time. "When we reviewed the evidence compiled by our team and then put it beside other information available to the State Department and widely known throughout the international community -- widely reported upon by the media and by others -- we concluded, I concluded, that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjawid [pro-government Arab militias] bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But what constitutes genocide under international law, and how is the process of prosecuting such crimes changing?
