Victor Yasmann

Also by Victor Yasmann

• January 03, 2006

  Different Lever Of Influence, Same Message

  Russia's dispute with Ukraine and subsequent gas cutoff has been seen by many analysts as Moscow's attempt to pressure Ukraine in the run-up to its 26 March parliamentary elections.

• December 27, 2005

  The Changing Face of Russian TV

  It was a mixed bag for television in Russia during a year in which quantity came at the expense of quality, and entertainment programs increased as the Kremlin tightened control over information.

• December 16, 2005

  Could Gas Spat Impact Military Cooperation?

  The Russian media has in recent days been full of speculation that the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute could affect military cooperation between the two countries.

• December 02, 2005

  Moscow's City Duma Election -- A Case Of Managed Democracy

  The 4 December election for Moscow's City Duma are seen by many as a dress rehearsal for the 2007 State Duma elections and the presidential ballot in 2008. Twelve parties are taking part in the Moscow election, with the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party headed by Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov possessing a clear lead.

• November 23, 2005

  Russia: Putin Wants More Gold

  More gold, please (CTK) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the domestic gold mining industry to increase its annual output so that the "[Russian population can find in gold an investment alternative to the dollar and euro," Russian news agencies reported.

• November 22, 2005

  Putin Brings Energy To Asia

  Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to reinforce his country's image as a global energy superpower during a recent trip that took him to Turkey, South Korea, and Japan.

• November 10, 2005

  Could Immigration Mitigate Population Deficit?

  Russian demographers have long foreseen the country's population crisis. The most viable group of potential labor migrants is arguably the Chinese.

• November 04, 2005

  New Holiday More Than Just National Unity

  Russia celebrated People's Unity Day on 4 November, whose creation was initiated by the Kremlin. Despite the promotion, it seems the average citizen was indifferent to the new holiday.

• November 02, 2005

  Duma Urges Media To Cut Back On Violence

  The Russian State Duma has adopted an appeal that calls on national broadcast heads to avoid television programs that portray "violence and cruelty."

• November 01, 2005

  Russia: Moscow Treads A Fine Line With UN Syria Vote

  Rafiq Hariri was killed in February (epa) On 31 October, Russia voted unanimously with the other members of the UN Security Council for a resolution demanding Syria's full cooperation with a UN investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The resolution warns of possible "further action" if it refuses. The resolution was a partial compromise for its sponsors, the United States, Britain, and France.

• October 19, 2005

  A Lifetime Fighting Totalitarianism

  Aleksandr Yakovlev, one of the architects of the reform of the Soviet Union, died in Moscow on 18 October at the age of 81.

• September 02, 2005

  Russia: The Kremlin's New Team?

  Nashi activists at a special training camp this summer The fall political season in Russia got off to an early start this year and featured young people armed with wooden bats engaging in a street brawl against leftist political activists. The incident spawned speculation that the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, which has always maintained a beligerent, almost martial ideology, is being converted into the enforcers of the Kremlin's views.

• July 01, 2005

  Russia: Moscow Grapples With Question Of 'Trophy Art' Restitution

  Ultranationalists in Moscow protesting the return of the Baldin Collection to Germany in 2003 1 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Russian officials and lawmakers have taken tentative steps toward the eventual return of some of the precious cultural artifacts "appropriated" by Soviet soldiers or the Soviet state during or after World War II. The development could signal that Russia is moving toward a more respectful view of property guarantees in general -- one that might help it overcome its reputation as a reluctant defender of such rights.

• May 06, 2005

  World War II -- 60 Years After: Russia And Japan Still Searching For Closure

  Putin with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi One of the most paradoxical results of World War II is the fact that Russia and Japan still have not signed a peace treaty ending the conflict. That is even more ironic considering that the two countries never engaged in the kind of bloody and devastating warfare that characterized the conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany, with which Russia now enjoys stable, even friendly relations.

• April 29, 2005

  Russia: National Bolsheviks, The Party Of 'Direct Action'

  Eduard Limonov at an NBP rally (file photo) The National Bolshevik Party (NBP), which is Russia's oldest radical youth organization, was created in 1994 by radical writer Eduard Limonov, Eurasianism ideologue Aleksandr Dugin (who soon left the party), and rock musicians Yegor Letov and Sergei Kurikhin, as well as other counterculture personalities.

• April 14, 2005

  Russia: Radicalized Youth On The Rise

  Many groups were inspired by pensioners' protests against benefits reforms The recent successes of the revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the much earlier success of the Yugoslav opposition in bringing down Slobodan Milosevic, have generated considerable interest in the driving forces behind these movements. Key roles in all these uprisings were played by informal but radical and disciplined youth movements espousing direct-action tactics. These groups include Otpor in Serbia, Kmara in Georgia, Pora in Ukraine, and KelKel in Kyrgyzstan.

• April 11, 2005

  Russia: Oligarch's Case A Sign Of The Times

  The 10-month trial of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskii, Menatep Chairman Platon Lebedev, and former Volna General Director Andrei Krainov came to a close on 11 April, with Khodorkovskii giving his final statement to the court. A verdict will announced on 27 April, Russian media reported.

• March 25, 2005

  Russia: Moscow Grapples With Meaning Of Kyrgyz Uprising

  Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Moscow can work with the new Kyrgyz leadership. Leading Russian political figures on 24 and 25 March rushed to comment on the unfolding events in Kyrgyzstan, with government officials stating unequivocally that Moscow does not plan to intervene in the former Soviet republic. Others, however, urged the Kremlin to assert itself in the crisis, with many going so far as to ascribe the uprising to a Western plot to reduce further Russia's influence in the region.

• March 18, 2005

  Analysis: Chubais Under Fire

  Anatolii Chubais answering questions during a press conference on 17 March The 17 March attempted assassination of Unified Energy Systems (EES) head Anatolii Chubais, the architect of Russia's much-maligned 1990s privatization program, rocked Russia's political elite and the country's security community. Although Chubais is one of the most widely disliked people in Russia, such a brazen assault on one of the country's leading national political figures is unheard-of, even in the notoriously violent post-Soviet Russia.

• March 15, 2005

  Russia's Wounded Imperial Consciousness

  Whither the CIS? Many observers in Russia and abroad believe that recent events in Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova have rung the death knell for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the fragile association that rose up in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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