Vladimir Putin

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Key Watchdog Won't Monitor Russia Vote

Group cites Kremlin's excessive restrictions on March 2 election

(Newser) - Europe's main election watchdog will boycott Russia's March 2 presidential vote due to excessive Kremlin restrictions, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights announced today. The group had agreed to send just 70 monitors to oversee the campaign, the New York Times reports, but when Russia barred them from...

Putin Critic Committed to Mental Hospital

Disturbing echo of Soviet era tactics

(Newser) - An opponent of Russian president Vladimir Putin has been imprisoned  in a mental hospital in a move reminiscent of the "punitive psychiatry" used to discredit dissidents in the old Soviet era. Roman Nikolaichik, a member of chess champ Garry Kasparov's anti-Putin coalition, Other Russia, was certified mentally unstable after...

Putin Opponent Kasyanov Barred From Election

Ex-PM decries 'farce' after disqualification from presidential race

(Newser) - Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Putin loyalist who became one of his fiercest critics, has been disqualified from the presidential ballot, reports the BBC. Russia's electoral commission ruled that too many of his supporting signatures were fraudulent—up to 5% is OK. Kasyanov has another theory: "There is no doubt...

Putin Pick Hits Campaign Trail
Putin Pick Hits Campaign Trail
Jan 11, 2008 12:46 PM CST

Putin Pick Hits Campaign Trail

Medvedev launches bid with 79% support in polls, virtually no competition

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin's hand-picked replacement has launched his presidential campaign with a 2-day visit to Russia's far west. Dmitry Medvedev has seen his popularity soar since the president announced he would like to see him as his successor: he's now polling 79%, higher than Putin did before his 2004 landslide victory,...

Sky-High Oil Will Reshape World Power, Dent US Clout

Power shifts as global economies change

(Newser) - The surging price of oil from $10 a barrel a decade ago to a record $100 today is remaking the global economy and altering the balance of power across the world, according to the Wall Street Journal. If oil prices continue to climb, as many experts predict, US political power...

Russia Completes GPS Rival
Russia Completes
GPS Rival
Dec 27, 2007 10:31 AM CST

Russia Completes GPS Rival

Final satellite for orbital positioning network launched

(Newser) - Russia launched three additional satellites for its GLONASS positioning system today, Reuters reports. The Russian positioning system is similar to the American GPS network, and currently consists of 18 satellites operated by the country's military. GLONASS already provides ground coverage for most of Russia itself, and is expected to expand...

Russian Liberal Stands Down
Russian Liberal Stands Down
Dec 27, 2007 8:30 AM CST

Russian Liberal Stands Down

Opposition candidate accuses Kremlin of turning presidential contest into 'farce'

(Newser) - Another candidate has dropped out of the race for the Russian presidency, complaining of dirty tricks, the Washington Post reports. Boris Nemtsov, leader of a mainstream liberal party, said the uneven playing field was turning the contest into a farce. He accused the Kremlin of using "Goebbels-like propaganda, force...

Russia's Gas Giant Faces Big Squeeze

Powerful Gazprom has too little oil to meet demands

(Newser) - Russia faces a threat to its international trump card as Gazprom—its powerful natural gas company—struggles to meet massive worldwide demand, Newsweek reports. The company gets much of its oil dirt cheap from former Soviet republics in Central Asia, then resells it a handsome profit to Europe. Now those...

Is Putin Europe's Richest Man?
Is Putin Europe's Richest Man?
Dec 21, 2007 9:17 AM CST

Is Putin Europe's Richest Man?

Kremlin power struggle reveals fortune of 'at least' $40B

(Newser) - The Guardian looks at an unprecedented power struggle within the Kremlin as Vladimir Putin's last term as president winds down. The battle, between ex-KGB officers and liberal allies of Putin's successor, Dmitry Medvedev, revolves around control of the enormous assets of Russia's state-owned industries. As the face-off heats up, information...

Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tapes
Bush: I Didn't Know About
CIA Tapes
Dec 20, 2007 11:07 AM CST

Bush: I Didn't Know About CIA Tapes

Reserves judgment; knocks spending, Putin, in year-end presser

(Newser) - President Bush said today he didn’t know about the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes until CIA chief Michael Hayden briefed him earlier this month, and he intends to reserve judgment while they’re investigated. "Let's wait and see what the facts are," he said. In his year-end press...

Putin Time's Person of the Year
Putin Time's Person of the Year
Dec 19, 2007 8:27 AM CST

Putin Time's Person of the Year

A Boy Scout he's not, but steely-faced 'Pooty-Poot' has guided Russia back to prominence

(Newser) - Don't be fooled by the 5' 6" frame of the man George W. Bush termed "Pooty-Poot": Russian President Vladmir Putin is Time's Person of the Year for having "brought Russia back to the table of world power." The quiet man behind the steely stare snuck up to...

Kasparov Won't Run for Russian Prez
Kasparov
Won't Run for Russian Prez
Dec 13, 2007 9:22 AM CST

Kasparov Won't Run for Russian Prez

Gov't foiled opposition's nominating meetings

(Newser) - Former chess champ and Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov won't be running for president this March, but not for lack of trying: Other Russia, his political party, was unable to book a Moscow conference hall due to government pressure on landlords, said his spokeswoman. Today is the last day Russian...

Medvedev Will Name Putin Next Prime Minister

Says he'll put him at head of government after presidency ends

(Newser) - One day after Vladimir Putin backed his loyal deputy Dmitri Medvedev as his successor, Medvedev said on Russian television that he would name Putin as the country's next prime minister. Medvedev, who has never run for office and has little clout inside the Kremlin, will allow Putin to continue to...

Belarus Merger Could Return Putin to Office

New constitution would give president new lease on power

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin may release a secret weapon this week: a Russian political union with neighboring Belarus that could extend his leadership indefinitely. As the ex-KGB operative’s presidential terms run out, observers look to a merger of nations—including currency, legal system, and armed forces—as an opportunity for a...

Putin Names Favored Successor
Putin Names Favored Successor
Dec 10, 2007 7:17 AM CST

Putin Names Favored Successor

Business-friendly Medvedev would 'carry on the course'

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin ended months of speculation today by naming Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his chosen successor, the AP reports. A Putin loyalist, Medvedev is a business-friendly lawyer with ties to prominent natural gas company Gazprom, AP reports. Putin’s choice is expected to be the prohibitive frontrunner in...

Russian Claims He Was Asked to Kill Litvinenko

Warned victim of plot before tea poisoning

(Newser) - Onetime KGB agent Mikhail Trepashkin has said that a former colleague attempted to recruit him for a state-sponsored plot to kill Kremlin foe Alexander Litvinenko, who died of poisoning in London last year. Trepashkin will detail his allegations before the European human rights court, supporting the case that the Russian...

Observers Cry Foul Over Putin Victory

Monitors say gov't tampered with polls Kasparov calls 'dirtiest'

(Newser) - Even as Vladimir Putin hailed his party's decisive victory in Russian elections yesterday as a mandate, international elections observers said the polling was neither free nor fair, and complained of government interference. State employees were reportedly ordered to vote for Putin, CNN reports, and Garry Kasparov’s Other Russia party...

Kremlin Hails Big Putin Win
Kremlin Hails Big Putin Win
Dec 2, 2007 2:14 PM CST

Kremlin Hails Big Putin Win

PM's party expected to garner landslide victory in parliamentary election

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin had garnered more than 60% of the vote in parliamentary elections today, hailed by the Kremlin as continued popular mandate for his policies even after his term ends. Putin's United Russia party, boosted by the country's oil boom, was expected to grab a landslide victory, but opposition and...

Gorbachev Goes Easy on Putin, for Now

Ex-leader defends prez, even as Kremlin rolls back democracy

(Newser) - Gorbachev remains pals with Putin, even as the Russian prez pares back reforms that Gorbachev holds dear, the Wall Street Journal reports. The former leader reserves his blame for the Kremlin, and spares Putin, calling him "a very normal person"—even after Moscow shut down Gorbachev's political party...

Russians Forced to Back Putin Party
Russians
Forced to Back Putin Party
Nov 30, 2007 9:21 AM CST

Russians Forced to Back Putin Party

Public employees coerced to produce decisive win Sunday

(Newser) - The Kremlin is planning to boost the ruling party's showing in Sunday's Russian parliamentary elections, the Guardian reports, by forcing millions of public employees to vote, and to vote the right way. Doctors, teachers, and public sector workers are being bullied to vote for United Russia, Vladimir Putin's party, or...

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