The news to 29 September 2013 Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova has gone on hunger strike over conditions at her Siberian prison. Tolokonnikova described her complaint in a letter published in The Guardian and elsewhere: “The living and working-condition violations at PC-14 are endless. However, my main and most important grievance is bigger than any … Continue reading
Roma communities throughout Eastern Europe experience discrimination every day from lack of access to quality healthcare to de facto segregation in many schools. This summer, events in the town of Ózd in northern Hungary raised the spectre of a new, dangerous form of direct discrimination against the struggling local community. Vostok Cable’s Lili Bayer has … Continue reading
During a visit to the Urals, Paul Hansbury sought locals’ opinions about the recent anti-government protests in Moscow and other parts of Russia. Igor Kholmanskikh’s fifteen minutes of fame came in December 2011. Kholmanskikh was Deputy Director of the assembly line at Uralvagonzavod, Russia’s largest battle tank manufacturer, situated in the city of Nizhny Tagil. … Continue reading
The news to September 23 Russian border guards are towing a Greenpeace ship to an Arctic port, where its activists could face charges for a protest on an oil rig owned by the Gazprom energy giant. The Arctic Sunrise ship, which Russian security forces have controlled since storming the vessel in a dramatic helicopter operation … Continue reading
Followers of Vostok Cable may be interested in attending the Anna Politkovskaya Awards evening in London on Friday 4 October 2013. Full details above. Continue reading
Vostok Cable editor, Josh Black, reviews How The Beatles Rocked the Kremlin. The untold story of a noisy revolution. By: Leslie Woodhead. Publisher: Bloomsbury, New York, 2013. What began as the peak of youthful idealism collapsed under unprecedented cynicism, long before outsiders expected. Whether it was external influences, the corrupting influence of money, or sheer … Continue reading
Summary of news stories up to 16 September 2013 Russia and the United States had agreed a plan to eliminate chemical weapons from Syria, reducing the likelihood of imminent US-led air strikes. The deal has widely been seen as a victory for Russia, and Putin’s opinion piece in the New York Times made use of … Continue reading
Much coverage of relations between the CIS states and Russia or Europe has suggested a battle for political supremacy in the region. While politics explains much about what is possible, Josh Black argues that it is trade that determines what is desirable. Perish the thought, but Armenia’s decision to join Russia’s Eurasian Union might not … Continue reading
In November 2013, the European Union and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries will hold a biennial summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Expected to be a major milestone in EU’s relations with EaP countries, Levan Kakhishvili explains why the Vilnius summit has been challenged by recent developments. Recently, Armenia’s President, Serzh Sargsyan, had a meeting with his … Continue reading
The news to 8 September 2013 The government’s candidate won mayoral elections in Moscow, with an expected 52% of the popular vote. Turnout, however, appeared significantly lower than in previous elections, at around 30%. Opposition candidate, Alexei Navalny, won between 29-32% of the vote – a better than expected showing. With a prison sentence due … Continue reading
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