Tag Archives: v_volodin

Meet the new friends

(This note first appeared on 14 August 2016 on the Atlantic Sentinel) Sergei Ivanov’s dismissal as Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff last week is the most important change in the upper echelon of Russia’s political elite since Putin returned to … Continue reading

Posted in Kremlinology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Europe’s game – Part 2

In the previous entry, I argued that Europe had to push forward with sanctions on Russia, despite the imminent threat of a Russian economic crisis. However, Europe’s game does not end here. It has to carefully observe the movements within the … Continue reading

Posted in Kremlinology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The cost of peace

The war in Ukraine is, arguably, a very costly business for Russia’s leaders. No wonder that the political and business elite seem to be increasingly divided on the issue. However, the situation created by the conflict has benefited Russia’s ruling … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Kremlinology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Storm clouds from Crimea

The invasion of Crimea was a reality check for all of us that assumed that Russia had been integrated into a rule-based global system and was working fairly rationally. As I have blogged before, most of us were wrong about … Continue reading

Posted in Kremlinology, Policies, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An aging octopus

Right after the Moscow mayoral election, Vladimir Putin nominated his aide Tatiana Golikova to head the Court of Audit. The Russian and international press did not care much: after all, Navalny and Roizman occupied the headlines. A couple of weeks … Continue reading

Posted in Kremlinology, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Evolutions

The mayoral election in Moscow turned out to be a mind-boggling event. It was preceded by such analytic coverage that when it actually happened the outcome was almost disappointing. No large-scale falsifications took place – even the independent election watchdog … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reality check

The usual summer recess of Russian politics, the so-called “cucumber season” has been hijacked by the ongoing electoral campaign in Moscow. In three weeks’ time, many say, momentous changes await Russian politics. Truth be told, the Moscow mayoral election is … Continue reading

Posted in Elections | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment