Category Archives: Dispatches

NY Dispatches: COVID-19 and Russia – part 2

Posted on March 28, 2020 by

This week, following a warning from Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin, the number of registered COVID-19 cases in Russia has surged as the country stepped up testing. The government now encourages people to stay home and has sought emergency powers. Vladimir … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: Russia and COVID-19

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

The Russian government is slowly acknowledging the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and takes appropriate steps, all while trying to maintain the semblance of stability and normality. Keep an eye on the policies that will be introduced … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: Putin – president for life?

Posted on March 11, 2020 by

With today’s constitutional amendment that will set the number of his presidential terms back to zero, Vladimir Putin shocked Russian citizens, Russia-watchers and created even more ambiguity about his post-2024 plans. But this will come at a cost.

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NY Dispatches: Russia’s territorial integrity and the constitution

Posted on March 4, 2020 by

Vladimir Putin presented his amendments to his own constitutional reform bill yesterday. At the first sight the proposals seem to be worded to drive turnout in the constitutional referendum scheduled for April. But there is more to this text than … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: The shape of the constitution

Posted on February 17, 2020 by

Friday was going to be the (extended) deadline for presenting amendments to Vladimir Putin’s constitutional reform bill that the State Duma adopted in the first reading in January. Pavel Krasheninnikov, the co-chair of the constitutional reform working group however announced … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: Pompeo in Belarus

Posted on February 6, 2020 by

Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Minsk amidst an ongoing dispute between Belarus and Russia over the price of oil following the “tax maneuver”, a revamp of Russia’s system of taxing oil extraction and exports, which Belarusian … Continue reading →

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NY Dispatches: What we know and what we don’t

Posted on January 27, 2020 by

The past two weeks have seen seemingly transformative political developments happen at a breathtaking speed in Russia. Vladimir Putin proposed a series of constitutional reforms. In a little more than a week those reforms were spelled out in a draft … Continue reading →

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