Category Archives: Kremlinology

Bumps ahead

Posted on January 6, 2014 by

2013 was clearly the year of Vladimir Putin. After an embarrassing 2011 and a whacky 2012, the Russian president solidified his grip on the domestic political realm, tightened the screws so efficiently that by the end of the year he … Continue reading →

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A case against Medvedev

Posted on November 27, 2013 by

It started as yet another bill extending the powers of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. It continued with brilliant back-handers from Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. The Prime Minister dryly criticised Putin’s initiative, to which Putin replied with … Continue reading →

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An aging octopus

Posted on September 28, 2013 by

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 →

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A tale of two politicians

Posted on July 23, 2013 by

Alexei Navalny was preparing to become the newest hero of the Russian opposition, an opposition that is now much wider, stronger, and more diverse and thus has much more opportunities than ten years ago, when Mikhail Khodorkovsky was convicted. When … Continue reading →

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The state of patience

Posted on June 16, 2013 by

Undoubtedly, the political highlight of the past week was the founding congress of the All-Russian People’s Front (ONF), or, as it is now called, the People’s Front for Russia, the political project of the deputy head of the Presidential Administration, … Continue reading →

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Unclear fission

Posted on May 31, 2013 by

The dismissal of Vladislav Surkov might just be the beginning of a serious rupture in the Russian political elite. Not that this is of any surprise. Surkov was a very important figure of the past fourteen years and he is … Continue reading →

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Instead of a requiem*

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

Many articles, opinion pieces, alas, even political obituaries have been published in the past couple of days on Vladislav Surkov, the former ‘grey cardinal’ of Russian politics who was swiftly dismissed after a public spat with the Investigative Committee over … Continue reading →

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