Saturday, May 23, 2026

After Putin, Russia Must Either Modernize Quickly or Face Disintegration, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 21 – The editors of Moscow’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta warn that “every prolonged historical period over th...
Friday, May 22, 2026

Tokayev’s Praise for the Golden Horde Gives Moscow a Taste of Its Own Medicine and Moscow Doesn’t Like It

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 22 – Earlier this month, Kazakhstan President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev gave a speech in which he praised ...

Moscow Arrests Ten Senior Muslim Leaders, Sending New Chill through Russia’s Islamic Community

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 21 – The Russian authorities have arrested on a variety of charges ten senior Muslim leaders, an acti...

Russians Very Much Aware Unemployment is Rising, Whatever Kremlin Says, New VTsIOM Survey Shows

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 18 – The VTsIOM polling agency says that Russians are now more aware of rising unemployment in their ...

Putin Regime Even Less Tolerant of Jokes than Late Soviet One Was, ‘Important Stories’ Suggests

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 21 – “When times are bad,” a Polish joke runs, “people tell political jokes. When they get worse, peo...
Thursday, May 21, 2026

Denunciation of Some Russians by Others has Tripled Over the Last Year – and Many are about Settling Scores Rather than Exposing Real Threats, Karpitskaya Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 18 – The number of denunciations of some Russians by others that were filed with the government’s com...

Declining Birthrates in Russian Villages Mean Rural Areas Can’t Compensate for Even Larger Declines in Russian Cities, Rosstat Figures Show

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Paul Goble             Staunton, May 21 – Russian commentators and officials have comforted themselves for many years with the idea that b...