Vladimir Putin was at a ceremony a few days ago at which he pressed the button that began the process of delivering natural gas to Germany through the Nord Stream pipeline. According to Gazprom, Nord Stream is the first direct link between Russia and the European …
What is it about transition societies? No matter how far away they are from each other or how different their culture and history, they have much the same problems: inequality, crime, corruption, a single dominant party, health crises, poor education systems and pervasive nostalgia for the …
“An irreparable loss for ice hockey”. That’s how Vyacheslav Fetisov, head of KHL, the Russian equivalent of the NHL, called today’s horrific plane crash that wiped out the Locomotiv ice-hockey team en route to Belarus, killing 43.
Only two people survived the crash as their 18 year old …
As Russia desperately struggles to make amends with Libya’s rebel government, a fantastic new article uncovers some amazing parallels between Libya’s revolution and Russia’s transition from Communism.
Writing in the Exiled, the web-only successor of the defunct Russian gonzo paper,
Was the August Coup the blueprint for the Arab Spring?
Sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky says no. “The only thing the Arab Spring and the end of the USSR have in common is that they happened to involve large crowds. It’s like comparing a political rally …
First the bad news: Russia is officially the Unhappiest Nation in Europe.
Only 37% of Russians are happy despite the economic downturn, according to a German study publicized in the Moscow Times. This compares to a whopping 80% of Greeks, who are happy despite …
We Russians love a good conspiracy theory, so here’s one: the failed August coup against Gorbachev by KGB and Communist party hardliners was actually organized by his rival Boris Yeltsin.
Think about it: 1. The plotters arrested Gorbachev all the way in the Crimea, but did nothing …
Whenever someone launches “a war on X”, it usually means two things. 1: that there are compelling reasons for X to exist and 2: that the powers that be are unwilling to confront those reasons. It is also likely to fail miserably. Just look at the …
One of the jobs of Sasha, the werewolf FSB officer In Victor Pelevin’s postmodern fantasy novel, involved communicating with the Earth and persuade it to keep providing oil for the Russian elite. To do this, he utters the following prayer:
(Quote courtesy of …
They may no longer be on the opposites side of the Cold War, but Russians and Americans still see the world in opposite ways. While even most blue collar Americans believe they are middle class, 45% of Russians consider themselves to be poor, according to
“Today in the Senate, I met with Senators Jon Kyl and Mark Kirk”, announced Russia’s ambassador to Nato Dmitry Rogozin. “I…was transported in a time machine back several decades, and in front of me sat two monsters of the Cold War, who looked at …
The mediasphere is abuzz with talk of a pro-Putin video starring young-sexy-busty Russian women (isn’t that what all women in Russia are like anyway?) I was struck by déjà vu. The video brings past mammaries I mean memories to the fore. Remember the “happy birthday Mr. …
Last year, Russian people stuck it to the Man by painting a giant penis on a St Petersburg drawbridge. The Kremlin’s revenge sends that message right back. It’s much less funny, much more obscene, but also involves a bridge: a $1.3 billion bridge to a remote …
When a hundred people are suddenly killed in Norway, it’s an unprecedented national catastrophe. But in Russia, it’s more like an average summer.
Today, the final victims of the sunken Bulgaria were freed from the ship’s wreckage, bringing the toll to …
Dear Comrade Readers,
FPA Russia Blog will be back shortly, once its author returns/recovers from his Wedding! (Who said unpaid blogging about Kremlin machinations and Western hypocrisy isn’t the surest way to a girl’s heart?)
If Mr Nikitin manages to successfully avoid detention at various border posts, he …
