Contents tagged with Putin

  • Survey suggests 74 percent of Russians are ready to vote for Putin

    According to a public opinion survey, 74% of Russians are ready to vote for Putin in the presidential elections.  This data was provided by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC).

    This is the highest percentage of support that Putin has received in the last four years.  He only received 40% in October 2012.

    In January, only 15% of the respondents had said that they would not support him in 2018.  In 2012, this amount was 39%.

    The RPORC noted that his support varies among the …

  • Dzhemilev: Putin has no choice but to return Crimea to Ukraine

    “Putin's plan to put the puppet government in Kiev has fallen. Crimea will have to return”, the leader of the Crimean Tatar People, Mustafa Dzhemilev, said during an open lecture at the Kyiv Institute of International Relations.   

    Dzhemilev recalled that during the annexation of the peninsula, Putin asked for support from the Crimean Tatars, promising them a bright future.

    "In conversation with Putin on the 12th of March, 2014, he told us how happy we will be living in the Russian Federation …

  • Bertelsmann Foundation: Russia is becoming increasingly autocratic

    Political and social conflicts are increasing around the world and as conflict escalates, the influence of religion on politics is growing and authoritarian tendencies are intensifying.  This is evidenced by the publication of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) for 2014-2016 on Monday, February, 29th. The BTI is a survey of political and economic developments in 129 developing and transitional countries.

    Russia is currently at 81st place in the BTI ranking, dropping four positions …

  • Putin instructs FSB to prevent foreign interference in Russian elections

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation to prevent outside interference with the State Duma elections.  He also instructed them to stop nationalist activity.

    According to RIA Novosti, he said this on Friday during a meeting with the board of the FSB.

    “We need to stop any attempts to interfere with the elections, and our internal political life.  You know that technologies for such purposes exist and that they have been used …

  • Bellingcat releases names of suspects in downing of MH17

    Bellingcat experts, in a new report on the crash of the plane of Malaysia Airlines, name those who assembled the crew that fired the Buk missile and gave the order to launch the rocket.

    On Wednesday, February 24, the Bellingcat expert group published a report entitled "MH17: alleged suspects and witnesses from the 53rd air defense missile brigade." Using publicly accessible information, a civil investigative journalist managed to restore the movement of the brigade in the summer months of 2014, …

  • Putin asks Crimeans to 'be patient a little longer'

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the head of the Kremlin controlled Crimean government, Sergei Aksenov, said that the residents of Crimea need "to be patient a little bit longer," when referring to the energy crisis on the peninsula.

    According to him, the second line of the energy bridge from the Kuban to Crimea might be finished "by May 1st or earlier."

    "We just have to be patient for a little more. I think that the construction will be completed by May 1st for sure, or, …

  • Russian Court Strikes down Navalny's Lawsuit against Putin

    The Tver Court of Moscow refused to accept the claim of the founder of the Fight against Corruption Fund, Alexei Navalny, against Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, February 12th, the decision of Judge Tatyana Molitvinaya appeared on the court's web site. It says that in accordance with the Constitution, "the Russian president has immunity."

    As the judge indicated, in the scope of administrative legal proceedings, no requirements can be made of the head of the State "because it would …

  • Opposition leader Alexei Navalny files lawsuit against Vladimir Putin

    The leader of Russia’s Progress Party, Alexei Navalny, has filed an administrative lawsuit against Russian President, Vladimir Putin.  He argues that Putin has violated the law on “combating corruption”.  The Kremlin stated that the president is unaware of the lawsuit.

    The opposition leader wrote on his website that he has filed an administrative claim in the Tver Court of Moscow, in which President Putin is the defendant.  This was confirmed in a blog by Rubanov Roman, who is the director of …

  • Peskov: Putin has no plans to meet with Erdoğan

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to visit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to Interfax.

    Erdoğan told reporters last week that he wished to meet with the Russian President in order to discuss the increased tensions between the two countries, and in particular the issue of airspace violations.  Erdoğan's comments came after the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the Russian Air Force of violating its airspace over …

  • Merkel Urges Putin to Bring Peace to Donbas

    On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conference with President Vladimir Putin, as reported on the website of the Government of Germany.  “The conversation mostly focused on the status of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.  Merkel had also discussed this topic the previous day with Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, in Berlin,” the statement continued.

    Merkel made it clear to Putin that the Russian government must observe the ceasefire on Ukraine’s eastern …