Russian News From Russia…

Russian investigators have reopened a criminal investigation for fraud against a whistle-blowing lawyer whose death in a Moscow prison caused international outrage. The decision to reopen the probe follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling allowing criminal cases to be pursued against suspects who are already dead. Supporters of Magnitsky say the lawyer was denied life-saving [...]

A standoff is looming in Ingushetia between republic head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and the municipal council of the village of Pliyevo, northeast of Nazran. Seven council members have complained to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika, and the European Parliament after Yevkurov told them the election last week of a new council chairman was invalid [...]

MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told pro-Kremlin activists at a youth camp on August 1 that the United States was behaving like a “parasite” on the world economy. The remarks, made just as the U.S. Congress was preparing to vote on raising the country’s debt limit, were delivered at the monthlong summer camp [...]

VYATSKIYE POLYANY, Russia — Workers at a weapons plant in western Russia have walked off the job to demand payment of several months’ back wages, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports. Workers at the Molot (Hammer) plant in the town of Vyatskiye Polyany say they will not resume production until they are paid in full. The facility, [...]

MOSCOW — Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer says he believes the parties involved in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh are readying for war, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reports. Felgenhauer told RFE/RL on August 1 that both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides were equally preparing for a possible war over the breakaway Azerbaijani territory. He said that “the [...]

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (PRIME) — The Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) is expected to allocate over 3 billion euros to finance 20 projects in Russia, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the governments presidium Tuesday. The Russian projects include the modernization of water supply and discharge systems in the cities of [...]

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (PRIME) — Major Russian cell phone retail chain Svyaznoy has reduced its forecast on Russias total cell phone sales in 2011 by 3% to 171 billion rubles, Svyaznoys CEO Denis Lyudkovsky said Tuesday. In terms of units, the sales forecast was also reduced by about 3% to 38 million cell phones in [...]

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (PRIME) — Russian gas giant Gazprom may be unable to begin supplying natural gas to customers through a pipeline linking Sakhalin Island with the cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok in August, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Gazprom said that Russias Stroygazmontazh, which was chosen as a general contractor for the [...]

MOSCOW, August 2 (Itar-Tass) — Chairman of the Investigative Committee (SK) Alexander Bastrykin ordered to initiate criminal proceedings against the Moscow region businessman who had restricted access to the river in the town of Pushkino. “Following a check, a criminal case was opened against director general of the Olvi-V firm Oleg Vetrov, suspected of the [...]

MOSCOW, August 2 (Itar-Tass) — Over 32,000 positions in Russia’s Interior Ministry remain vacant after extraordinary re-evaluation tests within the framework of a large-scale police reform that was completed on August 1, Deputy Interior Minister Sergei Gerasimov told reporters on Tuesday. “After extraordinary re-evaluation tests 875,343 employees and police personnel continue their service in the [...]

ST. PETERSBURG, August 2 (Itar-Tass) — The Election Commission of St. Petersburg has not found any irregularities as it checked the election campaign in the municipal districts Petrovsky and Krasnenkaya Rechka through which St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko will stand for election, deputy head of the City Election Commission Dmitry Krasnyansky said on Tuesday. “The [...]

TULA, August 2 (Itar-Tass) — The woman and her child, murdered in their apartment in the Tula region, were last seen on July 24, acting regional police chief Andrei Mishagin said on Tuesday. “According to our information, the woman and her child were last seen by a seller at the bakery on July 24. Supposedly, [...]

MOSCOW, August 2 (Itar-Tass) —— The decision of the Polish presidential plane crew to land instead of flying to an alternative airport was the direct cause of the crash of April 10, 2010, head of the technical commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee Alexei Morozov said on Tuesday. “The direct cause of the air crash [...]

MOSCOW, August 2 (Itar-Tass) —— The decision of the Polish presidential plane crew to land instead of flying to an alternative airport was the direct cause of the crash of April 10, 2010, head of the technical commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee Alexei Morozov said on Tuesday. “The direct cause of the air crash [...]