A publication of Freedom House human rights organization says that Russia has become ‘the leading antidemocratic force’ in the region.   “Over time, we have seen rising oil prices correlate clearly with sharply falling democracy performance, especially in Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan,” the group’s director of studies, Christopher Walker, said …

Makers of portraits have found the way for the Russians who still cannot decide whether to take Putin’s portrait off the walls in their offices or not. Novy Region (“New Region”) reported that combined portraits of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev have been brought to a number of bookstores in …

“Putin is more of an oligarch rather than a dictator. In other words, he wants to rule like Stalin and live like Abramovich,” this is the viewpoint expressed by chess ex-world champion Kasparov in his interview to Spanish periodical El Pais.