Home - Institute of Modern Russia

Vladimir Tumanov: A Master Lawyer Remembered

Details: 19 June 2012; Ekaterina Mishina

June 9, 2012 marked the first anniversary of the death of Vladimir Tumanov, a distinguished Russian lawyer, the former Chairman of the Russian Federation Constitutional Court (1995-97), and the first Russian judge to be appointed to the European Court for Human Rights. Just before this anniversary, Ekaterina Mishina spoke with some of his prominent former colleagues who shared their recollections about Tumanov's work, personality, and his role in developing Russian legal theory and culture.

Details: World

The Kremlin’s Vanity Fair

Details: 13 June 2012

The largest annual book trade fair in the United States, BookExpo America (BEA), was held in New York City June 4-7, 2012. For the first time in BookExpo’s history, Russia was named the guest of honor. Through the efforts of the Kremlin, over fifty of Russia's most renowned writers and numerous publishers were brought together in an unprecedentedly extensive program. However, questions remain regarding the showcase's intentions.

Details: Politics

The Kremlin’s Five Strategic Errors

Details: 15 June 2012; Tatiana Stanovaya

On June 11th, 2012, a day before one of Russian opposition’s largest protest rallies, law enforcement officials conducted searches of ten opposition leaders’ apartments, including those of lawyer Alexey Navalny, Left Front leader Sergey Udaltsov, television personality Ksenia Sobchak, and Solidarnost' Movement leaders Boris Nemtsov and Ilya Yashin. The opposition leaders were also summoned for interrogations, all of which were scheduled for June 12th at 11 AM, that is, an hour before the March of the Millions was set to start. The news of these raids spread through the Russian Internet like wildfire. On Twitter, #privet37 (“Hello,1937”, referencing the year when Stalin’s mass executions of “enemies of the people” reached their peak), appeared in the top five worldwide trending topics several times throughout the course of the day. Tatiana Stanovaya, head of the Center for Political Technologies analytics department, presents her take on the Kremlin’s rationale.

Details: Economics

Igor Sechin: The Kremlin’s Gray Eminence

Details: 11 June 2012; Caterina Innocente

The Russian establishment was holding its collective breath in anticipation of May 22nd, when they were to find out what post Igor Sechin, Russia’s powerful Deputy Prime Minister, the ideologue behind the Yukos affair, and Vladimir Putin’s former KGB colleague, would occupy in Putin’s new Kremlin. IMR's Caterina Innocente describes Sechin's great strides toward fulfilling his dream of leading an international business empire.

Details: Law

The Khodorkovsky Syndrome

Details: 05 June 2012

In December 2010, entrepreneur Sergei Kolesnikov took a stand against the evils of Putin's regime in an open letter to Dmitry Medvedev about the so-called "Putin's Palace." Since then, Kolesnikov has continued his mission to spread awareness of the rampant corruption among Russia's power elite. The Institute of Modern Russia is proud to present an English translation of article by Mr. Kolesnikov that first appeared on his website.

Our newsletter delivers a digest of analytical articles and op-eds published on our website, along with the latest updates on the IMR activities on a monthly basis.