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Why Russia’s development institutions are being reformed

Details: 26 November 2020; Vladislav Inozemtsev

On November 23, the Russian government launched a large-scale reform of development institutions with a declared goal of optimization for the sake of implementing the National Projects. Discussions about the inefficiency of these organizations have long become commonplace, but the parameters of the reform indicate that its real goals are the redistribution of financial flows, the destruction of the past decade’s symbols, and the political strengthening of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Details: Analysis

More limits proposed on freedom of assembly in Russia

Details: 24 November 2020; Yana Gorokhovskaia

On November 17, 2020, two draft laws were submitted for consideration to the State Duma by Dmitry Vyatkin, a member of the United Russia party. The bills will amend existing legislation regulating protests in Russia, adding new requirements for obtaining a permit for public assemblies, restricting where protest can take place, and labeling more public actions—specifically single-person pickets and flash mobs—as forms of public assembly. Taken together, these changes will further restrict the already limited ways in which Russians can protest.

Details: Opinions

100 years of legalized abortion: “Don’t throw the woman out with the bathwater"

Details: 18 November 2020; Ekaterina Mishina

In 1920, Soviet Russia was the first country in the world to legalize abortion. However, 100 years later, the world has seen a noticeable regression on the issue. Not only in modern Russia, but also in countries such as Poland and the United States, conservative forces are actively seeking to ban abortion. According to legal scholar Ekaterina Mishina, these efforts will have devastating consequences.

Details: Opinions

Why the West Should Save Belarus

Details: 17 November 2020; Natalia Radina

For over 100 days mass protests against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko have been shaking Belarus. Despite rigged and lost elections, harsh criticisms and sanctions of the West, Lukashenko continues to forcefully retain power. IMR reprints this article by Natalia Radina, editor-in-chief of Charter97.org, an independent outlet dedicated to Belarus, in which she explains why imposing harsher sanctions on the Lukashenko regime will save Belarusian civil society that fights bravely for freedom and against tyranny.

Details: Analysis

Will Russia Survive as a State?

Details: 13 November 2020; Dmitry Shlapentokh

Recent protests in the Russian Far East region of Khabarovsk reignited the discussions about separatist tendencies in the country and the tense relations between Moscow and the regions. The highly centralized government system constantly breeds local grievances and fuels resentment, with local identities in some regions becoming stronger than national or ethnic ones. The centrifugal forces in some parts of Russia are indeed strong, but scenarios of Russian disintegration become plausible only if Moscow’s grip on power is weakened.

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