RFE/RL
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The Importance Of Judo For Vladimir Putin
The Russian president has always used his judo prowess to boost his macho profile, along with deep-diving in Lake Baikal, fishing bare-chested, and shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer gun.
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Interested in analysis of emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, high-stakes power struggles, machinations and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy?The Power Vertical is just the podcast for you. For the past few months Brian Whitmore of the The Power Vertical and co-host Kirill Kobrin, the managing editor of RFE/RL’s Russian Service have been discussing topics ranging from Putin’s role models to Russia’s avant-garde community.Check out this page every Friday and follow The Power Vertical on Twitter (@PowerVertical) and Facebook to submit ideas, questions or follow updates.
Now, take a look at some of the latest highlights from The Power Vertical.
1. Brezhnev? Tsar Nicolas I? How do these historical figures help us understand Putin and his governing style? Listen to the podcast here.
2. Art and politics. Creativity and dissent. The avant-garde vs. the ruling elite. How are groups such as feminist punk rockers Pussy Riot or anarchist art collective Voina challenging the authorities with their creative ways? Listen to the podcast here.
3. If you get your news from it in Russia, as most there do, chances are you are being spoon-fed a steady diet of slickly produced state-sanctioned spin. Whitmore and Kobrin discuss the politics of Russia’s media landscape. Also tune in to find out what they think of the 28-year-old blogger with a wild afro who wants to become mayor of Russia’s seventh-largest city? Listen to the podcast here.
4. Friends? Foes? Partners? Rivals? How do Russians and Americans view each other and what does it mean for the future of relations between Moscow and Washington? Also tune in as Brian Whitmore and Kirill Kobrin discuss a new law outlawing so-called “gay propaganda.”Listen to the podcast here. -
![Sleeping Tiger, Hidden Agenda?
Vladimir Putin (left) attaches a satellite transmitter to Serga the Siberian tigress in August 2008. Activists allege that Serga was not wild but rather a zoo animal who later died as a result of a sedative overdose…[read more]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0xltbSYYk1qkgi6go1_500.jpg)
Sleeping Tiger, Hidden Agenda?
Vladimir Putin (left) attaches a satellite transmitter to Serga the Siberian tigress in August 2008. Activists allege that Serga was not wild but rather a zoo animal who later died as a result of a sedative overdose…[read more]
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News announcer on North Korean state TV reads a congratulatory message by Kim Jong Un to Vladimir Putin:
“Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I offer my congratulations to you upon your election as president of the Russian Federation.”
“I wish you achievements in your responsible work for building a powerful Russia, expressing belief that the traditional bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation would grow stronger as required by the agreements between the two countries and in the interests of the two peoples.”
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@PowerVertical: A funny thing happened when Vladimir Putin’s election campaign applied for permission from Moscow authorities to hold a mass rally on the capital’s main downtown thoroughfare. The mayor’s office balked…[READ MORE]
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@PowerVertical’s Brian Whitmore takes a look at a video of a #Russian electoral commission official recounting in detail how the authorities sought to falsify results in December’s parliamentary elections — and plan to do so again in the presidential vote on March 4…[READ MORE]
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Putin speaking today at a meeting with leaders of Russia’s major religions in Moscow.
“Under present conditions we should be talking about a different kind of secularism. Secularism means that the state and religious organizations must develop a new relationship — one of partnership, mutual help, and support.”
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News presenter on TVK in Kemerevo, Russia, has landed in hot water — and on the weather desk — after a little slip of the tongue last week.
Every perky young news anchor working at a local television station in a remote Siberian city dreams of one day attracting national attention, getting their big break. That dream, in a way, has come true for Maria Bukhtuyeva of Kemerevo’s TVK.
Her short segment from the channel’s January 28 newscast has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people and is quickly becoming a meme of the Russian-language Internet…[READ MORE]
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“Vladimir Putin has been in power for 12 years. He worked a lot. That’s enough. He should let other people work now.”
Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov speaking today at a news conference in Moscow.Previously in an interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Prokhorov stopped short of saying “Putin must go.” -
After being largely — and conspicuously — absent from the news for weeks, Dmitry Medvedev spoke yesterday at Moscow State University.The Russian president touted recent proposals to reform the electoral system, saying “these [old] rules are not working.” He reassured students that “nobody is imposing” censorship in Russia, adding that this would be “impossible in the modern world.”
And he insisted that his political career wasn’t over. “I’ve never said that I will not run for office again. I will remind you that I’m only 46 and this is not an old enough age to give up any future political battles,” Medvedev said…[READ MORE]
