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Georgia condemns Russian elections in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
On the 18th of September, Russia opened polling stations in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali in the South Ossetia region, which was condemned in a statement made by the Georgian Foreign Ministry.
The statement said that as a result of the decision of the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, over 114,000 people living in the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions were included in the voter lists of various federal entities in order for them to vote for candidates in …
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Samantha Power criticizes Russia for calling emergency Security Council meeting
US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power heavily criticized the Russian initiative to hold an emergency Security Council conference on Saturday to discuss an incident connected with the air raid on Deir ez-Zor, during which 62 Syrian soldiers were killed. The US claims that positions of the so-called Islamic State were targeted, and the deaths of the Syrian soldiers was an accident. Power has told reporters that Russia's actions are a ruse, the real purpose of which is to distract …
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Crimean Tatars boycotted Russian Duma elections
Many Crimean Tatars did not come to the polls on voting day in Russia on Sunday, September 18, 2016. The turnout at the precinct on their part was minimal as it was in 2014 during the referendum on the status of the Crimea, Radio Svoboda reported.
Refusal to participate is not indifference or inaction but a conscious protest against "lies that continue to inspire people on TV by different leaders, their deputies, officials and candidates,” stated the representatives of the Tatar population of …
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OSCE: Russian elections marred by restrictions on basic rights
The OSCE has stated that the Russian Duma elections were marred by restrictions on basic rights and democratic commitments, Reuters reported.
Putin’s political allies won a landslide victory during Sunday’s elections, and while monitors did notice some improvements over previous elections, tampering and fraud are still believed to have padded the vote numbers for United Russia, the Communist Party, the nationalist LDPR, and A Just Russia, all pro-Putin political parties.
According to Finnish …
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Source close to the Russian Finance Ministry says the monetary reserve fund will be exhausted by the end of the year
A source close to the Ministry of Finance told Russian TASS news agency that the monetary reserve fund could be dried up by next year.
“The Reserve Fund of the Russian Federation can be spent as early as this year. There will be some money for the next year but these funds will be spent if privatization doesn’t occur as planned,” the source said.
According to the expert, it is likely that the Reserve Fund will be fully exhausted in early 2017.
A representative of the agency also fears that …