Tom Balmforth covers Russia and other former Soviet republics from his base in Moscow.
The departure from politics of powerhouse Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov could signify the end of an era and confirm a shift toward the more hard-line style of rule that has crystallized during President Vladimir Putin’s third term.
On May 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded "Hero of Labor" medals to five exemplary citizens in return for their "selfless and honest labor," reviving a Soviet practice shelved in 1991. It is the latest symbol of Soviet rule that has crept back under Putin.
North Caucasus residents appear to have strong misgivings about the alleged involvement of brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston Marathon bombings. Despite evidence provided by U.S. investigators, many in the Russian region believe the two were set up by U.S. authorities.
As more details emerge about the backgrounds of the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects, questions are being focused on Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the six months he spent last year in restive southern Russia. Could the experience have solidified his radicalism? RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth is in Makhachkala, the Daghestani capital, and spoke to Tsarnaev’s aunt, Patimat Suleimanova, about her nephew.
In Russia, the Kremlin-directed inspections of foreign funded NGOs have raised concerns that civil society groups which perform vital services for thousands of people could face large fines or closure. RFE/RL reports on the role these NGOs play in Russian society.
Legal experts who prepared a Kremlin-commissioned report criticizing the second trial of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky have found themselves targeted by law enforcement.
It’s a winter’s morning in the resort village of Listvyanka and about 140 runners clad in balaclavas, leggings, gaiters, sunglasses, and grip-shod trainers are huddled in buses waiting to run, skid, and hobble a marathon across Siberia’s frozen Lake Baikal.
The Stalin-era Gulag camp Vorkutlag has been closed for nearly six decades. But the town that grew up around it in Russia's Arctic north remains a virtual prison for many of its residents.
More than half a century after Josef Stalin’s Gulag was dismantled, there are still people left who remain stranded far from their homelands, effectively living out the late dictator's legacy. RFE/RL correspondent Tom Balmforth spoke to two Gulag survivors who wound up in the town of Vorkuta.
Russia is set to pass stringent legislation that would help curb rampant smoking, but the measures aren't popular. The tobacco lobby thinks the bill goes too far, the antitobacco lobby thinks it doesn't go far enough, and smokers are just annoyed.
The horrific death of a woman allegedly at the hands of her husband appears to be galvanizing efforts to address the long-neglected issue of domestic violence in Russia.
At least 20 people demonstrating in support of rights for homosexuals have been detained outside the State Duma as deputies passed on a first reading a law against disseminating "homosexual propaganda" to minors.
A deputy for United Russia has proposed that parties adopt animal logos -- everything from roosters to skunks. But there's meant to be a serious point to all this.
Russia's migration policy is plagued by contradictions. On one hand, the Kremlin would like to fill gaps in the labor market and reap additional tax revenues by legalizing millions of illegal foreign workers. But persistent anti-immigrant attitudes prevent this from happening.
A court in Moscow has designated videos made by the feminist punk protest group Pussy Riot as extremist.
An effort by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to promote road safety in Russia has been widely mocked. This is despite growing public frustration with the bloody toll drunk driving takes on the country's roads.
Video cameras mounted on car dashboards have become a hit in Russia as a means to evade booth corrupt cops and extortionists. They are also providing a plethora of offbeat videos on the Russian Internet.
A controversial new law requiring nongovernmental organizations to register themselves as "foreign agents" has prompted a campaign of civil disobedience by leading Russian human rights groups.
Prosecutors in Moscow have dropped a criminal investigation into the alleged enslavement of two Central Asian migrants, even as immigration officials threaten to deport them for not having the correct papers. Rights workers are accusing the authorities of trying to whitewash the scandal and attempting to prevent widespread slavery from being exposed.
In the two weeks since a controversial law regulating the Internet came into effect, several popular entertainment websites have been unexpectedly blocked. The legislation has sparked fears of a crackdown on the Internet and fueled accusations that the law was rushed through parliament and badly thought out.
Load more
