Tom Balmforth covers Russia and other former Soviet republics from his base in Moscow.
The sinking of the riverboat cruiser the "Bulgaria" was just the latest in a series of transportation disasters plaguing Russia. The spate of tragedies is the result of negligent cost-cutting by operators seeking to plug narrow profit margins. The disasters also highlight corruption and a cavalier attitude toward safety precautions.
Bare breasts, hijabs, and fried eggs are not common ingredients in social protest movements.
The legendary Yury Lyubimov is leaving the theater company he founded in 1964 after falling out with his actors while on tour. Russia's culture minister has publicly called for an end to the conflict, but Lyubimov has made it clear he is bowing out for good.
Russia is considering legislation that would allow it to effectively waive rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), effectively abrogating Moscow's obligations as a member of the Council of Europe. Rights worker say Moscow is uneasy about potential ECHR rulings on the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Sergei Magnitsky cases.
A five-man gang that included a former and current police officer embarked on a killing spree in the Russian Far East, preying on vulnerable citizens to steal their apartments.
Moscow appears to shift gears in the battle against racism with the launch of a new anti-xenophobia program. Is the new mayor really ready to take on racism?
Russia's venerable "Izvestia" newspaper was once the broadsheet of choice for much of the Soviet intelligentsia. The paper is now being rebranded as a tabloid with two-thirds of its staff being cut in the overhaul.
A new movement founded by a lawmaker from United Russia says it will campaign for more women in Russia’s top political jobs. But analysts say the movement is just one of hundreds of groups just seeking a place in the All-Russia People's Front in a short-lived play to ensure political gain.
Russia has banned the import of fresh vegetables from all European Union countries because of a deadly E. coli bacterial outbreak centered in Germany. Russia's public health chief said the ban would remain in place until EU researchers were able to identify the cause of the outbreak, which has already killed at least 17 people.
Peat bogs and forests have burst into flames earlier than usual this year, sparking fears of more deadly blazes this summer in Russia. Moreover, volunteer firefighters, who last year battled the fires in an impressive show of solidarity, say a new law greatly hinders them and leaves thousands of isolated villages in harm's way.
A Moscow Court has upheld the fraud conviction of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev, but cut their jail sentence by a year.
Pressure in Russia is mounting to get "The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion" declared “extremist," which would lead to the 20th-century propaganda pamphlet being banned. But some rights activists question the wisdom of such a move.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says it's too early to say whether he will run for a second term in 2012, but that he will announce his decision soon.
Russian blogger and anticorruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny talks to RFE/RL correspondents Danila Galperovich and Tom Balmforth in Moscow about the criminal investigation Russian authorities have opened against him.
Russia has opened an investigation into a top anticorruption campaigner, blogger Aleksei Navalny, over possible damages at a timber company.
Delayed launches, rocket crashes, and missing satellites are just a few of the mishaps plaguing Russia's space program. Can attention surrounding the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin's historic 1961 space flight revive the once-storied program's fortunes?
Activists who have waged a high-profile campaign to prevent the destruction of the Khimki forest outside Moscow say the Russian authorities are waging a coordinated campaign of intimidation against them. In the latest tactic, the authorities are targeting their children.
