[Johnny Au]

Vladimir Putin wins Russia vote that could let him rule until 2036

Russians back amendments including constitutional mention of ‘faith in God’, pension and minimum wage boosts and a ban on gay marriage

Thu 2 Jul 2020

Critics say Russian vote that could allow Putin to rule until 2036 was rigged

Only one region voted against reforms, with results appearing to contradict independent exit polls

www.theguardian.com

Putin essentially made himself theocrat and quasi-dictator.

 

[Towered]

Putin essentially made himself theocrat and quasi-dictator.

Cult of personality. I don't expect more from the citizens there - they've settled for centuries of this garbage. It's all they know. Still disappointing though.

 

[AlbertC]

Protests Swell in Russia’s Far East in a Stark New Challenge to Putin

Demonstrations in the city of Khabarovsk drew tens of thousands for the third straight weekend. The anger, fueled by the arrest of a popular governor, has little precedent in modern Russia.

July 25, 2020

The protests in Khabarovsk, a city 4,000 miles east of Moscow, drew tens of thousands of people for a three-mile march through central streets for the third straight week on Saturday. Residents were rallying in support of a popular governor arrested and spirited to Moscow this month — but their remarkable outpouring of anger, which has little precedent in post-Soviet Russia, has emerged as stark testimony to the discontent that President Vladimir V. Putin faces across the country.

Mr. Putin won a tightly scripted referendum less than four weeks ago that rewrote the Constitution to allow him to stay in office until 2036. But the vote, seen as fraudulent by critics and many analysts, provided little but a fig leaf for public disenchantment with corruption, stifled freedoms and stagnant incomes made worse by the pandemic.

Protests Swell in Russia’s Far East in a Stark New Challenge to Putin (Published 2020)

Demonstrations in the city of Khabarovsk drew tens of thousands for the third straight weekend. The anger, fueled by the arrest of a popular governor, has little precedent in modern Russia.

www.nytimes.com

 

[AlbertC]

Anti-Kremlin protests in Khabarovsk: 'We hate Moscow!'

July 26, 2020

For the third weekend in a row, tens of thousands in Russia's furthest eastern regions have protested the arrest of regional ex-governor Sergei Furgal. Their distrust of the Kremlin could have powerful consequences.

Anti-Kremlin protests in Khabarovsk: 'We hate Moscow!' | DW | 26.07.2020

For the third weekend in a row, tens of thousands in Russia's furthest eastern regions have protested the arrest of regional ex-governor Sergei Furgal. Their distrust of the Kremlin could have powerful consequences.

m.dw.com

 

[Towered]

Putin has apparently agreed to provide "support" to stabilize Belarus if necessary, whatever that means...

 

[AlbertC]

Lukashenko warned Putin that unrest could spread to Moscow next if his regime is destabilized.

Belarus's leader pleads for Putin's help as post-election protests grow

Alexander Lukashenko tells the Kremlin that unrest could spread to Moscow next if his regime is destabilised

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in coma with suspected poisoning: spokeswoman

Aug 20, 2020

The Russian opposition leader is reportedly in a coma after what his spokeswoman called a poisoning. Last year he was also suspected to have been poisoned.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital after a suspected poisoning on Thursday.

He was unconscious in intensive care after his airplane made an emergency landing, according to his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh. He later fell into a coma.

He started feeling unwell on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow, she said. The plane landed in Omsk and he was taken to hospital.

"We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed with his tea," she said. "That's the only thing he drank this morning."

Alexei was later confirmed to be comatose and was connected to a ventilator. Doctors said he was a serious but stable condition and were investigating whether he had been poisoned.

Medical authorities told Interfax news agency that tests had shown he was poisoned with an unidentified psychodysleptic (hallucinogen), but this was unconfirmed by other sources.

Navalny in coma after suspected poisoning – DW – 08/20/2020

The prominent Russian opposition politician is reportedly in a coma after what his spokeswoman called a poisoning. Last year he was also suspected to have been poisoned.

m.dw.com

 

[lenaitch]

Watch for 'little green men', AKA unmarked troops and equipment showing up to 'stabilize' the country.

 

[Richard White]

Watch for 'little green men', AKA unmarked troops and equipment showing up to 'stabilize' the country.

Didn't they try that in 1991 and 1993?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Didn't they try that in 1991 and 1993?

Nevermind going back that far - try Ukraine circa 2014 (Donetsk); Georgia (South Ossetia) in the 2000s .

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Nevermind going back that far - try Ukraine circa 2014 (Donetsk); South Ossetia in the 2000s .

AoD

Yes but in 1991 the soviet leadership tried to overthrow Gorbie and in 1993 they tried to overthrow Yeltsin. I can see Putin going full Soviet on them. I can see him pulling a Stalin to try and put down any possible threats to his leadership.

 

[AlbertC]

Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics

Russian activist is the latest in a long line of political opponents to have fallen mysteriously ill

Aug 20, 2020

Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics

Russian activist is the latest in a long line of political opponents to have fallen mysteriously ill

www.theguardian.com

 

[Johnny Au]

Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics

Russian activist is the latest in a long line of political opponents to have fallen mysteriously ill

Aug 20, 2020

Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics

Russian activist is the latest in a long line of political opponents to have fallen mysteriously ill

www.theguardian.com

Putin has professional food tasters. Navalny, unfortunately, didn't have food tasters with him.

 

[AlbertC]

Tests indicate Alexei Navalny was poisoned, says German clinic

Aug 24, 2020

Tests indicate that Alexei Navalny was the victim of a poisoning and he is being treated with atropine, the same antidote used after the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, the German clinic where the Kremlin critic is a patient said on Monday.

While Berlin’s Charité hospital did not identify the specific poison responsible for Navalny’s sudden illness on an internal Russian flight last Thursday, the substance was part of a group that affects the central nervous system, and includes nerve agents and pesticides, as well as some drugs.

The statement was the first medical corroboration of a poisoning attack on Navalny and marked him as likely the latest Kremlin opponent to face an attempt on his life.

Tests indicate Alexei Navalny was poisoned, says German clinic

Kremlin critic being treated with same antidote used after 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Angela Merkel says Novichok poisoning of Russia’s Navalny was attempted murder

Sept 2, 2020

German Chancellor Merkel called the Navalny case "attempted murder with a nerve agent" adding that she expected Moscow to explain its position. Navalny was flown to Berlin for treatment after falling ill in Russia.

Angela Merkel says Novichok poisoning of Russia’s Navalny was attempted murder | DW | 02.09.2020

German Chancellor Merkel called the Navalny case "attempted murder with a nerve agent" adding that she expected Moscow to explain its position. Navalny was flown to Berlin for treatment after falling ill in Russia.

m.dw.com