Russia

1 June 2004Review

Thomas Dunne Books, 2004. ISBN 0 312 26874 2; US$27.95; 352pp HB

In December 1994, days after the first modern invasion of Chechnya by Russian forces, Time magazine wrote, “Unless someone backs down, Moscow's advance into Chechnya threatens to start a guerrilla war that could wreck Yeltsin's presidency or end Russian democracy.”

Yeltsin is long gone, and so now, following the recent re-election of President Putin, with the attendant, and embarrassingly muted, concerns about it perhaps not being entirely free and fair, is an ideal time to revisit…

1 December 2003News

The FSB, one of the successors to the KGB, have accused humanitarian organisations working in Chechnya and Ingushetia of producing “anti stability” propaganda harmful to the efforts made by the Governments involved to seek a resolution of the “Chechen Problem”.

These organisations have been working with refugees from the continuing bloodbath in the Caucasus, providing necessary materials for the refugee camps in which they live. The FSB has been monitoring these organisations for…

1 December 2003Review

Pluto Press, 2003; ISBN 0 7453 1930 0

At times worryingly naïve this is a book that goes some way to readdress the myth of “transition” in Post Soviet Russia.

Packed with tables and charts there is no doubt that Mssrs Haynes and Hasan have done serious research, and it shows. They avoid many of the cliche's that appear in books about Russia: centuries of endurance, the mysterious Russian Soul etc, and for anyone new to that part of the world, the facts and figures of (Post)Soviet life and death will be truly horrific.…

1 September 2003News

In spite of mounting state repression of campaign groups - the spurious arrests of ecological activists, the death in suspicious circumstances of Mr Shekochikhin, the Minister of Defence accusing the Soldiers' Mothers Committee of being a dodgy outfit funded by shady organisations - campaigners in Russia are as active as ever on a wide range of issues.

In Azov, Kaliningrad, blockades organised by Rainbow Keepers and Autonomous Action - and supported by local residents and…

1 March 2003Feature

On 28 July 2002, the Russian President signed into law the federal bill "On Alternative Service" (ACS), adopted by the Russian Federation Federal Assembly shortly before. In November 2002, War Resisters' International's Daniel Garay was in Russia to attend the in augural meeting of the antimilitarist Organisation Without Weapons, set up to rally against military conscription.

Since 1991, the democratically oriented public in Russia had advocated for the legal regulation of an alternative civil service as a substitute for military service by conscription. All such attempts met with active resistance by the military lobby. However, in the winter of 2002 the Russian government submitted an Alternative Service (ACS) bill to the Duma; drafted in the ministry of defence, the bill had a number of discriminatory provisions.

Alternative service is not necessarily…

1 December 2001Review

William Sessions Ltd, 2001. ISBN 1 85072 261 7, 76pp

Appearing in English for the first time, this fascinating little book tells the story of Nikolai Trofimovich Iziumchenko (1867-1927), a peasant conscript to the Imperial Russian Army whose Tolstoyan beliefs led to his two-year imprisonment in a penal battalion.

Following a short, and informative, introduction from the book's editors, Iziumchenko's story is reproduced in translation with minimal annotation, making the account both accessible and readable for those with no prior…

1 December 2001News

For two years, with a small break of a couple of months, our human rights organisation “Soldiers Mothers of St Petersburg has held a picket every Thursday on Nevskij Prospekt, where members of the group gather opposite the Kazanski Cathedral.

With banners like: “Peace in Chechnya” , “I am against war, and you?” , “From war to reconciliation” , “Forgive us Chechnya” , and “You can t stop terrorism by using terrorism” , we protest against war in general and against the war in…

1 June 2001News

The second military trial against Russian environmental journalist Grigory Pasko started in Vladivostock in March, after the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court decided to overturn the original verdict.

Pasko, who worked for the Russian Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was originally arrested by the security police in November 1997.

He was accused of high treason through espionage, for handing over secret information regarding nuclear safety in the Pacific Fleet to the Japanese TV channel NHK. However, while he was acquitted of treason in 1999, he was convicted of “abuse of authority”. His three-year prison sentence was cut short due to his having served 20 months in pre-trial detention.…

1 January 2001News

The war in Chechnya rumbles on, with reports of increased fighting and both civilian and military/paramilitary deaths in recent months.

This has included renewed heavy exchanges around Grozny and a series of more isolated incidents, including the death of an entire family who were crushed by a Russian military APC and the execution of three Russian soldiers by Chechen fighters, while they walked through a market.

At the end of October Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a 99-page report entitled Welcometo Hell , detailing the torture and abuse of thousands of Chechens who have been detained by the Russian forces in…