Oleg Kashin

In 2003, four years into President Vladimir Putin’s tenure and with liberal politics at a nadir, I visited the Moscow office of the center-left Yabloko Party. There, among the 50-something inveterate anti-communists that dominated the party, sat a 27-year-old staff member. It was Aleksei Navalny.

We quickly became friendly. We were members of the same generation and the same culture, we had the same views about good and evil, we spoke the same language. Though we didn’t always agree, I felt that he and I were — to quote Rudyard Kipling — “of one blood.”

It was obvious that such a man would feel cramped in a stuffy old party, and so it turned out.…  Seguir leyendo »

On Thursday, as the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny was returning to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, where he had been meeting with opposition candidates ahead of local elections, he began to feel ill. A heart-rending video was later posted online — one of the passengers on the plane had managed to capture Mr. Navalny’s groans and cries of pain. They sounded like the screams of a dying man.

Almost immediately, it appeared that Mr. Navalny had been slipped a strong poison. The airplane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk. Mr.…  Seguir leyendo »

At the beginning of August, five members of a gang accused of murdering 17 people during robberies on highways around the Moscow area were facing trial at Moscow Regional Court. While the five men were being escorted to the courtroom, they attacked their guards, seized their weapons and opened fire in the courthouse. Most likely this terrible episode could have been avoided had there been adequate security, but the five defendants were accompanied by only two armed guards.

There were no such incidents later in the month when Kirill S. Serebrennikov, a theater director, arrived in court for a hearing. The defendant, a young man in a baseball cap, was escorted into the courtroom by five armed special forces agents.…  Seguir leyendo »

In the wake of the impressive street protests in Russian cities on June 12, you may wonder what can be expected next from the Russian opposition. This is one of those rare cases where a political prediction can be guaranteed: There will be no news from the opposition before mid-July.

On June 12, Russian authorities sentenced the opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, 41, to 30 days in jail. And, except for him, no true opposition leaders remain in Russia today.

That was not the case until very recently. In the winter of 2011-12 President Vladimir V. Putin faced opposition from a broad political coalition that had arisen in response to accusations of widespread violations during the parliamentary elections.…  Seguir leyendo »

Technically, it’s known as a triarylmethane dye. In drugstores, it’s sold under the name Brilliant Green. But generations of Soviet citizens knew it as “zelyonka” (the green). It was invented in Germany in the 19th century but came into its own in the Soviet Union, where it was a widely used antiseptic.

After an application of zelyonka, a wound dries and forms a scab within a few hours. It’s effective, but zelyonka has one serious shortcoming: It’s extremely difficult to wash off, and even after a wound has healed, traces of green can remain on the skin for days. Soap and water won’t remove it, and even ethyl alcohol requires long and vigorous rubbing.…  Seguir leyendo »

According to Aleksei Diumin, it happened late one night, far from Moscow. He was standing guard at a presidential palace where Vladimir V. Putin was sleeping. A bear approached. “He and I looked each other in the eyes,” Mr. Diumin told a Russian newspaper. Then the bear backed away slightly. “I opened the door and emptied my gun’s entire clip at his feet.” The bear retreated. Russia’s president was safe.

Mr. Diumin told the story of his encounter with the bear in February. Former bodyguards always have a stock of true-life tales for deployment at the dinner table. But Mr. Diumin’s account came only when he became a major Russian politician.…  Seguir leyendo »