Author Archives: Vadim Birstein
Russian Court Denies Wallenberg Family Request In July 2017, Marie Dupuy, Raoul Wallenberg’s niece, filed a lawsuit in Moscow’s Meshchansky Region Court against the Federal Security Service (FSB), the KGB’s successor, seeking access to documents she believed could shed light on Wallenberg’s fate. On her behalf Ivan Pavlov, legal representative of the Dardel/Dupuy family (Team29, St. Petersburg, Russia),… Read More »
Third Raoul Wallenberg International Roundtable Stockholm, September 14–15, 2017 On September 14–15, 2017, the 3rd Raoul Wallenberg International Roundtable took place in Stockholm, at the Swedish Army Museum. It was organized by The Raoul Wallenberg Research Initiative RWI-70 and sponsored by a huge number of organizations and individuals. Among the distinguished sponsors were Nina Lagergren, the sister of… Read More »
Raoul Wallenberg’s Family Sues for Archival Access On July 26, 2017, relatives of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who disappeared after helping at least 20,000 Hungarian Jews escape the Holocaust in Hungary in 1944, have filed a lawsuit asking the KGB’s main successor agency to provide full and uncensored documentation about his case. Wallenberg’s niece Marie Dupuy made… Read More »
Angus Roxburgh is a British distinguished foreign correspondent. He knows Russia well: in the 1980s, he was the Sunday Times Moscow correspondent until he was expelled from the Soviet Union accused of espionage; in the 1990s, he was back to Moscow as the BBC’s Moscow correspondent. Later he worked as an advisor and speechwriter for Putin’s communications team. His knowledge… Read More »
On June 9, 2017, a group of academicians and correspondent members published an open letter appealing to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chairwoman of the Federal Council (upper chamber of the Russian Parliament) Valentina Matvienko, and Speaker of the Duma (lower chamber of the Parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin. In the letter, scientists described problems with the draft of… Read More »
On July 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that expands the Federal Security Service (FSO) powers. The draft of the law was introduced in February of 2017 to the State Duma by Putin himself. Now the FSO is able to classify information about the property of the highest state officials. The text of the law is… Read More »
On June 29, 2017, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) presented data of a poll on Russian consumers’ opportunities. VTsIOM is the state-owned and government-run institution that reports to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The poll was made on May 25-29, 2017 in 130 towns, cities and settlements of 52 Russian regions and included 1,600… Read More »
On May 24, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree stating that by the decision of the President, “military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other military formations and organs can be transferred to the operational subordination of the district commander of the National Guard [known also as Rosguards – V. B.] to carry out… Read More »