Carl Schreck

2015: The Year Putin Bounced Back

Vladimir Putin’s expansive foreign policy has vaulted him out of the isolation he was mired in due to the Kremlin’s interference in Ukraine. However, Putin’s moves abroad present plenty of risks ahead.

Russian Activist Facing Protest Charges Flees To Ukraine

A Russian opposition activist who became the first person charged under a strict new protest law has reportedly fled to neighboring Ukraine, where he will seek political asylum.

U.S. Bill Seeks Sanctions On Baku Officials

A U.S. lawmaker has introduced legislation that would deny entry visas to senior Azerbaijani officials due to what he calls Baku's "appalling human rights violations."

Russian Law On Rejecting Human Rights Courts Violates Constitution, Experts Say

Russia’s new law allowing its Constitutional Court to reject rulings by international courts violates the country’s own supreme law, legal experts say.

U.S.: Assad Exit Deal Possible

A senior White House official has voiced cautious optimism that the United States and Russia could reach an agreement on a political transition in Syria.

Russian Businessman Lashes Out At Kremlin, Becomes Cause Celebre

A video of a Russian entrepreneur's roundtable appearance where he slammed government economic policies has set the country's chattering classes abuzz and gone viral on social media.

Khodorkovsky Accused In Killing

Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he has been formally accused in a criminal case that, according to his associate, involves the 1998 killing of a Siberian mayor that President Vladimir Putin has previously suggested was ordered by the self-exiled Kremlin critic.

Nobel Winner Alexievich: Hope Has Been Replaced By Fear

Svetlana Alexievich, the Belarusian author awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in October, says her generation “missed the chance” to create a country “where people can live decently.”

Chess Group Meets On U.S. Sanctions

The governing body of world chess is set to convene a snap meeting that officials say will likely address the U.S. sanctions imposed on its longtime president, an eccentric former Russian official, for his alleged support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia Yields On New Transport Tax After Trucker Protests

The Russian government has walked back a controversial new levy on long-haul trucks after protests by their drivers in and around dozens of cities, the latest example of the grassroots political sway wielded by the country's motorists.

Russian Applications For U.S. Asylum Skyrocket In 2015

The number of applications for U.S. asylum by Russian citizens skyrocketed by 50 percent in 2015, a trend seen as driven by an increasingly restrictive political environment, endemic corruption, and antigay discrimination.

If Russian Lawmakers Get Their Way, Coming Out Could Send You To Jail

Russian lawmakers have submitted legislation that would introduce fines and potential jail time for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals who publicly reveal their sexual orientation.

Meet The 'Poor Italian Architect' Who Designed 'Putin's Palace'

Lanfranco Cirillo may be Russia's most enigmatic Italian, a mystery man nicknamed "Putin's Architect" for his work on a palatial mansion built in utmost secrecy, purportedly for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's Shoigu Accused Of Owning Mansion

Long seen as untarnished by corruption scandals, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has been accused by opposition activists of trying to hide his purported ownership of a lavish home outside Moscow

Belarus Activist On Presidential Bid

The lone opposition candidate in Belarus's presidential election earlier this month has defended her decision to run against authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka despite criticism that her participation may have been used to lend legitimacy to the poll.

Russian Tech Mogul Says Iran Wants Mobile App To 'Spy'

How Dutch Investigators Rebuffed Russia’s Alternative MH17 Theories

Russian attempts to insert alternative theories into a long-awaited report on why a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashed over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 were repeatedly rejected by Dutch investigators.

Dear Mr. Putin, God Won’t Forgive You For This. Signed, Oleg Kashin

Prominent Russian journalist Oleg Kashin has invoked the title and spirit of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's famous A Letter To The Soviet Leaders in a searing critique of Russian President Vladimir Putin that has electrified the country's chattering classes.

Obama, Putin Clash Over Syria

They may have clinked wine glasses, but the pleasantries were spare between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the UN General Assembly in New York. In their speeches before the UN General Assembly on September 28, the two leaders traded criticism over the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, accusing one another’s governments of fueling global instability before tapping their glasses at a luncheon for world leaders.

Apples Of Paradise: RFE/RL Publishes Rare Vysotsky Recording Made In California

Thirty-five years after his death, RFE/RL has published a never-before-released recording from 1979 of iconic Russian balladeer Vladimir Vysotsky's song Apples Of Paradise, which is replete with religious imagery and allusions to Stalinist terror.