Monthly Archives: October 2017

Medinsky Dissertation in Trouble

On October 2, 2017, the Expert Council on History of the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK) voted to deprive of Vladimir Medinsky, Russian Minister of Culture, of the Doctor of Historical Sciences degree. A very detailed official review of the VAK experts says that Medinsky did not present anything new in his work. The experts wrote: “The fact that… Read More »

Kalashnikov A “Cultural Brand” of Russia?

On September 19, 2017, a gigantic monument was unveiled in the central part of Moscow, ordered by the Russian Military-Historical Society (RVIO) founded in 2012 by President Vladimir Putin’s decree. It was a 5-meter-high statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the infamous machine gun in 1949, on a 4-meter-high pedestal. The gigantic figure of Kalashnikov holds a… Read More »

Russian Court Denies Wallenberg Family Request

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 Roundtable

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 »