“We [NKVD] never make mistakes, our work doesn’t have defects… If the [arrested] person is honest, but has been beaten, we can’t release him […] since he will discredit the organs [i.e., NKVD].” —Ye. I. Abramovich, NKVD Interrogator, the city of Odessa, 1938 “You should understand, FSB officers always achieve their goals! In any way, it will be… Read More »
On December 27, 2017, 397 Russian academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN), professors and doctors of sciences sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the “overwhelming majority of the academic corps” expressed dissatisfaction with the 2013 reform of the Academy. Scientists argued that “the style and methods of the… 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 February 2, 2016, the Team29, an informal association of lawyers and journalists based in Russia that supports the Raoul Wallenberg Research Initiative-RW70 and defended historian Boris Sokolov in the court, distributed its weekly newsletter. Here are main points, compiled by Katya Alalykina, and translated by Vadim Birstein: On February 1, 2017, a regular court session on the… Read More »