November 15:
The Duma has given its preliminary approval to a new plan extending the term of the Russian presidency from four to six years, the Washington Times reports. Russia's lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the measure, proposed by president Dmitry Medvedev in his November 5th state of the nation address. The proposal now heads to the Federation Council, Russia's upper legislative chamber, and to regional legislatures for their approval - something which observers expect will happen promptly, since the pro-Putin United Russia party dominates all of the relevant legislative bodies.
At least one political party is putting up a fight, however. According to the New York Times, old guard members of Russia's Communist party opposed the measure, casting virtually the only dissenting votes against extending the president's term in office. "Why are we in such a hurry?" one Communist legislator has asked. "A strict authoritarian regime has already been established in this country. There is already an unprecedented concentration of power in one person's hands.''
November 17:
On the heels of its intervention in Georgia, Russia appears to be focusing on another "frozen conflict" in its Near Abroad. Igor Shuvalov, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister, has told reporters that Moscow wants a role in solving the long-running conflict over Moldova's autonomous Transdniester region. The centerpiece of the new diplomatic offensive appears to be a Russian peace plan that was rejected by Moldovan authorities some five years ago. "We really do believe that the peace plan that was proposed back then was effective and could have been implemented," the Moscow Times cites Shuvalov as saying. "We will now try to reach new agreements, taking as our starting point the territorial integrity of Moldova."
The Kremlin's plans for a gas cartel to rival OPEC are gathering steam. According to the Moscow Times, the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries - which encompasses Russia, Iran and Qatar - is poised to adopt an institutional charter ahead of the fledgling group's next meeting on December 23rd. The goal of the charter, Russia's Energy Ministry says, is intended to help formalize the energy bloc's structure and functions.
November 18:
A Moscow reporter investigating corruption among local officials and in the timber trade in the Russian capital is in critical condition following a beating by unknown assailants. Reuters reports that Mikhail Beketov, editor and owner of the local paper Khimskaya Pravda, was beaten and left for dead outside his Moscow home on November 13th. He is now in a coma at the Sklifosovsky Institute, a critical care hospital. Doctors have already been forced to amputate one of his legs.
Retired Russian military brass is pushing back against the Kremlin's efforts to reform the country's armed services, the Associated Press reports. A number of retired flag officers have stepped forward to warn that ongoing reorganization within the Russian military is significantly diminishing the country's strategic capabilities. Their anger is directed in large part at Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who has presided over a significant reorganization of the Russian military since assuming office in February 2007. In November, as part of this effort, Serdyukov announced plans to cut hundreds of generals, disband ninety percent of the army's standing units, and expand the number of junior officers in the military's ranks. At a Moscow press conference, General Leonid Ivashov, a retired defense ministry strategic planner, accused Serdyukov's efforts of inflicting more harm on Russian military might "than a NATO agent."