December 20:
The Russian government has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to pay over $1.3 million to the victims of the 2002 Dubrovka theater siege According to the Voice of America, the court decided that Russia violated the European Convention on Human Rights “by a lack of planning and poor execution of the rescue operation.” Chechen militants began the tragic 2002 standoff when they took the theater’s 800 audience members hostage. 130 audience members were subsequently killed when Russian forces fired an unidentified gas into the theater in an attempt to subdue the militants. The court additionally concluded that Russia failed to “provide adequate medical aid” to the hostages after the raid, and to pursue an “effective” investigation of the incident.
December 21:
Russia’s parliament has held its first session since the country's disputed December elections. The Associated Press reports that police broke up a small protest outside involving people wearing signs that said “we didn’t vote for you.” Leading members of the Duma have called for “more genuine debate to win back the voters’ trust,” while the leader of the minority nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, suggested that “people would be less likely to protest if they saw real debates being held in the State Duma.”
December 22:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has used his fourth and final State of the Nation speech to propose several political reforms. According to CNN, Medvedev acknowledged that “all active citizens should be given a legal opportunity,” to play a role in Russia’s political scene, and suggested that Russia restore the direct election of its regional governors. He additionally proposed the simplification of the registration process for political parties and presidential candidates, and even the creation of an “editorially-independent” national TV channel. Medvedev also used the occasio to continue to advocate anti-corruption measures, although critics have noted that there was no mention of how the state will address the recent accusations of voting fraud.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continues to try and boost his popularity ahead of presidential elections in March. His latest effort, Reuters reports, involves the idea of a "Eurasian Union." Putin, notes the news agency, has pushed the idea since the late 1990s, in various forms. The latest “incarnation” is a customs union that he claims could grow to rival the European Union. But Belarus and Kazakhstan are its only current members aside from Russia, and Ukraine has already rejected the possibility of joining. The proposed group, however, is largely seen as a pre-electoral ploy. It is “another ‘big idea’ before a March presidential election which Putin may now struggle to win in the first round after facing the biggest protests since he took power,” observes Reuters.
December 23:
Fifty crew members of a Russian oil rig are dead or missing after the ship towing it capsized and sank. The Associated Press reports that the rig was caught in fierce storms off Russia’s East coast while being towed toward Arctic waters as part of the global race to drill for oil in that region. A petition calling for a suspension of Arctic oil projects signed by the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, and several Russian environmental organizations was subsequently presented to parliament. The Kremlin hopes to produce 80 million tons of oil annually from the Arctic by 2030.
December 24:
Tens of thousands of Russians have gathered once more in Moscow in the largest protests to date. Attendance totals varied from the 30,000 claimed by the police to the 120,000 proposed by the organizers, but those who participated were as diverse as the protest two weeks earlier, and represented nearly every economic class and age group. Speakers at the rally, reports the Associated Press, encouraged the audience to vote Putin out of office in March, though there is still no opposition candidate capable of serving as the vehicle for such an upset. Similar rallies in St. Petersburg drew a total of about 4,000 people. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev applauded the protests; “I am happy that I have lived to see the people waking up,” he said. “This raises big hopes.”