February 11:
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has reactivated a new council of human rights advisors to provide input to the Kremlin on domestic politics and social conditions within Russia, the Agence France Presse reports. The advisory body, known as the President's Council for the Promotion of the Institutes of Civil Society and Human Rights, was originally established by President Putin back in 2004, but has been inactive since Medvedev succeeded Putin as president last fall. Medvedev's decision was apparently motivated by growing international concern over Russia's anti-democratic drift - and the rash of recent murders that have rocked the Russian capital of Moscow. "There is nowhere where receiving the advice of such a council does not -- for the development of the government and the formation of civil society -- help to unite people with different positions," Medvedev said by way of explanation via an official statement. "For us these processes (of creating a civil society) have proceeded in a very difficult manner."
February 13:
A Russian satellite and an American satellite have collided in space. The collision between a twelve-year old U.S. Irridium telecommunications satellite and what was presumed to be a nonfunctioning Russian satellite took place 800 kilometers above Siberia late on February 12th, the New Zealand Herald reports. According to scientists, the debris caused by the deep space collision could number in the thousands of pieces.
Later this year, Russia will begin building a naval base in Abkhazia as part of its efforts to solidify its foothold in the breakaway Georgian region. Reuters reports that Russian naval officials have confirmed plans to station naval vessels at the Abkhaz port of Ochamchire once they construct a base facility there. The decision adds to Western worries that Moscow continues to harbor designs over its former holdings in the "post-Soviet space."
February 15:
Discontent over rising joblessness has spilled out into the streets in several Russian cities, according to Pakistan's Daily News. An estimated 500 people have demonstrated in Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, and smaller protests have taken place in Moscow and Toglatti. The protesters, made up of automotive industry workers and labor activists, gathered to protest the poor treatment for - and inadequate protection of - workers in the current global economic crisis.
The Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, has approved a treaty committing Russia to supply troops and technical assistance to a number of its formal satellites in the event of external aggression. The Moscow Times reports that the accord, an outgrowth of Russia's participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), has been pending in the Duma since 2007. The accord's passage corresponds with a renewed focus on joint military cooperation among the seven members of the CSTO - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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