September 15:
A day after the expulsion of an opposition member from Parliament, tens of thousands of Muscovites gathered in the first major protest since President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration in May. The Guardian reports that the protest involved members of the leftist, liberal, nationalist, and other political parties, who chanted “Russia without Putin” and “we are the power here” while about 7,000 police officers stood by. Some participants even carried signs supporting the recently jailed members of Pussy Riot, or wore brightly-colored balaclavas, the trademark of the punk band. “We must come to rallies to win freedom for ourselves and our children,” opposition leader Alexei Navalny told the crowd. “We will come here as to our workplace. No one else will free us but ourselves.”
September 17:
Russian scientists revealed the existence of a massive diamond field containing “trillions of carats” of diamonds in eastern Siberia. The deposit was discovered in the 1970s according to the Christian Science Monitor, but kept secret as the USSR’s diamond operations in Yakutia already produced sizable profits in the controlled world market. Officials claim the deposit is entirely comprised of “impact diamonds” created when a meteor plowed into a graphite deposit at high velocity. As a result, the diamonds are unusually abrasive and have a large grain size, making them ideal for industrial and scientific use.
September 18:
The Kremlin agreed to write off 90 percent of North Korea’s $11 billion debt. The balance currently totals about $1 billion, Reuters reports, and analysts expect the funds will go to building North Korea's infrastructure, including railways and power lines. Russian officials hope the debt agreement will be a first step toward greater cooperation with the reclusive country, and ultimately a means for Russia to expand its influence in Eastern Asia.
September 19:
In 2011 Russian tourism numbers reached a new high, accounting for 5.9 percent of GDP. That’s more than the car manufacturing (4.8 percent) and chemicals sectors (3.3 percent), and pretty high for a European country, according to The Moscow Times. The regional average is eight percent, but manufacturing-heavy countries, like Germany, have lower numbers. Analysts estimate the industry’s contribution to GDP will increase four percent annually for the next decade, but note that 77 percent of the sector’s revenue in 2011 resulted from domestic travelers.
September 20:
U.S.-Russian relations took a severe blow with the Kremlin’s announcement that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has until October 1 to cease all operations in Russia. Kremlin officials insisted the announcement is the result of “attempts to influence political processes, including elections of various types,” but critics claimed the move is the latest attempt to crack down on the country’s opposition forces since the inauguration of Vladimir Putin. Reuters reports USAID has been active in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, spending over $2.5 billion to combat disease, strengthen civil society, and modernize the economy. Among the organizations that depend on USAID funds is Golos, the election watchdog that was the target of the Kremlin’s ire throughout the contested elections last year.
September 21:
Kyrgyzstan, too, was forgiven sizable debt to the Kremlin. The $189 million it borrowed from the Kremlin in 2005 was forgiven, according to RIA-Novosti, and another loan of $300 million will be written off in the course of the next decade. The agreement was one of several made during a visit to the country by Russian president Putin. Leaders from both countries additionally outlined an agreement on joint construction of a hydro-electric power station, and signed a 15-year extension to Russia’s use of military bases in the country. The new contract will take effect in 2017, with the possibility for a five-year extension at its conclusion.