Vladimir Putin

Virgin Mary Mother of God
Drive Putin Away
Drive Putin Away

With these words Russian feminist punksters Pussy Riot challenged the very heart of Russian power, and are now paying the price.

They famously performed in Moscow’s holiest cathedral in February, in a direct attack on the Russian Orthodox Church’s open support for President Putin in the last election. The video clip of their performance went global, but what gave them international notoriety was what happened next. 

Continue reading "How Pussy Riot are fighting to change a repressive nation" »

Eighteen trillion dollars. Yes, “trillion” dollars. That is the broadly accepted working estimate of the amount needed for vital economic infrastructure such as roads, ports, and rail facilities among Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group partners. And that’s just in the current decade to 2020.

It is a staggering sum even considering the large populations and massive growth often associated with this part of the world. For Australia, such an explosion of capital investment portends great opportunities and suggests that in addition to the mining boom, we are situated precisely where you would want to be as the locus of global power swings decidedly eastward.

For the pan-Eurasian colossus of Russia, this tectonic shift is being adapted to with maximum haste because geographically, if not culturally, the former super-power has a foot in both camps. The Russian capital may be closer to western European centres like Helsinki and Stockholm, but its vast territory extends to a coastline nine flying hours and eight time zones to the east. Which is why its President Vladimir Putin, who returned to the top job earlier this year, is now so eager to stress his country’s Asian links.

Continue reading "Perilous life inside the great teetering mirage of the East" »

When I told the ABC’s political correspondent Louise Yaxley that President Vladimir Putin was approaching our table, she steadfastly refused to turn around, convinced she was the victim of some B-grade schoolyard trickery.

And who could blame her?

The Russian strongman, a political rockstar in this country, was already all around us on giant TV screens as we sat in the lavish, if hastily constructed, Far Eastern Federal University. Leaders virtually never make unscheduled appearances in the media centres of these big summits and never ever eat at the cafeteria.

Continue reading "The day Vladimir put in a surprise appearance" »

“I now have mixed feelings about this trial. On the one hand, we expect a guilty verdict. Compared to the judicial machine, we are nobodies, and we have lost. On the other hand, we have won. The whole world now sees that the criminal case against us has been fabricated. The system cannot conceal the repressive nature of this trial.” - Yekaterina Samutsevich, Pussy Riot.

On February 21, 2012, just two weeks before the presidential elections, the Russian punk band and performance art group Pussy Riot performed ‘Punk worship’ Mother of God, Drive Putin Out. This politically controversial song was made all the more provocative by being performed in the Christ the Savior Cathedral one of the holiest in Russian Orthodoxy.

These events led to police opening a criminal file on 26 February and in early March the band members were arrested. This was followed by a prosecution for the crime of hooliganism – the verdict is due tomorrow.

Continue reading "Russia has already made Pussy Riot martyrs" »

Is this a pattern? Here are a series of similiar photos of Tony Abbott and Vladimir Putin. They like going bare-chested…

... they both enjoy the outdoors ...

Continue reading "Spot the difference: Mad monk or Russian oligarch" »