Europe’s Top Rights Body Urges Members to Declare Russia ‘Dictatorship,’ Putin ‘Illegitimate’

Europe’s top human rights body on Friday passed a resolution calling on its members to no longer recognize President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s legitimate leader after his fourth term in office ends next year.  The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said Putin’s 23-year rule as either president or prime minister “has turned the Russian…

Anti-Drone Protection, Internet Disruptions in Bishkek as Putin Seeks to Restore Influence Among Allies

President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kyrgyzstan is an attempt to stem the erosion of the Kremlin’s diminishing regional influence as its failures in Nagorno-Karabakh and 20-month war in Ukraine make allies increasingly uneasy, experts told The Moscow Times. With the two-day visit — Putin’s first foreign trip since being indicted by the International Criminal Court…

Russian Police Raid Homes of Navalny’s Lawyers

Russian law enforcement authorities have raided the homes of lawyers representing jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, his allies said on Friday, detaining at least one of the lawyers in the latest crackdown against opposition  Leonid Volkov, a longtime Navalny ally, said the imprisoned activist’s lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Lipster — whose apartments were…