Articles by Steve Gutterman



Coup Ends, Problems Begin

My rented flat had no television or radio, and the blank faces on the bus sputtering into central Moscow betrayed no hint of the news that had broken that Monday morning on Aug. 19, 1991.

In Moscow, French Minister Wary of Iran Sanctions

  • 02 October 09
  • The Associated Press
Bernard Kouchner's remarks at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev were in line with suggestions that global powers want to focus on talks and give Iran an opportunity to end years of defiance.

Slain Activist Faced Pressure From Kadyrov

  • 20 July 09
  • The Associated Press
A confrontation Natalya Estemirova had with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov in March 2008 may have been a grim forewarning of her violent end.

Lavrov Praises U.S. Over Iran During Israeli Talks

  • 03 June 09
  • The Associated Press
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the new U.S. administration's approach to Iran has increased chances of resolving the standoff over its nuclear program but gave no indication of whether Moscow would increase pressure on Tehran.

Medvedev Offers Bolivia Helicopters

  • 17 February 09
  • The Associated Press
Bolivia will receive helicopters from Russia to help fight drugs and assistance to develop energy resources in the poor South American country, President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

Foreigners Edge Russians in KHL All-Star Game

  • 12 January 09
  • The Associated Press
A hat trick from Slovakia’s Marcel Hossa helped lift former NHL MVP Jaromir Jagr’s squad of foreigners over an all-Russian team 7-6 in the Continental Hockey League’s All-Star game on a bitterly cold evening on Red Square over the weekend.

'Great Ride' on Soyuz For U.S. Space Tourist

  • 27 October 08
  • The Associated Press
Soon after he touched down, U.S. space tourist Richard Garriott got a pat on the head and an admiring question from his astronaut father.

Saakashvili Hopeful on NATO Visit

  • 16 September 08
  • The Associated Press
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Monday that he hopes a visit from NATO's chief will accelerate his nation's drive to join the Western alliance.

Russia Turns Aid Convoy Away at Checkpoint

  • 09 September 08
  • The Associated Press
Russian soldiers prevented international aid convoys from visiting Georgian villages on Monday in a blunt demonstration of power in a tense zone around the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Cheney Slams Russia Over War

  • 05 September 08
  • The Associated Press
Demonstrating Washington's support for war-ravaged Georgia, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney condemned Russia for what he called an ""illegitimate, unilateral attempt"" to redraw this U.S. ally's borders by force.

Tens of Thousands March 90 Years After Tsar's Death

  • 18 July 08
  • The Associated Press
Tens of thousands of Russians commemorated the 90th anniversary of the slaying of the country's royal family with a religious procession Thursday, starting out before dawn from the site where the last tsar and his wife and children were gunned down in a basement room.

Duma Backs Georgia's 2 Separatist Republics

  • 24 March 08
  • The Associated Press
The State Duma has urged the Kremlin to consider recognizing the independence of Georgia's separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, stepping up the government campaign to keep Georgia out of NATO.

U.S. Report Met With Bitterness in Moscow

  • 14 March 08
  • The Associated Press
Year after year, the United States issues a troubling assessment of human rights in Russia.

Medvedev Bemoans Pollution

  • 31 January 08
  • The Associated Press
President Vladimir Putin and his likely successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, on Wednesday called for sweeping environmental improvements, saying cleaning up Soviet-era pollution and reducing industrial waste were crucial for the country's economy and public health.

Baluyevsky Warns of Nuclear Defense

  • 21 January 08
  • The Associated Press
The country's top military officer said Saturday that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in preventive strikes to protect itself and its allies, the latest aggressive remarks from increasingly assertive Russian authorities.

Sect Leader to Talk to Followers

  • 21 November 07
  • The Associated Press
A doomsday cult leader whose followers have holed up in an underground hideout in the Penza region will be brought to the site in an effort to win the release of several children, a government official said Tuesday.

Sect Leader to Talk to Followers

  • 21 November 07
  • The Associated Press
A doomsday cult leader whose followers have holed up in an underground hideout in the Penza region will be brought to the site in an effort to win the release of several children, a government official said Tuesday.

Duma Approves Freeze on Crucial Arms Treaty

  • 08 November 07
  • The Associated Press
The State Duma voted unanimously Wednesday to suspend Moscow's participation in a key European arms control treaty, approving President Vladimir Putin's initiative in a widely expected show of defiance to the West.

Prosecutors Ask for 3rd Shot at Zhak

  • 06 August 07
  • The Associated Press
It might have been the end of Valery Zhak's ordeal: For the second time, a jury acquitted him of charges that he hired a hit man to murder a developer in a property dispute.

Chavez Prefers Russian Oil and Lenin

  • 02 July 07
  • The Associated Press
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took several parting shots at the United States as he wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Friday, suggesting that he preferred Russian oil companies to U.S. ones and that life was more than Superman.

Solzhenitsyn And Missile Designers Honored

  • 13 June 07
  • The Associated Press
President Vladimir Putin underscored the importance of moral values and military might at an awards ceremony Tuesday, honoring Russians ranging from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who documented the brutality of the Soviet Union, to the men who designed its nuclear-armed submarines.

Putin Calls for More Meat Talks

  • 22 May 07
  • The Associated Press
President Vladimir Putin ordered his government Monday to ""intensify dialogue"" with the European Union on agricultural trade, including a dispute over Polish meat imports that has blocked talks on a wider agreement between Moscow and the EU, Russian news agencies reported.

Investigator Criticizes Berezovsky, Zakayev

  • 10 April 07
  • The Associated Press
Businessman Boris Berezovsky and Chechen rebel envoy Akhmed Zakayev refused to answer key questions posed by authorities probing the poisoning death of former security agent Alexander Litvinenko, an investigator said in an interview published Monday.

Russia Criticizes U.S. Human Rights Report

  • 12 March 07
  • The Associated Press
Moscow on Friday criticized the U.S. State Department's annual report on global human rights, saying its assessment of the situation in Russia was skewed, confrontational and aimed at furthering U.S. political interests.

Duma Grants Tatarstan Special Rights

  • 12 February 07
  • The Associated Press
The State Duma agreed on the separation of powers between the federal government and Tatarstan on Friday, granting authorities in the region special rights based on its high concentration of mostly Muslim ethnic Tatars.

Surkov Likens Putin to Franklin D. Roosevelt

  • 12 February 07
  • The Associated Press
Vladimir Putin has been compared to tsars and Communist Party chiefs, but a top aide has come up with an unusual precursor for the president: Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Senators Reluctantly Part With Privilege

  • 25 January 07
  • The Associated Press
Kremlin-backed bills usually win swift approval in the parliament, but legislation that would take away lawmakers' rights to breeze through Moscow's mind-boggling traffic by using special license plates ran into a bit of a bottleneck Wednesday.

Debating the Merits of the Long Holiday

  • 15 January 07
  • The Associated Press
Millions of Russians only returned to work after their New Year's break last week -- stumbling back to reality after an official holiday whose length is the subject of public and parliamentary debate and even psychologists' tips on how to recover.

Russia May Cut North Korean Debt

  • 10 January 07
  • The Associated Press
Russia could stand to profit economically and politically by developing closer relations with Kim Jong Il's regime.

Grozny in Throes of Building Boom

  • 24 October 06
  • The Associated Press
With a sweep of his walkie-talkie, the black-clad special police officer shows off some of the construction projects transforming Grozny: a newly restored boulevard, apartment buildings under repair and a massive mosque locals boast will be the biggest in Europe.


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