US-Russian relations will remain strained as long as Washington continues to criticize the country’s human rights record, says a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

The US violated “a tacit understanding” to refrain from publicly criticizing Russia’s democratic regression, undermining …

After a decade of President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule in which civil society seemed to be comatose, a new protest movement is growing in Russia. Infuriated by electoral fraud and galloping corruption, the so-called “creative class” is fighting back by …

American citizenship appears to be the “Scarlet Letter” of Russian politics, The Economist reports, citing proposed laws targeting specific individuals, including:

…. a provision to keep Americans from working in politically-oriented NGOs was directed at Lyudmila Alexeyeva (left), …

Two US-based democracy assistance groups say media reports that personnel from their Russian offices have been relocated due to fear of persecution are misleading.

The International Republic Institute (IRI) told RFE/RL that the accounts are “overblown,” adding that its staff …

Are the West’s democracies prepared to challenge what one analyst calls “Eurasia’s new authoritarian architecture”?

“For years now, the United States and its allies in Europe and Asia have been talking about the importance of common efforts to promote human …

“In another apparent tit for tat provoked by the Magnitsky Act, Russia said Wednesday that it was withdrawing from an agreement that provided help from the United States in fighting narcotics and human trafficking and enhancing the rule of law,” …

Russia today announced further curbs on civil society groups, as a leading analyst recommends “information warfare” as the most effective response to the Kremlin’s growing authoritarianism at home and abroad.  

“Russia’s Justice Ministry is proposing legislation to extend rules …

Democracy and human rights advocates are paying tribute to Max M. Kampelman, the veteran lawyer, political adviser and eminent Cold War diplomat, who died Jan. 25 at his home in Washington, D.C.

Kampelman made a major contribution to the eventual …

“The West should employ differing strategies in dealing with each of the two Russias, recognizing that ‘patriotic’ forces are in power for now, but that they are increasingly alienating the urbanized and educated,” according to Denis Corboy, a former European …

The Obama administration has pulled out of a joint working group on civil society with Russia to protest the Kremlin’s crackdown on critics.  

The Civil Society Working Group was a key component of the administration’s “reset” policy with Moscow, …