By John Helmer, Moscow A Russian declaration of war and the despatch of troops to secure the Crimea would be very serious things, if they materialized. The Financial Times reporter, Kathrin Hille (image), is the only person in the entire world who claims to have been told by “a senior government official”: “If Ukraine breaks […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, February 25th, 2014
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Lights! Camera! Action! Oleg Deripaska, chief executive of the Russian state aluminium monopoly Rusal (title image), calls his security men to a meeting in a soundproof room he’s decorated with a collection of west African masks on the walls. Clicketty-click the subtitle rolls on to the screen, MOSCOW 2009. “Whaddya know […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, December 17th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Struggling with a rising debt burden of more than $8.2 billion, the Evraz group, owned by Roman Abramovich (left), Alexander Abramov (centre) and Alexander Frolov (right), has suspended production at its Claymont steelmill in Delaware. The production halt is indefinite. A company announcement from Moscow on Monday says that “due to […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, October 17th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow If the US Government and Congress believe they have the right to impose sanctions on Russian individuals and companies for conduct that is legal in Russian and international law, what would happen if the boot were on the other foot – if the Russian Government imposed sanctions on US individuals and […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, September 29th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow There are at least five million tonnes of aluminium in storage at the moment hidden from count in order to prevent the price of the metal from collapsing. Much , if not most of that aluminium comes from the Russian aluminium monopoly, United Company Rusal. Investigators for the US Commodity Futures […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, July 25th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow It’s been three years almost to the day since Vladimir Putin (left), then Russian Prime Minister, visited the Gremyachinskoye potash mine in southwestern Volgograd region. The mine, the newest in construction in Russia, with one of the country’s largest potash reserves, and one of the most costly ever to be built, […]

by John Helmer - Wednesday, July 24th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow It has been known for a long time that the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has been intercepting millions of Russian telephone calls, SMS texts and internet traffic, along with the communications of other target nationals, including Americans and the British themselves. Older eavesdropping operations, such as ECHELON, have been documented […]

by John Helmer - Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow By the conventional polling and political measures, President Vladimir Putin ought to be the most relaxed figure at the G8 summit meeting in Ireland. If he wanted to, he might look straight at the cameras and tell the world he shares their opposition to starting another war in the string of […]

by John Helmer - Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow Pavel (Pavlik) Morozov, aged 14, was murdered on September 3, 1932, along with his 9-year old brother, Fyodor. They were stabbed to death. Four people were convicted of the crimes – their grandfather Sergei and cousin Danila did the stabbing; uncle Arseny plotted the crime beforehand; grandmother Kseniya covered it up […]

by John Helmer - Monday, April 8th, 2013
No Comments »

By John Helmer, Moscow It is now clear, let’s say clearer, what business has been keeping the elected Russian official in charge of foreign affairs in the upper house of parliament, and in representing Russia in the affairs of Africa so active that he has been unable to respond to questions. According to his spokesman, […]

by John Helmer - Thursday, February 14th, 2013
No Comments »