The race for Ukraine's Presidency is hotting up.  With the incumbent serial Kremlin-offender Viktor Yushchenko flagging with ratings of just 3%, it seems that battle has truly commenced between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych.  Russia-Ukraine relations have considerably suffered under Yushchenko's leadership -  will Tymoshenko, the other, (lest it be forgot) architect of the Orange Revolution, be West or East-leaning?  RFE/RL quotes her as suggesting that whilst involvement with Europe will be prioritized, warmer Russia relations may be on the cards:I'm sure that our relations with the Russian Federation can be equal and respectable, open and honest, without ambiguities.Or is she planning an altogether different kind of homage to Russia?  Yevgeny ...

TODAY: Human rights activist and husband murdered; Medvedev has idea for military abroad; Georgia suggests the Kremlin seeking justification for incursion.  Ukraine-Russia ties on the rocks; reports to be submitted about bribery.    President Medvedev has submitted a bill to the State Duma that would allow for the deployment of Russian troops almost anywhere overseas.  A Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that the new law is an attempt 'to place the aggression perpetrated against Georgia last year within a legal framework'.  The Ministry also says that Russia has not honored the terms of the cease-fire agreement and called Medvedev's thanking of Sarkozy, who helped to broker the peace deal, 'a cynical move'.  The Washington Post reports ...

Business New Europe Jason Corcoran in Moscow October 28, 2008The richest man in Ukraine and reputedly the whole of the former Soviet Union, Rinat Akhmetov, is embarking on a bold acquisition programme to pick up cheap energy assets across Central and Eastern Europe at a time when other oligarchs in the region are sweating over making margin calls. Akhmetov, estimated by the Russian daily Kommersant to be worth $31.5bn, has largely been insulated from the international financial crisis due to the consistent demand for coal and electricity and his minimal exposure to the equity markets. DTEK, Akhmetov's main Ukraine-based energy holding, is now talking to banks about assembling a cash pile to target coal assets worth up to $500m in Russia and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. "We are pretty ...

While we were the first ones to say that the Kremlin's preferred candidate for the U.S. presidency was Sen. John McCain, this story is just ridiculous, prompting the Russian Mission to the UN to issue a statement reminding the world "that Russian officials, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations or the Russian Government do not finance political activity in foreign countries." Hmmm. I wonder how Viktor Yanukovych could afford to pay Rick Davis $35,000 a month. It seems natural that the campaign would assume that there was more swag to be had from Russia, but this looks like an honest mistake.