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A New Cold War in the Caribbean?
Ever since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has seen the Caribbean in the way that the Romans viewed the Mediterranean — Mare Nostrum, Our Sea. From the Spanish-American War through the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Central American dirty wars of the Reagan era, Washington was always quick to flex its muscle over the rum-soaked waters that stretch from Florida to Venezuela. The bad news: It ain't our sea anymore, gringos.
"The U.S. let its guard down in the Caribbean after the Berlin Wall fell," says Johanna Mendelson-Forman, a senior associate for the Americas at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "As a result we've gone from unipolarity in that region to multipolarity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we're in a real learning phase as to how to deal with it."
Chavez's visit to Moscow this week, not only to buy more than $1 billion worth of anti-aircraft missiles and submarines, but also to commune with growing anti-American resentment in Russia, resurrected old ghosts for some conservative yanqui lawmakers. Florida Congressman Connie Mack declared the Caracas-Moscow partnership "a stark reminder of the Cold War partnership between the Soviet Union and Cuba." Ever since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has seen the Caribbean in the way that the Romans viewed the Mediterranean — Mare No... more -
Lenin's mummy
When Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution, died in 1924, his body was mummified and placed on display at the Kremlin wall in Moscow. When Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution, died in 1924, his body was mummified and placed on display at the Kremli... more
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Too terrified to work after bears eat 2 colleagues
Terrified workers at a mining compound in one of Russia's most isolated regions are refusing to go to work after a pack of giant bears attacked and ate two of their colleagues.
At least 30 of the hungry animals have been seen prowling close to the mines in northern Kamchatka in search of food, where the mangled remains of the two workers, both guards, were found last week.
The co-workers at the compound in the Olyotorsky district are trapped and frightened: the gruesome discovery has left them too scared to venture out. A team of snipers, with orders to shoot the bears, is now being dispatched to confront the invasion after government officials authorized an off-season hunt.
A spokesman for the local government in the capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, said that the area was so isolated that it would take until at least Saturday to get there. Attempts to reach the scene by helicopter had to be abandoned because of thick fog.
The Kamchatka brown bear is one of the world's largest, with males growing to around 10 feet and weighing up to 1,540 pounds. They can also reach speeds of up to 30 mph despite their size. Terrified workers at a mining compound in one of Russia's most isolated regions are refusing to go to work after a pack of giant bears... more -
Bears- They love the taste of human flesh.
Bears seem to be attacking as much as Sharks have been as of late.
Bears eat two workers in remote Russian region
Up to 30 hungry and desperate bears have attacked and eaten two men in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka, and have trapped a group of geologists at their remote site.
The bears - apparently starving - killed the men last Thursday, Russian agencies reported. The bears had surrounded a local platinum mining company. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.
About 400 geologists and miners are now refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed, because of bad weather, agencies reported.
Watch out for bears, be sure not to leave home with out your WASP KNIFE! Bears seem to be attacking as much as Sharks have been as of late. Bears eat two workers in remote Russian region ... more -
Emo to be outlawed in Russia?
Russian emos are socially undesirable, and everything from websites to dressing in emo attire will be prosecuted.
Isn't it oh-so-fun to live in a totalitarian state! Russian emos are socially undesirable, and everything from websites to dressing in emo attire will be prosecuted. ... more -
Bears trap geologists in Russia
At least 30 hungry bears have trapped a group of geologists at their remote survey site in Russia's far east after killing two of their co-workers last week.
The team of geologists on Russia's seismically active Kamchatka peninsula refused to leave their camp after the bears showed up, a spokesman for the region's emergency services ministry said.
He said: "In the interests of safety they didn't come out to work - the people are scared by the invasion of bears."
A bear killed two geologists at the worksite on July 18, officials said.
Authorities on Kamchatka, nine time zones east of Moscow on the Pacific Ocean, said this year was remarkable for either too many bears or not enough fish.
"Either way there is not enough food," the spokesman said.
Rampant fish poaching in the empty tundra of Russia's farthest reaches sends hungry bear populations into populated centres every year, attracted to the food-rich garbage humans leave behind.
Officials said a helicopter ferrying officials and hunters could not fly in bad weather, but an all-terrain vehicle was on its way to the camp.
It would then await government approval to shoot the bears.
The spokesman added: "It looks like a shoot by the hunters won't take place today as there is still no permission.
"As soon as we get the document from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky the hunters can get to work."
As many as 16,000 native brown bears, cousins of the American Grizzly, live on Kamchatka, an area twice the size of Britain.
An adult male can weigh 1,500 lbs (700kg) and stand 10ft (three metres) tall. At least 30 hungry bears have trapped a group of geologists at their remote survey site in Russia's far east after killing two of thei... more -
Russian plans to station nuclear bombers in Cuba
The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for missile defence bases in Eastern Europe.
The story has riled the US enough that a US general has been wheeled out to tell the world’s press that any Russian attempt to build another nuclear base in Cuba would cross US “red line”.
The story broke earlier this week, when Russian newspaper Izvestia quoted an un-named source from within the Russian military. He told the Russian daily:
“While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba.”
The quote hasn’t been independently confirmed, but the Russian Defence Ministry added fuel to the fire when they refused to comment on the story.
The prospect of Russian nuclear forces being stationed in Cuba - which is, after all, only 90 miles from the US coast - would bring back some rather unpleasant memories for the US of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, where the Soviet Union under Nikita Kruschev launched an audacious and foolhardy bid to station nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island.
And so, not surprisingly, the US Air Force has wheeled out a top general to warn Russia off. General Norton Schwartz, who will soon be appointed as the US Air Force’s chief of staff told reporters that:
“If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America.”
So, will Russia actually station nuclear bombers in Cuba?
In all likelihood, this is just another episode in the war of words between Russia and the US over the proposed US missile shield. Russia’s dual leadership of Putin and Medvedev are pragmatic, cautious men, and won’t fancy the chance to repeat the mistakes of the Soviet Union’s most unpredicatble leader.
This is especially true when we consider that the proposed US missile shield doesn’t actually bother Russia all that much - it’s much more important to the Kremlin as an opportunity for Russia to give the US a bit of a verbal bashing every now and then.
Having said that, Russia’s military is in a much more expansive mood these days - witness the first naval patrols in the Arctic since the fall of the Soviet Union, and recent Tu-95 bomber flights near British airspace. It would be no surpise if it is considering how and where on the globe it could place military bases in the longer term.
Russia had a permanent military base in Cuba until quite recently - it was closed in 2002, partly because it was difficult to justify the $200 million per year running costs. But thanks to Russia’s booming economy, the military is much better resourced than it used to be. Perhaps $200 million per year doesn’t seem all that expensive these days for an ambitious country that aspires to global influence but which has fewer international military bases than snaller powers such as France, or the United Kingdon.
One thought that occurs is that, if Cuba’s history makes the prospect of a base there too much of a hot potato, perhaps a base somewhere else in the region would be a better long term bet.
Anyone want to take a bet on a Russian military base being created in Venezuela sometime over the next decade? The media has been abuzz today at the prospect of Russian nuclear bombers being stationed in Cuba if the US goes ahead with plans for ... more -
Chavez left unanswered questions about Russian military base in Venezuela
Chavez, a close ally of the regime in Havana, said he had passed on greetings to Medvedev from the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. During the Soviet era, Cuba was a close ally of Moscow and in 1962 the site of a major Cold War confrontation over the placement of Soviet missiles.
During a press conference, Chavez left unanswered questions on whether Russian military aircraft and naval vessels could be based in Venezuela in the future.
The mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda said there was speculation Chavez may allow Russia to establish a training facility or military base in the country
Medvedev, while not endorsing Chavez’ remarks about the U.S., said he was ready to work with the Venezuelan president in the “common task to achieve a more democratic, just and secure world.”
Venezuela is already Russia’s largest weapons customer in Latin America, having raised eyebrows in recent years with the signing of contracts to buy military helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles.
Bilateral trade reached $1 billion in 2007, mainly due to the arms trade, according to the Russian government statistics.
Chavez, a close ally of the regime in Havana, said he had passed on greetings to Medvedev from the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. ... more -
US general warns Russia on nuclear bombers in Cuba
Russia would cross "a red line for the United States of America" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, a top US air force officer warned.
"If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff, said Tuesday.
He was referring to a report in the newspaper Izvestia that said the Russian military is thinking of flying long-range bombers to Cuba on a regular basis in response to US plans to install missile defenses in eastern Europe.
Izvestia cited an unnamed senior Russian air force official as saying such flights were under discussion. But it was unclear whether they would involve permanent basing of nuclear bombers in Cuba, or just use of the island as a refueling stop.
In his confirmation hearing to become the air force's chief of staff, Schwartz was asked what he would recommend if Russia were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba.
"I would certainly offer the best military advice that we engage the Russians not to pursue that approach," he said, adding that Russia would cross a "red line" if it did.
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the Izvestia report because there had been no "official response from the Russian government."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman responded to the report by saying, "That scenario is hypothetical and speculative at this point."
Conducting long-range bomber patrols to Cuba would signal a reawakening of military cooperation by former Cold War allies Moscow and Havana, and resurrects issues that first arose with the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
The crisis, which brought Washington and Moscow to the brink of nuclear war, ended with an understanding that Moscow would remove its intermediate range missiles from Cuba and not introduce strategic systems in the island.
Russia would cross "a red line for the United States of America" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, a top US air forc... more -
Art shocks and mocks Russian establishment
""We always do things that violate rules. We combine art and politics to achieve something new," said Kotyonok, a slightly built young woman who teaches physics at a Moscow university and who only gave her nickname, which means kitten.
"People watch us and are simply shocked."
A day before the presidential election that Medvedev won by a landslide, five couples, including one heavily pregnant woman who gave birth four days later, secretly undressed in Moscow's Biological Museum.
With video cameras rolling, they had sex in front of a banner calling for copulation in support of "the bear cub-successor" - a pun on Medvedev's family name, which is derived from the Russian word for bear.
Some users called the participants "freaks", "sh--eaters" or "animals". One blogger suggested they should be shot. When the mother of the pregnant woman saw her having sex on television, she threw her out of home.
Voina's actionist art draws on Moscow Conceptualism, a movement that started in the 1970 with performances subverting socialist ideology. Given the repressive nature of the Soviet state, these happenings had to take place secretly."
There's a lot more crazy stories of what they do. ... more -
Chavez calls for Russia alliance
Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect Venezuela from the US.
The Venezuelan president's call came as Moscow and Caracas agreed to extend bilateral co-operation on energy.
Speaking during a two-day visit to Russia, Mr Chavez said oil and military cooperation were vital to guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said three Russian energy companies are to be allowed to operate in Venezuela.
He gave no details of an anticipated arms deal between the two countries. But Mr Chavez seemed upbeat about the prospect of military co-operation.
"If Russia's armed forces want to be present in Venezuela, they will be given a warm welcome," he told a news conference after the meeting.
He said Venezuela would pursue new Russian arms deals "because the North American empire... has plans to invade Venezuela, to disarm Venezuela". Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect Venezuela from the US. ... more -
Chavez set to spend big on Russian weapons
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Moscow Tuesday to discuss a deal to spend billions on Russia weapons.
Chavez will meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news agency, Interfax, said
The two countries hope to sign an agreement for Venezuela to buy Russian military equipment, said Vyacheslav Davidenko, a spokesman for Rosoboronexport, Russia's government agency in charge of arms exports.
The agreement will allow "quick deliveries of arms and military hardware in the interests of Venezuela's security with the observance of international obligations and the laws of both countries," Davidenko told CNN.
Davidenko wouldn't elaborate on the types of weapons that Venezuela wanted to purchase -- or the cost. Previous military-technical contracts had been worth $4 billion, he said.
Interfax quoted an "informed military expert" as saying Venezuela planned to purchase up to 10 air defense systems, three diesel electric submarines, six more non-nuclear powered submarines and several surface vessels.
Venezuela also planned to discuss the possibility of buying certain aircraft, including combat helicopters, the expert said.
The Associated Press reported the deal could be worth $2 billion.
Venezuela is expected to spend over $30 billion under a program to rearm its armed forces up to 2012, the Interfax source said. According to Russian media reports, Russia could provide a loan of about $800 million to Venezuela to finance the arms deals.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Moscow Tuesday to discuss a deal to spend billions on Russia weapons. ... more -
Chavez Goes Weapons Shopping in Russia Amid Arms Race (Update2)
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heads to Moscow today to shop for air defense systems, submarines and other weaponry as Latin America's arms race quickens amid signs that his regional influence is waning.
Past Venezuelan arms purchases from Russia have strengthened ties with Moscow as its rivalry with the U.S. intensifies over President George W. Bush's plans for an Eastern Europe missile defense system and other issues. Chavez, 53, also plans to visit Belarus, a Russian ally that the U.S. considers a dictatorship.
Chavez ``regularly refers to us as an `empire,' opposes our initiatives in the Americas and seeks out our adversaries as friends and allies,'' Assistant U.S. Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon said July 17 in testimony to a congressional committee.
Chavez will order $2 billion worth of weapons, including Project 636 diesel subs, Mi-28 combat helicopters and airplanes made by Ilyushin Co., the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported May 12, without saying how it obtained the information. The Russian Interfax news service, citing an unnamed defense ministry official, said today Chavez may order $1 billion of weapons, including three Varshavyanka subs and up to 20 Tor-M1 air-defense systems.
`Some Shock'
``What Chavez likes to do is to shock, and this will create some shock in Washington,'' said Riordan Roett, a professor of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Chavez, who plans to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev tomorrow, has bought more than $4.4 billion of Russian arms since 2003. He says the hardware, including jets and submarines, is needed to counter a military threat from the U.S. and its main regional ally, Colombia.
Russia last year announced plans to build two factories to make Kalashnikov assault rifles in Venezuela.
Russia has used Venezuela to diversify its arms-selling business beyond China and India, said Dmitry Vasiliev, an analyst at the Center for the Analysis of Strategies & Technologies, a Moscow-based defense research center. Venezuela was Russia's third-biggest arms customer last year, he said.
Trade between the two countries surged to $1.13 billion in 2007 from $517 million the previous year, according to a statement published on the Venezuelan Information Ministry's Web site.
`Ideal Partner'
``Russia is trying to be good friends with Chavez because he is an ideal partner in arms trade,'' said Fyodor Lukyanov, an analyst at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow.
The Venezuelan president said this month he'll also discuss the creation of a joint development bank and an investment fund with Russia.
Latin American countries have gone on a military spending spree in recent years as their governments collect record income from commodities, including Venezuela's oil windfall. Regional arms spending jumped 55 percent over four years to $38.4 billion in 2007, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heads to Moscow today to shop for air defense systems, submarines and other we... more -
Google allunga le mani in Russia
Google estende il proprio impero anche verso la Russia: il grande mercato, non ancora totalmente esploso, ha ora infatti tra i suoi player principali anche il motore di Mountain View che dopo l'acquisto di Begun Advertising pianta la sua bandierina oltre gli Urali.
La trattativa ha trovato definizione intorno ai 140 milioni di dollari, cifra che Google verserà a Rambler Media, una società britannica che opera come portale in Russia. Ma oltre alla vendita del distaccamento pubblicitario Rambler ha siglato anche un altro accordo separato con Google per la fornitura di pubblicità contestuale sul suo sito. Google estende il proprio impero anche verso la Russia: il grande mercato, non ancora totalmente esploso, ha ora infatti tra i suoi pl... more -
Hemp used to remove Chernobyl contaminants
In 1998, Phytotech, along with Consolidated Growers and Processors (CGP) and the Ukraine's Institute of Bast Crops, planted industrial hemp, Cannabis sp., for the purpose of removing contaminants near the Chernobyl site. Cannabis is in the Cannabidaceae family and is valuable for its fiber, which is used in ropes and other products. This industrial variety of hemp, incidentally, has only trace amounts of THC, the chemical that produces the "high" in a plant of the same genus commonly known as marijuana.
Overall, phytoremediation has great potential for cleaning up toxic metals, pesticides, solvents, gasoline, and explosives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than 30,000 sites in the United States alone require hazardous waste treatment. Restoring these areas and their soil, as well as disposing of the wastes, are costly projects, but the costs are expected to be reduced drastically if plants provide the phytoremediation results everyone is hoping for. In 1998, Phytotech, along with Consolidated Growers and Processors (CGP) and the Ukraine's Institute of Bast Crops, planted industria... more -
Gadgets blamed as lightning strikes dozens
Lightning has killed and injured more than a dozen people in Russia in the past two weeks, officials say, blaming widespread use of electronic gadgets such as cell phones for an increase in deadly strikes.
On Wednesday, a lightning bolt killed three sunbathers in the town of Neftekamsk, 800 miles east of Moscow.
One victim, Marina Sadykova, 26, was among a few people on a beach along the Kama River when a storm moved in. Witnesses said they saw a sharp, blinding ray of light that raised 7.6 meters (25 feet) of sand.
The woman -- mother of a 5-month-old boy -- was talking on a cell phone when she was killed, and the phone was found melted in her hand, according to police.
Russian media have reported similar instances across central Russia, including the death of a 10-year-old boy on a bike, a young man talking on a cell phone and an elderly farmer tending her potato plants.
Leonid Tarkov of the weather observation center FOBOS said he believes that the surge in lightning strikes may be connected to the increased use of portable electronic technology, such as cellular phones or music players.
Lightning has killed and injured more than a dozen people in Russia in the past two weeks, officials say, blaming widespread use of el... more -
Activists demand Russia ban GM foods
The growth in genetically modified foods has not yet seen large-scale public debate in Russia but a number of people do feel strongly about the issue. Thus, a group of youth activists in the northern city of Murmansk is demanding a ban on GM products.
Consumers have the right to know what they are putting in their bodies and feeding to their children. The growth in genetically modified foods has not yet seen large-scale public debate in Russia but a number of people do feel strongly ... more -
Russia's sex slave industry thrives, rights groups say
"Young women in bright miniskirts and high heels line up to sell themselves in the dingy back streets throughout the Russian capital. Moscow's illegal flesh markets are flourishing, with up to 30 women at each pickup point, or tochka, standing in order of price for the night.
Customers light up the lines with their car headlights, and are asked to pay between $100 and $700 for a woman.
Aid workers for groups fighting for women's rights here say Moscow is witnessing a surge in prostitution, including forced prostitution, as a result of Russia's booming economy.
They say thousands of young women are made to work as sex slaves on the city's streets, unable to escape from the ruthless and violent criminal gangs who traffic them.
"It's because of the economic boom they are brought here," says Afsona Kadyrova of the Angel Coalition aid agency, which rehabilitates trafficked women and children. "The fast pace of development in Moscow has fueled demand for a range of cheap workers, including prostitutes."
To investigate the thriving trade, CNN went undercover posing as potential customers and gained access to speak directly to the prostitutes and their pimps.
"Take your pick from any of the girls," the female organizer says at one location, lines of women all around. "The expensive ones are on the right, for $600 and $700 a night. The women on the left are $100."
Aid agencies say many of the women working here are tricked into coming to Moscow on the promise of an education or a good job. They say others are simply kidnapped from their hometowns and forced to work as prostitutes in Moscow.
Russian police acknowledge human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a major problem, saying they do what they can to fight it by raiding brothels suspected of forced prostitution and arresting gang members who run them. But the problem, they say, lies elsewhere.
"First of all, we have virtually open borders, and badly controlled migration flows from nearby countries," says Alexander Krasnov of Russia's Interior Ministry Police.
"Secondly, we still don't have a basic law that defines victims' rights. At the moment, it's mostly aid agencies that deal with it."
Aid agencies say they are handling a growing number of deeply traumatized victims rescued from brothels and pimps in the Moscow area. One U.N. organization, the International Organization for Migration, recently opened a treatment and rehabilitation center to cope with the large numbers of sexually exploited and trafficked women who come for help.
At this center, Christine, a 27-year-old Nigerian woman, tells how she acquired a painful 4-inch scar across her right cheek. She says she was lured to Russia from Nigeria four years ago by her uncle. He promised to give her a college education, she says.
But instead, she says he sent her to a Moscow brothel. He told her "the kind of job I'm going to be doing is prostitution ..."
By Matthew Chance
Article Continues, click link to read. "Young women in bright miniskirts and high heels line up to sell themselves in the dingy back streets throughout the Russian capital. ... more -
Black Market iPhones Being Sold for $1,200 in Russia
MOSCOW - In the Soviet days, Russians asked their American friends to bring blue jeans, rock records and other Western goods into the country. Today Russians can buy almost anything they want here — but they are still begging for one item: Apple Inc.'s slick iPhone.
The new iPhone went on sale in 21 countries July 11 and will soon be released in 70 nations. Officially, Russia and China are still on hold — neither last year's original iPhone nor the updated model have been launched in those countries because Apple is still negotiating with mobile service providers.
And yet analysts estimate that only the U.S. has more iPhone users than Russia and China.
In both countries, the device enjoys super-exclusive status, thanks to a thriving market for "unlocked" iPhones adapted for local use. Even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been seen using one.
Moscow and Beijing have become an iPhone trader's paradise. Russian Web sites were offering the new 3G iPhone for about $1,200, six times the $199 base price in the U.S. Even Apple's first-edition 8-gigabyte iPhone was going for almost as much at Moscow's Gorbushka electronics market this week, though Moscow iPhone owners said a skilled bargain hunter could find one for about $775. MOSCOW - In the Soviet days, Russians asked their American friends to bring blue jeans, rock records and other Western goods into the ... more -
Russia's sex slave industry thrives, rights groups say
Young women in bright miniskirts and high heels line up to sell themselves in the dingy back streets throughout the Russian capital. Moscow's illegal flesh markets are flourishing, with up to 30 women at each pickup point, or tochka, standing in order of price for the night.
Customers light up the lines with their car headlights, and are asked to pay between $100 and $700 for a woman.
Aid workers for groups fighting for women's rights here say Moscow is witnessing a surge in prostitution, including forced prostitution, as a result of Russia's booming economy.
They say thousands of young women are made to work as sex slaves on the city's streets, unable to escape from the ruthless and violent criminal gangs who traffic them. VideoWatch Moscow's thriving sex trade »
"It's because of the economic boom they are brought here," says Afsona Kadyrova of the Angel Coalition aid agency, which rehabilitates trafficked women and children. "The fast pace of development in Moscow has fueled demand for a range of cheap workers, including prostitutes."
To investigate the thriving trade, CNN went undercover posing as potential customers and gained access to speak directly to the prostitutes and their pimps.
"Take your pick from any of the girls," the female organizer says at one location, lines of women all around. "The expensive ones are on the right, for $600 and $700 a night. The women on the left are $100."
Aid agencies say many of the women working here are tricked into coming to Moscow on the promise of an education or a good job. They say others are simply kidnapped from their hometowns and forced to work as prostitutes in Moscow. VideoWatch one woman describe how her uncle duped her into prostitution »
Russian police acknowledge human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a major problem, saying they do what they can to fight it by raiding brothels suspected of forced prostitution and arresting gang members who run them. But the problem, they say, lies elsewhere.
"First of all, we have virtually open borders, and badly controlled migration flows from nearby countries," says Alexander Krasnov of Russia's Interior Ministry Police.
"Secondly, we still don't have a basic law that defines victims' rights. At the moment, it's mostly aid agencies that deal with it."
Aid agencies say they are handling a growing number of deeply traumatized victims rescued from brothels and pimps in the Moscow area. One U.N. organization, the International Organization for Migration, recently opened a treatment and rehabilitation center to cope with the large numbers of sexually exploited and trafficked women who come for help.
At this center, Christine, a 27-year-old Nigerian woman, tells how she acquired a painful 4-inch scar across her right cheek. She says she was lured to Russia from Nigeria four years ago by her uncle. He promised to give her a college education, she says.
But instead, she says he sent her to a Moscow brothel. He told her "the kind of job I'm going to be doing is prostitution."
"I ask him, 'Why prostitution? Why not another job to pay the money?' He says, 'I didn't speak the language. I cannot do any other job.' "
She adds, "It made me feel very bad. I felt that I'm not going to do it over my dead body."
But when she tried to run away, her uncle cut her face, says Christine, who asked that her last name not be used.
"He made me know that if I don't cooperate with him, something bad will happen to me -- that if I made an attempt to run away, it would end in taking my life. So I was really scared about that," she says.
Young women in bright miniskirts and high heels line up to sell themselves in the dingy back streets throughout the Russian capital. M... more
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