Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Russians light up sparklers in front of St. Basil's Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the coming of 2010. This is the last Russia Profile experts’ panel of the year. It is already our tradition to try to assess the most important results of the year for Russia’s economic policy, its democratic development, and its position in world affairs. What has Russia accomplished in 2009? How does it fare, compared to other countries, in terms of battling the global economic crisis? Has the country become more open and democratic in 2009? And did President Dmitry Medvedev show in 2009 that he has a realistic plan for Russia? Read the story here.