Stories about Russian from March, 2008
Belarus: Freedom Day Protest
On Tuesday, March 25, police broke up an opposition rally in the capital of Belarus, beating protesters with truncheons and detaining dozens of people. Veronica Khokhlova translates two bloggers' first-hand accounts and a foreign political analyst's view on the Belarusian opposition's strategy.
Tajikistan: Politicized Navruz
Navruz is one of the main celebrations for Tajiks. This time — more than ever — it means end of one of the harshest winter in several decades. People could...
Russia: Russians/Americans “are NOT stupid”
Finally, a Russian answer (RUS) to the famous/infamous “Americans are NOT stupid” video (via LJ user maliar, RUS).
Russia: Two Dagestani Journalists Killed
Ilyas Shurpaev, a Dagestani TV journalist who worked for a state-owned federal channel, was found dead Friday in Moscow. Later that day, Gadzhi Abashilov, director of Dagestan's state-owned broadcasting company, was shot to death in Makhachkala, the republic's capital. Below are a few bloggers' reactions to the murders, as well as the translation of Shurpaev's last blog post.
LiveJournal: Bloggers Protest Basic Account Cancellation
Yet again, LJ users are in distress. Unlike the previous times, however, the current situation involves both the Russian-language and the English-language segments of LiveJournal. It all began when LiveJournal's management announced that no account created after March 12, 2008, could be turned into a free-of-charge and ad-free Basic Account. Today, some Anglophone and Russophone LJ users protest against this unpopular measure.
Kazakhstan: Oddities of the Digital Present
In the most recent counple of weeks the Kazakhstani blogosphere – usually heavily politicized – was focused more on the developments in telecoms sector and Internet-related novelties in Kazakhstan. The...
Kyrgyzstan: LBGT community video answer to Russian Orthodox Church´s homophobic comments.
The videocast created by the LBGT community's Labrys organization in Kyrgyzstan in response to homophobic Russian Orthodox Church's statements and which was viewed more than 409 times within the first 15 hours of being uploaded has been dubbed and subtitled into English.
Kyrgyzstan: Fed up with protests?
Kyrgyz bloggers have been actively elaborating on the Kyrgyz government's initiative to make March 24 – the day of popular uprising in 2005 – a national holiday. The amendment was...
Russia: Natalia Morar's Domodedovo Ordeal
Below is the translation of journalist Natalia Morar's first blog post since her departure from Russia, published on March 4. Morar, a citizen of Moldova, was "barred from entering Russia in December on a secret Federal Security Service order" and was denied entry into Moscow again last week, spending three days in detention at Moscow's Domodedovo airport with her husband, a Russian citizen.
Israel, Soviet History: Pictures From the Exhibition on Refuseniks
Pictures from an exhibition on the Soviet refuseniks at the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv – by LJ user mozgovaya (Israeli journalist Natasha Mozgovaya). (Text in Russian.)
Ukraine: ParkLikeIdiot.com.ua
If anyone, for some reason, needs a sign saying this in Ukrainian – “Attention! I park like an idiot, stay away from me!” – you can download it here. Created...
Russia: Journalism and Politics in Chechnya
LJ user oleg_panfilov (of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations) reports (RUS) that Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov has joined the Russian Union of Journalists. LJ user timur_aliev, on the...
Kyrgyzstan: From Santamania to “Subbotnik”
During the last two weeks, the Kyrgyz blogosphere has come up with a bunch of interesting articles, funny and witty comments along with bright photos of Santa Claus First Winter...
Russia: Notes on the Post-Election Protest Rallies
On Monday, riot police in Moscow arrested dozens of people who attempted to take part in an unauthorized post-election protest rally. Below are several Russian bloggers' reactions, translated from Russian.
Russia: Photos from St. Petersburg Rally
LJ user shavu posts pictures – here, here, here, and here – from the post-election rally in St. Petersburg, which, unlike the one in Moscow, did take place.
Russia: Two Photos of Riot Police and Protesters
LJ user nl posts two photos from the post-election protest rally in Moscow: riot police dragging away a bespectacled woman and her daughter – and riot police dragging away a...
Russia: Video from the Rally in Moscow
LJ user dmitryhorse posts a video in the ru_politics LJ community from the post-election protest rally in Moscow, during which riot police detained dozens of people.
Russia: Remembering Deportation Victims; “Dzhigit Day”
Ingush blogger kaloy writes about mourning the victims of the 1944 mass deportations by Stalin - and about celebrating manhood in Ingushetia.
Russia: “An Echo of Moscow”
Lyndon Allin translates a piece by Roman Gruzov that was supposed to appear in the Moscow weekly Bolshoi Gorod, but instead was published on BG's editor's blog.
