Stories about Russian from June, 2011
Belarus: Report from Another Non-Violent Protest Event
Belarus Partizan publishes [ru] a detailed report (with photos and videos) on another non-violent protest action (#2906v1900 [ru/by]) in Belarus that took place on June 29, 2011. Police assisted by 3 buses of civilian police helpers (‘druzhinnik‘) and 2 BTRs detained nearly 100 participants. The next action organized by the net-based “Future...
Russia: Propagandist Videos Against Alexey Navalny Flood RuNet
Anti-corruption blogger Alexey Navalny publishes [ru] examples of propagandist videos against him. One video claims [ru] (150,000 views) Navalny is mentally ill and needs help from a Dr Kurpatov, famous TV star. The other [ru] (152,000 views) – that Navalny is an American spy literally filled with dollars. Both techniques...
Russia / Afghanistan: Photos From A School in Kabul
Photoblogger zyalt publishes [ru] pictures from a school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Schools have neither electricity nor water. Students are forced to get into classrooms after breaks by class monitors. Despite all this, comprehensive education would be unimaginable in Afghanistan just ten years ago, blogger writes.
Russia: New Research Shows Almost No Gender Difference in Web Search Patterns
‘Search activity of men and women is almost the same,’ says [ru] the new research of web search behavior by Yandex. Women search online a little more, add to search queries colors and locations. Men tend to use Latin script twice more often than women. Men search mostly about IT...
Russia: ‘Nerds On Yachts’ Photo Session
Talented photoblogger Tanya Zommer publishes [ru] another photo session with ‘nerds,’ this time with Mediterranean scenery.
Russia/Moldova: Eduard Bagirov, Internet Hooligan, Arrested in Moldova
Bloggers discuss [ru] the 30-day arrest [ru] of Eduard Bagirov [ru], writer and a blogger close to pro-Kremlin propagandists, in Moldova. Oleg Kozyrev says [ru], Bagirov's arrest is connected with his activity as a commentator on Moldova unrest in 2009. Kommersant, however, provides [ru] the official Moldovan version – Bagirov (known...
Kazakhstan: HIV-positive prisoners demanding respect
Avicenna reports that a group of HIV-positive prisoners from High Security Prison in Kazakhstan are complaining about discriminatively poor food provision and medical care.
Video: Celebrating the Solstice
The celebrations for Summer and Winter Solstices were full of lanterns, dances, flowers and bonfires. Lets tour around the world to check out the different celebrations: Solstice at Stonehenge, Feast of Saint John's bonfires in Spain, Inti Raymi in Peru, we tripantu in Chile and Kupala Day in Russia or Midsummer's night in Poland.
Russia: Deciphering Covert “Bath Salt” Drug Advertisements
LJ-user re3 writes [ru] about covert drug graffiti (e.g. “Aromatic salt – call center 24 hours”). Graffiti look like regular guerrilla ads air sprayed on the building walls. They, however, advertise fast delivery of the so called “Bath Salt” drug. The blogger claims whole Urals region is filled with such ads, some of which, might be...
Russia: Actors Accuse Yuri Lyubimov, Taganka's Lead Director, of Greed and Lack of Respect
LJ-user tanjakaverzina brings up [ru] the dialogue of Yuri Lyubimov, Russian theater director who had recently declared he quits Taganka theater, with the actors. The actors claim [ru] the reason of the conflict is Lyubimov's greed and authoritarianism. Stas Sadalskiy, famous blogger and actor, comments [ru]: “the actors took this step after a...
Belarus: Police Crack Down on Minsk Protest
A non-violent rally in Minsk, organized via a social network, ended up with more than 450 people detained. Arrests, trials and numerous detentions, however, do not appear to have stopped the protesters.
Russia: Fire at Toxic Waste Disposal Site Near St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg-based LJ user timoha-spb and Twitter users @Zak_r2 and @theproof are among those who are posting photos [ru] of smoke from the fire at the Krasnyi Bor toxic waste disposal site.
Kazakhstan: Fighting Internet Piracy
Kazakhstan is undergoing a new scandalous development with regards the Internet – this time about regulation of copyright online. On 29 April, 2011, a special roundtable that brought together lawyers, industry representatives and state bodies took place, where the “three strikes method” of fighting piracy was presented.
Russia: The Origins of Anti-Clericalism in the Blogosphere
T.Chumakova at portal-credo.ru writes [ru] about anti-clericalism in the LiveJournal communities. She distinguishes 5 types of anti-clerical users and lists the origins of the phenomenon: 1. “Influence of neo-pagans, Old Style Believers, Protestants, and other ‘external agents’,” 2. Lack of religious education, 3. Transformation of the Orthodox church into the ritual...
“Russia For All” Exhibition Sparks Off Discussions On Russian Identity
Bloggers actively discuss [ru] “Russia For All” [ru, .pdf] exhibition. Viktor Bondarenko and Dmitri Gutov, the authors, aim to combat the nationalist slogan “Russia for Russians.” Each painting contains a name of a well-known historical person and his/her ethnic origin. In the numerous discussions around the blogosphere, netizens ask a question,...
Russia: Video Reports From Anti-Seliger, Opposition Summer Camp
Oleg Kozyrev publishes a series of video reports [ru] from Anti-Seliger, a summer camp situated in the endangered Khimki city forest park. “The bloggers’ Woodstock” united digital activists, environmentalists, and opposition politicians.
Russia: Ministry's Online Blunders
Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs has recently started to mobilise on the Internet and in the past weeks two important events have taken place in the Internet world which have drawn attention to Ministry's activities.
Russia: Yuri Budanov's Assassination Exposes Deep Wounds of Chechen Wars
The June 10 assassination of Yuri Budanov, the former Russian army colonel convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old Chechen woman during the Second Chechen War, has reignited inter-ethnic tensions both online and offline, and reinforced the feeling of bitter disappointment with what appears to be a permanent state of lawlessness in the country.
Russia: New Initiative to Enforce TV Morality
An initiative to create a Public Oversight Board for media control in Russia may seem like a passage from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four but it is a reality in the country, which still struggles to accept the concept of democracy and free speech.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss the Fall of Russian Newspapers
A spate of firings at the nearly century old Russian daily Izvestia as well as the online news site Gzt.ru has journalist appealing to the public for their jobs, as the blogosphere questions the merits of the “old guard” journalists.
Belarus: Crowdsourced DDoS Attack Attempts to Put Down President's Website
The website of Belorusian president Alexander Lukashenko is under attack by a crowdsourced DDoS attack hosted by PutinVzrivayetDoma.org, lenta.ru reported [ru]. @putinvzrivaet explained the purpose[ru]: “Because he [Lukashenko] had blew such a country.” Previously, Ukraine-based @putinvzrivaet scheduled attacks on many other commercial and political websites. So far, however, presidential website is accessible.
