Stories about Russian from August, 2011
Russia: Chamber of Accounts’ Leak Exposes Significant Financial Violations
Anti-corruption blogger ipasserby had analyzed [ru] over 100 classified documents of the Russian Chamber of Accounts that had accidentally leaked to the Web in July 2011. According to the blogger,...
Russia: Why We Are Leaving Our Country Behind
Recent months have seen a new spin on the topic of emigration that seems to be ever-present in the Russian online space. Several powerful blog posts written by people from different social groups have become a platform for expressing one's take on the present and future of the country and people's place in it.
Russia: Bloggers React to the Storming of Tripoli
Compared to April 2011, when Global Voices first analyzed Russian reactions on the conflict, opinions seem to be more polarised now; bloggers had divided into two distinctive groups of supporters and opponents of Colonel Gaddafi. Alexey Sidorenko investigates.
Russia: Content Analysis of Party Manifestos
LJ-user schegloff analyses [ru] party manifestos of the Russian parties using Wordle word clouds. “Opposition can be identified by the word “must,” patriots by the word “Russia,” ruling party by the...
Russia: Shark Attacks in Vladivostok
Russia is not known for sharks attacks, but this summer a number of incidents have occurred. Masha Egupova reports, and examines the blogosphere's response to the recent spate of shark attacks in the Russian Far East.
Russia: HIV Activists Protest Against Medicine Shortages
Vitaliy Ragulin posts pictures [ru] of HIV activists rallying in front of the President's Staff office. The activists accused the Ministry of Health care in poor HIV/AIDS politics, and, more...
Russia: Cigarettes Branded for Young Women Spark Controversy
A recent advertising campaign and carton redesign by one of Russia’s largest tobacco manufacturers has riled Russan bloggers and sparked a debate on responsible marketing and advertising. Ashley Cleek looks into the issue.
Russia: Court Rules Out to Block An Undisclosed LiveJournal Account
Samara city court had ordered a local ISP to block an undisclosed blog at LiveJournal platform that ‘incites hatred towards an ethnic and social (professional) group,’ the website of Samara...
Kazakhstan: Controversy Over State Language Promotion
In early August 2011, the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan developed a draft law to introduce some amendments into the state's language policy. It was quickly labeled by many observers as a move to further reduce the scope of use of the Russian language, which enjoys equal status with the Kazakh language, according to the Constitution.
Georgia: Social Media Used by Presidential Election Candidate in Breakaway Region
Three candidates are competing this week for the presidency in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and Vanuatu. Despite being the oldest candidate, Sergei Shamba, born in 1951, turned to social media in order to attract support from voters online.
Uzbekistan: Journalist Harassed in Tashkent Airport
Elena Bondar, Young Uzbek journalist, was detained at the arrival to Tashkent airport after attending a course on modern journalism tools, organized by OSCE and Deutsche Welle in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Fergana News...
Russia: Police Refused To Start the Criminal Prosecution Against LiveJournal DDoS Attackers
Russian police acknowledged the DDoS-attacks against LiveJournal blogging platform in April 2011, but refused to start a criminal prosecution against the attackers, gazeta.ru reported [ru]. Police wrote to the source...
Russia: “Democracy Without Balls”
Oleg Klimov writes [ru] that Mikhail Gorbachev, speaking on the 20th anniversary of the Soviet Union's collapse, said that “Putin is no dictator – he has just castrated democracy by...
Russia: Bloggers Remember 20th Anniversary of August Coup
On August 19, Russians commemorate 20 years since the "August Putsch," a failed coup d'etat conducted by a number of KGB officers and military units who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and decentralisation of power to the Soviet republics. Citizens took to the streets to defend democracy, and bloggers are remembering their efforts.
Kyrgyzstan: Bloggers Take a Stand Against Manas-pulation
As Kyrgyzstan prepares for its 20th anniversary of independence and subsequent presidential elections, its legendary warrior king Manas is becoming more and more real by the day. Bloggers discuss the phenomenon.
Russia: New Legislation to Allow “Creative Commons” License
Russian Communication Ministry submitted to President Medvedev a project for legislation update that would allow using “Creative Commons” (CC) copyright license in Russia, newspaper Vedomosti reports [ru]. The project is...
Russia: Prokhorov Launches Pravoe Delo Pre-election Campaign
Kevin Rothrock of A Good Treaty presents an extensive analysis on billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov and his Kremlin-close opposition party Pravoe Delo [ru], as the party joins an intensifying campaign to...
Russia: Babe Armies of Putin, Medvedev and Limonov
Gerhard Mangott reports [ger] that the use of Russian pre-election campaign videos with scantily clad girls now has spread from Prime Minister Putin [ru], via President Medvedev [ru], to National...
Ukraine: Basic Language Tips
The Kalpak shares some Ukrainian language tips that should “help with basic sign reading that a new visitor to Ukraine will need to do in order to navigate around Kyiv.”
Russia: A Psycho-Neurological Patient's Photo Stories
Pasha Kyshtymov, a lifelong psycho-neurological patient in Siberia, cannot communicate through speech, but had no problems learning to express himself through photography. On his blog, the Russian photographer Oleg Klimov has documented the poignant impromptu experience of teaching Pasha to share his worldview with others.
Syria: World Cities Rally Against and For Bashar
Events in Syria are being echoed around the world. Syrians in the diaspora rallied in the majority of the cities in the world, either asking to overthrow Bashar Al Assad and his regime or chanting their love to their leader. Check out this video round up for footage from demonstrations worldwide.
