Stories about Russian from June, 2011
Moldova: Diplomatic Controversy Marks Russia Day
The official diplomatic celebrations preceding Russia Day in Moldova have sparked controversies that verge on a diplomatic scandal. Diana Lungu reports on the details of the scandal and translates reactions of some of the Moldovan bloggers.
Kazakhstan: Setting Up Borders Online
Earlier this week Kazakhstani internet users began to observe a curious phenomenon. Google.kz now redirects to the main Google.com website with a Kazakh language interface.
Russia: 6 Months of Suspended Sentence and a Destroyed Laptop for a Forum Comment
Yuri Yegorov, blogger from Tatarstan and a former employee of the regional government, has been sentenced with 6 months of suspended sentence for a libelling, openinform.ru reported [ru]. Additionally, the...
Russia: Microsoft Representative ‘Would Be Glad’ To Provide FSB with Skype Source Code
Nikolay Pryanishnikov, president of “Microsoft-Russia,” said ‘he would be glad’ to provide Federal Security Service (FSB) with the source code of Skype, after the corporation finalizes the deal. Some media...
Russia: Bloggers’ Quest For Freedom of Photography
Ilya Varlamov and Dmitry Ternovsky continue [ru] (see also feature article by Will Partlett) their quest for the freedom of photography. This time they visited three Moscow railway stations to check,...
Russia: Life Of Central Asian Labor Migrants in Moscow
Photoblogger dervishrv posts pictures [ru] of Central Asian migrants’ living conditions in Moscow. Gastarbeiters, as they're called by Muscovites, live in abandoned houses, basements, often illegally.
Ukraine: Censoring Facebook? (Updated)
Tetyana Bohdanova reports on the case of Mykola Sukhomlyn, a Ukrainian blogger and one of the most popular Facebook users, whose Facebook account was terminated on June 1, 2011.
Russia: Journalists Discuss Possible Closure of “Izvestia” Newspaper
Nataly Oss [ru] and Ksenia Larina [ru] discuss possible closure of “Izvestia,” once “a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper.” The control over the newspaper was taken over by Inews (publisher of a popular online...
Belarus: Security Services Arrest Administrators of Major Opposition Vkontakte Groups
Several administrators of opposition groups at Vkontakte network were detained, Nasha Niva reported [by]. Sergey Pavlukevich [by], administrator of “We Stand for Great Belarus” [by] (123,000 members, functional although some...
Armenia: Not so SuperJet
Russian LiveJournal user Zyalt [RU] posts photographs and comments on his arrival in Yerevan, Armenia. In particular, though, the blogger notes that furnishings inside the new Sukhoi SuperJet 100 he...
Russia: Apocalyptic Video of Ammunition Blast Near Izhevsk City
YouTube user Malsagoff publishes a shocking video [ru] of ammunition blast on Pugachevo military base near Izhevsk city. So far 48 people hospitalized, unofficial sources report [ru] 18 dead.
Russia: Social Networks and Civic Mobilisation
What effect can the rapid development of social networks, the growth of the number of users, and the strengthening of their capacity for social impact and mobilisation have, and when? Marina Litinovich analyses the factors contributing to public mobilisation via social networks.
Russia: 13 Non-Political Claims to the Government
LJ-user skitalets sums up [ru] common claims to the Russian government: hypocrisy and amorality, lack of vision, amateurishness, fear of change, ‘psychology of a petty hooligan’ towards neighbors, deafness in...
Russia: Exposing the Private Side of Lawlessness
Will Partlett writes about young Russian activists who, with the help of a digital camera and a copy of the applicable law, have exposed the private side to the arbitrary exercise of power in Russia.
Russia: Civic Activists Launch ‘Anti-Seliger,’ Open Air Civil Society Forum
Alexey Navalny and Yevgenia Chirikova, famous civic (and digital) activists published [ru] a video-invitation to Anti-Seliger (reference to the annual event organized at Lake Seliger by pro-Kremlin youth movement “Nashi”)....
