Stories from RuNet Echo from July, 2013
Brutal Attack on Moscow Cop Reignites Russian Ethnic Tensions
Russia rarely enjoys any stretch of time without some news event involving ghastly violence between ethnic Russians and ethnic minorities.
Can Pirates Save the Russian Internet?
Judging from attendance at recent demonstrations, Russian supporters of internet freedom have their work cut out for them if they want to move their cause from online to offline.
Laughing at Putin's Pike
Vladimir Putin's presidential photo-ops, which grow more absurd with each passing year. In his latest publicity stunt, Putin joined Prime Minister and Defense Minister on a fishing trip in Krasnoyarsk.
A Jewish Russian Mayoral Candidate Even the Nazis Can Love
With his half Jewish heritage, Evgeny Roizman would be an unlikely political star in Russia, were he anyone but Evgeny Roizman.
Ethnic Slurs Haunt Alexey Navalny
Alexey Navalny came under harsh criticism from Russian opposition movement colleagues just days after he was released from Kirov jail, and as soon as it became clear that he would continue to run for mayor of Moscow throughout the appeals process for his 5-year long prison sentence.
Has Alexey Navalny Really Changed Russian Politics?
If convicted activist and Moscow mayoral candidate Navalny has in fact rejuvenated Russian politics, what does that look like online, where his support base is supposedly strongest?
The Terrifying Potential of a Post-Navalny Russia
On the eve of being sentenced to a five-year term in a penal colony, Alexey Navalny blogged as irreverently as ever.
Russian Nationalists Score Victory in Opposition Council
The Coordinating Council of the Opposition has released a statement on the ethnic clashes and protests taking place in the town of Pugachev.
Russian Blood on the Asphalt, Armenian Hands on the Wheel
A fatal bus crash that killed 18 has heightened anti-immigrant tensions in Russia.
With Russian Netizens Like These, Who Needs Trolls?
Pavel Astakhov, Russia's children's ombudsman, blithely raises the possibility of sending Russian orphans to be adopted in the North Caucasus. Again.
Snowden Airport Saga Polarizes Russian Human Rights Community
Are some of Russia's human right defenders guilty of letting the Kremlin score a few PR points?
Fear and Censorship in Russia's Huffington Post
PublicPost, an internet news publication that for a time sought to become the Russian Huffington Post, met its end last month, when it became the latest in a series of innovative online media to be shut down this year.
Vigilante Justice & Race Riots in Provincial Russia
A bar fight that broke out last weekend between two young men in a small town of Pugachev in Russia’s central Saratov region, ended with racial violence.
Egypt's “People's Revolution” in the Eyes of Russians
As with past protests in the region, Russians have been actively following the events in Egypt.
Crooks, Thieves and the Independent Mayors Who Run Russia
The mayor of Yaroslavl will spend the next two months behind bars on extortion charges. A former United Russia member who ran as an opposition-friendly independent, Evgeny Urlashov won the mayor’s seat roughly a year ago in a highly publicized election that seemed to mark a highpoint in the 2011-2012-winter protest movement.
The New Despicableness of Doubting Navalny
Alexey Navalny's closing statement in a trial that could land him in prison for up to six years was a stinging, poignant speech against the current government, which he called a “feudal regime.” The popular anti-corruption blogger and opposition leader stands accused of embezzling $500 thousand worth of lumber from...
How Edward Snowden Divides Russians
When Edward Snowden left Hong Kong for Moscow, it placed Russia at the center of what had primarily been an American story. For Russians, his prolonged stay in Sheremetyevo has turned the question of what should be done with him from academic to practical, as his fate now rests largely in Russia's hands.
Russia's #1 Social Network Attacked Abroad
On June 26, 2013 VKontakte co-founder Nikolai Durov reported that Ukrainian authorities have seized the company's Ukrainian servers.
The Day Russia's Libraries Stood Still
On July 2, 2013 three of Russia's popular online libraries blocked user access to their websites and collections as a way to protest a new law aimed at combating internet piracy: "On their side is money, power and congenital brain failure. On ours -- technology, science and the aspirations of millions of people."
Russia's Amnesty Proposal Tests Entrepreneurial Attitudes
Boris Titov, the Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights, has proposed an amnesty program for economic crimes. Under his plan, some 10,000 men and women incarcerated for economic crimes would be freed. Not everyone on the RuNet, however, thinks it's such a great idea.
