Stories from RuNet Echo from April, 2020
Russians under lockdown (re)create famous artworks online
The Izoizolyatsiya photo challenge has become a national obsession. To the RuNet's delight, thousands of Russians are recreating famous artworks using ordinary household items — in hilarious and often bizarre ways.
Prosecutions mount as Russia intensifies fight against COVID-19 ‘fake news’
Russia has made sharing "fake news" a criminal offence. Rights activists fear that charges will be brought against anybody questioning the state's account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Russians launch mass virtual protests using satnav application
People across Russia are logging onto a popular satnav to launch virtual protests. Within hours, the Yandex.Navigator app was showing empty squares and streets of cities in lockdown as "congested"
In Russia's far east, a feminist theatre director comes under attack
Yulia Tsvetkova was building a community in her hometown in Russia's far east — until she was targeted by violent homophobes and a hostile police.
As Russia goes into lockdown, feminists fear an epidemic of domestic violence
Russia is seized by fear of the coronavirus epidemic. But for some Russian women under lockdown, the priority is to survive the epidemic of domestic violence.