Stories from RuNet Echo from July, 2012
Russia: Sveta from Ivanovo to NTV
NTV has announced [ru] that RuNet sensation and Nashi member Svetlana Kuritsyna will host a weekly TV show where she interviews Russia's “greatest newsmakers.” Kuritsyna is known online as “Sveta from Ivanovo” and is infamous for her incoherent and widely mocked pro-Kremlin comments from a December 2011 YouTube video [ru] (now with...
Russia: Online Platforms Coordinating Aid for Flood Victims
Floods in Kuban have completely destroyed 640 homes, with more than 5,000 partially submerged. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Crisis Centre, 150 have been killed as of July 8.
Russia: Pussy Riot Members Remain in Jail
Amnesty International started a sms action campaign calling for the release of three jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot. The women — Nadezhda, Maria and Ekaterina — were detained after performing an anti-Putin song in a church in Moscow back in February. An announcement on their blog [ru]...
Russia: A Great Firewall to Censor the RuNet?
The Russian language section of Wikipedia suspended service today in protest against a draft law now under review by the Russian parliament that many believe threatens the RuNet with censorship. Kevin Rothrock reports on the political context and details of the legislation.
Russia: Netizens Respond Online and Offline to Devastating Krymsk Floods
On July 6-7, more than 170 people died in the devastating floods in the south of Russia. Bloggers have been arguing about possible causes of the tragedy in the hardest-hit town of Krymsk; many are already there as volunteers and journalists, and much of the current online discussion focuses on the relief effort, too.
Russia: Parkhomenko Chronicles Krymsk Statements
In a widely shared Facebook post [ru], journalist Sergei Parkhomenko lists a series of contradictory official statements by the Russian authorities about the flooding in Krymsk, arguing that the state is flip-flopping and deceiving the public.
Russia: Krymsk Footage & the Reservoir's Owners
Krasnodar environmental activist Suren Gazarian blogs videos from the wreckage in Krymsk, dismissing the theory [ru] that the flooding was caused by water released from the Neberdzhaevsky Reservoir. Marina Litvinovich, meanwhile, provides background [ru] on the reservoir's corporate ownership, including recent criminal charges against members of its board of directors.
Russia: Krymsk Floodgate Conspiracies
In the aftermath of flooding in Krymsk that has claimed over 140 lives, bloggers debate whether officials are to blame for water that may have been released from a nearby reservoir. Evgeny Shultz tries to debunk [ru] this theory, whereas local Yulia Andropova claims [ru] that her father was present when the...