Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from June, 2013
Pavel Durov, Founder of Russia's #1 Social Network, Is Not Going to Prison (For Now)
It looks like Pavel Durov can finally return to Russia without a prison sentence threatening from overhead. That seems to be the case, now that Petersburg detectives have closed their inquiry into Durov's alleged involvement in an April 5 traffic accident that forced "Russia's Zuckerberg" to flee the country two months ago.
Putin Loses His First Lady & RuNet Snarks
A three-person TV crew from Russia 24 standing in an empty Kremlin hallway, the black-suited reporter with her arms awkwardly crossed—that was the initial audience to Vladimir Putin’s announcement today, that he and his wife Lyudmila have split.
Russians & Cigarettes: A Hard Goodbye
The Russian government aims to end Russia's love affair with cigarettes, and a new law passed June 1 will ban smoking in a wide array of public spaces, paving the way to even stricter regulations in the future. Not everyone in the Russian blogosphere, however, is happy about it.
Police Brutality in Macedonia: Two Years On
On Thursday, June 6, in the center of Skopje, the Movement Against Police Brutality will mark two years since the murder of Martin Neshkovski, which sparked massive grassroots protests in Macedonia in the summer of 2011. The Facebook event [mk] about the memorial service states: On Thursday, June 6, at...
The Moscow Mayoral Election Will Test Russia's Internet Culture
With Sergey Sobyanin's surprising announcement that he is calling for snap mayoral elections in Moscow this September, the city's urban Internet-connected class will be put to the test of real world political mobilization.
All Hail Russia's Heroic Cop-Killers?
A group of unknown assailants is killing police officers in Rostov. Authorities have linked the same stolen weapons to the slayings of 5 officers, in attacks that resemble a wave of cop-killings from 2008 and 2009 that claimed 12 lives. The criminals’ tactics have led many to compare them to the infamous Primorsky Partisans, a self-declared "guerilla group" that terrorized the police of Russia’s Far East in early 2010.
Istanbul Protests Through the Eyes of a Ukrainian Journalist
As the anti-government protests and police brutality in Turkey are making top headlines globally, many Ukrainians have started to follow the situation there with much interest, expressing support and admiration for the peaceful protesters. Their primary source of updates, photos and insight from Istanbul is Ukrainian journalist Osman Pashayev, the Istanbul bureau chief of the Crimean Tatar ATR TV channel.
Serbian High-School Students Trade Prom for Charity
The students of Pirot High School wore plain T-shirts to their graduating prom and gave the money they would have spent on dresses and suits to three children with disabilities in their community instead. Danica Radisic reports.
Is the Russian Opposition Playing a Losing Hand?
Blogger, professional poker player, and municipal deputy Maxim Katz has left the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition. Has the Russian opposition's e-democracy experiment failed?
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