Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from January, 2014
Blogger and Commando Argue Russian Terrorism
As the Sochi Olympics approach, some bloggers argue about who is behind terrorist attacks, most of which take place in the part of Russia closest to the games.
Ukraine Stifles Freedom of Speech, Peaceful Protest With New Law
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law that openly restricts free speech, peaceful protest and free communications in the country, leaving citizens and journalists outraged.
The Sad Fate of Multimillionaire Marriages in Russian Officialdom
Russia’s leading anti-corruption blogger, Alexey Navalny, is making waves again with his latest online work, a series of allegations against Maxim Liksutov, the head of Moscow’s department of transportation.
Looking Back at Russia's Divided New Year Celebration
President Putin delivered two New Year's addresses in 2013 -- one for Russia's Far East, and another for the rest of the country.
Facebook Teams Up with Russia's Top Search Engine
Scholars and researchers of the Russian Internet can rejoice this week, for Russia's leading search engine, Yandex.ru, is now the second website in the world, after Bing in the United States, to gain access to Facebook firehose data [ru]. This means that Yandex can now search Facebook's streaming API and provide live...
Russia’s Parliament Prepares New “Anti-Terrorist” Laws for Internet
Another Internet crackdown looms in Russia, where the Duma is reviewing three new pieces of “anti-terror” legislation that could place hefty restrictions on the activities of websites and civil society.
Russia's Foreign Ministry Opines on “Queers”
While the translation is labelled as "unofficial," Russia watchers were somewhat taken aback that a homophobic slur could end up on a government website.
New DDoS Attacks on Websites Monitoring Ukrainian #Euromaidan Protests
Vasyl Pawlowsky, an independent consultant and English-language curator of Maidan Monitoring, a website set up and maintained specifically for following events and news from Euromaidan protests in several cities throughout Ukraine, reports in a blog post that the crowdsourced site is not available due to a DDoS attack, allegedly organized...
Human Rights Violations During Ukraine's #Euromaidan Protests
One of many newly set up blogs following Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, which have entered their second month, has collected several graphic images of injured, bleeding protesters from the past several weeks of protests and speaks of the disturbing violations of basic human rights, such as beatings of citizens and...
Hockey, Diving for Crosses and Other Christmas-in-January Traditions
While Christians in the Western hemisphere celebrate Christmas in December, most Orthodox and Coptic Christians mark the birth of Christ in early January, from Eastern Europe to North Africa.
Russia Bans All Liquids on Aircraft
In the aftermath of the twin bombings in Volgograd before the New Year's holiday, Russia’s Transportation Ministry revised its rules on what airline passengers can bring on board.
Monitoring the Russian Internet for Big Bucks
The Russian Federal Protective Service is asking software developers to design a system that automatically monitors the country’s news and social media, producing reports that study netizens’ political attitudes.
7 Theories of Why Putin Freed Khodorkovsky
Illarionov has devoted special attention to Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s unexpected release from prison last December, and his most recent piece on the subject itemizes several different explanations for Putin’s sudden decision.
Prominent Russian Actor Asks Putin to Recriminalize Sodomy
A prominent Russian actor, Ivan Okhlobystin, is making headlines for his latest homophobic act: a public letter addressed to Vladimir Putin, asking the President to recriminalize sodomy in Russia.
A Russian Sex Slave's Suicide in Astrakhan
No one saw Galia Borisenko for until New Year's, when she appeared at her grandmother’s, gaunt and disoriented, and claiming to have survived almost 6 months as a sex slave.
Russians on the Return of Sherlock
Of all of the writers to have captured the Russian imagination, there is perhaps none greater than Arthur Conan Doyle, the Scottish creator of the "Sherlock Holmes" stories.
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
