Stories about Russia from August, 2005
Russia: Cultural imperialism rivals Disney
Neeka ponders Russia's answer to Walt Disney after seeing a girl in Turkey sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with the cartoon character Masyanya.
Russia: Poetry in popular culture
The Russian Dilettante blogs about Vera Lynn, Pink Floyd and taking popular song lyrics seriously in time of war.
Chechnya: Election monitoring
Chechnya War reports that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is planning to send election monitors to Chechnya for the parliamentary elections in late November.
Russia and the former Soviet states
Registan has an analysis of Russian foreign policy towards the former Soviet states, and the battle for influence in Central Asia.
Russia: Photo blog
Veronica at Neeka's Backlog has posted a gallery of photos of Moscow street scenes, the Moscow State University and river.
Russia: No more cut-rate oil
On a more serious note, Andy (Siberian Light) wonders if reported Russian government plans to stop selling oil at cheap rates to former Soviet states will backfire on the Kremlin.
Russia: How big is your soul?
Andy at Siberian Light took the challenge to see if the size of his soul measured up to that of the Russians. It didn't.
Russia: Kim Jong-il's visit
The Russian Dilettante's four-year-old daughter is spooked by the forthcoming visit of the North Korea's Dear Leader to Russia.
Russia: Suicide in the military
Every month, around 20 people in the Russian armed forces commit suicide, according to a Russian newspaper article translated by Scraps of Moscow.
Russia: “The Flight of the Putin”
Scraps of Moscow comments on local media coverage of Russian president Vladimir Putin's flight in a strategic bomber aircraft during military exercises, saying they can no longer tell the difference...
Russia: The lost universal language
Russian language student Misha Tch at Joy de Vivre considers the possibility that the world's languages are mistaken forms of an original human language.
Russia: Press on Putin
Moscow-based Lyndon Allin has translated Russian-language media reports on whether President Vladimir Putin will, or should, seek a third term in office.
Too many democratic revolutions, Russia complains
Registan takes issue with Russia's complaints about “forcible” democratization in former Soviet states.
Russia & Ukraine: A novel scam…
SiberianLight notes a novel scam: the Ukrainian mafia have started counterfeit mystery book, using the name of a best-selling Russian writer…
Russia: Moscow, where the sacred is profaned
Scraps of Moscow is shocked and amused to see the symbols of Victory Day used to beautify a row of portajohns.
Russia: Shamil Basayev ABC interview – video
SiberianLight points to video of the controversial Shamil Basayev interview. Basayev is a Chechen warlord who was interviewed by a freelancer for the American TV network ABC; in response to...
Russia: Way to Go, Russia!
The Russian blog Joy de Vivre applauds the Kremlin's decision to withdraw the accreditation of ABC journalists following the broadcast of an interview with Chechen leader Shamil Basayev.
