· June, 2006

Stories about Russia from June, 2006

Russia: Cheburashka Existed For Real

  30 June 2006

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about the cartoon character Cheburashka, its creator Eduard Uspenskiy and a new finding that claims that Cheburashka “actually did exist in reality.”

Russia: Article on Chechnya

  30 June 2006

Sean Guillory discusses (and recommends) an article by Anne Neistat, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, on her recent trip to Chechnya's capital Grozny.

Russia: Family Histories

  30 June 2006

Brigid of Laughter in the Dark post a moving story about sharing family histories with Katia, an archive employee in Smolensk.

Russia: Four Diplomats Killed in Iraq

Four Russian diplomats were taken hostage and killed in Iraq, one more died shortly after the attack. Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about the lack of coverage of the incident and posts a link to the video of the execution. Sean Guillory writes about the connection between these killings...

Russia: Photographs Critiqued

  28 June 2006

Wu Wei writes about Simon Roberts’ photos of Russia published in Granta and some of the realities they convey: “I know what he means, but I'm not sure he really succeeds. Where is the dignity in most of these pictures when you know enough about the background.”

Belarus: Stencil Graffiti

  27 June 2006

A new LJ community has been created: by_stencil – “Belarusian stencil REVOLUTION” (BEL, RUS) It includes photos of both political and apolitical stencil graffiti in Belarus. One photo is from Warsaw, however, taken near the Centrum metro station: “Stop Lukashenko,” says the writing in Polish, next to the portrait of...

Azerbaijan: Statue Protest

In light of a protest in Moscow against a statue of Heydar Aliev, the first Turkic Politburo member and the former President of Azerbaijan, Denise of neweurasia argues that Russia must take steps to treat its Azeri residents better to ensure a good image in Azerbaijan, if for no other...

Russia: Butovo Land Dispute

  23 June 2006

The recent land dispute between Moscow city authorities and residents of Butovo, a suburb just outside the capital's beltway (MKAD), included such dramatic elements as a tent camp, bulldozers and riot police. Ilya Yashin (LJ user yashin), leader of the youth wing of the Russian social-liberal party Yabloko, writes about...

Russia: Comparing the Chechen War to Iraq

  21 June 2006

Sean Guillory analyzes whether the war in Iraq can be compared to the war in Chechnya: “And I’m sure American politicians and policy makers would be delighted to have the problems Putin has in Chechnya. But as the current moment shows both Iraq and Chechnya are worlds apart. Still, a...

Russia: Vacation Destinations, Home & Abroad

  21 June 2006

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about the myth of the hordes of Russians vacationing abroad, and about Sochi, “the only opportunity to enjoy the “Riviera” for many Russian businessmen and officials who either do not have enough time to go abroad or cannot leave Russia, because they will be...

Russia: Causes of Death Statistics

  21 June 2006

The Poster of Ruminations on Russia cites Russians’ causes of death statistics from 1980 to 2004: “Delighted to see that less people are dying of “accidental alcohol poisoning” – that would be drinking themselves to death to you and I.”

Ukraine: “The Cars” With Ukrainian Voiceover; Local TV

  20 June 2006

LJ user didaio of Dnipropetrovsk writes about two recent viewing experiences: one good, another bad. The good one was The Cars with the long-awaited voiceover in Ukraine's national language – instead of (or in addition to) Russian; the bad one was the Ukrainian TV programming that all those who can't...