Stories about Russia from February, 2007
Soviet History: Chechen and Ingush Deportations
J. Otto Pohl writes about the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from their homeland 63 years ago.
Russia: New Magazine
Russian Marketing Blog writes about iVAN, a strange new Russian magazine: “Most of magazine’s article are dialogues between Ivan and experts in six areas: photo, video, audio, computers, play consoles, home cinemas, cars, gadgets and mobile phones. ‘Ivan follows the search algorithm of a typical college educated, 25-45 aged male’...
Russia: Moscow Night Clubs
Two-Zero reviews Moscow's club scene – here and here: “There we were, 3 Westerners with Berlin style club wear against a huge club full of young and mostly beautiful rich Russians with any designerwear you could think off.”
Russia: Moscow Foreigners
The Turkish Invasion offers a classification of foreigners seen in the streets of Moscow.
Russia: Feb. 23; Hatred for Bush
How do young men of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk celebrate the Army Day? Why do Russians hate George W. Bush? Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert answers these questions – here and here.
Russia: Nashi “Hunt the Dollar” in Kaliningrad
“…the strong rouble message is obviously good for Russian’s self-esteem,” writes Copydude (and the weak dollar news is probably even better): more on the “Hunt The Dollar” spectacle by the Kaliningrad's Nashi branch is here.
Russia: Post-Putin Future Discussed
Scraps of Moscow, Sean's Russia Blog, and Robert Amsterdam discuss this New York Times Magazine piece on Russia's post-Putin future.
Russia: Feb. 23
Thadhaea and Scraps of Moscow desribe what the Army Day in Russia feels and looks like.
Russia: One Blogger's Dream Come True
LJ user bogomolov (Aleksandr Bogomolov, a Russian journalist) shares this story about a dream come true (RUS): An old joke, very good, very clever: Two Soviet violinists are in the same train compartment, on the way back home from abroad, from an international music competition. The first one, a “plainclothes”...
Europe: Pre-Lent Celebrations
Wu Wei writes on Pancakes racing in Britain on Shrove Tuesday, Uzgavenes in Lithuania, Maslenitsa in Russia, and Kurentovanje in Slovenia. Nami-Nami shares a recipe of Estonian lenten buns.
Former Soviet Union: Syllabus on Deported Peoples
J. Otto Pohl's “imaginary” syllabus #4: “Deported Nationalities in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.”
Russia: Sakhalin Photos and Interview
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert posts photos of winter in South Sakhalin – and gets interviewed by Siberian Light.
Russia: Reactions to LaRussophobe's Interview
Siberian Light‘s interview with La Russophobe turned out to be quite a hit: read the heated discussion in the comments section as well as a note from Andy on why he decided to do this interview.
Russia: New Registration Law
Sean's Russia Blog posts a transcript of the briefing by a high-ranking Russian migration service official: “As I’ve already indicated, the adoption and enforcement of the January 15 migration law has caused confusion among administrators, police, officials, and foreigners alike. Nothing points to this confusion more than the following transcript...
Russia: Vladimir Vladimirovich™ Translated
Scraps of Moscow translates three episodes of Vladimir Vladimirovich™ that “deal with last week's promotions of Sergei Ivanov and Ramzan Kadyrov.” Also, see photos of the Soviet-time soda machines taken in Moldova and Uzbekistan.
Eastern Europe: Dubious Architecture
Copydude – and Vilhelm Konnander, in a comment – discuss the House of Soviets in Kaliningrad, Russia, the Resurrection Church in Kaunas, Lithuania, and Konstantinov’s Central Post Office in Skopje, Macedonia, as well as a few other “dubious” architectural monuments.
Russia: Ivan Ushkov's Case
Ivan Ushkov, a St. Petersburg artist, had his computer and some of his work confiscated by the police; officers threatened to shut down his photo business located on Nevsky Prospekt. Both the Russian blogosphere and the media are abuzz about this ongoing controversy. Ushkov's work can be viewed here; English...
Russia: Dissecting Thomas Friedman
In an email to a blogger friend, Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow explains beautifully what Thomas Friedman's Russia column is really about. La Russophobe guest-blogs at length on the same subject at Publius Pundit.
Russia: “Commissars of the Internet”
Read this week's installments of La Russophobe‘s translation project, which attempts to explain why the discourse at so many Russian forums often gets so unbearably filthy – and which, according to La Russophobe, also “exposes how the Kremlin is attempting to take control of the Internet. On Monday, we read...
Russia: Gvardeysk vs the West
As the West is about to install missile defense in Poland, Copydude predicts big problems for a Russian border town with a military name, Gvardeysk.
Russia: Sheltering Karadzic?
Radovan Karadzic may be living in Russia: Finding Karadzic has more on the rumor.