Stories about Russia from May, 2008
Russia: Medvedev and 1999 Apartment Bombings
Lex Libertas links to an op-ed calling for president Dmitry Medvedev to start a new investigation of the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia.
Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae
On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.
Europe: More on Eurovision
Belatedly, a link to a Eurovision report by BBC's Mark Mardell – and over 150 comments to his post.
Lithuania: Russian Pop Music
Viola in Vilnius notes the popularity of Russian pop music in Lithuania.
Russia: “Medialogia”
Scraps of Moscow writes about Russian politics and the media: “Sometimes, though, mediologists, not meteorologists, are the best way of trying to figure out which way the political winds are blowing on a given week.”
Russia: Kaliningrad Region
Raf Uzar writes about the history of Kaliningrad region.
Russia: Ideas for Eurovision
Megan Case 2.0 writes on Russia's Eurovision victory: “I think that Russia should have pulled out all the stops and filled the stage with famous people – they could have had Maria Sharapova hitting tennis balls into the audience, and the whole of Zenit (St. Petersburg’s football/soccer team and the...
Ukraine: Opposition and Alliances
Foreign Notes writes on the relationship between PM Tymoshenko, president Yushchenko, and the Party of the Regions.
Ukraine: Tymoshenko's Politics
Foreign Notes writes about PM Yulia Tymoshenko's defeat in the Kyiv election, her meeting with PM Vladimir Putin, and the future of her cabinet.
Russia, Ukraine: Photos
Photos from Russia and Ukraine by Flickr user In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (via Olechko).
Ukraine: A View From Crimea
Last week, Ukraine banned Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov from the country, after he called for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. The incident received much coverage in the Russian and Ukrainian media and blogs. Below is one more post, written by a Russophone resident of Balaklava, a Crimean town that has an official status of a district of the city of Sevastopol.
Russia: Guest Column by Andrei Nekrasov
At Robert Amsterdam's blog, a guest column from the Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov.
Moldova, Turkey: Natalya Morar's Istanbul Airport Adventure
Natalia Morar, a journalist who was deported from Russia after a Russian magazine ran her stories on the alleged siphoning of huge sums of money abroad by the country's high-ranking officials, blogs about how she almost got deported from Turkey by the unsuspecting Turkish border guards.
Russia: Circassians
Window on Eurasia writes about Circassians’ “100-year-long resistance to Russia’s southward advance.”
Russia: Champions League Final
Robert Amsterdam's Blog and Two-Zero – on the Champions League final in Moscow.
Russia, Latvia: Young Russia vs Edvīns Šņore
Latvian Abroad writes about Young Russia's protest against The Soviet Story, a documentary by a young Latvian director Edvīns Šņore.
Estonia: Arnold Meri's Trial
Itching for Eestimaa writes about the trial of Arnold Meri: “On Voice of America he's an ‘ex-officer.’ On Russia Today he's a ‘war hero.’ And on the BBC, he's a ‘Soviet war figure’.”
Russia, Lithuania: Knight News Challenge Winners
Oleksandr Demchenko writes about the Russian and Lithuanian winners of the Knight News Challenge 2008.
Russia: Migrant Labor Quotas Exhausted
Window on Eurasia writes that Russian companies need more foreign workers than the number allowed by the current quotas.
Russia: Documentary on Politkovskaya
Sean's Russia Blog writes about a new documentary “on the life, work, and death of Anna Politkovskaya.”
Russia: Semion Chelyuskin
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about Semion Chelyuskin, a Russian explorer who reached the northernmost point of mainland Eurasia in 1742.
