· May, 2009

Stories about Russia from May, 2009

Russia: Bloggers’ Memories of Soviet Maternity Hospitals

Last year, Sinisa Boljanovic translated a number of heartrending childbirth stories, written anonymously by Serbian women and posted on the "Mother Courage" award-winning site, launched and maintained by Serbian blogger Branka Stamenkovic/Krugolina Borup. This month, LJ user germanych, a Russian blogger, asked his readers to share experiences of giving birth in the Soviet Union. While Branka Stamenkovic's "Mother Courage" initiative is an attempt to change the situation for the better, the Russian blogger's goal has been to document a lesser-known chapter of the Soviet history.

31 May 2009

Russia: Blogging for Justice in Hit-and-Run Accident Case

On May 13, 2009, a Subaru Forester car hit a pregnant woman who was crossing the street in Moscow. She died in hospital later. The perpetrator escaped the scene of the crime, but eye-witnesses remembered his license plate number. He turned out to be an off-duty police officer. On May 21, he was still not apprehended. On that day, the victim's husband, Alexey Shumm, started a blog to draw public attention to this tragic case and to document his attempts to seek justice. Below are some excerpts.

29 May 2009

Russia: A Blogger's Review of “The Associate”

About a month ago, Jost A Mon blog posted a “roundup of translated crime fiction consumed in April” - which included several books by writers from Central and Eastern Europe. What follows below is a displeased Russian blogger's blitz review of John Grisham's 21st novel, The Associate.

28 May 2009

Russia: Farewell to Actor Oleg Yankovsky

Renowned Russian actor Oleg Yankovsky, 65, died in Moscow on May 20 and was buried at Novodevichiy Cemetery two days later. Thousands of fans came to the Lenkom Theater to bid farewell to him. LJ user drugoi re-posted AP photos from the memorial event, and LJ user leosat wrote about it.

28 May 2009

Russia: North Ossetia's Superstitious Law Enforcement

North Ossetian journalist Liza Valieva writes about an incident that could have prompted a lighthearted reaction had it not occurred in North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, whose people have seen much violence since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the Sept. 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis.

25 May 2009

Russia: “A Popular Blogger”

Popularity means different things to different people, in blogging as in real life. Below is a very short humorous take on some of the implications of being a “popular” blogger in the Cyrillic sector of the LiveJournal universe.

24 May 2009

Russia: Eurovision Roundup

In Moscow, Eurovision coincided with this year's Night of Museums (IZO) – and with an attempt to hold a gay pride parade, which was interrupted by riot police (Robert Amsterdam's...

23 May 2009

Israel: Eurovision Peace Duo Push for Another Way

Can music help bring us closer together? Noa and Mira Awad hope their message from the Eurovision Song Contest reaches far and wide. Gilad Lotan updates us about the journey of those two musicians and reactions to their performances in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

18 May 2009

Armenia: Eurovision Reaction

Ianyan rounds up the reaction to Armenia's entry in this year Eurovision Song Contest currently under way in Moscow. The blog says that the two singers, Inga and Anush, could...

14 May 2009

Russia: Eurovision

“Suddenly it is that time of the year again – the time when one cannot help but feel that one is, was and will always remain a European,” writes Josefina...

14 May 2009