· December, 2011

Stories about Russia from December, 2011

Russia: AIDS Epidemic – “Shame Russia Shame”

RuNet Echo  30 December 2011

International organizations are taking notice of Russia's AIDS epidemic and the hurdles the country faces in combating it. Recent international attention has been directed toward Russia's healthcare system, the stigma attached to those infected, and Russia's drug policies. Donna Welles reports.

Russia: Moscow Election Committee Calls to Prosecute Popular Blogger

RuNet Echo  28 December 2011

Moscow Election Committee had issued an official letter to the Prosecutor's office and the police to start an investigation of probable defamation against Oleg Kozyrev, one of the top Russian bloggers, blogger reports [ru]. The letter is the reply to Kozyrev's complaint letter he had sent to the Committee earlier.

Russia: Social Network In-Between Security Services and Free Market

RuNet Echo  28 December 2011

As social networks in Russia like Vkontakte play an ever increasing role in communication between post-election protesters, so too grows the interest of the security services to limit them. This conflict leads to a hard choice: whether Vkontakte should respond to security service requests, or allow its users uncontrolled protest activity.

Russia: Opposition Faces Online Communication Problems

RuNet Echo  23 December 2011

The ability to broadcast the events of December 2011 in Russia live online, has made people around the world and in the country the spectators of a truly historical event – the December 22 gathering of some 100-150 opposition activists, who represented thousands of the netizens and millions of not-connected Russians.

Russia: Alexey Navalny Released From Jail

RuNet Echo  20 December 2011

“Everyone's waiting for Navalny ) 5 more minutes! pic.twitter.com/3BRHiuGa,” tweeted [ru] @varlamov a short while ago, posting a picture of the crowd waiting outside a Moscow prison for activist Alexey Navalny‘s release. @plushev tweeted [ru]: “Absolutely fantastic numbers. In the middle of the night, some 5,000 people are viewing [the...

Russia: A Critical Eye on Protests

  12 December 2011

Der Unbequeme turns a critical eye on [ger] the ongoing protests in Moscow against the results of parliamentary elections, arguing that protesters are few, divided, and that an actual OSCE-assessment of elections is still lacking.

Russia: 13 Protest Tweets, 6 Photos “Storified” (Updated)

RuNet Echo  11 December 2011

“Tens of thousands protest Russian election” – 13 tweets, 6 photos from the Dec. 10 rally in Moscow, “storified” on Storify.com by Colleen Kelly. (Update: A Storify compilation by GV's Asteris Masouras – “Russia: Post-election protests against Putin” – is here.)

Russia: “Why Are Russians Protesting Now?”

RuNet Echo  11 December 2011

On Saturday, the world watched the biggest show of political activism seen in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. This is hardly the first time Putin's Russia has been accused of undemocratic policies, so the question is, "Why are Russians protesting now?"

Russia: An “Ethical Revolution”

RuNet Echo  11 December 2011

Photographer Oleg Klimov posts photos from the Dec. 10 rally in Moscow and describes it [ru] as an “ethical revolution”: “The issue at stake wasn't that of social justice, but of ethics. The regime has violated the universal laws of human ethics with its political technologies, and this is what...

Russia: Interview With an “Overseas Filipino Worker”

RuNet Echo  11 December 2011

English Dad in Moscow interviews a woman from the Philippines who works as a cleaner and babysitter in Moscow: “I wanted to know how hard is to move here as an economic migrant, also known as a “OFW” (Overseas Filipino Worker) as I find it amazing that they move to...

Russia: Ukrainian Blogger's Photos From the Moscow Rally

RuNet Echo  10 December 2011

Kyiv-based blogger Oleksandr Arhat (LJ user olarhat) posts a photo report [uk] from the Dec. 10 post-election rally in Moscow, which reminded him of the 2004 post-election protests in Kyiv: “Unbought people, protesting [not in order to get a piece of bread in return]. Doesn't happen every day, especially in...