Stories about Russia from February, 2012
Russia: Great Lent Has Begun
Citizen media outlets have captured the multidimensional essence of the Russian Orthodox Lenten season, which began on Monday, including issues such the religiosity of post-USSR Russia, the liturgical calendar, the peculiarities of the Orthodox traditions and fasting rituals compared to those observed in the West, and the public statements made by prominent church officials.
Russia: An Overview of the Pre-Election Anglophone Blogging
Below is a quick overview of what some of the Anglophone Russia bloggers have been writing during the busy pre-election month of February.
Russia: The “Big White Circle” Protest in Moscow
On Sunday, Feb. 26, thousands of people gathered in central Moscow for the Big White Circle protest, forming a human chain along most of the length of the Russian capital's 15.6-kilometer/9.7-mile Garden Ring, protesting against corruption and demanding a fair presidential election, which is to take place in one week, on March 4.
Russia: Bloggers’ Photo Reports and Reflections on Pro-Putin Rally in Moscow
On Thursday, February 23, ten days before the March 4 presidential election, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin addressed thousands of people at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. A number of Moscow-based bloggers attended the event, too. Below is a selection of their photo reports and observations, along with some of the remarks from their audiences.
Georgia: Online Campaign Targets Russian President's Facebook Page
With Russian soldiers stations in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, hundreds of Georgians called for their withdrawal on the Russian president's Facebook page.
Russia: Pro-Putin Rally in Vladivostok Causes Controversy
Pro-Putin rallies, also known as Putings, took place in many Russian cities last weekend. One such Puting caused a scandal in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, which is renowned for its strong support of the opposition and for anti-Kremlin moods in general. Masha Egupova reports.
Russia: Navalny vs Kadyrov
At Jamestown Foundation Blog, Valery Dzutsev reports that Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of Chechnya, has called politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny “a real chatterbox” – and Navalny retaliated by publishing (here and, later, here; ru) “the results of his investigation of the Chechen police’s car inventory acquisitions, naming and...
Russia: Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Quintessential ‘New Russian’
Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev serves as an example of the quintessential 'New Russian' through his controversial activities during the Yeltsin era, his modern business practices, and his extravagant international spending - he has just purchased the most expensive New York City apartment to date.
China: A Portrayal of Portrayals of Cultural And Ethnic Stereotypes
One Chinese vlogger has gone viral with his impersonation of the accents of a few Asian neighbors and other cultures from around the globe. How much do these differ from similar crude stereotypes you've seen elsewhere?
Russia, U.S.: An Overview of Alexander Ovechkin's NHL Career
Alexander Ovechkin is a Russian-born NHL hockey player who is surrounded by controversy due to his aggressive style of play, but who remains in the public spotlight because of his talent and pure sensationalism.
Russia: “Anti-Gay Propaganda Bill” Passes Second Reading
St. Petersburg is getting closer to signing into law the notorious "anti-gay propaganda bill." "Will talking about Tchaikovsky be banned?" tweets British writer and actor Stephen Fry. Some of the Russian netizens' reactions are translated below.
Russia: DDoS Attack Puts Down Several Political Websites As Cyberwar Escalates
On February 9, 2012, following the widely-discussed leaks of pro-Kremlin mailboxes, LiveJournal, where the leaks were published, became temporarily unavailable, Lenta.ru reported [ru]. Russian representative of Anonymous group @OP_Russia, suggested [ru] that it was a DDoS attack to hide the evidence of massive wrongdoings (including corruption, thievery, political provocations, and cybercrime) [ru] by...
Russia: Three Conversations With Parents of Young Neo-Nazis
At OpenDemocracy.net, Olesya Gerasimenko talks to the parents of three young neo-Nazi men who were convicted of race murders: “One has adopted the views of their only child and says that violence is necessary. One blames the politicians that have incited adolescents to street fighting. One cries, convinced of the...
Russia: New .Ru Domain Registration Rules Allow Easy Domain Seizure
Andrey Rylkov Foundation writes about the first case of enforcement of the domain seizure rules in the “.ru” and “.рф” domain zones. The rules [ru] (Article 5, point 5.5) , updated on November 11, 2011 allow any law enforcement agency (like police, Federal Security Service, Prosecutor's office or Federal Drug Control Services (FDCS)) to request...
Russia: The Anonymous Hacks and Publishes E-mails of Pro-Kremlin Youth Group
Read The Guardian's take on the so-called “Potupchik-gate,” a series of scandals surfaced as a result of hacking and publishing of private inbox of Kristina Potupchik [ru], press-secretary of Nashi, notorious pro-Kremlin youth group. All hacks were published by twitter-user @OP_Russia who uses Anonymous symbolics. Representatives of Anonymous, previously never seen involved...
Russia: Practice of Compulsory Military Service Comes Under Attack
Russia's compulsory military service practices are under attack due to a variety of reasons, including economic inefficiency, governmental corruption, and brutal hazing rituals that incite young conscripts to take their own lives. Donna Welles reports.
Russia: Day of Protests Divides Citizens
Despite temperatures of -20 degrees, thousands of Russians went out to the streets to participate in election manifestations. Some, organised online, were protesting against the elections and possible re-election of prime minister Vladimir Putin. Others, partly organised by pressure and bribes as well as fear of possible revolutions manifested that Putin should stay.
Russia: Realism of Rearmament Plans
Streetwise Professor and Siberian Light critically discuss Russia's ambitious plans, presented by vice-premier Dmitry Rogozin, to build an aircraft carrier and six submarines annually over the coming years.
Russia: Prices of Popular Bloggers’ Posts Leaked
Anonymous hackers had allegedly hacked an inbox of pro-Kremlin activist Kristina Potupchik and publicised [ru] a ‘price-list’ of posts of the most popular Russian bloggers. Government-sponsored Nashi were caught several times on organizing paid campaigns aimed to influence blogosphere's opinion. The prices vary from 130 to 1000 US dollars per post.
Russia: “For Fair Elections” Protest Coordination Portal Launches
RosMiting.ru (Russian meeting), a community portal of protest actions, had launched. The portal accumulates information about protest events in various cities of Russia. It was created by the same team which started other interactive portals such as RosYama, RosPil, RosAgit, and RosVybory, politically-engaged crowdsourced communities and interactive portals developed in...
Russia: Ulyanovsk Blogger Wins Libel Case Against Governor
Ulyanovsk-based blogger Oleg Sofyin (LJ-user lis73) won a court case against Ulyanovsk governor Svetlana Openysheva, lenta.ru reports [ru]. Openysheva tried to sue Sofyin for publishing a post where he described a phone call during which someone named Azat threatened him if he will continue to post critical articles about Openysheva. Despite winning the...
