Stories about Russia from October, 2013
Russia's Demagogues Just Can't Get Along
Nationalist MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky ranted about natives of the North Caucasus on the popular debate show “The Duel” - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov took offence.
An Overview of Volgograd Bombing Anglophone Blogging
Misinformation disseminated online about the Volgograd bus bombing (which left at least six people dead on October 21) has raised the suspicions of Russia bloggers both Russophone and Anglophone.
A Muslim Schoolgirl and the Volgograd Suicide Bombing
In the wake of the Volgograd bus bombing, a Muslim girl wrote a letter to the anonymous blogger hardingush. We chose to translate it in its entirety.
Wearing Putin's Insult as the Badge of Honor
The Greenpeace activists locked up in Murmansk may be suffering the worst luck of anyone in the ongoing scandal surrounding Russia's Arctic drilling, but they aren't the only ones hurting.
The Suspended Martyrdom of Russia's Alexey Navalny
After his tumultuous guilty verdict and five-year prison sentence last July, a court recently suspended Alexey Navalny's sentence, leaving the Russian opposition's most prominent leader on probation but free.
In Wake of Suicide Bombing Russians Question Their Security
An explosion aboard a Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) commuter bus caused a stir in Russia’s blogosphere on Monday.
Tajiks Note that “Moscow Has Changed”
As Russians try to make sense of ethnic riots rocking Moscow, these developments are also carefully watched in Tajikistan where more than half of the population depends on money that their relatives working in Russia send home. Halil Qayumzod who lived in Moscow in the 1990s suggests [tj] that over...
The Crowd in the Machine
How we create images of crowds affects our understanding of them.
“Let Russians Sweep Their Own Streets”: Minorities Ponder Ethnic Violence
Non-ethnic Russians have been keen to express their views on the Biryulyovo riots online, using the language common to many of them - Russian.
Race Riots Remind Russians About Political Divide
This week’s reactions to a riot that took place outside Moscow are a reminder that the subject of ethnic nationalism deeply divides Russians.
Russian Muslim Websites Defaced by Hackers During Eid
On Eid al-Adha (Kurban-Bairam in Russian), several websites of the Russian Muslim community were defaced with a photo of a severed pig's head holding the Koran in its mouth.
Can the Kremlin Control Moscow Ethnic Violence?
A poverty-stricken industrial Moscow neighborhood has erupted in ethnic violence last week, after a local man named Egor Sherbakov was stabbed to death by an alleged "migrant."
The Kremlin's Internet Takeover: A Surefire Flop
When it comes to technology, the Russian government makes up in ambition for what it lacks in competence. Earlier this week, state-controlled telecom Rostelecom announced a government-sponsored Internet search engine.
United Russia MP Scorned for Public Debauch
A United Russia deputy and his aide were thrown off an Aeroflot flight, accused of being intoxicated, threatening the crew, and delaying the flight.
Nobel Peace Prize Fails to Pacify
Assad for Nobel Peace Prize 2014? This is one of many reactions after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was named as this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Russians Remember “The Day Democracy Died”
20 years after Russia's constitutional crisis, many bloggers criticizes Yeltsin's decision to fire on the Supreme Soviet, characterizing the moment in post-Soviet history as a turn for the worse.
For the Russian Opposition Olympic Flames Burn Cold
Over a million people have watched a YouTube video of an Olympic torch being lit with a lighter, after the flame went during the 2014 torch relay.
Are Russian Pensions Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?
As the Russian government scrambles to boost available short-term funds for pension payments ahead of economic troubles, ordinary Russians have denounced the move as “confiscatory."
The Trouble with Being Elected Mayor in Russia
After a hard-fought campaign in Yekaterinburg, Evgeny Roizman has encountered a new challenge: pesky procedural complications in his confirmation by the local State Duma.
“Lesbianism” and “War Games”: Russian Internet Censorship Continues
Looo.ch was presumably blocked for hosting an art project: two multimedia "textbooks" titled "Homosexuality for Children" and "Lesbianism for Children," which are meant to be a "satire of Russian homophobia."
Tajik Children in Russia “Should Go to School”
A Russian lawmaker and member of the ruling party recently suggested [ru] that the children of labor migrants should be barred from Russian schools and kindergartens. LJ user prosto_vova explains [ru] why this is a bad idea. His list of reasons for not barring migrants’ children from Russian schools includes the...
