Stories about Russia from February, 2006
Russia: 50th Anniversary of Khrushchev's Speech
Nikita Khrushchev began the process of de-Stalinization 50 years ago, with a speech given at the 20th Communist Party Congress, held February 14-25, 1956. Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog discusses the event's significance and reviews the coverage of the anniversary. He also reproduces parts of an interview with Sergo...
Russia: Voice of Beslan and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, is in Russia and is expected to arrive in Beslan, North Ossetia, on Wednesday. Women from the Voice of Beslan organization, who spent ten day on hunger strike this month to draw the world's attention to inadequate investigation and unfair trial following...
Russia: Moscow Gay Pride Parade Banned
Andy Young of Taking Aim explains how the general bias against homosexuality in Russia has led to the cancellation of gay pride parade in Moscow.
Russia: Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Raffi Aftandelian of Maaskva: Nashimi Glazami shares his thoughts on one of Russia's most prominent war journalists, Anna Politkovskaya, the nature of her writing, and the practice of reading newspapers in general. (This post is in two languages, English and Russian, as all the posts in this blog are.)
Belarus: Moscow Solidarity Rally
LJ user greenmih, a Russian photographer, posts black-and-white photos from an anti-Lukashenko, pro-Belarus solidarity rally that took place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow this past Saturday (RUS). Politically-minded hooligans tried to disrupt the rally, but did not succeed.
Russia: Film Industry Revival
Snowsquare.com writes about the revival of Russia's film industry: the opening of Dnevnoi Dozor (Day Watch, a sequel to Nochnoi Dozor, Night Watch) in the United States today, and the upcoming Moscow opening of Bumer 2, also a sequel.
Russia: Sandunov Bath House in Moscow
Two-Zero writes of how he became a fan of the Russian banya while living in New York City's East Village, and explains why he hasn't been to Moscow's famous Sanduny (Sandunovskiye Bani) yet, now that he lives in Moscow. His friend Michael Haertfelder, however, visited Sanduny and took some pictures.
Russia: Fake Fireworks for Lenin
Snowsquare.com shares a glimpse of an inconspicuous corner of one of Moscow's best-known squares. (Not Red Square, though.)
Russian Pirate Sales
Reacting to a report that U.S. copyright holders “lost $1.756 billion through forgeries in Russia last year,” Alistair of Ruminations on Russia argues that it's not pirate copies that these companies are competing against, but bad sales caused by incorrect pricing.
Hamas’ Chechnya Connection
Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog reports on Hamas’ alleged connection to the Chechen rebels, recently brought to light by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Danish Cartoons’ Russia Link
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes about the Russian connection of Flemming Rose, the man who authorized the Danish cartoons.
Illustrated Guide to “Dedovshchina”
Sergey Belyakov of RUBLog cites the Russian defense ministry's report on violence in the army and links to an illustrated guide to “dedovshchina”, published in Bolshoi Gorod (RUS). “Dedovshchina” is the systematic abusive treatment of new army recruits by their senior fellow soldiers, which is common in the armed forces...
A Mysterious Blast in Moscow
A very strange thing happened in Moscow today: at 2:08 PM, people all over the city felt and heard a really forceful blast. There was no official explanation, though one theory has it that this could've been a supersonic plane breaking the sound barrier somewhere near Moscow. Other theories offered...
Photo-Marathon: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer
Yekaterina Chistyakova reports (RUS) that photo-marathon “Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World,” which took place Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Children’s Clinical Hospital in Moscow, was a success; winners will be announced Sunday, Feb. 19. Some of the photos can be...
World Chechnya Day 2006
David McDuff at A Step At A Time alerts his readers to the upcoming World Chechnya Day, to be marked on Feb. 23, 2006, in order to recognize “the suffering and genocide of the Chechen people as a human catastrophe of historic significance” and to show respect for “all victims...
Another Chechen Perspective on Danish Cartoons
As Ilias Musayev, Copenhagen spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeriya, shares his views on the Danish cartoons and other issues, David McDuff of A Step At A Time writes that “the West could certainly afford to take a few lessons from Chechens...
Russian Diplomacy
Ayuna Nechayeva at Wanabehuman marks the Diplomat's Day in Russia (Feb. 10) with a review of the past and present of the Russian diplomacy.
Putin's Dissertation and Russian Energy Sector
Sean Guillory looks at Vladimir Putin's dissertation, “Strategic Planning of Regional Raw Material Operations in a Market Economy,” which he wrote as a student of the St. Petersburg Mining Academy in 1997. Stored at the Russian State Library, the dissertation is a hit with the readers. Also, Sean discusses Vladimir...
More of Russian DIY Design
Two more additions to Konstantin Dlutskiy's photo collection of DIY design at the Russian Marketing Blog: wedding flowers sold with a discount for loyal customers, and a “Baby” store selling vodka and beer.
Russian Road Rules: Oleg Shcherbinsky's Case
In her latest column, Masha Gessen writes about a court verdict that has caused mass protests in Russia: a driver happened to be in the way of a speeding governor; the governor's car crashed and the governor died; the hapless driver was sentenced to four years in a labor settlement....
Tukui-Mekteb Battle
Andy of Taking Aim looks at reports on the battle that took place in a Southern Russian village this past Friday, “one of the largest battles seen in outside of Chechnya for a while.”
