· July, 2006

Stories about Russia from July, 2006

Central Asia: Eurasian Islam

Ataman Rakim argues for a Eurasian Islam that would unite Muslims of the former Soviet Union under a common identity and serve not so much as a formal set of religious and political ideas but instead as a catalyst for social initiatives.

Russia: Lyudmila Putina's Style

  18 July 2006

LJ user plushev is wondering (RUS) who is responsible for the tacky dresses of Putin's wife (photos attached): “I've heard a fantastic version that this is the work of Kremlin's imagemakers – this way they are said to win women's sympathy for Putin: women unconsciously pity the president who's got...

Russia: “Senseless Brutality” in the Army

  18 July 2006

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about “senseless brutality” that keeps occuring in the Russian army: “This time one of the victims is 19-year old Radik Habirov from Kazan, who was brought in to a local hospital weighing only 65 pounds and is now in a coma. This is the...

Russia: G8 and Coverage of Crackdown

Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog reports on results of the G8 Summit and criticizes the coverage of crackdown on protesters: “The methods that are being used in St. Petersburg—preemptive arrests and detention, restricting protests and protesters, caging them in, preventing foreign activists from entering the country—are not new in...

Russia: Oppositional Disarray

  17 July 2006

Konstantin of Russian Blog criticizes the coverage of what the “Western media pictured […] as a ‘democratic’ challenge to Putin”: “Few mentioned the fact that at this forum Kasparov gathered almost all extremists both left and right. Like, Limonov’s National Bolsheviks (their flag is an exact copy of Hitler’s banner...

Belarus, Russia: Ways (Not) to Develop

  17 July 2006

Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog shares his views on what Belarus is and what it's not, as well as what it should not do if it wants to turn into a “a much-improved version of Russia.”

Russia: Chechen Views on Basayev's Death Translated

  14 July 2006

David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates a Prague Watchdog report on how ordinary Grozny residents react to the news of Shamil Basayev's death: “It is possible that those who believe that the guerrilla movement is now broken are slightly more numerous than those who are certain that...

Russia: Basayev Might Have Been Killed by Daghestani Terrorists

  14 July 2006

Sean's Russia Blog continues to follow the story of Shamil Basayev's death and discusses a new theory of what caused it: “[…] Basyaev’s death was possibly carried out by the Dagestani terrorist group Shariat. The theory is based on the fact that forensics now believes that a bomb was indeed...

Russia: Cause of Basayev's Death

Sean's Russia Blog writes that Shamil Basayev's belated demise was most likely caused not by the FSB's special operation, but by “‘careless handling of explosives.’ Not the type of valiant death a ‘shaheed’ would hope for.”

Russia: Putin

  11 July 2006

On the eve of the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes a lengthy critique of Vladimir Putin and the country he is turning Russia into: “Putin is trying to recreate an empire reminiscent of the Soviet Union – feared...

Russia: Shamil Basayev Dead

  10 July 2006

Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), announced Monday that Shamil Basayev had been killed shortly after midnight in a truck explosion outside a village in Ingushetia. Timur Aliev (LJ user timur_aliev), editor-in-chief of the print/online weekly Chechen Society (Chechenskoye Obshchestvo), happened to be in Nazran (the...

Moldova: Explosion in Transnistria

  10 July 2006

Vilhelm Konnander reports on last Thursday's blast in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria: a territory which is “an ignored and absurd anachronism in contemporary Europe.”

Russia: Flickr Payment Trouble

  10 July 2006

Flickr user Anaderi – who lives and works in Moscow – reports a problem many people in certain countries (e.g. Russia, Ukraine) face when they attempt to upgrade their Flickr accounts to Pro status: their payments are not accepted. Anaderi is beginning to have doubts about Flickr: “I'm a bit...

Russia: Moscow Stiletto Run

  10 July 2006

Snowsquare.com writes about a “stiletto run” that took place in Moscow this past Saturday. To participate, one's heels had to be 9 cm or over. Two more similar races are being planned by Glamour magazine, a sponsor: in St Petersburg on July 22 and in Novosibirsk on July 23 .

Russia: Putin and Sex

  10 July 2006

Sean's Russia Blog quotes Vladimir Putin's response to an Internet user's question about sex: “‘I can't remember exactly when I did it for the first time,’ a laughing Putin said. ‘But I certainly remember when I did it the last time, to the exact minute.'”