Stories about Russia from May, 2010
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Mafia & Society
Fatalin's Blog informs its readers about Mafia, a group game where some participants take on the role of the mafiosa and kill those who represent citizens while both sides deceive each other. Invented in Russia, and alluding to societies in both countries, the blog notes that the game is especially...
Russia: Hacking of Women's Community Raises Gender, Ethical and Privacy Dilemmas
The legendary Russian women blog community "girls_only" with the most sensitive and private discussions was hacked by anonymous hacker and uploaded to a mirror site. The scandal raised a lot of legal, ethical and online security dilemmas. It also showed that men and women are creatures that live on different Internet planets and inspired online discussions about the gender differences.
Russia: Folk Humorous Rhymes In English
LJ-user laberintica posts English translations of “chastushka,” Russian folk humorous rhymes.
Russia: Video of Vibrating Bridge Over Volga River
User hrom252 posts a link to almost unbelievable video of the newly built bridge over Volga river that is vibrating under heavy wind like it's made of rubber. As blogger alliruk notes, the bridge was finished six months ago and now traffic in the city is paralyzed.
Russia: Kid Sets Up Lego Video Blog
A 7-year-old boy set up a Lego video blog “Lego News” presenting his Lego people as news anchors. Pilot series can be found here and here.
Russia: Crisis and demography in Eurasia
Anatoly Karlin of Sublime Oblivion discusses the relationship between economic and demographic crisis in Russia and Eurasia.
Russia: Provider “Accidentally” Blocks Opposition Web Site
Web site sineevedro.ru dedicated to “Little Blue Buckets Society” (online community against law nihilism on the roads) has been shut down along with other resources at the Moscow-based hosting, ru_vederko reported. The incident might be connected to another recent road accident involving high officials.
Russia: Another Web site Closed For Extremism
Alleng.ru, one of the largest educational portals in Russia, has been turned off by the provider Peterhost due to the hosting of the electronic copy of the book “Basics of the Muslim Creed,” which is acknowledged by the Orenburg city court as “extremist,” blogger r_li reported.
Russia: “Is Khodorkovsky a Dissident?”
Vadim Nikitin shares his thoughts on whether Mikhail Khodorkovsky can be considered a dissident.
Russia rises as nuclear exporter
Eberhard Rhein of EU Blogactiv writes about a recent agreement between Russia and Turkey on construction of a nucelar power plant, and how Russia is becoming a leading exporter of nuclear power technology.
Russia: More Victory Day Commentary
A Good Treaty reviews selected blog and media commentary on Victory Day’s 65th anniversary in Russia: “My own feelings on Russia’s WWII past are far from settled, so let me take a moment to express my gratitude to the aforementioned writers, who made an effort to speak coherently about a...
Soviet History: “The False Charges of Treason Against the Crimean Tatars”
J. Otto Pohl writes about his new article (.pdf) – “The False Charges of Treason Against the Crimean Tatars” – which was published at the International Committee for Crimea website on the 66th anniversary of the 1944 deportations.
Russia: Photos of Grozny
LJ user greedyspeedy posts the first installment of photos of Grozny, Chechnya, taken in April, and writes (RUS) in the comments: “This photo report is about the glossy Grozny; I'll show the other, gloomy, side of Grozny in part two. […] Compared to Gudermes, Argun – the largest cities after...
Russia: RT's Gay Pride Coverage
Julia Ioffe writes at True/Slant about RT's coverage of the upcoming gay pride parade in Moscow.
Russia: La Russophobe Interviews Mark Adomanis
La Russophobe interviews True/Slant Russia blogger Mark Adomanis.
Russia: Berkman Center Experts Visit Moscow
Researchers from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University visited Moscow and met with local journalist and bloggers at the Moscow State University. Lenta.ru writes about the meeting and the research of Russian blogosphere by Harvard University.
Belarus: Lukashenko grants Bakiyev sanctuary
Yaraslau Kryvoi of Belarus Digest comments on the sanctuary given to ex Kyrgyz president Bakiyev by Belarus president Lukashenko, and the implications this might have in relations between Minsk and Moscow.
Russia: Pictures of Forest Fire
Photoblogger Igor Podgorny posts convincing pictures of the aftermath of the forest fire that is denied by Russian authorities.
Russia: “Novaya Gazeta” Down
The Web site of Russia's independent newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” seems to be down. As the newspaper's blog states, it's not a DDOS-attack but a hosting provider's issue due to the yesterday's rainstorm. However, the sudden blackout might be connected with the events in Kemerovo region.
Russia: Photos Flood in Moscow
Alexey Yushenkov posts pictures of the flood on one of the central streets in Moscow. He also gives pictures of the same situation in 2006. Other pictures of the flood available here and here.
Russia: The Andrei Kolesnikov Mystery
Poemless discovers that the English-language Wikipedia article on Russian journalist Andrey Kolesnikov is misleading, and that there are actually two Russian journalists named Andrey/Andrei Kolesnikov, and both “cover high profile politicos and contribute to widely-read newspapers and other media outlets” – and “[t]hese Andrei Kolesnikovs are like good/evil twins or...