Stories about Russia from April, 2011
Russia: Migration Service Official's Racist Comments
At GlobalPost, Miriam Elder writes about the spokesman of Russia's Federal Migration Service, who was “fired after telling the BBC that migrants posed a challenge to the purity of the...
Russia: Social Networking Via a “Prison” Game, Female Users’ Photos
Katya Trubilova of Social Media Lessons From Russia and the UK writes this, among other things, about Russia's largest social network VKontakte: “The most popular app on Vkontakte is a...
Russia: A Video of President Medvedev Dancing
Siberian Light, Global Chaos and Russia! are among those who comment on a YouTube video of President Dmitry Medvedev dancing to the Russian pop song “American Boy” at a college...
Russia: Reactions to Freedom House Internet report
LJ user dolboeb discusses [RU] how Russia is portrayed in the recent Freedom House report on Freedom on the Net 2011.
Kazakhstan, Russia: Photos of Baikonur
At Russia Blog, Anton Verstakov's photos from Baikonur, a city in Kazakhstan, rented and administered by Russia, home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Russia: Play on the swansong of the Yeltsin era
British playwright Thomas Hirst guestblogs at Siberian Light, writing about his new play The 17, about the demise of the Yelstin era in Russian politics.
Russia: Pullitzer prize for corruption coverage
Putin Watcher draws attention to two New York Times journalists winning the Pullitzer Prize for their coverage of Russian state corruption.
Russia: Restricting racism
Sean's Russia Blog writes about increasing government intolerance with Russia's racist movements, signified by a court ruling to outlaw an organization against illegal immigration.
Russia: Bloggers Stop FSB Initiative To Ban Skype
It was just a stroke of luck that on Friday, April 8, 2011, LiveJournal did actually work; before and after this date it would constantly “crash” or “die” due to hacker attacks for periods ranging from several hours to half a day. But on this particular Friday it worked, and it’s possible that this saved the Russian Internet and all its users from yet another prohibitive initiative from the FSB (Federal Security Service). At least for the time being.
Russia: Art Group “Voina” and Innovation 2010 Prize
RussiaWatchers writes in detail about Art Group Voina, whose “phallus on the Liteiny bridge opposite to St. Petersburg FSB headquarters has been awarded the Innovation 2010 prize for best visual...
Russia: Interviews With Miriam Dobson, Thomas de Waal, Christopher Ward
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog interviews authors Miriam Dobson (“Khrushchev’s Cold Summer: Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of Reform After Stalin”), Thomas de Waal (“The Caucasus: An Introduction”)...
Russia: Complexities of LiveJournal attack
Putin Watcher tries to contextualize the various interests that may have been behind the recent attacks on Russian blog platform LiveJournal in the complex and fractionalized context of Russian politics.
Macedonia: Fast-Track Lawmaking, Privacy Alert
The Macedonian Parliament disbanded itself today, as part of the process of preparation for the June elections. The ruling majority used the previous period to rubber-stamp a huge number of draft-laws submitted by the government, including a new attempt to legalize unconstitutional police surveillance.
Russia: Yuri Gagarin's “Public Diplomacy Legacy”
Yelena Osipova of Global Chaos pays tribute to Yuri Gagarin and his “public diplomacy legacy” in this overview of web stories and events devoted to the 50th anniversary of the...
Russia: Regional FSB Tries to Prosecute Blogger for Anti-Putin Photo
Kasparov.ru writes [ru] about the case of Georgiy Sarkisyan, leader of Orel city United Civil Front. Sarkisyan had posted a photo [ru] with a slogan “Putin – pid…z” (an offensive...
Russia: Two Projects Win The BOBs People's Choice Awards
Two Russian projects win The Best of Blogs People's Choice Awards. They are: rospil.info, crowdsourcing anti-corruption community in the nomination “The Best Use of Technology for Social Good,” and the...
Russia: Hacker Explaines Why He Broke Website of “Zenith” Soccer Team
Nikita Volgin, a man who hacked the website of Russian soccer team Zenith, writes why he did it. Upset with the lack of criticism of Saint Petersburg administration in media,...
Russian Security Forces Ready to “Crash” Internet
Radio Echo Moskvy refers to an interview in “The New Times” magazine with an officer of Federal Security Service who said that FSS was ready to “crash” the Internet in...
Russian Silicon Valley Has Unusually Expensive Website
Users and web designers on one of the most popular collaborative blogs Habrahabr.ru discuss the unrealistically high budget cost for creating and promoting the website of “Skolkovo” Innovation Foundation (Russian...
Russian Bloggers Plan Flashmob Against Federal Tax Service
After Russian Federal Tax Service sent an audit invitation to long-deceased popular Russian writer Vasily Aksenov, bloggers planned a flashmob when people are encouraged to call the FTS and demand...
Russia: Bloggers Debate Military Operation in Libya
The situation in Libya, especially after the start of military operations by Western countries, has become one of the main topics of discussion in the Russian blogosphere. Marina Litvinovich analyzes the reactions and trends surrounding the issue.
