Stories about Russia from January, 2012
Russia: Choosing Blogger of the Year
LiveJournal started online voting [ru] in several nominations trying to identify the most important events in the Russian blogosphere. Voting, however, couldn't avoid controversy, as “Blogger of the Year” nomination [ru] didn't include many activists, Alexey Navalny among others. Sergey Muhammedov decided to start alternative voting [ru] that included much...
Ukraine-Russia: Gas Conflict Heats Up Again
Streetwise Professor speculates on whether there is a new gas war coming up between Ukraine and Russia or if Kiev finally will cede its pipelines to Gazprom to get a price-cut on gas deliveries.
Russia: Overview of Top RuNet Trends and Events in 2011
At the end of this turbulent and inspiring year, Global Voices RuNet Echo editors present you with the list of events that had a profound impact on the Russian Internet and will serve as important steps in the development of the country's online community.
Russia: Social Networks Mobilise Society
Facebook, the possibility to calculate numbers of protest participants, slogans from the Internet, a wide variety of gadgets - these are four new important factors in the analysis of demonstrations in Russia. Marina Litvinovich reports.
Belarus: Before and After Chernobyl
English Russia posts pictures taken before and after the 1986 Chernobyl accident from a village in the nuclear contaminated part of Belarus to show how little has changed as people live on as usual despite the radiation hazard.
Russia: Yakutsk Cold Without Cure
eYakutia recounts why Yakutsk has internationally become known as the coldest city in the world, as temperatures now reach under -50 degrees Centigrade, and posts pictures from the frozen city.
Russia: Glasnost 2.0 and a White Revolution
Gordon M. Hahn of Russia: Other Points of View discusses the current thaw in Russian media, why it might result in a Glasnost 2.0, and whether this could cause a White Revolution in the country.
Russia: How Do Kids Get to School in Yakutia in Winter?
AskYakutia answers a Swedish 12-year-old's questions about winter clothes, animals and school kids in Yakutia (where it is currently -52°C/-59.8°F).
Russia: Legal Immunity for Artistic Freedom?
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Blogs posts a thought-provoking piece on Russian art group Voina, which has been found not guilty by a Russian court for setting fire on a police car on New Year's Eve, despite overwhelming evidence that this was the case, at the same time as protestors...
Russia: Return to Photoshop Politics
Catherine Fitzpatrick of Minding Russia and Bruce Chapman of Russia Blog draw attention to a “kompromat” photoshop scam directed against opposition activist Aleksei Navalny, and how this false photo now repels against its pro-Putin initiators.
Russia: Navalny Nationalism Raises Questions
Kevin Rothrock of A Good Treaty raises some serious questions about nationalistic views expressed by increasingly popular Russian opposition activist Aleksei Navalny.
Russia: A Liberal Use of the Western Toolbox?
Leoš Tomíček of Austere Insomniac addresses the chances of Russia's liberal opposition against the backdrop of a US diplomatic cable leaked in 2008, and ponders upon what use the liberals might have of a western toolbox in the political struggle.
Russia: The Russian Orthodox Church Re-Enters Politics
The Russian Orthodox Church has made an entrance into Russia's modern political climate through the contrasting speeches of two church officials- one called for war, the other for peace.
Russia: Pictures from the Rocket Factory
Blogger Lana Sator publishes [ru] pictures from NPO Energomash, a rocket factory situated near Moscow that specializes on producing liquid propellant rocket engines. Sator with her friend, had been sneaking into the factory for 5 nights in a row, due to a ‘complete lack of security.’ Pictures remind us one...
Russia: Yakutian Rock Band “103”
Bolot of eYakutia writes about and posts a selection of photos and video of the Yakutian ethno-rock band “103” (their Facebook page [ru] is here).
Russia: Yakutia Photos by Evgenia Arbugaeva
Yakutian photographer Evgenia Arbugaeva‘s photos of the Russian Arctic seaport of Tiksi, located in Yakutia in the area of the Lena Delta – at eYakutia.
CEE: A “Safe House” and an Igloo
Polandian writes about the so-called “Safe House” near Warsaw, Poland. On Cold United, Bolot of eYakutiaposts a video tutorial on how to build an igloo.
Russia: Demographic Crisis Means “No One Left To Draft”
Russia is endowed with some of the greatest stores of natural resources in the world and yet the demographic crisis that has plagued the country since the fall of the Soviet Union may leave Russia without a youth to defend their homeland.
Georgia: Return of the Meskhetian Turks
Over 100,000 Muslims were deported from the Meskheti region of Georgia by Joseph Stalin in 1944. Now, more than 60 years later, some are slowly starting to return as part of the country's obligations to the Council of Europe.
