Stories about Russia from August, 2011
Poland-Russia: Haunting Memories of Afghanistan
Leoš Tomíček of Austere Insomniac reports that Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, is asking whether Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, killed soviet soldiers in Afghanistan during the 1980s, when working as a journalist there with Afghan guerilla fighters.
Russia: Arctic and the Northern Sea Route
Mia Bennett at Foreign Policy Association writes about an ongoing international conference, hosted by Russia, about the future of Arctic resources and the opening of sea routes in the Norhtern Sea.
Russia: Much to defend but too few men
Streetwise Professor reflects upon the future of Russian defence from a piece by Russian Military Reform blog, and concludes that the only viable option for the country is to downscale its forces.
Russia: New Decrees Push for More Government Openness Online
On August 10, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed several decrees obliging 19 government agencies (including country's secret services) to put timely information online about their activities, Bloomberg reports.
Russia: Learning Russian Via Social Networks
Tips on learning Russian through social networking sites – at Russian Language Blog.
Serbia, Kosovo, Russia: A Letter to Putin
Eric Gordy re-launches his East Ethnia blog, taking a close look, in one of the first posts, at the letter to the Russian PM Vladimir Putin, written by 21 Serbian “intellectuals”, who are asking “Russia to propose a resolution in the Security Council on the condition of Serbs of Kosovo.”
Russia: New Legislation Against Online Extremism
Russian government submitted a new anti-extremism legislation for approval to the Russian Parliament. News agency ITAR-TASS reports that according to the news legislation, distribution of extremist content online can be punished with 5 years in jail. Vzglyad website explains the legislation treates the publication of content in blogs as public...
Russia: Bloggers Initiated Day of Garbage Cleaning
Thousands of people participated in the event “Bloggers against garbage” that happened in dozens of Russian cities. A special community was created in Livejournal that includes many reports about the event. People used Twitter, Facebook, Vkontakte and other online platforms to coordinate the blog-based subbotnik [ENG]. The event was an...
Russia: Photos From the Tyva (Tuva) Republic
Oleg Klimov's photos [ru] from the Tyva (Tuva) Republic – here, here, here, and here.
Russia: “Stolen Dreams”
Oleg Klimov posts a series of photos [ru] of people sleeping on a Moscow-Novosibirsk train.
Ukraine: US and Russia Condemn Tymoshenko Arrest
Andy Young of Siberian Light reports that for once both Russia and the US stand united on one issue of international relations, namely their common condemnation of the arrest of former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko.
Russia: Vysotsky as Detective
War and Peace recalls the 1970s soviet television series with troubadour Vladimir Vysotsky as a tough-minded homicide detective.
Russia: Blogger Reveals Corruption at Moscow Journalism Faculty
This is the story of how one blogger was able to overcome corruption in the Department of Journalism at Moscow State University. It seems unbelievable and impossible even, that this issue revolves around entrance exams for the most powerful and prestigious university in Russia.
Russia: Police violence towards journalists and bloggers
Russian journalist and photoblogger Ilya Varlamov was threatened and attacked by Russian policemen when he covered oppositional demonstration in Moscow. He posted his story and photos [ru] of the attacker on his blog. Another story of police violence against a photoblogger during the same demonstration was told [ru] by Dmitriy...
Russia: Reshufflings in the Police
In Moscow's Shadows writes about “quite a dramatic restructuring of the [Russian Interior Ministry's] most senior echelons”: “The general line within the commentariat is that Nurgaliev is being encircled by Medvedev loyalists while Putin’s proteges are edged out.”
Russia: Putin Critical of US Economy
Robert Zeliger of Foreign Policy Passport draws attention to a statement on US economy by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, where he reportedly says that the US is “like a parasite” on the world economy.
Russia: Remembering The Song of Igor’s Campaign
I am Donna Welles discusses the 13th century Russian story “The Song of Igor’s Campaign” and its message of the importance of national unity.
Russia: Keeping Track of Elections
Vladimir Kara-Murza of Spotlight on Russia writes about the peculiar process to get St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko eligible for nomination to the post of speaker of the Federation Council – Russian parliament's upper house – and how local by-elections have been held in a far from transparent process simply...
Moldova: Attack on Journalist Causes Online Debate on “Language Issue”
An incident of violence against a Moldovan journalist has brought about active online discussions regarding the long-protracted animosities between the Moldovan majority and the small Russian minority in the country.
Russia: Exodus from LiveJournal Shows the Power of Networks
The latest Distributed Denial-of-Service attack (the second this year) on the most popular Russian blogging network, LiveJournal, has prompted a mass exodus of bloggers to different platforms and is significantly re-shaping the country's blogosphere.
Russia: Moscow's Being Re-Paved
Two photos of Moscow being re-paved – at Pictures of Moscow.
