Russia: Bloggers Find Street Shooter · Global Voices
Ashley Cleek

Bloggers across the Russian Internet were quick to respond with posts and information after well-known photo-blogger Dmitry Ternovsky [ru] was shot at recently on a highway in the southeast of Moscow.
Live-tweeted shooting
Ternovsky  live-tweeted [ru] a confusing scene in which two unknown men shot at his car:
Трое нерусских на мерседесе расстреляли мою машину за то что я снял их нарушение. Гонялись за мной и стреляли высунувшись из окна
Номер Мерседеса, из которого стреляли: в294хк199
The video of the shooting was uploaded on July 14, 2011, by YouTube user ridusnews (Ternovsky is behind the “Ridus News” citizen journalist community):
Ternovsky also posted photos of the cartridge cases he found on the side of the road.
Cartridge case Ternovsky found after his car was shot at. Photo by Dmitry Ternovsky (YFrog)
Later, Ternovsky recounted the incident fully in an interview with RIA Novosti [ru]:
На светофоре большой длинный черный “Мерседес”, включил “крякалку” и решил встроиться в поток. Я сфотографировал этот автомобиль, он обогнал меня справа, водитель опустил окно, начал меня оскорблять, плюнул в меня и поехал дальше. Я догнал “Мерседес” – и плюнул в его сторону. После чего один из пассажиров высунулся в окно и начал стрелять в меня.
When Ternovsky reported the incident at the local police precinct, he tweeted that the police did not initially seem too concerned with the case:
Возник вопрос у милиционера. Есть ли здесь состав преступления? Во мне дырок нет, на машине легкие вмятинки. “пойду почитаю закон” говорит
Bloggers investigate
After a search of the license plate number, the police discovered that the car was registered to a female lawyer in Moscow. Ternovsky had also managed to take a picture of the two men in the car. Bloggers immediately went to work trolling Russian social networking sites, eventually finding photos supposedly matching the men in the original on the Russian website Odnoklassniki. As a result, one of the suspects, Grigory Chubrevich, a 24-year-old originally from Riga, was detained in Moscow on July 15, a day following the incident.
On July 15, Ternovsky posted on his blog [ru] several questions he has concerning the incident. Among other things, Ternovsky wondered:
Вчера вечером ребята нашли героя, сидевшего за рулем Мерседеса, на сайте одноклассников. Он отлично виден на втором (стоит справа), третьем и четвертом снимках, которые размещены здесь – http://ridus-news.livejournal.com/286436.html
Думается, что сотрудникам МВД надо как-то быстрее осваивать Интернет и поиск в социальных сетях. Пока мы часами рисуем фотороботы и просматриваем картотеки бандитов, участники преступления спокойно находятся через Интернет.
In the comments under his post, bloggers quickly agreed with Ternovksy [ru], noting that:
Да. Достаточно в одноклассники встроить систему распознавания лиц. Но у нас ничего не хотят делать.
И судя по тому чемоданчику с деньгами, товарищи легко смогут отмазаться.
Yeah. It would be enough to install a face recognition system to Odnoklassniki. But of course, our people [the police] don’t want to do anything.
And judging by the suitcase filled with money, comrades will easily be able to get out of trouble.
One blogger worried [ru] that the light laws regarding minor attacks coupled with the lack of police protection would allow the perpetrators “to settle the score” against Ternovsky later:
Хочется пожелать Дмитрию тоже обзавестись травматическим стволом. По нынешним временам без него в Москве никак. […] Надеюсь, полиция все же сработает – и возьмут стрелков. Правда, им ничегошеньки не светит. Мелкое хулиганство. Заплатят штраф – и обозленные будут ждать Терновского возле подъезда, чтобы разобраться. Вооружаемся, граждане.
On July 15, a day after the attack, Ilya Varlamov [ru], a popular Russian photo-blogger and friend of Ternovsky, called for bloggers to join in support of one of their own. He posted a note on his blog [ru], asking all to rally in support of Ternovsky on July 16.
Завтра в около 13:00 в Таганском районном суде города Москвы состоится рассмотрение дела об избрании меры пресечения для задержанного по делу об обстреле машины Дмитрия ternovskiy Терновского. Мне кажется, стрелявшего в центре Москвы Григория Чубревича завтра могут отпустить. Слишком много родственников сегодня кружилось около ОВД. Думаю, только от нас зависит, замнут это дело или нет. […]
He later posted a blow-by-blow account of the trial [ru] and thanked the 40 or so people who came to support Ternovsky.
Due to the bloggers’ pressure, the case has received official and media attention. The first session of the court ruled to arrest Chubrevich for 2 months during the investigation. According to Echo Moskvy, Chubrevich may be charged with “Hooliganism,” which carries a sentence of up to 7 years of imprisonment.
Dmitry Ternovsky – Vocal advocate of blogger rights
Dmitry Ternovsky has long been a vocal advocate of photo-blogger rights in Russia, especially their rights to take photos of sites – from government buildings to newly constructed office buildings to trade centers. Ternovsky, along with several blogger friends, have repeatedly gone on excursions and “photowalks” in an attempt to take pictures of sites like government buildings and offices, and people such as cops and bureaucrats, in an attempt to push the boundaries of what can and cannot be photographed in Russia.
Recently, several photo bloggers, including Ternovsky, sent a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stating that the way the police prevent photographers from taking pictures is in violation with the Russian Constitution.
Currently, the coalition of photographers is working to convince businesses, cafes, and government officials to join the ‘Photography Freedom‘ [ru] project, by posting a small sticker of a green camera in the windows of businesses and office buildings. So far, Moscow's city police  have joined their ranks [ru], allowing their photos to be take while they are on duty.