Currently based in New Haven, Connecticut. Masters from UC Berkeley in Soviet History. Between 2009 and 2011, I worked with Leon Aron in Washington, DC, at the American Enterprise Institute. Since 2010, I've blogged at ‘A Good Treaty.’ Read my tweets (there are thousands) at @KevinRothrock and @RuNetMemes. Former English-language editor at Meduza. Now also web editor at the Moscow Times.
Latest posts by Kevin Rothrock
30 September 2016
Russian Politician Wants Journalists Prosecuted for Sharing Footage of His Ricky Martin Dance
A city councilman in Orlov has filed a police report against local journalists for sharing video footage of him dancing to Ricky Martin’s “Livin la Vida Loca.”
28 September 2016
Russian TV Airs ‘Separatist Coca-Cola’ Prank Video As Real News Footage
A practical joke published on YouTube has made it to network television in Russia, where it was aired as real footage of ethnic tension in Ukraine.
23 September 2016
How an ‘American Spy’ May Have Exposed Russian Election Fraud
Depending on how you interpret the numbers, it’s possible that a journalist from Reuters managed to reveal what real elections in Russia last Sunday would have looked like.
21 September 2016
Life in Russia After Porn
A week after Russian censors banned two of the most popular pornography websites around, ordinary Web users are firing back with an online flashmob that mixes satire and protest.
14 September 2016
Vladimir Putin and the Fake Brides of Red Square
Last holiday weekend, Moscow wasn't the only thing being celebrated: part of the spectacle appears to have been arranged to remind Russians that their president is a virile, red-blooded man.
8 September 2016
Russia's Pokemon-Go-Playing Atheist Outlaw Has Some Powerful Enemies
Out of respect for the blogger, the church says it won't “force Christian forgiveness” or “Christian love,” explaining that he hasn't asked for the former and rejects the latter.
5 September 2016
Russia's Pokemon Gulag
Ruslan Sokolovksy’s alleged crime was filming himself playing Pokemon Go inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral. If convicted of the charges, he could go to prison for up to five years.
25 August 2016
Twenty Years of Russian Political Campaign Ads
RuNet Echo looks back at the most memorable political advertisements in Russia over the past two decades, highlighting some of the strangest, silliest, and scariest videos put out by politicians.
23 August 2016
Put Down the Marvel and DC, Kids: Russia Just Bought You a Patriotic Comic Book.
The three “primary goals” of the comic book are creating alternatives to foreign superheroes, incentivizing teenagers to become active in sports, and raising basic levels of knowledge about military service.
17 August 2016
Ice Cold and Up to Your Knees: Russian Pensioner Has Spent 5 Years Living in a Flooded Home
The water, which nearly reaches his knees, is black and ice cold. Even in the summer, when the weather can be quite warm in the city, the water is freezing
16 August 2016
Russia's Parliamentary Race Gets Another Erotic Tabloid Scoop
Baronova has refused to comment publicly about the leaked pictures, but she did say she'll be happy to “take up the discussion about her chest” after the elections are over.
13 August 2016
Astronomy May Have Just Debunked Russia's Claims About a Ukrainian Incursion Into Crimea
Russian state television may have broadcast false evidence released by the Federal Security Service allegedly showing the discovery of a weapons cache belonging to Ukrainian “saboteurs” caught in Crimea.
11 August 2016
Russian Officials in Crimea Shut Off the Internet at the Ukrainian Border
“This was to ensure that certain special forces... so there would be no infiltration... For security reasons, these measures were necessary, and people understand why.”
10 August 2016
Today Moscow Accused Ukraine of Sending Terrorists Into Crimea. Russian Internet Users Have Been Saying It for Days.
Russian officials waited almost three days before going public with the story. There were earlier unconfirmed reports, however, including an apparent all-points bulletin issued by the Russian Interior Ministry.
30 July 2016
Why the Russians Don't Care About Trump, Clinton, and the DNC Hack
RuNet Echo asked more than a dozen leading RuNet voices to offer their interpretations of why most RuNet users seem not to care about allegations that Moscow hacked the DNC.
13 July 2016
Everybody's Favorite Irreverent RuNet Community Goes to War (Against Itself)
“Lentach,” one of the RuNet’s hippest, edgiest, occasionally racist, and thoroughly irreverent news communities, is on the rocks.
12 July 2016
Global Voices Seeks Contributing Editor for RuNet Echo Project
Interested candidates, please send a résumé, writing sample, and cover letter explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job.
5 July 2016
Swastikas and Porn or: How Russian Cops Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet Crackdown
According to a Rostov court, Detective Eliseev wanted to advance his career and win bonus pay by faking “time-consuming inspection work” and framing a man for extremism.
1 July 2016
Telegram Bug Leaks Russian TV News Station's Internal Chats to Random User
Telegram's known security flaws do not explain why Anna Gorbacheva, whose device never belonged to anyone associated with TV Rain, suddenly began receiving notifications of the team's private messages.
28 June 2016
The Men Behind Moscow's Hidden Bathroom Cameras and the Woman Who's Fighting Back
RuNet Echo translates a new investigative report by the Russian independent news channel TV Rain about a network of hidden cameras operating in women's restrooms throughout Moscow.
