I'm a Kyiv native; divide my time between Kyiv, Moscow, Istanbul and the Croatian island of Vis; lived in St. Petersburg in 2003-2005; attended Rutgers University in 1993-94, did my master's in journalism at the University of Iowa in 1996-98.
Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from March, 2007
Russia: Photos of Grozny
Earlier this week, I linked to LJ user kunstkamera‘s photos from Grozny, Chechnya. (Warning: bandwidth intensive.) Below are some of the comments and kunstkamera‘s own remarks, translated from Russian. gematogen: Was it scary? kunstkamera: It was scary to fly the [YaK-42] plane. […] i_grappa: It's interesting, thank you! In general,...
Ukraine, Belarus: Chernobyl
MoldovAnn attends the opening of a photo exhibition of Belarus-based American photographer Kristina Brendel, held at the Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv; she discovers that the Belarusian government's treatment of the Chernobyl catastrophe differs drastically from that of the Ukrainian government: “…there is total denial by the Belarussian government that there...
Russia: Tolstoy's Diary
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis notes that Leo Tolstoy's diary turned 160 years old yesterday: “In the complete set of his works the diaries occupy 13 volumes.”
Russia: Lenin, A Collector's Item
“Thus, what is so fascinating about the cult of Lenin is the efforts of an atheist regime to create a kind of religion for political control,” writes Darkness at Noon in a lengthy post about his own very impressive collection of the Soviet busts of Lenin and a recent ordeal...
Ukraine: Online Graffiti Museum
Lyndon of Moscow Graffiti (and of Scraps of Moscow!) links to the online Museum of Ukrainian Graffiti.
Russia: WiFi and All, St. Pete vs Moscow
Lex Libertas compares St. Petersburg's technological development to that of Moscow.
Russia: Beggars and More
Darkness at Noon continues with the discussion of the Russian street beggars: La Russophobe guest-blogs around the issue; bloggers discuss the post in the comments.
Estonia: New Coalition Government
Vilhelm Konnander reports on Estonia's new coalition government.
Russia: Nashi Site Blocked
Strangely, no one from outside Russia can access the site of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, reports Sean's Russia Blog.
Russia: Politkovskaya
Sean's Russia Blog reports on no progress in the investigation of Anna Politkovskaya's death. (Also, Sean mentions that Politkovskaya's last – posthumous – book is coming out in May.)
Ukraine: Kherson Success Story
Ukraine Update shares a small business success story from Kherson.
Ukraine: Ostrog
Olechko posts notes and sketches from her last year's trip to Mezhyrich Monastery in Ostrog.
Ukraine: Book on Chernobyl
MoldovAnn reads Piers Paul Read's 1993 book on Chernobyl (Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl) and discovers that she has been to a few Ukrainian towns mentioned in it: “Sometimes I forget what my colleagues lived through, that they themselves are first-hand witnesses to the Chornobyl...
Ukraine: New Foreign Minister
Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's new 32-year-old minister of foreign affairs.
Ukraine: Yanukovych; Lutsenko
Despite talk of Maidan #2, PM Yanukovych feels pretty comfortable and even publicly admits that he did serve time in prison. This and a report on more troubles for Yuri Lutsenko, at Foreign Notes.
Ukraine: Mad Max
Foreign Notes writes about the killing of mobster Maxim Kurochkin and the investigation into it.
Ukraine, FSU: Stalin
Over at Siberian Light, readers discuss weird first names, such as Stalin, Ninel, and Vladlen. Carpetblogger writes about the Donetsk Heating Company's Stalinist methods to get this East Ukrainian city's population to pay their utility bills.
Russia: Putin's Article in the Times
Very Russian Tochka Net thinks Vladimir Putin should stop writing articles for publication in the West: “Confused, placatory stuff whose only effect is to make a bunch of smart-arses think we’re trying to suck up to them. At least this time he didn’t say we’re European.”
Russia: Non-Touristy Moscow Pics
The Turkish Invasion posts non-touristy pictures of Moscow.
Russia: Deadly Strip Club Fire
The Turkish Invasion reports on the deadly fire at a Moscow strip club.
Russia: Thaw
White Sun of the Desert reports on the beginning of the springtime thaw in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: “Bereft of any kind of drainage system, the melting snow first forms a brown slush which lies ankle-deep on every pavement, and later turns to lakes of dirty water which straddle entire roads and covers...
