Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from February, 2011
Ukraine: “Undressing… With an Excuse”
Good Girl Gone Ukrainian explains her disappointment with what FEMEN, a Ukrainian “female protest group known for its provocative bare-breasted acts,” has evolved into over the years.
Ukraine: “Reasons For Not Believing Today's Authorities”
Foreign Notes provides a loose translation – here and here – of the “30 reasons why it is difficult to believe today's authorities,” which were published in the Feb. 11 issue of the Ukrainian weekly news magazine Korrespondent.
Ukraine: Trip to Bakhchisaray, Crimea
The Kalpak writes about his trip to Bakhchisaray – “the hub of Crimean Tatar culture.”
Europe: EU and Social Media
Kosmopolito writes on the ways in which the “EU institutions [should] engage with bloggers” and on the need to have a bigger “euroblogosphere.”
Russia: One-Person Rallies by the Embassy of Libya
LJ user notavailablenow reports (RUS) on an hour-long series of one-person pickets held across the street from the Embassy of Libya in Moscow on Tuesday by two citizen activists, who took turns holding up a poster that read “Stop state terrorism.” First, however, the activists had to educate and argue...
Balkans: Ceca and Other “Unwelcome” Singers
Belgraded posts a list of Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian singers who are “unwelcome in former enemy countries.”
Serbia: Modern Architecture
Block 23 in New Belgrade and other examples of modern Serbian architecture – at Nothing Against Serbia.
Ukraine: New Blog on “Politics, and Everything in Between”
GV Author Tetyana Bohdanova has launched an English-language blog “on Ukraine, politics, and everything in between” – Good Girl Gone Ukrainian.
Serbia: Government Website Broken Into Due to 12345 Password
Belgraded.com writes about the most recent awkward situation that the costly website of Serbia's Ministry of Ecology and Urban Planning has found itself in: “The site was the target of public ridicule once again couple of hours ago when someone noticed that the username/password combination for logging on to the...
Serbia: The Semlin Nazi Concentration Camp
Bill's Blog writes about Semlin Judenlager, a Nazi concentration camp in Belgrade.
Russia: Yakutia's Drinking Water; World's Deepest Ice Shaft
Among many other things, Bolot of AskYakutia.com writes about “the world’s deepest shaft in the permafrost zone” and about drinking water in Yakutsk.
Russia: Photos From Coal Miners’ Towns in Perm Region
Alexander Belenkiy (LJ user macos) posts photos (RUS) taken in the neglected – but not yet fully deserted – coal miners’ towns in Perm region, where the first mine appeared in 1797 and the last one closed in 2000: “All this resembles today's Abkhazia or wartime Grozny.”
Russia: Recreating a Traditional Village Hospital
Mikhail Shlyapnikov (LJ user michael-077) writes in detail (RUS) about plans to set up a communal village hospital – old-style, but functional – in Kolionovo, Moscow region: “This, perhaps, is a rare case in contemporary history of rural Russia when, contrary to the general tendency, a village hospital is not...
Croatia: Google Flees Red Tape
Viktor Markovic/@Belgrade reports: “Google fled Croatia because of red tape http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php?id=17021.”
Hungary: A New Blog on EU Council Presidency
Via Kosmopolito, a link to Kovács and Kováts – a new blog that's “supposed to denote [the two authors’] weekly adventures while working for the Hungarian [EU Council] Presidency.”
Russia: “Danilkingate” – or “Parfyonov/Volochkova Syndrome”
Power Vertical reports on Natalya Vasilyeva, “Russia's latest whistleblower” – who “[revealed] that the judge in Mikhail Khodorkovsky's recent fraud trial was pressured from on high […].” LJ user stas-kucher calls (RUS) the scandal “Danilkingate” (after Viktor Danilkin, the judge). Journalist Andrey Loshak notes (RUS) on the “Parfyonov/Volochkova syndrome,” referring...
Russia: 2011 State Budget Funding for Media Companies
LJ user sart posts info (RUS) from the Russian Federation's 2011 budget (RUS, .zip, 322MB) on the state funding allotted to media companies: e.g., VGTRK gets nearly 19 billion rubles (approx. $628 million), and TV-Novosti, a company that owns RT (Russia Today), gets over 11 billion rubles (nearly $380 million).
Ukraine: Facebook's Popularity Grows
Maksym Savanevsky of Watcher.com.ua reports (UKR) on Facebook's increasing popularity in Ukraine: the number of users has grown by 400% in 2010; monthly growth rate is about 14%; some 1,161,000 people (or 2.5% of Ukraine's population) have Facebook accounts, and, if growth continues at the same rate, 4 million Ukrainians...
Belarus: 2,600 People Vouch for Political Prisoners
Gomel-based activist Pyotr Kuznetsov is one of 2,600 Belarusians who have publicly vouched for those who remain jailed after the Dec. 19 presidential election protests. He addresses (RUS) the Belarusian president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, among others: “[…] [Is he] prepared to accuse 2,600 people of a conspiracy to change the constitutional...
Belarus: House Arrest, with KGB Officers Stationed Inside
According to LJ user ng68 (RUS) and to this RFE/RL story (ENG), KGB officers are stationed inside – not outside – the homes of former presidential candidate Uladzimer Nyaklyaeu and journalist Iryna Khalip, who were released from jail on Jan. 29 but placed under house arrest.
Belarus: Photos of Turau and Other Locations
Photos from the town of Turau and other locations in Belarus – by LJ user xadnight (RUS, ENG)
