· October, 2008

Below are posts about citizen media in Russian. Don't miss Global Voices по-русски, where Global Voices posts are translated into Russian! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about Russian from October, 2008

Kazakhstan: Blocked Bloggers Discuss Economics

  30 October 2008

Although LiveJournal, the major blog platform on the post-Soviet space, including Kazakhstan, is still not accessible through the national telecom monopolist Kazakhtelecom, Internet enthusiasts find their way to express their opinions online. The main topic – as, probably, elsewhere these days – is economics.

Russia: “Help Svetlana Bakhmina” Petition

  29 October 2008

As of now, 71,250 people have signed an online petition appealing to the Russian president to pardon Svetlana Bakhmina, a former senior lawyer for Mikhail Khodorkovsky's oil company Yukos, who was arrested in December 2004 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion in April 2006.

Russia: Dozens of LJ Blogs Suspended, Then Restored

  23 October 2008

Several dozen Russian LJ blogs – including quite a few top-ranking ones – got suspended for no obvious reason tonight, causing a massive LJ outcry. LJ user tarlith-history compiled a list of suspended blogs (RUS), calling the incident a “Blogocaust Night.” LJ user oleg-kozyrev called (RUS) what happened a “blogocide.”...

Russia, U.S.: LJ User Drugoi in NYC

  22 October 2008

LJ user drugoi, one of the most popular and prolific Russian bloggers, shares his wonderful photos of New York City - and his thoughts on some of the issues discussed on Oct. 17 at the Russian-language blogosphere conference at Columbia University School of Journalism - "Russia Online: Mapping the Russian-Language Blogosphere and Participatory Internet."

Russia, Ukraine: Financial Crisis

  21 October 2008

IZO cites a post by LJ.Rossia.org user mrparker (RUS) about a somewhat panicky mistranslation of a Reuters news item on the financial situation by a Russian news agency. Also, a few notes on the banks, real estate and contemporary art in Ukraine.

Kazakhstan: LiveJournal Blocked

  20 October 2008

On October 7th, the Kazakhstani users have found themselves unable to access popular social network LiveJournal. This website is the most popular blogging platform in the Russian-speaking communities on the post-Soviet space. Bloggers in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan were also cut off – particularly, those whose ISPs use the facilities of...

Russia: Firing Grad Rockets at Tskhinvali on Aug. 8?

  19 October 2008

War correspondent Vadim Rechkalov (LJ user voinodel) has posted an Aug. 9 interview with a Russian soldier (RUS) who said they had fired at least 20 Grad “packages” (each “package” has 40 rockets, which makes it around 800 rockets) at Tskhinvali on Aug. 8 – because they “had to seize...

Russia: A Ticketless Passenger

  11 October 2008

In Moscow, you can buy a bus/trolleybus/tram ticket from the driver and it'll cost you 25 rubles, which is roughly $1. If you buy your tickets at special kiosks, you get a discount. But some people prefer to cheat and ride for free. A ticketless passenger is known as zayats in Russian: a hare. Moscow-based LJ user kozenko described a recent encounter with one representative of this species.

Kazakhstan: Language, Economics and Foreign Policy

  9 October 2008

The Kazakhstani authorities have again brought up the issue of state language. Kazakh language has been heavily depreciated in the Soviet times against the background of inculcation of Russian language. Earlier, officials restrained themselves from outright expulsion of the Russian language (which still dominates in the official paperwork and in...

Russia: Remembering Anna Politkovskaya

  7 October 2008

Oct. 7 marks two years since the assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. No one has been jailed so far, but three men are expected to go to trial soon for their suspected involvement in the crime. Below is a selection of today's commemorative posts from the Russophone blogosphere.

Russia: Eid ul-Fitr in Moscow

  2 October 2008

Over 30,000 Muslims reportedly came to the Moscow Cathedral Mosque for a communal prayer on Sept. 30, the first day of Eid ul-Fitr, a Muslim holiday known in Russia as Uraza Bayram, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. Russian bloggers' reactions ranged from hostile to positive, and below is a translation of some of them.

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