Stories about Russian from November, 2008
Armenia: Bloggers Throw Funeral at Georgian Embassy
Carrying a black casket labeled “The Newborn Georgian Democracy,” a group of bloggers in Yerevan have marched toward the Georgian Embassy protesting what they call the destruction and desecration of Armenian cultural monuments in neighboring Georgia. Bloggers tell the story.
Russia: Moscow plans of financial glory
LJ user romanemo comments on [RUS] Russia's plans to turn Moscow into an international financial centre.
Russia: Murder of Vladikavkaz Mayor
LJ user Zhurnal Cheloveka reports on [RUS] the murder of Vitaly Karaev, mayor of the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz.
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Journalists Under Attack
Beaten in Armenia and imprisoned in Azerbaijan, journalists in the ex-Soviet South Caucasus know the price of freedom. Some of them are even fighting from prison cells, wrestling state persecution and challenging societal intolerance for dissent. Bloggers tell the story of free speech in the South Caucasus.
Kazakhstan: Political Economy and Blocked Blogs
It has been more than a month since Kazakhstan’s telecom monopolist blocked access of the users to Livejournal, the most popular blog platform in the Central Asian country. At the same time, the networks of online discussions did not get bleaker, still providing speedy reaction to the socio-political and economic...
Ukraine: Harm Reduction and Law Enforcement, Part 2
Last month, Ukrainian blogger mazay wrote about his attempt to educate a group of Kyiv police officers on harm reduction programs. Although many in the audience did not seem as interested in this not-yet-popular approach to dealing with drug addiction as they were in obtaining free condoms from the activists, judging from this follow-up post by mazay, the talk did after all bear some positive fruit.
Russia: “Different Family” Photo Project
"These people may have no home, no jobs. They may be doing drugs, their neighbors may hate them, and they may be banned from entering a theater because of their inappropriate looks. But within such families, love and caring relationship still reign." This is how photographer Irina Popova describes the subjects of her "Different Family" project, currently on exhibit in St. Petersburg. But since the series is centered as much on a toddler named Anfisa, the daughter of Popova's marginal adult subjects, the photographer's interpretation of her own work has caused harsh criticism.
Armenia: Violence against Women
The world’s oldest Christian nation may have many things to be proud about, but when it comes to women’s rights the ex-Soviet Armenia is possibly in denial. With widespread human trafficking as its worst manifestation, violence against women in Armenia is alarming the world. Will a recent Amnesty International report detailing domestic abuse and government inaction bring about change? Bloggers react.
Central & Eastern Europe: A Travel Roundup
Olive harvesting in Albania, John Paul II monuments in Poland, a Soviet military hardware cemetery in Moscow and more: Central and Eastern Europe-based bloggers share their recent travel stories and photos.
Russia, U.S.: Obama Wins, Medvedev Speaks
Just hours after Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election, Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev delivered his first address to the Russian Federal Assembly, making statements that grabbed attention both at home and in the West. Below is a selection of Russian bloggers' thoughts regarding the address and its timing.
Ukraine: Harm Reduction and Law Enforcement
Harm reduction initiatives are gradually taking root in Ukraine, a country with one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Europe (e.g., the first methadone substitution therapy programs, still illegal in Russia, were introduced in Ukraine in 2004). But having the government's approval for such programs is not enough for them to succeed: for one thing, general public and law enforcement officials should be aware of the situation and of the efforts to change it for the better. Ukrainian blogger mazay writes about a recent attempt to educate a group of Kyiv police officers.
Russia: Social Benefits and Bureaucracy
The previous GV translation from Russia dealt with how a few committed St. Petersburg bloggers have partially succeeded in relieving the bureaucratic torture that the local elderly people with disabilities were subjected to by the state authorities. By way of a follow-up, here is a story of another bureaucratic ordeal, shared by LJ user smitrich (Moscow-based journalist Dmitry Sokolov-Mitrich).
Russia: Bureaucracy and LJ Activism in St. Petersburg
A story of bureaucracy, human suffering and online activism in St. Petersburg, which involves the state, elderly people with disabilities and a number of committed bloggers.
