Stories about Russia from February, 2006
Russia: Moscow's Suburbs and Sightseeing
Snowsquare.com and Two-Zero visit the more remote Moscow neighborhoods – Konkovo and Tyoplyi Stan – and take pictures. Jane Keeler of From Russia With Blog has lots of stories and photos from her sightseeing trip to Moscow, too.
Russia: Moscow's Tverskaya Street
Snowsquare.com writes about Moscow's central street, Tverskaya: the unique way of lighting it at night, and the final days of Hotel Minsk (22 Tverskaya), built in 1964.
Russia: Maslyanitsa
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about Maslyanitsa, a part-pagan, part-Christian holiday, celebrating the arrival of spring and the approach of the pre-Easter fast, and how it is marked in Russia nowadays.
Russia: Photos From Feb. 23 Rallies in Moscow
Marina Litvinovich links (RUS) to photos from Feb. 23 rallies and marches that took place in Moscow: here, here, here, here, here, and here. The majority of the photos are from the rally in front of Russia's Defense Ministry, where people gathered to demand the army's reform and resignation of...
Russia: Krasnaya Polyana Ski Resort
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile reads “the story of a complete ski-wimp on a trip to Krasnaya Polyana” in SKI Magazine. Krasnaya Polyana is Vladimir Putin's favorite ski resort.
Russia: “Salt Crisis”
Two-Zero writes about “salt crisis” in Russia – allegedly, a direct consequence of the “gas crisis” in Ukraine – and the difficult relationship between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia: “Buratino-the-Pooh”
Konstantin of the Russian Marketing Blog shares a really weird label: instead of a bear, there's Buratino, the Russian Pinocchio, on the cake called “Winnie-the-Pooh Cake”: “No, Russians don’t call Pinocchio Winnie. Why is this picture on the cake’s box? Call “Vega-Nord” Bakery hot line.”
Russia: More On the Anniversary of Khrushchev's Speech
Somewhat belatedly, links to more posts by Sean Guillory's on the 50th anniversary of Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin: Boris Kagarlitsky on “sacrificing” the dictator in order to save the system; Anne Applebaum on “authoritarian impulse” in countries new to democracy; Julian Evans on the “cult of Putin” in Russia;...
Russia: Anatoly Fomenko and his New Chronology vs David Irving
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes about a respected Russian mathematician Anatoly Fomenko and his controversial “new chronology of world history” – in which, for example, “Jesus Christ and emperor Constantine were the same person.” Alex(ei) cites an anonymous LiveJournal user: “…if David Irving deserves three years in jail,...
Russia: Chechen and Ingush NGOs Fear the Pressure On Them Will Increase
David McDuff of A Step At A Time has translated an article by Liza Osmayeva on the Chechen and Ingush NGOs’ concern about local law enforcement agencies’ increased interest in their work. Representatives of the Ingushetia-based Information Centre of the Council of Non-Governmental Organizations and the Chechen National Salvation Committee...
Latvia: Russo-Latvian Border Dispute
All About Latvia links to a year-old entry still relevant today: on a proposed Russo-Latvian border argeement and Russia's objections to it.
Ukraine: ‘Gangs of Donetsk’
LEvko at Foreign Notes writes about ‘Gangs of Donetsk’ and what appears to be a criminal connection of a major Ukrainian party.
Russia: Political Jokes
Sergey Belyakov of RUBLog posts six political jokes, which target Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Adam and Eve.
Russia: Defenders of the Fatherland Day
Russia marks Defenders of the Fatherland Day today, aka the Men's Day (while March 8 is the Women's Day). Megan Case posts a contemporary greeting card she has found in s store; Katerina at The Accidental Russophile links to the site that has Soviet postcards for the occasion; Russia Blog...
Russia: Market Roof Collapse
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile attempts to analyze today's collapse of one of Moscow's largest markets from an engineer's perspective. So far, 56 people are reported to have been killed, but this number is likely to grow, as many more were inside at 5:45 a.m., when the tragedy took...
Russia: Photos From “A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer”
Yekaterina Chistyakova links (RUS) to the site that has the 36 winning photos of this year's “Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World” contest, which took place at the Children's Clinical Hospital on Feb. 12.
Russia: Fire at Komsomolka
Following the fire that destroyed one human life and much of the archives of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Sean Guillory recounts the newspaper's history.
Russia: Airports and Aerial Views
Marina Litvinovich (RUS) posts pictures of several Russian airports and pictures of Russia taken from the plane. The airport of the town of Magas in Ingushetia is populated by cows.
Russia: Moscow Diggers
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert links to a fascinating story in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, about the Diggers of the Underground Planet, a Moscow group formed in 1990 to “study the historical, ecological, and social aspects of the Moscow underground.”
Russia: Moscow Metro, Honey, Driving and Cinema
As part of an ongoing virtual tour of Moscow, snowsquare.com provides a few more glimpses of the capital's landmarks, obvious and not so: male/female voices of Moscow Metro; yet another Honey Fair; Moscow “migalki” and irresponsible driving; and the recent re-opening of Oktyabr Cinema.
Hungary: Book Collection To Be Returned by Russia
Pestiside.hu reports that Russia has finally agreed to return an invaluable Hungarian book collection that was seized during WWII – but will charge Hungary $400,000 for “storing” the books for over 50 years.
