Stories about Russia from January, 2010
Russia: Miss Virtual Yakutia 2010
eYakutia posts an update on the ongoing Miss Virtual Yakutia 2010 contest.
Serbia, Russia: Author Awarded for Book on Ratko Mladić
A Slice Of Serbian Politics reports on the award given by the Union of Russian Writers to Ljiljana Bulatović for her book “Report to the General”: “Ljiljana was awarded in the ‘Slav Fraternity’ category with the ‘Imperial Culture’ award for, as it is stated, ‘her courage, commitment, and unswerving dedication...
Russia: Consumerism
St Petersblurb sees “the whole EU exactly through the eyes of a Russian” ex-girlfriend: “It’s just a retail chain with branches in different languages.”
Russia: Vladimir Vysotsky
St Petersblurb and Leopolis pay tribute to Vladimir Vysotsky, who would have turned 72 on January 25.
Russia: CJR Piece on the Media
Robert Amsterdam recommends Adam Federman's article on the Russian media, published in Columbia Journalism Review: “[…] Federman focuses on the remaining mechanisms and political dynamics for freedom of press and the conditions in which genuinely good investigative journalism can still occur in today's harshly repressive media environment in Russia.”
Russia: Potential iPad Pricing and Sales
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy writes that “representatives of one of the local retailers that is now negotiating iPad sales in Russia expect to be able to sell iPad at the price that will be twice as high as it is in the US”: “Now can anyone explain me why Apple...
Russia: Opposition Blogger Finally Gets Permission To Leave Country
An opposition blogger Oleg Kozlovsky tells his story [EN] on how his blog helped his to finally receive a passport allowing him to leave Russia. The country's Federal Security Service (FSB) refused to issue a new passport to Kozlovsky but quickly changed its decision after he published a blog post...
Russia: How To Dress In Yakutia In Winter
AskYakutia.com explains “how to dress in Yakutia in the middle of winter.”
Russia: Book Written Using Collective Efforts Online
Russian writer Evgeny Popov decided to create his new book using online input from readers of his blog. The author publishes every chapter of the book [RUS] online with several questions at the end. The readers’ answers and feedback shape the next chapter. Popov plans to publish the book along...
Russia: Newspaper Blog Covers Practices Of Trolling
A recent post on the blog [RUS] of a famous Russian oppositional newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” covers general practices of political trolling on the Russian Internet.
Russia: Political Dossier Web Site Shut Down
Compromat.ru, a notorious Web site that publishes controversial dossiers on various Russian politicians and businessmen, has been allegedly closed following a court order, Elena Tokareva (a.k.a. LJ user elena-tokareva2) reported [RUS]. There are no further details on the issue but a mirror site kompromat.ru has been launched with some of...
Russia: Prosecution Against Opposition Blogger Stopped
The first criminal case against a blogger in Russia with a happy ending unfolded over a long period of time. After two years of investigation and three socio-linguistic assessments, experts didn't find any evidence of "incitement hatred against police and Russian Security Service officers." But the blogger's victory, however, is rather an exception than a rule.
Belarus: Politics and Economy Update
Belarus Digest reports on the ongoing political repressions in Belarus; the governement's plan “to introduce censorship on the Internet about a year before the next presidential election”; the new price of Belarusian entry visa (if issued at the airport) – 180 euro; and Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, which...
Russia: Draft Law to Limit Daytime Access to Explicit Online Content
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy writes about a Russian draft law aiming to limit access to explicit online content during daytime: “It is obvious that internet here is taken as some wider analogue of television.”
Russia: Yandex vs Google Search at Mail.ru
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy writes about Mail.ru's relationship with Google and Yandex.ru.
Russia: Lyudmila Alexeyeva; “Zhivago's Children”
IZO links to a New York Times’ profile of the 82-year-old Russian dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva (who blogs in Russian at http://lm-alexeeva.livejournal.com/) – and to a review of Vladislav Zubok's Zhivago's Children: The Last Russian Intelligentsia, posted at Languagehat.
Russia: Newspaper Web Site Hacked
The Web site of a popular Russian newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” has been hacked today, RIA news agency reported [EN]. Allegedly, the attack has been provoked by the article [RUS] about a controversial demolition [ENG] of houses at the luxury Rechnik neighborhood in Moscow.
Russia: Editor Of Major Newspaper Says Police Treats Internet As Traditional Media
Commenting on the recent arrest of a former Russian police officer who used a video blog to expose police corruption in the country, an editor of a major Russian newspaper “Vedomosti” said that Russian police “treats Internet as an extension of traditional media and fights bloggers as they do journalists.”
Russian Blogger Harassed For Marrying Chinese
Maria Gromakova became a victim of comprehensive virtual attacks of Russian extreme nationalists. Online harassment eventually turned into a real-life nightmare forcing Maria and her family to leave Russia. She tells her story to GVO.
Russian Spam Tycoon Shares His Methods And Targets
Russian “spam tycoon” Petr Ivanenko said [RUS] in an interview that his main targets were the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, Spain and Italy. He explained his new spam methods and talked about collaboration with credit cards online thieves.
Russia: Famous Police Video Blogger Arrested
Ex-police officer Aleksey Dymovsky has been arrested on Jan. 23 on fraud charges. Dymovsky became a Russian Internet sensation when he released an online video address publicly accusing several high-ranked Russian police officers in corruption.
