Latest posts by Alexey Sidorenko
Russia: Pictures from the Rocket Factory
Blogger Lana Sator publishes [ru] pictures from NPO Energomash, a rocket factory situated near Moscow that specializes on producing liquid propellant rocket engines. Sator with her friend, had been sneaking into the factory for 5 nights in a row, due to a ‘complete lack of security.’ Pictures remind us one...
Russia: Moscow Election Committee Calls to Prosecute Popular Blogger
Moscow Election Committee had issued an official letter to the Prosecutor's office and the police to start an investigation of probable defamation against Oleg Kozyrev, one of the top Russian bloggers, blogger reports [ru]. The letter is the reply to Kozyrev's complaint letter he had sent to the Committee earlier.
Russia: Opposition Faces Online Communication Problems
The ability to broadcast the events of December 2011 in Russia live online, has made people around the world and in the country the spectators of a truly historical event – the December 22 gathering of some 100-150 opposition activists, who represented thousands of the netizens and millions of not-connected Russians.
Russia: Analyzing the Possible Scale of Saturday's Election Protests
As the situation with the Russian election results and the country's detained protesters has not yet been resolved, people in many cities are preparing for demonstrations on Saturday 10 December. Alexey Sidorenko analyzes online group demographics and the possible outcome of the protests.
Russia: Second Day of Post-Election Protests
The intrigue of the second day of post-election protests has centered around several major events: court appearances by bloggers Ilya Yashin and Alexey Navalny, a protest demonstration at Triumfalnaya Square, and discussions regarding the Kremlin's soft-power counter-revolution and various means of cyber warfare.
Russia: The Revolt of “Net Hamsters”
The day after the elections, Russians got together to rally against election fraud. Even though the United Russia party, according to preliminary results, is to lose some 77 seats compared to the previous Duma, most of the protesters considered the election to be neither fair, nor free.
Russia: No Violation of Election Violations
Despite the many independent websites down due to DDoS-alypse, bloggers were able to share information on elections violations. The overall feeling online was expressed [ru] by @yar0slav: Falsification of elections continues without serious violations.
Russia: Election Day DDoS-alypse
The Russian parliamentary election day has come. And with it, DDoS attacks and falsifications. Alexey Sidorenko reports.
Russia: Last Words Before Pre-Election Silence
Friday, December 2, is the last day when campaigning for the Russian parliamentary elections is legal. Russian bloggers share their views on the upcoming December 4 parliamentary vote - and their voting plans. Alexey Sidorenko reports.
Russia: Creators of Election Violation Map Come Under Attack
With a week to go until Russia's parliamentary elections, the Golos election monitoring association has been experiencing unprecedented pressure, including a break-in by a television team, accusatory articles in major newspapers, and a call for the organization's closure signed by three parliament deputies.
Russia: Digital Oppression Hits Web Forums as Election Approaches
As the Russian parliamentary election comes closer, dispersed attacks on regional discussion boards have turned into a massive wave of digital oppression. Alexey Sidorenko reports on several cases.
Russia: Kostroma Police Closes Discussion Board For Criticising Governor
The server of the Kostroma-based discussion board “Kostroma Jedis” (jedi.net.ru) had been confiscated by the police on November 16, 2011 (see police acts here [ru] and here [ru]). The website, which audience was about 12,000 visitors daily, was taken by the police ‘as an evidence’ in the investigation of libelling...
Russia: Hidden Camera Reveals Illegal Electioneering in School
A scandal caused by a hidden camera recording at a school in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, has highlighted a serious problem in Russian schools: teachers campaigning for the ruling United Russia party.
Russia: Official List of Extremist (Forbidden) Materials Grows Over 1000 Items
Sova center publishes [ru] another update of the list [ru] of extremist materials (run by the Ministry of Justice). After the update, which includes 1 YouTube video, kavkazcenter.com (radical separatist website), 2 videos dedicated to Tatar nationalism at tawba.info, and radical leftist limonka.nbp-info.ru, the list consists of more than 1,000 items (articles, videos, newspapers,...
Russia: Radical Feminist Band Dedicates Debut Clip to Arab Spring
“Egyptian air is good for lungs,” “Make Tahrir at the Red Square”, “Feminist whip is good for Russia” and other provoking slogans sing 3 women from the new radical feminist band “Pussy Riot.” The debut clip [ru] of the band, inspired by the Arab Spring events, features mask-wearing females with guitars...
Russia: Drug Control Service Goes After a Blogger Who Commented on Steve Jobs Taking Drugs
Russian Drug Control Service had approached Habrahabr.ru, a popular IT-portal, and demanded [ru] personal data of the Belarus-based staff-writer Alizar [ru]. He is accused of drug propaganda in his post [ru] which speculates on Steve Jobs’ innovativity, marijuana and LSD, and the governments’ policies towards light drugs, citing Time magazine, the New...
Russia: Police Re-Branding, So Far Online Only
Bloggers discuss newpolice.ru [ru], a self-proclaimed website of the Russian police's new look. Despite beautiful design, the authenticity of website hasn't been confirmed by any government agency, which leads a confusion wherever it's a real yet unannounced reform or just a design prank.
Russia/Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan Airlines Refuse to Check-In Russian Citizen with Armenian Surname
LJ-user dimulenka re-publishes [ru] the closed post [ru] of Sergey Gurdzian, “Avtovaz” export director, who writes about a case of ethnic discrimination by Azerbaijan Airlines. Airline representative at the Domodedovo airport refused to check-in Gurdzian on the flight to Baku referring to his Armenian surname and some ‘security instructions.’
Russia: Hidden Political Messages in Well-Done YouTube Videos
RuNet witnesses a new competition of high quality YouTube videos. The first video [ru] is called “Half-Dead Bloggers in DeadJournal” and mocks top-bloggers exposing them as neo-Nazis, drug addicts, unstable personalities, etc. The other video [ru] made by popular illustrator Zhgun, on the contrary, tells that unless you want to stay...
Russia: November 4th – a Day of Marches
Ridus.ru, citizen media platform, provides an extensive coverage (photos, reports, streaming videos) of 4 marches: “Russian march” [ru] (anti-government, nationalist; ~6,000 participants), “Russian imperial march” [ru] (pro-government, nationalist; ~300 participants), Anti-fascist march [ru] (anti-nationalism, anti-capitalist; ~200 participants), “United Russia” march dedicated to the Day of Peoples Unity (pro-government, ~10,000 participants)....
Russia: Gazeta.ru, Popular Semi-Independent Portal Launches English Version
Gazeta.ru, a popular news portal that often publishes quite critical news and op-eds, launches its English version.