Stories about Russian from August, 2008
Russia, Georgia, U.S.: Michael Lee White's Passport
LJ user olegpanfilov2 links (RUS) to a newspaper story (ENG) on Michael Lee White, a China-based U.S. citizen whose passport was allegedly stolen “during a flight from Moscow to New York” in Dec. 2005. Last week, “a Russian general […] displayed a blown-up photo” of the passport and claimed that...
Russia: New LJ Ads
LJ user tema is one of the many Cyrillic bloggers who are unhappy with how the new LJ ads interrupt the flow of their posts; he shares a screenshot (RUS) of his blog to illustrate his point. Others are sharing a way to get rid of LJ ads in their...
Russia: How to Spell ‘Blogger’ in Russian
There are two ways to spell the word ‘blogger’ in Russian – with two g's or with just one. The former seems to prevail among Russian bloggers, according to LJ user oleg_kozyrev (RUS), who has posted a screenshot of the Yandex Blogosphere Pulse search and also examined spelling preferences of...
South Ossetia, Russia: Photos From Tskhinvali and Vladikavkaz
Photo reports (RUS) by LJ user photomans: from Tskhinvali – here; from a refugee camp in Vladikavkaz – here.
Russia: Anti-War Music
LJ user marchenk posts a collection of links (RUS) to videos of various anti-war songs in Russian, French, English, Italian, German, Hebrew, Serbian, Spanish, Polish, Arabic and other languages.
South Ossetia: Photos From Tskhinvali
Photos from Tskhinvali – by LJ user grend (RUS).
Georgia, Russia: Interethnic Relationships
Tbilisi-based LJ user shupaka and Russian war journalist Vadim Rechkalov (LJ user voinodel) share stories about interethnic relationships in Georgia and North Ossetia, Russia, in the time of conflict between the two countries.
Russia, Georgia: Unilateral Recognition of Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's Independence
Russia has formally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia today. Below are some of the initial reactions from LiveJournal's Cyrillic sector.
Georgia: Pepsikolka's Dispatches From Poti
OpenDemocracy.net posts translations of posts by LJ user pepsikolka (Samira Kuznetsova), a blogger living in Poti, Georgia: here, here, and here. (Earlier GV translations of pepsikolka‘s posts are here and here.)
Ukraine: Past and Future of Independence Square
The past and, possibly, the future of Kyiv's Independence Square, in pictures and text (RUS), posted by LJ user raikkonen2007 in the ru_politics LJ community.
Ukraine: Military Parade Rehearsal
LJ user alex_from_kiev (RUS) posts a video of the Independence Day military parade rehearsal in Kyiv in the ru_politics LJ community.
Russia: Political Toilet Seats
LJ user viking-nord (RUS) reposts photos of toilet seats with portraits of Putin, Lenin, Stalin and others on them, produced by Irkutsk region resident Evgeny Rybachenko.
Georgia, Russia: Aug. 20 Rally in Poti
Photos from the Aug. 20 “Russia Go Home!” rally in Poti, Georgia – by LJ user pepsikolka.
South Ossetia: Tskhinvali Photos and Reports
On Aug. 21, Columbia Journalism Review published Julia Ioffe's overview of several Russian journalists' blogging from the war in South Ossetia. Featured in her piece are reports by LJ user krig42 (Komsomolskaya Pravda reporter Dmitry Steshin) and LJ user ep-news (Evgeny Poddubny, correspondent for TV Center). Below are a few more blog posts from Russian and North Ossetian journalists, with photos and accounts of what they've seen in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali over the past week.
Georgia, Russia: The Names of the Dead
An ongoing initiative (RUS) to compile a list of “those who died in the war of 2008, whose names are found on the web” – by LJ user hunu: “The list is incomplete, of course. […] I've placed the names of the dead on the same page – of civilians...
Georgia, Russia: Feeding Looters and Refugees
A number of Tbilisi residents gathered in front of the Russian embassy Saturday for a protest prank against looting. LJ user oleg-panfilov posted photos of the items left by the protesters for the Russian army; LJ user tony-geo called to Georgians to take care of the refugees' needs first, before getting involved in the "information war."
Kazakhstan: Olympic Blogwatch
The Beijing Olympics have moved political debates in the Kazakh blogosphere to the background. Alim Atenbek is upset with the uniform of the Kazakhstani team [ru]: Officials always want to make a buck on everything, and the Olympiad is not an exclusion. The government allocated 68 milion tenge for 226...
Russia, Georgia: Gia Jandieri's Notes at Andrei Illarionov's Blog
LJ user aillarionov – Andrei Illarionov, former economic policy adviser to Vladimir Putin – has posted a detailed “Timeline of Events in the Russians Invasion & Occupation of Georgia” (Aug. 1 – 16, 2008), sent to him by Gia Jandieri, vice president of the New Economic School – Georgia. Illarionov...
Georgia, Russia: The War's Virtual Dimension
Like most other contemporary conflicts, the ongoing one in Georgia and South Ossetia has had a virtual dimension from its very start. Below are two bloggers' reflections on the wars raging outside the actual conflict zones.
Russia, Georgia: “Information War” Guidelines
In politicsforum LJ community, U.S.-based LJ user malasadas posts humorous guidelines (ENG) for a Russian-style “information war” over South Ossetia (LJ user commentator40 has translated this post into Russian in ru_politics LJ community).
Russia: Involuntary Help to Ossetia
St. Petersburg-based LJ user murenav writes (RUS): “I understand it's not easy for the people of Ossetia now. I understand they need help. But helping them should be voluntary, I think, and come from one's heart. But… My mother works at a medical institution [in Russia], and when salaries were...
