Russia:Conspiracy Theories About Boston Bombings
Region: Russian FederationWritten by Daniel Alan Kennedy Conspiracy theories flourish in times of confusion and uncertainty. Claims that the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings were part of some sort of US government-led false flag operation were circulating on the English-speaking internet before the dust had literally settled, particularly on conspiracy forums and social media groups like the Citizens Action Network [1]. The new... more
Views: 498RuNet: What Does the Boston Bombing Mean for Chechen Cause?
Region: Russian FederationWritten by Andrey Tselikov In the days since the arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, ethnic Chechen and “Suspect #2″ in the Boston Marathon bombings, there has been surprisingly little cogent analysis of the situation from Chechen bloggers active on the RuNet. Of course, some have commented on the matter, but mostly to link to viral conspiracy theories (some of these were alluded to in RuNet Echo's... more
Views: 522Governance: The North Caucasus
Region: Russian FederationRussia has opted for authoritarian local leaders, rather than risk losing control of its southern frontier. By IWPR Caucasus - As reports emerge that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder of two brothers accused of the April 15 Boston bombings, visited the North Caucasus last year, media attention has turned to that underreported region in search of a possible moti... more
Views: 602Too close for Comfort as the Boston Bombings Come Home to Russians
Region: Russian FederationInitially a distant story of bombs and American blood, the Boston Marathon bombings came home to Russians recently. The RuNet had been following the investigation into the attacks with great interest, even before the news that the two suspects turned out to be ethnic Chechens. Now that Russia is directly involved, passions run hot. Editor's Note: This story ran on Global Voices on April 19th. Russians can al... more
Views: 661Tajik Migrants Under Prepared for Russian workforce
Region: Russian FederationPoor grasp of Russian leaves younger migrants unable to fend for themselves. By Zarina Ergasheva - After four years living in Russia, Parviz should be able to speak the language well enough. But when IWPR met him before he got on a flight from Tajikistan back to the Volga city of Saratov, he quickly lapsed into his own language, Tajik. Parviz, 20, explai... more
Views: 545Ekaterina Samoutsevitch of Pussy Riot
Region: Russian FederationRadio Interview with Ekaterina Samoutsevitch of Pussy Riot Iddhis Bing Ekaterina Samoutsevitch of Pussy Riot was freed under "conditional liberty," on October 10, 2012 and on the 12th gave a radio interview to A Private Opinion on the Echoes of Moscow channel. A few quick observations. &... more
Views: 890Russia: Netizens Speak Out About Devastating Floods
Region: Russian Federation
By Veronica Khokhlova On July 6-7, more than 170 people died and 35,000 were injured or lost their property [1] [ru] in the floods in Krasnodar region (photos and video in these PublicPost reports [ru] - Day 1 [2], Day 2 [3], Day 3 [4]). The death toll is likely to grow, as rescuers and emergency services continue their work in the affected areas. The hardest-hit town is Krymsk [5]: water rose to over 3 meter... more
Views: 1201Crowdsourcing Project Focused On Missing Children
Region: Russian FederationWritten by Teplitsa The emergence of the search and rescue team Liza Alert [1] [ru] is hardly a typical story for the Web. After September 13, 2010, when Liza Fomkina [2] disappeared in the town of Orekhovo-Zuevo [about 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, east of Moscow], the flaws in the work of the Interior and Emergency Situations ministries became clear. Shaken by this tragic story and responding t... more
Views: 1288Moscow Reengages With Former Soviet States
Region: Russian FederationBy Yulia Goryaynova - Russia’s new President Vladimir Putin has made it clear he plans to focus on building relations with the former Soviet Republics for greater regional integration. NBCentralAsia asked Azhdar Kurtov, a Central Asia expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, to set out what Putin’s regional policy might look like, and... more
Views: 998Russia: Q&A with Tina Kandelaki
Region: Russian Federation
Written by Kevin Rothrock Tina Kandelaki is many things. She is a Russian journalist, a TV celebrity, a co-owner of Apostol Media Group [1], a widely read blogger, and — more recently — a visible presence in Russian politics. Her Twitter account (@tina_kandelaki [2]) has nearly half a million followers, and her LiveJournal blog [3] has received more than 128,000 comments, since its creation just four years... more
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