Tag: Russia
In a riveting new profile of Russia’s pro-government trolls, Max Seddon explains the details of Kremlin’s newest campaign to adjust the world’s view of Putin Country. According to strategy documents leaked by “a mysterious Russian hacker collective,” a firm called Internet Research Agency employs a small army of English-speakers to diligently troll major websites. These trolls go […]
An anonymous rich guy in Europe just bought a Cold War era Soviet space craft for 1 million Euros, or $1,390,900. The Vozvrashchayemi Apparat (VA) shuttle was sold in Brussels at the German auction house Lempertz, which usually trades in old paintings, but have taken to the space junk trade. The VA is historically significant for […]
Putin has just signed new laws requiring individual bloggers to register their identity with the government, among other restrictions on internet freedom and privacy. Bloggers will now be treated as “media outlets” and be subject to similar regulations, vague guidelines and severe punishments. This is your five-minute explainer, with information culled from several English and Russian-language […]
These old photos posted by Alexander Strannik on his LiveJournal were taken in 1986 in Chernobyl, a few months after the infamous catastrophic nuclear incident. He was part of one of the first major clean up/reconstruction crews, but not one of the “heroes” who “by bravery or ignorance” were working directly at the site of the […]
UPDATE: They banned it. The lower house of Russian government has passed a bill that makes swearing illegal — in publicly exhibited films as well as in plays and at music concerts. If the bill passes in the upper house, Putin will sign it into law on July 1st. Subsequently, individuals swearing in public may be fined up […]
Vice News journalist Simon Ostrovsky who was detained by armed gunmen in Ukraine has been released. Yesterday, Vice has confirmed his release and declined to comment further. This morning, Ostrovsky described what happened: On Thursday, armed gunmen who held me prisoner for four nights and three days released me into the streets of Sloviansk, in eastern Ukraine. My release was […]
Earlier this week the Ukrainian government released photographic evidence linking the organized, suspiciously well-armed “pro-Russian” _________ leading insurgencies in the country’s eastern industrial cities to Russian military forces and “sabotage-reconnaissance” groups. The photos have been heavily scrutinized, and not for nothing — one of the misattributed images appears to be lifted right off of Maxim […]
Yesterday, Vice journalist Simon Ostrovsky was detained in Sloviansk. For weeks, he has been reporting on masked gunmen seizing police stations and government buildings all over the eastern Ukraine. “Nobody abducted him, nobody is holding him hostage, he’s with us now in at the SBU, preparing material and working,” the “People’s Mayor” of Sloviansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev […]
Irina Nakhova is a Muscovite conceptual artist chosen last month to be the first woman to represent Russia at the Venice Biennale. Her solo show “Moscow Diary” at Nailya Alexander Gallery in Midtown sheds light on what we might expect to see from her next year at the Russian Pavilion. The exhibit opens on Nakhova’s three-piece […]
Lately, all that’s coming from Russia are dashcams, meteorites, homoerotic photos of Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. But let us not forget the rugged DIY spirit of former fellow countrymen! Here’s to you, Mr. Fireman! See the glorious thing that appears to levitate when several fire extinguishers are being wasted at the same time. Listen to the […]
