Now and Then: 20 Years After the Soviet Collapse | EurasiaNet.org.
Category: Russia
Russia – Walk Free Foundation – Global Slavery Index 2014
THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED 1,049,700 PEOPLE IN MODERN SLAVERY IN RUSSIA – THIS IS EQUIVALENT TO 0.7315% OF THE ENTIRE POPULATION
Escalating ethnic violence in Russian cities,25 coupled with regional conflict has heightened racial tension, particularly towards migrant workers from Central Asia and the Caucasus.26 Five people disappeared in 2013 after an alleged abduction-style detention by security forces in Ingushetia and another incident occurred in Chechnya in early 2013.27
History of USSR for children – YouTube
Public Television in Russia May End Up Satisfying No One | Features, Opinion & Analysis | RIA Novosti
President Dmitry Medvedev’s call for a new public television platform last December conjured visions of a Russian BBC for the country’s liberals. Yet worries are now growing that the president’s control over the new television station could prevent it from broadcasting opinions critical of the government. Medvedev has maintained that the new station will be the freest television channel in Russia. But like a number of other liberal initiatives that Medvedev has undertaken in the waning days of his presidency, the television station is increasingly being seen as a half-measure meant to mollify the public.
Medvedev signed a decree creating the new public station on Tuesday, saying it would likely be released by next January. Speaking at his “Open Government” initiative, Medvedev said that “measures have been taken to relieve needless government influence on the activities of this public institution.”
Now, controversy is centering on just how independent Russia’s public television will be.
Public Television in Russia May End Up Satisfying No One | Features, Opinion & Analysis | RIA Novosti
President Dmitry Medvedev’s call for a new public television platform last December conjured visions of a Russian BBC for the country’s liberals. Yet worries are now growing that the president’s control over the new television station could prevent it from broadcasting opinions critical of the government. Medvedev has maintained that the new station will be the freest television channel in Russia. But like a number of other liberal initiatives that Medvedev has undertaken in the waning days of his presidency, the television station is increasingly being seen as a half-measure meant to mollify the public.
Medvedev signed a decree creating the new public station on Tuesday, saying it would likely be released by next January. Speaking at his “Open Government” initiative, Medvedev said that “measures have been taken to relieve needless government influence on the activities of this public institution.”
Now, controversy is centering on just how independent Russia’s public television will be. The decree signed by Medvedev gives the president the right to appoint the general director and the editor-in-chief of the new station. Moreover, the station’s board of directors, entrusted to provide for public oversight of the station’s content, will also have to pass through a presidential filter.
News Desk: “We Are Not Sheep” : The New Yorker
One of the pleasures of a recent trip to Moscow was getting to know the country’s best-known and most political hip-hop star, Ivan Alexeyev, who goes by Noize MC. He is part of a galaxy of civil-society activists whom I wrote about recently for the magazine in a piece called “The Civil Archipelago.” Alexeyev became widely known for his rap “Mercedes S666,” in which he expressed his outrage at yet another politicized incident on the Moscow roads—a car ferrying an executive for a major Russian oil concern, Lukoil, smashed into a much smaller private car, killing two women. The police blamed the “civilian” driver; eyewitnesses said the Lukoil car was to blame. The video is a cry of outrage, and there is a decent translation from a YouTube viewer:
Russian nuclear icebreakers fleet – Bellona
Putin and Kiriyenko meet to discuss new nuclear icebreakers
In a meeting yesterday between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin requested Rosatom develop long term plans for strengthening Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet for the purpose of gaining predominance in the Northern Sea route, the official Russian government website government.ru reported.
Amnesty urges Russia to release feminist punks
Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of three members of a Russian feminist punk band who face up to seven years in prison for performing in a church.
The global human rights watchdog said it did not know if the detained women were in fact members of the Pussy Riot band because the group performed all its protest songs wearing balaclavas.
“Even if the three arrested women did take part in the protest, the severity of the response of the Russian authorities… would not be a justifiable response to the peaceful — if, to many, offensive — expression of their political beliefs,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday.
“They would therefore be prisoners of conscience.”
Five members of the radical group climbed on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral — the country’s central place of worship — on February 21 and sang a song they called a “Punk Prayer” before being seized by guards.
The song’s lyrics called for the Virgin Mary to “drive out (president-elect Vladimir) Putin” and to “become a feminist”.
The three women have been charged with hooliganism committed by an organised group — an unusually harsh charge for protesters.
They are being held in pre-trial detention until late April even though two of them have small children.
Kremlin rights council head Mikhail Fedotov said it was “premature” to label the women prisoners of conscience, but added that he saw no grounds for a conviction.
UN court rejects Georgia case against Russia over war
The United Nations’ top court has dismissed a case filed by Georgia that accuses Russia and separatist rebels of ethnic cleansing.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said it could not examine Georgia’s complaint because negotiations had not taken place.
Georgia said Russia and the rebels had used ethnic violence against Georgians in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russia took control of the two Georgian regions in a brief war in August 2008.
Thousands of ethnic Georgians fled the regions during the conflict and many remain internally displaced in Georgia.
(Via BBC)
Russian military stops issuing soldiers with cigarettes, offers candy instead
Russian military stops issuing soldiers with cigarettes, offers candy instead
Real changes in culture? Or more cosmetic façades?
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Dmitry Bulgakov has announced that the Defense Ministry will no longer purchase cigarettes for soldiers, Russian website Gazeta.ru reports.
“There are no cigarettes in our new military allowance. We have replaced cigarettes for the army with caramel candies and sugar. However, we can’t prohibit smoking completely. If a soldier wants to smoke, he will have to buy cigarettes with his own money at a store during his period of leave,” Bulgakov said.
Bulgakov also announced that all Russian officers will change their footwear by 2013.
“We have developed special office shoes for officers. They are lightweight shoes made of high-quality leather, which let soldier’s feet breathe. Women’s boots will be substituted too. Now we will distribute refined shoes for our beautiful military women. And, of course, the unpleasant naval jacket with a high collar will be replaced by a convenient sweater.” Bulgakov said.
(Via MosNews)