Monthly Archives: July 2007

They have been called “Putin’s Generation” and “neo-Komsomol.” They have served as evidence of a rising Russian fascism. But little reporting about Nashi in English goes beyond what its Commissars give reporters. The following interview gives a different picture. Kommersant Vlast reporter Anna Kachurskaya spoke to “Ivan” (not his real name) a former Nashi member who was expelled from Camp Seliger for what he says was “personal ideological differences” with Nashi leader Vasili Yakemenko. “Ivan” wouldn’t tell anymore because he is afraid of Nashi’s security force, the DMD. Despite his fear and the secrecy surrounding his identity, the circumstances of his expulsion from the camp, and his position in Nashi, “Ivan” met with Kachurskaya and gave her an inside look at the group. Moreover, he provided Kommersant Vlast with documents of Nashi’s local activities, finances and expenditures. The documents themselves have no ..read more

Theories a-go-go

Diplomatic wrangling between Russian and Britain continues as no resolution over the Andrei Lugovoi extradition seems in sight. Writing in the Russian weekly Ekspert, Andrei Gromov argues that the whole mess lies with the British, who has gone “beyond the framework of legal and diplomatic logic.” Gromov sees British demands as nothing less than a provocation. “Why has Britain decided to escalate tension? What kind of game is it playing?” he rhetorically asks. Not to leave us wondering to long, Gromov gives us four reigning theories.

It’s not about politics as all. The issue is about solving a murder on British soil. Gordon Brown is making a name for himself. A spat with Russia is a way to assert his authority. The new British cabinet are a bunch of diplomatic amateurs. This is especially the case for Foreign Secretary David Miliband. Lastly, the incident is part ..read more

Some habits die hard. The practice of forcing Soviet dissidents into psychiatric hospitals seems to continue in Putin’s Russia. Marina Litvinovich of Garry Kasparov’s United Civil Front told the Associated Press that police have forced Larisa Arap in to psychiatric clinic.

Arap, 48, a member of Kasparov’s group in the northern port city of Murmansk, was bundled into an ambulance by police on July 5, her daughter Taisiya told The Associated Press. She had been visiting a doctor to secure documents attesting to her mental health, as Russian law requires in order to receive a new drivers license, the daughter said.

The activists say that move was “revenge for critical reporting.” Arap was later released when a doctor at the clinic realized that she was the author of an article critical of conditions at a local mental ward.

United Civil Front says that this is the first time police have ..read more

NASA has been hit with another scandal. Intrigued, I watched the CNN coverage today only to repeatedly roll my eyes at all the references to the “Right Stuff”. God who writes this copy? Kind of makes me sorry for Wolf Blizer who has to read that swill. Well maybe not that sorry.

It appears there is a Russian connection in all this. According the NASA report’s findings, one American astronaut flew on a Russian spacecraft after some heavy pre-flight drinking. You guessed it. The Russians have a little toasting ceremony several hours before being shot into space like monkeys. Here is how Dr. Ellen Ochoa described the ritual during Friday’s press conference:

There is a ceremony in Kazakhstan that happens about 7-1/2 hours before launch. I don’t know if crew members have actually ever drank alcohol. I have even been in the ceremony, and ..read more

Mikhail Gorbachev has come a long way since he wrote in a high school essay, “Stalin is our glorious fighter, Stalin is the iron of our youth (“Stalin – nasha slava boevaia, Stalin – nashei iunosti polet)” But his love for Stalin faded with Khrushchev’s ‘Secret Speech.” Also gone are the days when he tried to reform the Soviet system with glasnost and perestroika. Gorby as reformer is a nice legacy. But Gorby the fashion model?

Yes. The New York Times tells us that along with several other celebrities, Gorbachev will be featured in Louis Vuitton ads.

[W]hat is a reader to make of a Vuitton ad, coming in the big September books, that stars Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union? A decade ago, Mr. Gorbachev’s appearance in a Pizza Hut commercial was generally greeted as a low point in his career.

The Vuitton ..read more

New information has come out about the attack on a camp of antifa environmental activists on Saturday. The violent raid sent eight to the hospital, one of which, Ilya Borodayenko, 26, died of head injuries. Police have since issued eight arrest warrants and have detained 20 suspects. All of the perpetrators are under the age of 22, are students or are unemployed. Police are charging the suspects with “hooliganism” and “intentional grievous bodily harm resulting in death.”

Since news of the attack broke there has been speculation whether the attackers were Neo-nazis or local hooligans looking for “a bit of the old ultra-violence.” Witnesses say that the attackers raided the camp yelling nationalist and anti-Antifa slogans. At first, police firmly stated that there were no such nationalist or neo-fascist groups around Angarsk. According to RIA Novosti, police are now saying that the attack “was ..read more