Other Russia
Sochi’s Electoral Magic Show
By Sean at 27 April, 2009, 6:00 am
The results of the mayoral election in Sochi were as expected. United Russia’s candidate Anatoly Pakhomov won. No repeat of the Murmansk mayoral contest allowed. The losers, Solidarity’s Boris Nemtsov and the Communist Party candidate Yuri Dzaganiya, have already charged massive fraud, dirty campaign tricks, and use of a variety “administrative resources” to hoist Pakhomov [...]
Read More >>Nemtsov “scandalizes” Nashi
By Sean at 26 March, 2009, 2:48 pm
The election circus in Sochi has some new developments.
The alleged polonium murderer Andrei Lugovoi won’t be running. The LDPR announced that it will go with a different candidate. According to the NY Times, the reason for the move is because Lugovoi “would have been at a disadvantage because he was not from the Sochi region, [...]
Nashi Pranks Oppositionists
By Sean at 26 February, 2009, 10:43 am
On Tuesday, Nashi pulled off its best prank yet on the hapless Russian opposition. In the words of Nezavisimaya gazeta, the stunt “will undoubtedly go down in the history of Russian youth politics as the greatest failure in the last ten years.” Nashi is known for its acts of political trickery and harassment. Over the [...]
Read More >>The Poverty of Russia’s Protests
By Sean at 6 February, 2009, 12:48 pm
Protests flared around the world last week in response to the global economic crisis. Last Thursday, a one day general strike of 2.5 million people brought France to a standstill. Wildcat strikes hit Britain as workers at two nuclear power plants protested the use of foreign workers. An action of a few hundred Black Bloc [...]
Read More >>Misha 2% Speaks to the LA Times
By Sean at 10 September, 2008, 8:15 am
Mikhail Kasyanov, or Misha 2% as he’s known in Russia, was interviewed in today’s LA Times. Kasyanov proves why that 2% moniker continues to stick. Like much of Russia’s self-described opposition, he has nothing to say that concerns Russians’ daily lives. Instead, he counterposes Russia with the “civilized world;” suggests Russia is a “totalitarian state,” [...]
Read More >>Limonov’s Phone, Books, Chairs, and Heater Seized
By Sean at 27 August, 2008, 7:55 am
While everyone is focused on Medvedev’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, life goes on as usual in Russia . Perhaps, all too usual. Yesterday, court agents seized National Bolshevik leader Eduard Limonov’s property and forbade him from leaving the country. The move was to figure out how much the writer owns so he can [...]
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