Russian Society
Culture, Demographics, and More
August/September, 2008

Olympics
Despite drug scandals and war, Russia places 3rd overall 

Russia Ranks 3rd overall at the Olympics
A complete list of Russia's medals.

Russian baseball in danger of striking out
Baseball's exclusion from the Olympic programme after Beijing could make the game extinct in Russia just as it was starting to flourish.

A Major Tuneup for a Sports Machine
Today, the red rubber track is well-worn and the paint peeling. The newest structure, a dormitory, was built in 1986, and the medical center is housed in the crumbling former country home of a czarist-era baker.

Sharapova to Miss Beijing Olympics
Russia's Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the WTA Rogers Open in Montreal because of the shoulder injury. The MRI scan revealed two small tears and Sharapova will miss the Beijing Olympics that begins August 11.

Isinbayeva to lead Russian team in Beijing
Isinbayeva, 26, who set her 22nd world record by vaulting 5.03 metres at Rome's Golden Gala last week, was one of the few athletes who was assured of a place on the squad without having to qualify in Kazan.

Russia to Triple Prize for Gold Medal Winners at Beijing Games
Athletes who bring home the gold will be eligible for 100,000 euros — $157,355 — compared with the $50,000 offered at previous Olympics, Russian Olympic Committee spokesman Gennady Shvets said.

Russia's Business to Award Olympic Winners
Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) and Marine Bank of Primorye will establish a Prize Fund of $300,000 for the sportsmen that will stand for Russia in yachting at Beijing Summer Olympics.

Russia Won First Gold at Last
Thanks to the Greco-Roman wrestling victories of Nazyr Mankiev and Islambek Albiev, Russia has won the first gold medals

Russia's BALCO: 7 athletes caught in scandal
With only one week to go before the Beijing Olympics, Russia suddenly has its own version of a BALCO doping scandal involving some of the track team's biggest stars.

Russia denies "systematic" doping
The Russian team on Wednesday denied accusations of systematic doping among its athletes and questioned the timing of the announcements days before the Beijing Olympics that several of them had failed drugs tests.

Holidays and Traditions
for the summer months in Russia 

Russia celebrates Day of State Flag
Apparently, the flag was chosen due to the fact that democratic supporters of Russian leader Boris Yeltsin rallied under a white, blue and red flag during the attempted communist coup of 1991.

At Russian Embassy, Vodka & Good Wishes Flow
What this town needs is more vodka at noon. To celebrate Russia Day, the embassy invited 2,000 friends yesterday afternoon for vodka, music, caviar . . . and did we mention vodka?

Wild about Mushrooms
When Russians escape to the countryside we might go fishing, hunting, play badminton and so on. But what really strikes foreigners is the Russian predilection for gathering mushrooms.

Russia marks day of family, love and faithfulness
It is devoted to the memory of St. Prince Pyotr and his wife Fevroniya.

Over 13 mln schoolchildren to go to school in Russia
A new academic year will begin in Russia on Monday, September 1, which is celebrated as the Day of Knowledge in the country.

History and Art
Scandal and controversy... 

Investigators Confirmed Identity of Crown Prince Alexei Remains
The Investigating Committee of the RF Prosecutor General Office has confirmed that the bones found near Ekaterinburg belong to Crown Prince Alexei and Princess Maria, the missing children of Russia's last Tsar Nicholas II.

Khrushchev kin allege family honor slurred
The 68-year-old granddaughter of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev has filed a series of lawsuits against a state-owned TV network for airing a docudrama that, she says, falsely depicts her father, Leonid, as having been shot as a traitor in World War II.

Commission Can't Find Museum Pieces
After spending two years inspecting museums, a government commission has announced that 50,000 cultural valuables are missing.

Should State Museums be Put on the Block?
Thousands of items have apparently gone missing from state-run museums. Is it time to consider privatizing?

Face-Saving Fakery, Play Acting and Make Believe in Russian History and Culture
From the Tatar Yoke to the Chechen Wars

Russian guilt drives czar's popularity, Romanov heir says
Maria Romanova said the end of Soviet propaganda, which lampooned Nicholas as an exotic failure of history, has allowed Russians to draw their own conclusions about the last czar, who the Russian Orthodox Church declared a holy martyr.

Art Of The October Revolution
The success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 ushered in a brief period of artistic innovation that projected the optimism of the time.

Russians Get New, Fond Glimpse of the Last Czar
Older people who grew up versed in the canon of Marx and Lenin seemed particularly grateful to see documents and other items that had been locked away in archives for so many decades.

Donald Graves, 79; State Dept. Cold War Analyst.
"He was a Kremlin analyst of the pre-computer age and was one of the great minds in the Department of State"

Solzhenitsyn
Death of an icon

Russia buries Solzhenitsyn in Moscow monastery
Solzhenitsyn was buried on the Donskoi monastery grounds after the service, which was broadcast live on state television, featured a military band.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: His final interview
Rebel, prisoner, poet and hero: half a century since they were published, Solzhenitsyn's searing accounts of Stalin's labour camps remain among the most profound works of modern literature.

Russia: ideology becomes a mash-up
Solzhenitsyn's death triggered a battle on the Internet as bloggers rushed to accuse, dismiss him or defend him.

Solzhenitsyn in Search of the Russia That Always Eluded Him
In May 1974 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn entered on a search for a place to live in North America. The first stop was at our summer place on a lake here in Quebec.

Solzhenitsyn's life 'difficult but happy'
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose books exposed and chronicled the vast network of Stalin's slave labour camps, lived "a difficult but happy life," his wife said.

Journalism and Media
Another death, a new law

The new tsars of Russian TV
Russian TV news today is slick and pacy. It boasts all the virtual sets and throbbing theme tunes of its western counterparts.

Russian Mass Media Urged To Broaden Presence Abroad
The Russian mass media is not sufficiently represented in foreign media space at present, Russian Minister of Information Technologies and Communications Igor Schegolev declared at a meeting with students of journalism department of Moscow State University on Monday.

Hundreds Remember Slain Web Site Owner
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Ingushetia on Monday to commemorate owner of the embattled opposition web site Ingushetiya.ru, who was killed by local police a day earlier and whose relatives swore revenge.

Reporting on South Ossetia
See the South Ossetia Obzor for more info.

Putin saves journalists from tigress
Vladimir Putin has rescued Russian TV journalists from a tiger attack by tranquilising it with a dart gun. The Prime Minister was visiting Ussuri national park in Russia's Far East.

Raucous Russian Tabloids Thrive
For decades, Komsomolskaya Pravda served up article after leaden article about Soviet officials meeting with other Soviet officials. Now, reinvented as a tabloid, the newspaper has a rowdier agenda — and a huge audience.

Two Russian journalists killed, 10 wounded in South Ossetia
"Photographer Alexander Klimchuk, who worked for RIA Novosti, among other agencies, and Grigol Chikhladze, a correspondent for Russian Newsweek magazine, were killed," said Gennady Dzyuba, the president of the union's association of military press.

Blogging For Truth. Russian war bloggers tell¬and show¬what they saw at the front.
The Russian blogosphere, meanwhile, was abuzz with speculation over the Tskhinvali charges: Had the city really been leveled? How many people had really died?

New law protects journalists
Reporters investigating corruption in Russia are to be protected by a new law. Under new legistlation, they'll be able to apply for special protection like court witnesses. The law will come into effect by the beginning of next year.

Blogger Sergey Gorshkov Will Dish Dirt on Russian Politicians for a Price
Gorshkov publishes kompromat.ru, a scandal page that has antagonized the ruling elite since 1999 and made him one of his country's top Internet personalities.

Behind the Scenes of Russia Today
Interview with Russia Today head Margarita Simonyan.

Russian rights activists condemn conviction of blogger
Terentyev called his earlier suggestion that corrupt cops be burned in Auschwitz-like ovens "hyperbole and exaggeration," and apologized to concentration camp victims and virtuous militsiya officers who he may have "involuntarily hurt with the contested commentary."

Ingush Opposition Figure's Death Could Be Tipping Point
Magomed Yevloyev, the controversial owner of the outspoken opposition website ingushetiya.ru, died from a gunshot wound to the head while in police custody.

Other Civil Society and Legal Issues
Censorship, protests, visas, and technology

Russian prosecutors in bid to ban South Park
In February 2008, Rossvyazokhrankultura, a regulatory body for television in Russia, issued warnings to the channel recommending that they remove two other series from the air to avoid legal issues.

Russians protest move to ban South Park (in Russian, with pics)
Попытка запретить канал 2x2 и, в частности, всеми любимый мульт South Park, не понравилась многим. Вот такой митинг устроили фанаты канала на Пушке.

Medvedev says technology key to Russian democracy
"Information technology directly affects the political system, accessibility of political institutions and thus the development of democracy," he added.

NGOs Caught In Visa Limbo
The problem was that several analysts had arrived on tourist visas, although their busy schedules precluded sightseeing, and others carried visas issued at the invitation of Russian nongovernmental organizations not involved in the conference.

Russian intellectuals
The hand that feeds them. Individual voices are brave. But Russia's intelligentsia, which could be much freer than in the bad old days, is still mealy-mouthed.

Former Inmates Allege Russian 'Torture Prisons'
The Vladimir Central prison stands in the medieval city of Vladimir, east of Moscow. It's one of Russia's seven main prisons. Inside its thick walls, not much has changed in the past two centuries.

Reward for Sochi Blast Information
The Department of Internal Affairs (police) in Sochi is offering a reward of 2 million rubles for information on an explosion that occurred on the beach in the resort town of Loo, Bolshoi Sochi District.

Court Awards Chernobyl Invalid 700 k
The 47-year-old resident of Tyumen took part in the cleanup of the site of the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Religion
Orthodox festival in Ukraine

Russian Orthodox Rock Concert "Maidan"
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has declared the intention of creating a local Ukrainian Orthodox church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. In response, the Russian Orthodox Church has wielded a new weapon against Ukrainian authorities: it held a rock concert in Kiev

Kiev spat underlines a powerful but vulnerable Orthodox Church
Another schism - barely avoided this week - underlined just how vulnerable the Orthodox Church remains to geopolitical ploys.

Science and Education
Caucasus conflict may affect researchers

Russia's international research ties under threat
Responses to Russia's military action in Georgia have implications for non-proliferation, space exploration, climate negotiation and the European Union's framework programme.

Moscow In 'Difficult Situation' Regarding Karadzic Arrest
The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Center for Balkan, Caucasus, and Central Asian Studies spoke with RFE/RL's Andrei Shary about Moscow's motivation.

Roskosmos to Launch Spaceship with Tourists to ISS in 2011
Russia's space agency Roskosmos will launch a spaceship with tourists to the International Space Station (ISS).

State Duma to Focus on Bill Against Unified State Exam
A bill to abrogate the mandatory requirement for taking the Unified State Exam at Russia's schools has been submitted to the State Duma.

Mir Subs Dove to Baikal Depth
Deep-sea manned submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2 have reached the bottom of Baikal Lake, having passed the distance of 1,680 meters

Chilingarov Off to Mariana Trench Next
Russian State Duma member and deputy speaker from the United Russia Party Artur Chilingarov has announced that he is preparing an expedition to the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, Interfax reports.

New Book: Renovating Russia
Renovating Russia is a richly comparative investigation of late Imperial and early Soviet medico-scientific theories of moral and social disorder.

Arthur Chilingarov: Russia's Arctic Explorer
The famous polar researcher Arthur Chilingarov is also deputy of the State Duma, Doctor of Geography, and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Russian researchers flee melting Arctic ice flow
Russian scientists are evacuating a research station built on an Arctic ice floe because global warming has melted the ice to a fraction of its original size, a spokesman said.

Environment and Natural Events
Pollution and Asteroids...

Russia's toxic rivers running out of time
After decades of pollution, Mother Volga, Russia's great waterway (some say its soul) oozes sickly to the sea. Can it be saved?

How to deal with "asteroid terrorism"
If we are lucky, the asteroid, already dubbed a space terrorist, will fly by at a distance of 40,000 km, the orbit of a communications satellite, in 2029.

Global warming will push Russia to destruction: WWF
Global warming will sow destruction across Russia and ex-Soviet states, a report said on Tuesday after the world's richest countries issued targets on harmful emissions that environmentalists criticized as too soft.

Russia and the Climate
Russian and foreign experts assembled for a news conference at the RIA Novosti news agency on July 8 to assess the current state of events and share their forecasts.

Pipeline Fells Forest, Brings Parasites
Construction of the East Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline will endanger 4 million ha. of forest.

Construction Halted on Nuclear Waste Dump
Construction of the first dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Russia has been temporarily halted in Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Baikal Put Fear On Earth
Eastern Siberia endured yesterday the strongest earthquake of recent years. Its hypocenter was at 30km to the south-east of Baikalsk and intensity of the earth tremors in Irkutsk was from 6 to 7.

Tunguska: 100 Years On, What Really Hit Siberia?
Amid loud thunder, "the sky split" into a wall of fire as people were knocked off their feet, scorched by heat.

Health, Xenophobia, Demographics

RF Concerned about Crimes of Nonresidents
The number of crimes that nonresidents committed in Russia surged 130 fold in the last 15 years.

Laser Show Needs a Permit
The actions were taken after the Aquamarine trance festival, when a laser beam caused incurable retina injuries to dozens of people.

Hate Crime Deaths Mounting, as Nationalists Close Ranks
Kamola, a 36-year-old ethnic-Uzbek woman living in Moscow, was stepping out of a metro carriage on her way to work last month when a blow sent her tumbling to the station's marble floor.

HIV in Russia
Much more is being done to cope, much more is needed, and the needs are very large-scale.

Finding a Remedy for Health Care
The woeful condition of health care is not the only cause of the crisis. Unhealthy lifestyles and risky behavior are killing Russians, especially men, whose average life expectancy is 59, one of the lowest in the industrial world.

Nearly 80 per cent of Russians do not want to emigrate
An overwhelming majority of Russians (79 per cent) would not like to leave Russia and live in another country, the results of a poll conducted by the All-Russia Centre for the Study of Public Opinion [VTsIOM] show.

Domestic Violence A Silent Crisis In Russia
The government estimates that 14,000 women die each year at the hands of their husbands or male partners. But Russian police don't even classify domestic abuse as a crime.

Immigrants in U.S. have newfound patriotism for Russian homeland
Allan Prikhodko has never set foot in Russia, speaks Russian with a slight American accent and struggles to read the language. Still, the 18-year-old dreams of becoming the mayor of Moscow.

Kommersant: Mid-Class Widened to 1/3
The number of families with annual income of above $20,000 grew to 17.3 million in the first half-year (up 45 percent vs. 2007).