Section: Global Voices (The Netherlands)
Crimea’s Government Cancels That ‘Putin Is a ********’ Event
Putin meets with his Economic Council. May 25, 2016. Photo: Kremlin Press Service. Edited by Kevin Rothrock. In the late hours of Wednesday, May 25, a curious event announcement appeared on the website of the Crimean Republic’s Ministry of Industrial Policy. The information was displayed only briefly (it’s already been removed), but...
The Luhansk Excursions
“The Luhansk videos focus on the mundane. And that. . . is the point.” Screenshot from a dashcam video posted on YouTube. A car revs and pulls forward. Volume cranked on the radio, out blares a Russian pop song from the 1990s, all static and drum machine. Streets, pavement, peripheral view of buildings, trees, kiosks, streetlights, pedestrians....
Russians Aren’t Happy About Losing Eurovision, But They Weren’t Happy Before, Either
Image shared widely online featuring the “Putin Rides” meme mixed with Sergei Lazarev’s performance. Russia’s narrow defeat this weekend in the 2016 Eurovision music contest wasn’t the only tension in a competition full of lights, pyrotechnics, and nationalism. Even before the Ukrainian artist Jamala won with a song titled...
Ukrainian Activists Leak Personal Information of Thousands of War Reporters in the Donbas
Images from Wikimedia Commons/UTR News, CC BY 3.0, and Luis Prado/the Noun Project. Images edited by Tetyana Lokot. Earlier this week, the Ukrainian activist website Mirotvorets (“Peacemaker”) published a spreadsheet listing what appear to be the names and details of thousands of journalists who have received accreditation to report in the...
Russian Prosecutor General Accuses ‘Right Sector’ of Using Social Media to Overthrow the Kremlin
One of the currently available VKontakte pages for the Ukrainian nationalist organization “Right Sector.” Image by Tetyana Lokot. In a new report, Russian Prosecutor General, Yuri Chaika, has publicly accused Ukrainian nationalist group “Right Sector” of attempts to use the Internet to stage mass unrest in Russia, in a bid to overthrow the...
How Ukraine Is Dealing With the European Refugee Crisis
The refugee center in Yahotyn, a town not far from the Ukrainian capital, was built to house asylum seekers from all over the world. Image from YouTube. From “health hazards” to “an opportunity to boost the national economy”—this is the broad range of speculations Ukrainian politicians are using to explain what can happen when Ukraine opens its...
Panama Papers: Huge Leak of Offshore Records Implicates Russian, Ukrainian Presidents
Huge cache of leaked documents reveals shady offshore dealings of many world leaders. Image from ICIJ on Twitter, edited by Tetyana Lokot. On Sunday, April 3, a new hashtag started trending on Twitter: #panamapapers. This, coupled with unusual activity on many mainstream media and investigative news websites, which received thousands of views...
Are There Happy Places in Ukraine? Use This Map to Find Out
The Kyiv Sahara sands on the outskirts of the city are a happy place for sure. Screenshot from Map Me Happy. Economic crises, hunger strikes, and military attacks—this is what Google News will return if you type in “Ukraine” in the news search field. Such sombre descriptions can hardly convince anyone to pack a suitcase and come to vacation in...
How to Comb Russia’s TV News
Combing Russia’s television news networks. Image: Kevin Rothrock. This article is part of a larger guidebook by RuNet Echo to help people learn how to conduct open-source research on the Russian Internet. Explore the complete guidebook at the special project page. According to survey research by the Levada Center, the vast majority of...
Ukraine’s Eurovision 2016 Entry Is About Stalin’s Repressions. Russia Isn’t Thrilled.
Is Putin akin to Stalin in the eyes of Crimean Tatars? Jamala’s Eurovision song sheds light on the issue. Images mixed by Anna Poludenko-Young. A song about Soviet Moscow’s repressions against the Crimean Tatar community is Ukraine’s entry for the Eurovision 2016 music contest. Though it concerns events that took place over 70...
