Russia
Remembering Alexander Klimchuk
Matthew Collin, a foreign correspondent in the Caucasus region, is heading out of Tbilisi. He takes time out in today’s Guardian to reflect upon his adopted home and the death of his friend, the journalist Alexander Klimchuk, Last autumn, Klimchuk and I worked together in South Ossetia, covering a government-sponsored Boney M concert in a […]
Into South Ossetia with Yuri Kozyrev
TIME photographer Yuri Kozyrev travels with Russian units through South Ossetia. Click the image above to see a photgallery of recent images.
Analysing Ossetia
Sean’s Russia blog offers a very interesting analysis of the western media’s interpretation of the situation in South Ossetia and Georgia, Every small Russian action is instantly viewed as part of a larger design. The latest evidence that sparked fears of an assault on Tbilisi? A Russian convoy that was heading toward the Georgian capital […]
Russo-Georgia War: cyber-propaganda
“In its war with Georgia, the first truly global user-generated conflict, Russia’s digital guerillas have been drafted into a state-waged propaganda war” The opening paragraph of an excellent article by Evgeny Morozov on Open Democracy. He argues that the Web’s democratic potential has been undermined by the agendas of nation-states and maintains that ‘digital guerillas’ […]
‘At no time should you endanger yourself’: BBC’s ‘citizen journalism’ disclaimer and war zones
The BBC’s standard plea for information on this article about the crisis in Georgia is bothering me. On the BBC website, we learn that ‘violence has flared [in Gori]’, ‘there are reports of cars being taken from residents at gunpoint’, and ‘there is looting going on involving South Ossetian separatists’. Similarly, The Guardian’s latest article […]
Russian bombs kill journalist in Gori
From AP, A Dutch television journalist was killed overnight when Russian warplanes bombed the central Georgian city of Gori. The television news station RTL reported on its Web site that its cameraman Stan Storimans, 39, was killed and correspondent Jeroen Akkermans was wounded in the leg in the attack. RTL said, in all, five people […]
Cyberwar, blogging and other Russo-Georgia War links
I’ve just got back from an all too brief holiday and this morning I’ve been collecting some stuff on the conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in South Ossetia and beyond. 1. While most of the attention has rightly been on the physical war that has been costing Russian and Georgian lives, Wired has nevertheless […]
Journalists killed in South Ossetia
A Moscow radio station reports two journalists have been killed in Tskhinvali, the capital of the embattled region of South Ossetia. The International Herald Tribune has more, The station, Ekho Moskvy, cited a Russian Newsweek magazine correspondent Orkhan Dzhemal as saying that both went into the separatist Georgian province from the Georgian side and were […]
How do you track Russian language news from South Ossetia without reading Russian?
Here’s one way to try and follow the South Ossetia story in Russian if you can’t read Russian. I touch on these methods when I teach the Track Breaking News Online courses each month in London. We’ll do all this by using a combination of online translation tools and RSS feeds. Firstly, find a number […]
Monitoring South Ossetia
Veronica Khokhlova at Global Voices does a good job rounding up and translating the word from the streets of Georgia including this comment from Russian journalist Mikhail Romanov in a hotel basement in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, The city is under heavy howitzer and mortar fire. An endless cannonade. I’ve seen many wounded […]
Russian troops attack South Ossetia
[video:youtube:E4AD6mOZm9I] Russian troops head in the direction of Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia’s separatist South Ossetia region. This follows “a massive attack” by Georgian troops to regain control of breakaway region where officials said at least 15 people were killed and an unspecified number of people wounded. A convoy of Russian tanks and troops is […]
Four charged for Politkovskaya murder
“Three suspects have been charged with the murder of [Anna Politkovskaya]: Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makhmudov,” the Investigations Committee said in a statement announcing the end of the high-profile murder inquiry. A fourth man, Pavel Ryaguzov, an officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the former KGB, has been charged with abuse of power […]
Yuri Bagrov profiled
Former Chechen war reporter Yuri Bagrov is profiled in the New York Times today. Bagrov worked in Grozny disguising himself as a Russian soldier at one point so that he could report from the frontline in Grozny. His reports didn’t go down well with Russian authorities and he was stripped of citizenship in 2005. Now, […]
Ilyas Shurpayev murder suspect charged
Ilyas Shurpayev was murdered in his Moscow apartment on March 21. Today, authorities announced formal charges against the suspects arrested soon after the killing, The Tajik Prosecutor-General’s Office has announced formal charges against one of the detained accomplices in the murder of Russian television journalist Ilyas Shurpayev. He is Masrurdzhon Yatimov, Prosecutor-General Abdusami Dadabayev told […]
Ilyas Shurpayev killed
According to reports from Novosti Ilyas Shurpayev, a Russian television journalist, has been found dead in his apartment in the northeast of Moscow. The 32 year old was known for reporting from Russia’s North Caucasus including the republic of Daghestan, Georgia’s breakaway republic of Abkhazia and Chechnya, “According to a preliminary forensic medical examination, Ilyas […]
The Age of Assassins: The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin
Since Dimitri Medvedev’s predictable triumph in Russia’s presidential elections, the future of the Kremlin’s internal power balance has fascinated those who scrutinize events in Moscow. As ever, questions outstrip answers. The central issue is whether the latest choreographed ballot signified a true shift of power away from Vladimir Putin. Since 2000, when Putin came to […]
Asne Seierstad in 5 minutes
Following on from her BBC radio interview with Simon Mayo, war reporter Asne Seierstad gets the 5-minute interview treatment in The Independent today, The most surprising thing to happen to me was … Realising that people read my books all around the world. That surprises me all the time. link
The Angel of Grozny
Simon Mayo at BBC Radio 5 Live talks to war correspondent Asne Sierstad about her work in Chechnya over the past decade and her new book The Angel of Grozny. You can listen to the interview direct here or subscribe to the Daily Mayo podcast, Norwegian journalist Asne Sierstad has covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan […]
One soldier’s war
The Boston Globe runs a Q&A with soldier-turned-author Arkady Babchenko. As an 18 year draftee he fought with the Russian Army in 1995 in the First Chechen War. In 1999, he volunteered to fight in the Second Chechen War. “One Soldier’s War” is his account of his experiences. Babchenko lives in Moscow and now works […]
Commuting with Putin
Ever wondered what Vladimir Putin’s ride to work is like in the morning? Luke Harding, The Guardian’s Moscow Correspondent, has been putting his multimedia reporting skills to work to try and tell you. Click the image above to check out Luke’s stalking skills. How about doing something like this next time you’re in Russia, Heathcliff?
Grigory Pasko on Russian media
[video:youtube:n9OUmV-B14M] Journalist and blogger Grigory Pasko talks about how the murder of Anna Politkovskaya changed freedom of press in Russia, and discusses the new role of the internet.
Natalia Morari has her say
Last week Moldovan journalist Natalia Morari, who works for New Times Magazine, was barred entry from Russia on orders of the Federal Security Service FSB and sent back to the Moldovan capital Chisinau. Former journalist and Human Rights campaigner Grigory Pasko interviews her on the Robert Amsterdam blog
One Soldier’s War in Chechnya
It was with some pleasurable anticipation that I awaited this book from the Frontline’s Books Editor. He wanted “a soldier to review a soldier’s book.” When it arrived, I did what I do with all books before starting to read it in earnest: examine the cover, look at the photos, check for maps. This volume […]
A journey through Putin’s Russia part 4
We arrived in Tyumen early morning after another overnight train ride and were greeted by our next guide, a BP interpreter who on first impressions appears to be a bit of a snob, but we warmed to her slowly, first impressions after a rather sleepless journey can mess with your judgement skills. After checking into […]
A Journey through Putin’s Russia Part 3
For the next stage of our trip we took another train to Yekaterinburg for about 24 hours in second class where we had to share a compartment with an elderly couple Konstantin and Galia on their way to the oil town of Nizhnevartovsk for a wedding. They shared with us their food for journey including […]
BBC staff get Russian stick
This just in from AP, via Pravda, British Broadcasting Corp’s employees have been attacked in Moscow over the past two weeks. The company was investigating whether they were targeted because of their work. The attacks took place on three different dates in three different locations since Nov. 24, BBC World Service spokesman Peter Connors said […]
A Journey through Putin’s Russia Part 2
Our drive to Samara is helped along grandly by our miserable second Tatar translator Ilnur who drones on continuously about Tatar self determination, the Golden Hordes (heard that before), how immorally behaved his other housemates were when he studied in a university in the UK , Islam , and why don’t British Tourists visit his […]
Heathcliff O’Malley is blogging
And what’s that new name at the top of the page? Frontline club member Heathcliff O’Malley joins the From the frontline blog ranks today. He’s a photographer, often found within the pages of the Daily Telegraph. He’s on the road in Russia, following President Vladimir Putin across the steppes. Go read his blog. If you […]
A journey Through Putin’s Russia Part 1
My trip to Russia started with a phone call from the picture desk, saying that they might want me to go to Russia in the next few days . It all becomes clear the following morning , if I want to go I have only a couple of hours to apply for a Visa and […]
The End of Democracy
A decade ago Russia was on its knees. Today it is an energy giant in a world with an apparently unslakeable thirst for oil. As its wealth grows, so does Moscow’s desire to re-establish itself on the world stage. Overtures to Hamas, nuclear co-operation with Iran, and a sharing of Serbia’s concerns over Kosovo are […]