Russia

A bank inadvertedly advertises the Nazi code for a fellow fighter.

The end of WWII is celebrated on May 9 in Russia. Since Putin came to power, the event has become increasingly more inflated and commercial. But this year, it went a step too far, when eager party-goers put up Nazi symbols in place of Soviet war imagery. Read more...

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The Western press reacted cynically to the inauguration of Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, who has been considered a puppet of outgoing president - and now Prime Minister - Vladimir Putin since being elected in March. However, a political analyst in the country and harsh critic of the ruling party, tells us why the idea is entirely speculative. Read more...

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Dimitri Medvedev was inaugurated as Russia's new president today. Evguenia Obitchkina, an international relations lecturer in Moscow, explains that the conflict between Russia and the West might have more to do with the hydrocarbon trade than human rights. Read more...

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Looming above a hundred grey headstones in a Russian cemetery, tacky monuments like these - with the tomb's incumbent and his faithful sports car etched onto the stone - appear on the horizon. Read more...

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This video, supposedly filmed by the Russian police, emerged on the internet on Monday. We don't know where it came from, nor is it possible to know exactly where it was filmed. But our Observers confirm that this type of cruelty is not unusual. Read more and see the video.

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A Russian election observer who exposed several accounts of mass rigging following last December's Duma parliamentary poll has been assaulted outside his home in Moscow, just weeks before the date of the court case against the election riggers. In hospital with cerebral concussion, it looks as though Grigori Belonuchkin might not be well enough testify in the case. Read more...

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Vote-rigging, banning candidates and censorship are all part of a traditional Russian election, according to many of the country’s bloggers. But this year, despite a clear front-runner, tales of even more ingenious methods are emerging on the blogosphere. Caught vote-rigging red handed? Just scream “terrorist”. Read more…

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Russian tabloid Express Gazeta organized a drawing competition all across Russia to support President Valdimir Putin's successor, Dmitry Medvedev. These drawings, published three days before the presidential election, are strangely reminiscent of personality cults from the Soviet era. See the other drawings.

"Dmitry Anatolyevich is a worthy successor" by Valeriya Emelchenkova, 10, Chelyabinsk region. Medvedev is lifting weights that are labelled "housing", "children", "school", "village", "nature", and "sport".

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Questioned Tuesday about the name of Putin’s successor in a televised debate with Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton faltered to pronounce the name. “Med erm, Medeved… Meded-deva… whatever…” Russian Blogger Alexander Kireev was not impressed. Read more…

Images from MSNBC. Posted 26 Feb. 08

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The self-proclaimed autonomy of Kosovo angered many Russians, not least these young dramatists who blame the move on the US, who according to them is responsible for selling the country to the grim reaper. Here’s the video of their performance…

Young Russian dramatists act out their message: "Kosovo is Serbian soil", 17 FEB. 08

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