VIDEO REPORTS
Open Russia Employee Describes Police Raids
Russian police yesterday raided the Moscow offices of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia NGO, and subjected employees and in some cases their relatives to searches.
RFE/RL Crew Encounters Mortar Fire In Eastern Ukraine
RFE/RL journalists on assignment around Aidar battalion positions near the town of Novhorodske in the Donetsk region witnessed a sudden mortar attack. (Ukrainian Service)
Fatal Attack On Azerbaijani Journalist Caught On Film
Surveillance video has emerged showing the moment Azerbaijani journalist Rasim Aliyev was attacked in Baku on August 8. He died the following day in a case rights groups say is indicative of the impunity attached to such crimes.
Minister's Sexist Comment Triggers Journalists’ Protest
Hundreds of journalists in Belgrade and other Serbian cities on December 21 demanded the dismissal of Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic following a sexist remark he directed at a female reporter earlier this month.
Rostov Marks Nazi Liberation With German Mines
A monument commemorating the city’s liberation from the Nazis is created from parts of real German mines recovered from Rostov’s World War II battlefields. (Current Time TV)
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
The Power Vertical: The End Of Russia's Mass Hallucination
The Putin regime's popularity is based on a collective hallucination -- a euphoric patriotic purple haze. And the Kremlin is clearly worried about what happens when the television-induced acid trip is over.
U.S. Expands Sanctions List For Russians, Ukrainians
Sanctions have been extended to oil trader Gennady Timchenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-time judo partners Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, and leaders of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics.”
FSB Given Expanded Anti-Terrorism Authority
Russia’s Duma adopted a law on December 22 authorizing the federal security services to fingerprint any person entering Russia who demonstrates unspecified “signs” of participating, or being “coerced” to participate, in terrorist activity. (Current Time TV)
Putin Satirist Subject To Possible Criminal Charges
Evgeni Levkovich, who plastered posters around Moscow satirizing President Putin’s press conference last week, was the subject of a police complaint and may face charges of hooliganism and unsanctioned advertising. (Current Time TV)
Journalist On Trial For Treason In Azerbaijan
The charges facing journalist Rauf Mirgadirov stem from accusations that he “collaborated” with Armenian NGOs linked to Leyla Yunus’s Peace and Democracy Institute. (In Russian)
'Putin Vodka' And One Angry Mayor
Russia’s ambassador to Lithuania sent a bottle of designer “Putinka” vodka to Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius, who has fired back at the envoy very publicly.
Donetsk Group To Promote New Patriotic Youth
Named “The Zaharovtsy” after the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” leader Aleksandr Zaharchenko, the group aims to imbue the DNR’s youth with the spirit of patriotism and internationalism, much as the Komsomol did under the Soviet Union. (Current Time TV)
Russian Tourism Industry Faces Massive Losses
In an interview with RFE/RL, Russian Tourist Agent Association Head Maya Lomidze discussed the industry’s 40 percent drop in sales this year as a result of the ruble’s decline, tensions abroad, and general economic hardship. (In Russian)