Global Voices Online
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

An interesting discussion on the freedom of the press in Russia took place in the New York Times’ Russian-language LJ community: an article by Clifford J. Levy, translated into Russian, received over 1,000 comments from the Russian bloggers, and 45 of these comments were then translated into English and featured on the New York Times’ web page, along with about 100 more reactions from the paper’s Anglophone readers.

The following post (RUS) by LJ user cincinna-c is not part of the New York Times-inspired conversation, but seems to recapture some of its essence well:

I was strolling around town with one English guy today – Simon from Bristol…

When he learned that I worked in the media, [...] Simon asked me straightforwardly: “Is it possible for you to publish critical views on the last election, or the true inflation figures, in your or some other paper?”

I didn’t know how to respond…

Before, I could send such a piece to a couple more publications, in addition to my paper… What it’s like now I don’t know… I think that even in my paper it’s only if my editor gets sick, falls asleep or is in general caught off guard that I could express my opinion (on how people’s well-being isn’t growing as fast as has been declared; on how we are left with fewer mechanisms of controlling the government, etc.)… And it’s not because she [the editor] doesn’t understand anything or is charmed by our statewide successes… She is just being careful… “Just in case”… The way kindergarten teachers used to teach kids to draw Putin – “just in case” – and officials were displaying his portraits on the walls… [...]

Here is one of the comments to this post:

ostrov_9:

It was happening gradually.

[...]

[...] After [exiled media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky]’s case everyone was still giggling, thinking it wasn’t serious, this war. But first they stopped using the sharpest of the political cartoons in newspapers, then collages got banned. They started doctoring headlines right after [jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky]’s arrest, I guess.

A few more random Kyiv pics, just to get myself distracted from the subject of the previous entry…

Near Kyiv’s central train station

A mailbox

Wine, vodka, flowers, open 24 hours, 7 meters away

“There is time for work. And time for love.” (Coco Chanel)

“I Love You”

This guy’s billboards are all over the city, but for some reason I don’t remember his name. Sorry.

Walked by Eric’s Bierstube at Ploshcha Tolstogo yesterday, was horrified by the Nazi stuff on the walls in the courtyard there:

This last one most likely refers to a McDonald’s nearby – “Don’t eat shit.”

Reminds me of St. Pete five years ago, but to be seeing it here hurts a lot more.

Here are two more pics for the ‘Turks in Ukraine’ series at The Turkish Invasion (the first installment featured my shot of Karadeniz Cafe at Poznyaki).

KATYA + LEYLA = arkadashiki: a Ukrainian-Turkish friendship, Tatu-style, sort of (arkadaş is ‘friend’ in Turkish):

“Dudu Döner – Turkish shawarma” – near Svyatoshyn metro station:

Global Voices Online
Saturday, May 31, 2008

On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. (Earlier GV translations about the incident are here and here.)

On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People’s Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. Kaskiv was traveling to Moscow to participate in a TV talk show, in which his opponent would have been Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compared the two cases (RUS):

Feel the difference

Today, Ukrainian MP Kaskiv was not allowed to enter Russia. It appears to be a rather adequate response to Ukraine’s decision to ban mayor Luzhkov.

But let’s pay attention to the details and consider just how it was done in each of the cases.

1. [...] Luzhkov had been warned in advance (in written form!) about unacceptability of “extremist speech.” [...] Kaskiv was detained at the airport without any prior warning.

2. We know well about the reasons for attacks on [...] Luzhkov: his doubts on whether Sevastopol belongs to Ukraine and his threats to annul [the 1997 Russian-Ukrainian "Big Treaty" on friendship and cooperation]. What [...] Kaskiv is guilty of is not known, however; the official explanation only states that he “presents a threat to security” – but what’s behind that?

3. [...] Luzhkov’s persona non grata status was announced by a totally real [Security Service of Ukraine] employee, Maryna Ostapenko. About [...] Kaskiv, no official representative (whose actions could then be appealed] has made a statement, and all accusations against him were attributed to “sources” in the border control service and Sheremetyevo [Airport].

Doesn’t look like a big deal. But in reality, it shows the principal differences between the two regimes. The Ukrainian one, where officials have to explain themselves to the public and the media, and take responsibility for their actions. And the Russian one, where state employees are free to take any decisions they like without providing any kind of coherent public explanations.

This, among other things, is why Ukraine is labeled as a “free country” in international rankings, while our [Russian Federation] is “not free.” All is obvious and justified. And it is very sad.

Here is part of a discussion following this post:

salatau:

And Kaskiv is like a saint, right?

varfolomeev66:

It’s possible that he is indeed some terrible enemy of Russia. But I, as a citizen, would like to know: what kind of threat, exactly, he poses and what crimes he has already managed to commit. But there are no explanations. Perhaps, because there is simply nothing to accuse him of?

It’s not often that you see a Moskvich car in Kyiv nowadays. But in Brovary, I’ve seen two:

And then there was also this:

Been to Brovary today, was pleasantly surprised by how little garbage I saw there. Also, tons of kids and tons of playgrounds, old and new, everywhere. I wouldn’t mind borrowing their mayor.

I’ll post more pics later; for now, here’s my favorite, of the stuff hanging out to dry on someone’s balcony:

Saw this on the way from the dentist yesterday:

“I eat here.”

The name of the street is Klinichna. Yes, Clinical Street. Very close to the Institute of Sugar Beats bus stop.

At the polling station on Sunday:

Inside the polling booth – two ballots, both ridiculously long:

On Saturday, I was feeling claustrophobic in Kyiv’s center, so I got into a random marshrutka and went where it took me: to Poznyaky and Osokorky, on the Dnieper’s left bank.

Some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

All photos are here.

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Marshrutka driver seemed like a very religious guy:

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Lots of street trade, just like everywhere else in Kyiv:

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So many flyers everywhere, I don’t think they have any informational value anymore and instead serve as decorations only in this otherwise gloomy area:

Election-related flyers from Poznyaky and Osokorky are in the Mayor 2008 Flickr folder.

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A very strange logo on the store that seems to be selling doors – looks pretty phallic to me:

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Mishuga Street – named, as it turns out, after an opera singer Oleksandr Mishuga (link in Ukrainian), who was born in a village near Lviv in 1853, in a shoemaker’s family:

While meshuga is a more familiar transliteration of the Yiddish word, here in Kyiv the name’s spelling varies from Mishuga (first photo) to Myshuga (second photo).

And then there’s also this sign for a wedding salon on Mishuga St. – composed by some meshugener in an inexplicable mix of Ukrainian (line 1) and Russian (line 2):

A Lenny Kravitz billboard on Mishuga St.:

Kravitz is, of course, a mis-transliteration of the Ukrainian word kravets, a tailor.

Café “Karadenis” – another cute mis-transliteration from the Mishuga St. neighborhood, this time of the Turkish word Karadeniz, the Black Sea: