Ivan Ovsyannikov: How Russia’s New Laws on Disrespecting the Authorities and Fake News Will Play Out

Russia: How Will the Laws on Disrespecting the Authorities and Fake News Play Out? Ivan Ovsyannikov Eurasianet March 26, 2019 Six months after easing punishments for speaking out on the internet, Vladimir Putin has signed laws that would restrict freedom of speech in Russia, argue civil rights activists. People who are deemed to have disrespectfully … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: How Russia’s New Laws on Disrespecting the Authorities and Fake News Will Play Out →

Ivan Ovsyannikov: A Wake-Up Call for the Regime

Ivan Ovsyannikov A Wake-Up Call for the Regime Anticapitalist.ru September 19, 2016 The most inappropriate reaction to these so-called elections is disenchantment with their outcome. Was anyone really enchanted by them? I can understand the pessimism of moderate liberals, for whom the procedure of voting is democracy’s alpha and omega, but a “constitutional change of … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: A Wake-Up Call for the Regime →

Ivan Ovsyannikov: Putin as the Mirror of the Russian Counterrevolution

Ivan Ovsyannikov Putin as the Mirror of the Russian Counterrevolution Facebook January 22, 2016 I spoke recently with a radio journalist from Cologne. A pleasant woman, she was one of those western leftists who try and “understand” Russia. She just could not believe that the Putin regime’s ideology was anti-communist and was based on condemnation … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: Putin as the Mirror of the Russian Counterrevolution →

Ivan Ovsyannikov: Unity in a Vacuum

Unity in a Vacuum Ivan Ovsyannikov November 4, 2015 anticapitalist.ru All holidays are rituals of unity, and it is hard to imagine society functioning without them. November 4, however, is a truly odd day, whose originators ask us to experience unity for its own sake. It reflects the emptiness of official ideology, which claims the role of … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: Unity in a Vacuum →

Ivan Ovsyannikov: Friends of the Imaginary People

anticapitalist.ru Friends of the Imaginary People There is one point on which there is striking agreement among liberals, Putinists, and the “populist” segment of the Russian left. This is the idea that the majority of the Russian population adheres to leftist values, as opposed to the narrow strata of the middle class and intelligentsia in … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: Friends of the Imaginary People →

Ivan Ovsyannikov: Russia’s Welfare Chainsaw Massacre

Welfare Chainsaw Massacre Ivan Ovsyannikov (Russian Socialist Movement) September 30, 2013 anticapitalist.ru A “welfare chainsaw massacre” is exactly what we might call the government’s actions and statements over the last few months. The ruling class is once again attempting to pay for the latest uptick in the economic crisis from out of the pockets of … Continue reading Ivan Ovsyannikov: Russia’s Welfare Chainsaw Massacre →

Doing the Right Thing (Victory Day)

Yan Shenkman Facebook May 9, 2021 Here is what I’ve been thinking about on this day. I seem to understand why every year on May 9, everyone engages in such jealous and painful arguments about whose victory it was and whether it was a victory at all. Everyone wants to prove that the good guys, … Continue reading Doing the Right Thing (Victory Day) →

Election Observers

Artist, activist and teacher Darya Apahonchich found this “polling place” in the courtyard of her building in downtown Petersburg, across the street from the city’s Dostoevsky Museum. Early voting is under way in a nationwide referendum on 206 proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution. Courtesy of Darya Apahonich’s Facebook page Filmmaker Andrey Silvestrov took this … Continue reading Election Observers →

Petersburgers Protest Torture and Crackdowns

Petersburgers marching along the former Robespierre Embankment towards Mikhail Shemyakin’s Monument to Victims of Political Repression, January 19, 2019. Photo by Anatoly Trofimov. Courtesy of the Russian Socialist Movement Russian Socialist Movement (RSD) Facebook January 19, 2019 Petersburg Stands Against Torture and Crackdowns A rally against torture and crackdowns took place on the day the … Continue reading Petersburgers Protest Torture and Crackdowns →

Russia Has Over a Million Slaves

Russia Plans to Fight Slavery: The Country Has More than a Million Slaves Ivan Ovsyannikov PROVED.RF June 26, 2018 The Russian government has tabled a law bill in the State Duma that would ratify the protocol to the convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) outlawing forced labor. Russian officials claim ratifying the protocol is … Continue reading Russia Has Over a Million Slaves →