Interesting news and stories translated into English from Russia and the Russian-language internet.
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Users of the Russian Facebook equivalent VKontakte try to avoid copyright restrictions by renaming their favourite groups with unusual names to escape detection.1 -
The American ambassador has condemned a law passed yesterday imposing huge fines on anyone "promoting" homosexuality to children. Netizens offer their rebukes. -
It would appear an unauthorised excursion into Finnish airspace by Russian fighters and bombers took place recently. Netizens blame Russia's version of GPS, Glonass. -
A survey reported today has revealed that most Russians are not proud of their country, with very few of them able to name a single thing they were proud of. -
A bill is being discussed that would see it being made illegal to even be in the woods during fire season, although there are questions about its enforcement. -
After lobbying by groups representing creative interests, a bill has been introduced in the State Duma that is aimed at reducing copyright infringement in Russia. -
Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin gave an interview to Rossiya-24 today in which they admitted that they are divorced, putting an end to years of speculation and rumours. -
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On the eve of National Children's Day, a group of children aged 10-12 in a Moscow suburb set fire to a truck, which gave off enough smoke to reach the 15th floor. -
A St. Petersburger has been arrested after registering a huge number of migrant workers at his flat illegally, and apparently is facing up to 5 years in prison. -
In the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, drivers had a nasty surprise as a truck carrying portable toilets hit a pothole. Russian roads come under fire from netizens. -
Russia's space defences are on high alert following an order given by Sergey Shoigu, the defence minister, in order to ensure military effectiveness in the country. -
To replace the Ladoga armoured vehicle that is now obsolete, the Ministry of Defence have placed an order for a new highly armoured vehicle to protect the minister. -
A man arrested driving a digger has been found carrying a driving licence purportedly belonging to Luke the Apostle. Police are dubious about its authenticity. -
The judge in the Pussy Riot parole hearing has refused to grant parole, despite receiving letters from Sir Paul McCartney requesting the release of the musicians. -
The government body maintaining the Great Firewall of Russia have added Russia's largest social network to the blacklist, without making their reasons known. -
Acting governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov is concerned about immigration and believes in the need to reduce it, though no decisions have been announced. -
Since 2010, Russia have released 100,000 prisoners, bringing the number incarcerated in Russia to approximately 5 per thousand, compared to the US's 7.4 per 1000.
