Last Sunday, unknown arsonists attempted to torch the apartment of oD author and investigative journalist Aleksey Matsuka in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine. Despite the seriousness of the crime, the reaction from the police and investigating authorities has been woefully inadequate.
Marat Gelman is a well-known Moscow cultural figure. In 2008 he went to curate the Museum of Contemporary Art in provincial Perm, where his ideas for a cultural revolution have encountered considerable local opposition. Arguments about art soon developed into a fully-fledged political battle, reco
Former spin-doctor and gallery owner Marat Gelman has arrived in Perm with a plan to bring "cultural revolution" to the city. Not all locals are happy with the results of his endeavours, reports Roman Yushkov.
On Sunday, unknown arsonists set light to the apartment of oD author Aleksey Matsuka in an apparent attempt to kill him. openDemocracy calls on the international community and Ukrainian authorities to come together and work to protect Aleksey and his colleagues.
Ukraine’s intellectuals are locked in binary discussion about how to deal with the country’s anti-democratic leadership: sanctions for reform, or more integration to keep the politicians away from Russia. Given that the politicians are unlikely to listen anyway, might it not be more productive to
The elections are drawing nearer and Putin’s United Russia party has stepped up its claims to represent the real Russia and the majority of Russians. But things are never that simple. Poel Karp looks at the wider historical picture, considering the meaning of democracy and how necessary it is for
What happens to a writer when he is no longer surrounded by his own language and reality? Emigres, exiles use a kind of cunning to adapt and continue functioning as writers, but they have to make so many adjustments that some fall silent. Oleg Yuriev examines some famous literary exiles to conside
The shock of the recent steamer tragedy on the Volga and the huge loss of life all too quickly moved off the front pages, but the condition of the Russian river fleets needs to be kept in the public eye so as to avoid another such disaster, explains Oleg Pavlov
An international outcry at the award of the prestigious Quadriga Prize to Vladimir Putin resulted in its cancellation for 2011, thus depriving the 3 other nominees of the honour they were to have received. Political relations between Russia and Germany are not affected, but there is another dimens
The recent arrest and detention of a group of photojournalists on apparently trumped-up charges continues to be a subject of heated discussion and protest in Georgia. The evidence and the so-called confessions contain a mass of contradictions and are a cause for serious concern about the real moti
The Russian religious revival has seen a huge increase in church-going, but morality has not improved. The relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state has always been controversial, its business interests are often questionable and its views on art and literature bigoted. Is thi
The Perm region once boasted well-managed forests, protected and processed for the common good. Today those forests lie abandoned or looted in the name of progress. The locals aren’t happy, but what can they do, asks Roman Yushkov?
