Just a few hours after Echo Moskvy, Dozhd is halting its work, "temporarily" for now. They say it's because of the law, about to be passed, criminalizing publication of "fake news" — eg, that there is a war in Ukraine. In one day, two of Russia's top independent outlets close.
they're letting viewers thank them and say goodbye, live on the air
"We are on the right side of history," says Tikhon Dzyadko. "We know what is truth, and what is hypocritical manipulation. However horrible things are now ... we will win. I want to thank everyone."
"I love you all very much. You are all very important to me," Dzyadko, editor-in-chief of Dozdh, says. "Dozhd is an island of normality. It's all of us. And there are a lot of us. So thank you. I embrace you all."
Everyone looks devastated, honestly.
(apologies, I got it wrong in a previous tweet — the people calling in remotely are not viewers, but staffers.)
"Let's be clear about why we're shutting down," says this staffer, nearly in tears. "Because they're not letting us call a war a war ... they're not letting us tell our viewers about the horrors that are taking place. NO TO WAR."
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Check out this page of notes. It's in Latvian so you probably can't read it. What do they say, why the cute little airplane, and what's the connection?
They're instructions for spying on a NATO base. Written down by a young man recruited on Telegram. (👇)
That young man was no James Bond. He lost these notes, which found their way into the hands of the Latvian police, who eventually tracked him down.
He and an accomplice — so young that he was nicknamed "the Kid" — pled guilty to being recruited by Russian intelligence.
All year, Western officials have been warning that Russia is hiring Europeans to spy and commit sabotage.
Telegram appears to be one of the main channels of recruitment.
In this half-hour conversation, I talked to colleagues who have done the reporting.
A climate of fear has descended on Kyrgyzstan. Investigative journalists jailed for "inciting unrest." Activists afraid to take books to the country. My latest for @OCCRP. occrp.org/en/uncensored-…
I spent one really amazing and eye-opening summer in Kyrgyzstan in 2011. I still remember how many cool projects the country's young people were doing. Feminist performances, disabled rights activism, peace-building workshops.
It's really sad to see that climate being quashed. And heart-breaking to speak with the mother of a young journalist arrested on her 23rd birthday.
“Twenty-three years old — for me, she’s still little," she said. "For a mother, she’ll always be little.”
It was already obvious a decade ago, but let the final word fall on this horrible day: There is nothing and no one within Russia that can overthrow Putin by themselves.
Navalny did his best to bend the curve, exhorting Putin opponents to bravery and unity, but (though he kept denying this) he faced one insurmountable problem: There are not enough of them.
Between the Russians who like Putin, those who benefit from his rule, the apathetic, the frightened, the imprisoned, and the departed, there is basically no one left who can do anything.
First we looked at drones. Consumer models have become ubiquitous in the war, used by both sides for recon, artillery spotting, and propaganda videos.
They can also kill. Here, a Russian soldier attaches a grenade to a consumer drone.
In this investigation with @istories_media, @Vlastkz, and @derspiegel, we traced the trade of such drones from the Netherlands, to Kazakhstan, to a Russian importer, and finally to non-profits that are supplying Russian troops.
Just as background: Illarionov served in the gov't from 2000, the very early Putin era. Major accomplishments attributed to him include the 13 percent flat tax, the stabilization fund, and getting Russia into the G8.
Illarionov resigned in 2005, criticizing the government's position towards Ukraine, its treatment of oil companies, and the deterioration of democracy. For a while he was a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
This tweet was a cry of frustration. I don’t really regret it, but it’s not a model for how to engage on Twitter. You never want to look dumber than the other guy.
As penance, here’s a more considered thread about why I’m alarmed when Mate and his ideas get mainstream exposure.
On April 7, 2018, 40-something people were killed by a chemical attack in Douma, a suburb of Aleppo. There were horrific videos of dead children with foam in their mouths. On the day after, local rebels surrendered.
Who did it? Local rebels, Western gov'ts, the NYT, the Intercept, and others say the chemical weapons were fired by Assad’s helicopters.