Neighbours of Belarus say migrant crisis risks military clash | Reuters

Countries bordering Belarus on Thursday warned the migrant crisis on the European Union’s eastern borders could escalate into a military confrontation while Ukraine said it would deploy thousands more troops to reinforce its frontier.
— Read on www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-reports-violent-clashes-overnight-migrants-attempt-new-border-breach-2021-11-11/

Central Asia is stepping up battles with tech giants. Russia’s playbook is a model. – The Washington Post

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan both pulled back attempts at restricting social media networks after public backlash.
— Read on www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/uzbekistan-kazakhstan-big-tech/2021/11/06/857efe86-3db4-11ec-bd6f-da376f47304e_story.html

Endangered archive of Siberian indigenous voices to be digitised – Museums Association

“Russian cassette tapes from the Soviet era are particularly fragile and here the process of degradation has been speeded up by water leakages in the building, which have increased the humidity,” Anderson said.

“For the most badly damaged tapes, extracting what they contain requires them to be baked in an oven but after that, you only get one chance at playing them before the recordings are lost.

“We will be working with Russian sound technicians on this process which then requires them to be disassembled, rewound and played at different speeds to remove the interference caused by damage to the tapes, which stick together causing squealing sounds.”
— Read on www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/10/endangered-archive-of-siberian-indigenous-voices-to-be-digitised/

Facebook says Russia-linked ad agency tried to smear Covid vaccines

Facebook said Tuesday that it has removed hundreds of accounts linked to a mysterious advertising agency operating out of Russia that sought to pay social media influencers to smear Covid-19 vaccines.
— Read on www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-says-russia-linked-ad-agency-tried-smear-covid-vaccines-rcna1645

Sergei Guriev: “We may already be seeing Russia’s return to the repressive dictatorship of the 20th century” – Institute of Modern Russia

The Institute of Modern Russia is committed to strengthening respect for human rights, the rule of law, and civil society.
— Read on www.imrussia.org/en/opinions/3321-sergei-guriev-“we-may-already-be-seeing-russia’s-return-to-the-repressive-dictatorship-of-the-20th-century”

Reconceptualizing Lithuania’s Importance for U.S. Foreign Policy – Foreign Policy Research Institute

This report is part of FPRI’s collaboration with Eastern Europe Studies Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania and can also be viewed here
— Read on www.fpri.org/article/2021/07/reconceptualizing-lithuanias-importance-for-u-s-foreign-policy/

Biden Meets Exiled Belarusian Opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya – Bloomberg

President Joe Biden met the exiled opposition leader of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, at the White House Wednesday as the post-Soviet nation is swept by a new round of crackdowns against the opposition, media and civil society.
— Read on www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-28/biden-meets-exiled-belarusian-opposition-leader-to-show-support

Stars and Stripes – Monuments and military hardware gain unexpected second lives

Across Europe, monuments, military infrastructure and cold war relics have been given a second life, often with interesting consequences.
— Read on www.stripes.com/living/europe_travel/travel_blog/2021-07-27/karen-bradbury-europe-traveler-blog-2161151.html

Final voyage for Soviet’s first nuclear sub will be via the inner waterways | The Independent Barents Observer

The legendary submarine K-3 “Leninsky Komsomol” will be transported from the Nerpa shipyard on the Kola Peninsula to Kronstadt outside St. Petersburg to become part of the Museum of Navy Glory.
— Read on thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2021/07/final-voyage-soviets-first-nuclear-sub-will-be-inner-waterways-0

Teaching critical race theory isn’t ‘indoctrination.’ Glorifying Stalin is. – The Washington Post

I worked in Cuba and Russia, where schools deny unpleasant history. Do we want to be like them?
— Read on www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/07/23/critical-race-theory-indoctrination-cuba-russia/