Russian officials have reprimanded a police officer caught on video tape striking a peaceful protestor with a baton and pulling his hair, according to the Moscow Times. The officer reportedly could face prison time for the incident, which can be seen at 7:22 in the clip below. The paper reports the unauthorized rally was staged to "draw attention to Article 31 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. The authorities have refused to authorize the rallies, organized by opposition and human rights activists on the last day of every month with 31 days since July 2009."
A record heat wave in Russia may kill as many as 15,000 people and shave $15 billion off the country's GDP, Bloomberg reports. For several weeks now Russian citizens have been posting videos to YouTube that show the thick smoke covering their skies.
In a video posted to YouTube, the leader of a Chechen rebel group branded a terrorist by Russia and the United States has apparently announced his resignation as head of the self-proclaimed Caucusus Emirate. The AP reports: "A man recognizable as Doku Umarov says in the grainy footage posted late Sunday that he is handing over command of the group of fighters ... which seeks to establish an Islamic state in the region." Umarov claimed responsibility for 2 suicide bombings in Moscow subway stations that killed 40 people in March and an attack in November 2009 that killed 26.
Hundreds of wildfires are burning in Russia, where one of the worst heat waves in decades refuses to ease. A YouTube user who uploaded this video says he and his friends were en route to Tamboles, Russia, when flames surrounded the car.
User name: vykza Location: Tamboles, Russia Date uploaded: July 29 Views: 248,293 User notes [translated]: We arrived in the village of Tamboles as volunteers to help local people protect homes and got into the epicenter of the fire. In the video we're going back to the city from the burning village. The asphalt road is virtually the only exit from the village (there are bypass through Shimorskoe). For half an hour before we came along this road, there was not even a hint of the fire.
An angry mob outraged by a plan to build a highway in the middle of a Russian forest attacked the mayor's office in the Moscow suburb of Khimki, smashing windows with stones and smoke grenades, France 24 reports. YouTube user Berillii gave this account of his video to the French network's Observers program, confirming a report in Kommersant newspaper that the incident was the work of anarchists rather than environmental activists:
"At 6pm a big group of young people were gathered at Trubnaya Square in Moscow: there were anarchists, punks, young communists and regular students. Many of them looked like they'd just come to listen to a concert and didn't know that the music was a just a cover for a planned riot. At about 7pm, a singer from one of the bands climbed up on a statue overlooking the square and declared that police, private security guards and Nazi thugs were attacking the environmental protesters in Khimki, and that we should take revenge. He called everyone to go to Petrovsko-Razumovskaya train station, and we set off from there to Khimki in 10 minutes.
I think there were at least 200 people participating in the protest and ensuing riots: I saw several train wagons full. I recall seeing one guy pick up a metal rod from the rail track, and I was thinking that things could get ugly. The crowd marched down Moskovskaya street up to the administrative building. The column of people stretched all the way down the street. When the start of the protest reached the building and started shooting from traumatic pistols (Russian rubber-bullet self-defense guns), people at end of the procession thought that a clash had broken out between protesters and security. (In fact, security guards were completely taken by surprise, and quickly fled the scene.)
I ran to the front of the procession and started filming. My video shows what happened from then on: the shooting, the stone-throwing, the graffiti, then the retreat, the march back to the train station. Everything went very fast."
An estimated 60 wildfires are burning in peat bogs and forests on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, raising the level of toxic particles in the air up to eight times normal levels. Officials in Moscow have advised residents to remain indoors, as the city endures its most intense heat wave since 1981.
In Moscow this week temperatures hit 95 degrees for the first time since 1981. Parts of Russia have been enduring a heat wave since late June, which Reuters reports has caused some of the worst crop failures in 130 years. It's also taking a toll on residents, most of whom do not have air conditioning: over 2,000 Russians have drowned since June 1, according to NBC. Many of the victims were trying to swim while drunk.
These videos show Muscovites taking to city fountains to escape the heat.
Police in Russia are investigating a group of entrepreneurs behind a marketing stunt in a beachside town involving a parasailing donkey. The businessmen were trying to attract attention to the resort of Golubitskaya, the BBC reports, and are likely to face criminal charges.
A cable snapped on a theme park ride near St. Petersburg, Russia, stranding thrill-seekers 200 feet off the ground. Officials at the Divo Island amusement park said yesterday's hot weather may to be blame, as high temperatures can cause the metal cables to stretch or snap. The video below shows passengers on the "Rocket" ride dangling in the air.
A spokesperson for Russia's Culture Ministry says 400 works of art were inside the Grabar All-Russian Art, Scientific and Restoration Center in Moscow when it caught fire Thursday. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that many works of art, including religious icons, may have been damaged by the fire or the water used to put out the blaze.
Videos uploaded to YouTube in May reportedly show Anna Chapman, one of 11 people accused by the US government of spying on behalf of Russia. The YouTube user states Chapman is a venture investor who speaks about the peculiarities of Russian venture capital investment.
Members of a new Moscow youth movement are covering car windows with over-sized stickers in an effort to curb illegal parking in their city -- on sidewalks and pedestrian walkways. The matter has become heated because Russia's capital can only provide parking spaces for 30 percent of its vehicles, according to the site The Voice of Russia.
In this video, one driver is so angered by activists who pasted a large sticker on his windshield, he chases the young parking activists down the street waving what look like a heavy metal bar (1:08):
Ethnic violence continues in Kyrgyzstan, where minority Uzbeks have been attacked by Kyrgyz mobs in "the worst ethnic rioting this Central Asian nation has seen in 20 years," according to The Associated Press. At least 117 people reportedly have been killed and 75,000 Uzbeks have fled their homes. Citizens are contributing footage of victims:
CitizenTube is YouTube's News and Politics Blog. Here you'll find important breaking news videos from citizens; developing trends in the use of YouTube by news organizations, activists, politicians, and governments; and lots of other YouTube goodness. Hit us up on Twitter, @citizentube, if you see something worth posting here.
