Canadian Correspondent Chris Brown
Behind the scenes stories from a Canadian Journalist overseas
One of the most frequently asked questions I get about Russia is, “is it safe to fly?” For many westerners, the Soviet-era notion of dodgy aircraft falling out of the sky has been a persistent – but unfair – stereotype of Russia’s commercial airline industry. The overwhelming reality is that Aeroflot, Russia’s flag carrier, has…
Some stories are worth coming back to over and over again. Margarita Gracheva’s is one of them. We profiled her more than a year ago in Saint Petersburg and told the story of how her sadistic husband cut her hands off in a fit of jealousy and rage. But she as been incredibly resilient, getting…
Weekend two of Russia-wide protests. Looks like Russian protest leaders are taking some cues from Hong Kong and moving their opposition around cities such as Moscow, trying to keep authorities off guard. Not sure its working though. The riot squads are able to move much faster. And deploy quickly. Having said that, the size of…
Turns out, Navalny got the big crowd he badly needed. The riot police got in some fights but notably it didn’t turn into a Belarus-style fiasco. The security services held back, no doubt hoping this will fizzle in a few weekends. Or maybe something has fundamentally changed here with Navlany’s imprisonment – and his video…
With thuggy looking security people watching our every move, our crew was among those at Vnukovo airport for Alexei Navalny’s arrival. Of course, he never did land at our airport as his plane was diverted to Sheremetyevo where he was promptly arrested. Navalny has mobilized vast crowds of protestors in the past and appeared on…