Ukraine Shuts Schools, Bans Public Events Over Flu:

KYIV (Reuters) — Ukraine has closed schools, banned all public events, and imposed restrictions on people’s movements around the country for a three-week period after confirming its first death from H1N1 swine flu.

“All educational institutions without exception…will be switched on to a three-week holiday period,” Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced. She indicated this period could be extended if it was deemed necessary.

“Apart from this, we will make the decision to cancel all mass meetings…for three weeks,” she said at an emergency government session.

“We will introduce a special system to stop unnecessary travel by people from one region to another,” she added.

Earlier, the Health Ministry confirmed that one of 30 deaths in Western Ukraine since mid-October that had been attributed to flu and pneumonia had been caused by the H1N1 strain, commonly known as swine flu.

“So far, not all the dead were tested [for H1N1],” a Health Ministry spokeswoman said. “However, tests on one dead [person] proved positive.”

“We are considering [imposing] a quarantine not only in the west, but also across the country because the virus is spreading very fast,” Health Minister Vasyl Knyazevych told a news conference, without giving details.

Glad I got in Ukraine and back out when I did a week ago. I may have been stuck for a while…

Think maybe this has to do more with control of people at election time than the flu?

Update: Seems that I hear that 11 have died from confirmed swine flu cases. That is eleven of the 30 or so reported deaths. Not eleven new deaths…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

I have ignored this long enough. I have waited to see if for some reason it gets called off like so many Heavyweight fights seem to have happen. As of right now it looks like this fight will happen.

Going to be held in Bern, Switzerland on November 7th, 2009 Russia’s Nikolay Valuev vs. Britain’s David Haye in a sanctioned Heavyweight match.

David Haye (22-1, 22 KOs) vs Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs)

My money is going to the Russian Giant – He has trained very hard and I really think he is ready for this fight…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Remembering Stalin’s Great Purge victims:

On Friday Oct. 30th, 2009 – Russia marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions. Millions suffered from Stalin’s repressions from the 1920s through to the 1950s.

President Medvedev said attempts to justify the Stalinist repressions under the pretext of state interest are unacceptable:

“I am convinced that no development of a country, no success or ambitions of the state, should be achieved through human grief and loss. Nothing can be valued above human life, and there is no excuse for repression.”

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and thinking back to the start of Windows to Russia! It was brought on by the fact that I have well exceeded 1600 posts and really did not realize that we had.

The road has been long and not always very fun…

When I first started this blog I had a very strong group against us that was anti Russian and Anti Windows to Russia! I was attacked by multiples of Russian hate blogs, forums and sites and that has never ended but almost has stopped. What has definitely ended is that they all realize that Svetlana and I are not going away.

So many Russian blogs and Russian websites looked down their noses at us and we ignored them and kept going. Now we sit and watch these Russian blogs and Russian websites disappear one by one or slow their posting to a trickle.

We believe in what we are doing and will always strive to do better. Windows to Russia is a constant evolving process that never stops and never rests. If you read this you will be one of thousands that do. That is what we am proud of and hope one day that you will be one of ten thousands reading every day!

It was even important enough to us to set the blogs back a year by changing domains. In fact the move was much more successful than we could have imagined and in less than a month we have started back on the road to new territory.

The domain is easy now – just remember www.windowstorussia.com

Were else can you go and find such a conglomeration of blogs with Russian facts, news, photos, videos and everyday life in Russia under one roof? (so to speak)

I mean one thing that I have said many times: “My goal is to change one persons attitude at a time, about Russia!”

I have the rest of my life here to do that.

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

PS: I want to thank all of our readers and hope that you spread the word and get new people wondering – What is going on in Russia?