Medvedev 'tweet' sends the Russian blogosphere into a frenzy

Source: Guardian UK

Medvedev 'tweet' sends the Russian blogosphere into a frenzy

Retweet of insult aimed at jailed activist Alexey Navalny causes red faces at the Kremlin

Miriam Elder in Moscow guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 December 2011 10.53 EST

According to the Kremlin, he did not. Russian internet users are not so sure. The tweet came hours after riot police and pro-Kremlin youth activists put down a second protest against disputed parliamentary election results and Vladimir Putin's rule.

"Today it became clear that a person who writes in their blog the words 'party of crooks and thieves' is a stupid, c*cksucking sheep :)," said the tweet, written by Konstantin Rykov, a media-savvy Duma deputy. It was a clear reference to Navalny, who coined the popular phrase "party of crooks and thieves", disparaging Putin's United Russia. A short clip of Navalny yelling the "cocksucking sheep" insult at a first protest against Putin's rule on Monday had already gone viral.

Medvedev's official Twitter account promptly retweeted Rykov's note, sending the Russian blogosphere into a frenzy. It was quickly deleted – but caches of the act spread far and wide.

The Kremlin was forced to admit the retweet . "Tonight an incorrect retweet of an entry appeared on Dmitry Medvedev's Twitter account," the Kremlin press office said. "A check revealed that during a routine password change, an employee in charge of technical support for the account made an inadmissible interference in @MedvedevRussia's feed. The guilty will be punished," it warned.

Liberal Russians took it as a sign that whoever it was that retweeted the remarks intended to make Medvedev look foolish, showing that opposition also existed within the Kremlin.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/07/medvedev-tweet-russian-blogosphere-frenzy

:rofl:

Unfortunately, that's not how the Internet works, so we get some bullshit excuse that this is an "incorrect" retweet intended to make Medvedev look foolish.