Russian Blogger Smeared With Doctored Photo
Russian blogger Alexei Navalny (Photo: Alexei Yushenkov/Wiki Commons)
Doctoring photographs for political gain was a tool of government in the old Soviet Union. Seems like it still might be — in modern Russia.
A doctored photo appeared recently in a regional Russian newspaper, causing a stir.
It showed blogger and pro-democracy activist Alexei Navalny standing next to a disgraced oligarch.
After Navalny complained it was a fake, the original showed up on the web within a few days.
Stephen Cohen is a professor of Russian studies and history at New York University.
He says Navalny was targeted because of his opposition to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
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