Support The Moscow Times!

Governor's Tweet Draws Medevdev's Ire

President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday demonstrated tech-savviness by using Twitter for reprimanding Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh for tweeting during a session of the State Council.

"Nikita Yuryevich Belykh sits there writing on Twitter right from the State Council Session. Obviously he has nothing more important to do," Medvedev said during a Kremlin session, Interfax reported.

Minutes earlier, Belykh, who had been tweeting about a speech by Tomsk Governor Viktor Kress on education policies, noticed that presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich had pointed out his tweeting to Medvedev.

"Well, @advorkovich snitched about my reporting to the president. That's the downside of an information society," he tweeted, using the common Twitter @-sign designating other users on the popular microblogging service.

Medvedev did not tweet during the session but logged onto Twitter from his computer afterward — and published an open reply to @Belykh: "Yes, that's the downside to an information society. But the main point is that it does not distract from work, isn't it?"

"Fully agree — but I was listening carefully, and Kress' speech was circulated last week, and I had read it," Belykh sheepishly replied.

The governor then went on to apologize that he would have to end his Twitter reports from the council. "When the debate about Twitter reached the federal level, the Internet in the hall was choked off," he wrote.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more