what reason did they give for removing it?

Being of Russian decent as well I find this type of abuse a sad and very sickening thing to watch.
People who complain about USA should think twice about how good they have it.

@Rick: "We are committed to preserving YouTube as an important platform for expression of all kinds, while also ensuring that the site remains a safe environment for our users," the YouTube spokesman said.

Hope Google doesnt pull a Yahoo when someone comes out with a Chinese dissident abuse video..

I like this website. Where else can my dick get hard and my heart go cold in a single pageview? (Don't answer that!)

But enough about snuff films from prisons half a world away. Did that overprivileged pot-smoking Jew who was shown sitting in a box of styrofoam peanuts achieve coitus with that loose-lipped hooker, as reported yesterday? Your advertisers' expectations of my repeated viewership demand an answer!

Now back to your regularly scheduled whores, layoffs, and transparent envy of millionaires.

Wow, well you know that request to remove the clip didn't come from the Russians. I'd imagine they'd be more than happy to look like a bunch of hard asses on american internets. I didn't watch the video - did they at least have the courtesy to take him to the cafe on his way out? If not, then shit, Russians are pretty messed up.

@Rick: because google gives in to governments, despite claiming they only respond to court orders. They removed the videos Pakistan objected to over the weekend too. When this happens at least once a week, you have to stop believing their propaganda.

@cowsandmilk: I stopped a while ago, anyone who so actively cultivates an "image" is probably in exact opposition to that very image.