At a time when international travel has come to a screeching halt, I can think of little better service our magazine can provide than to take readers to far-flung places.

“Geography is destiny,” Napoleon is said to have uttered. Shortly afterward he invaded Russia, proving both his maxim and that of one of his imperialistic predecessors, Julius Caesar: “It’s only hubris if I fail.”

We didn’t realize how connected we were until we had to disconnect.

Here’s the thing about history: you can’t see everything that is going on when you are living it, and then, when you try to dredge up what really happened, all you’ve got is your frail memories.

It always hurts when death comes. Particularly when it is sudden and all too early.

We are driven by a passion to tell interesting stories about the most interesting country on Earth. And it helps that we are egged on by our passionate readers.

Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other?

The features in this issue have something in common. And it's not necessarily what you might expect.

There is never a shortage of political-cultural land mines on which to trod when one’s brief is to cover all things Russian.

The core of what we do at Russian Life is stuff a suitcase (issue) full of words and pictures, then hand it to readers so that they can travel to a distant world, to get a taste of places they may never visit.

“What have you done to my magazine?!"

What is most important is to keep telling the individual stories, making human connections, sharing the important ideas that we meet.