October 20, 2022 Time for A Talk? Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claims that Russia remains "open for talks" with Ukraine and other interested nations. Government Int'l Relations Moscow War Russia File
October 19, 2022 Flight Risk A plane was turned around when it was discovered that the co-pilot had been drafted. Military Travel War Russia File
October 18, 2022 Ded Moroz Is Still Comin' to Town The Russian military has assured local governments that they don't need to worry about canceling New Years' festivities because of the mobilization and conflict in Ukraine. Cities & Towns Culture Holidays Military Russia File
October 17, 2022 Genocide Preventing Genocide Russia filed an official objection against Ukraine's case that Russia committed genocide during its invasion of its neighbor. Government Int'l Relations Law War Russia File
October 16, 2022 Brussels Sprouts and Nuclear Strikes Russian politician Dmitry Medvedev dismissed EU Representative Josep Borrell's fear of nuclear war as "paranoid." Government Int'l Relations War Russia File
October 14, 2022 A Family that Disrupts Together Tensions continue to rise in Russia after the start of mobilization, leading to more extreme acts of disruption. Dissent Government Regions Social Issues War Russia File
October 14, 2022 Tea at the Top New research reveals that Russians buy tea 45% more often than coffee. Business Food & Drink Social Issues Russia File
October 13, 2022 Conflict Conflagration The Kerch Strait Bridge, a symbol of Russian unity, was hit and damaged by a blast. Government Transportation War Russia File
October 12, 2022 Bulldogs under the Kremlin Rugs As we said at the outset, Russia lost this war the day it began. But where are we now? Dissent Government History War Russia File
October 11, 2022 Mrs. Crimea Under Fire A regional beauty pageant winner is under investigation by Russian police after singing a patriotic Ukrainian song (on the internet). Culture Internet Law Music Russia File
October 10, 2022 Home for the War In a surprising turn of opinion, Ramzan Kadyrov has exempted Chechnya from the draft. Government Military Regions War Russia File
October 10, 2022 Dangerous 10-year-olds Moscow police have detained a 10-year-old girl for using a yellow and blue avatar in her online chats with friends. Dissent Education Moscow Russia File
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
November 03, 2022 to February 13, 2023 Artists for Ukraine: Transforming Ammo Boxes into Icons The Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA An installation dramatically showcasing three Ukrainian icons painted on the boards of ammunition boxes by Oleksandr Klymenko and Sofia Atlantova, a husband-wife artistic team from Kyiv, Ukraine. Art Exhibit
Fearful Majesty This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Murder at the Dacha Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
March 15, 2017 Who Invented the Ancient Slavic Gods, and Why? How it was that in the eighteenth century Russian mythology was trumped-up in the Western manner? Who wanted it? And where did we get Lel, Yarilo and Zimtserla? We explain everything you'd want to know about Russian fakelore. Culture History Literature Religion Russia File
August 22, 2016 Magical Kefir Kefir is the most popular fermented milk in Russia. But it did not get there overnight. Kefir and Russia have a long history... Food & Drink History Russia File
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics Russia File
April 23, 2014 Peace, Land, Bread Peace! Land! Bread! This was the battle cry of the 1917 October Revolution (old calendar) that changed the history of Russia and indeed the entire world. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the tsars concentrated on centralization of their power and control. The most common way of doing this was to take power away from the nobility, appeasing them by giving them dominion over their land and workers. This soon developed into the oppressive, slave-style condition known as serfdom. History Russia File
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language Russia File
March 20, 2020 Vodka vs. Coronavirus Russia’s Ministry of Health discussed ways vodka can affect the coronavirus (spoiler alert: not much). Food & Drink Health CVSG Russia File
