With all the talk of healthy and environmentally-conscious eating, Russia is now investing in the development of artificial meat. While the meat-loving country has a tradition of faith-inspired vegetarianism (as seen in the many inventive menus for Orthodox Lent), it has produced its first faux meat “cutlet” after putting R900,000 (approximately $14,000) into the project.
“Test tube meat is a rather promising direction in the meat industry,” and it is also of “ethical importance,” said Nikolai Shimanovsky, a molecular pharmacologist who is curating the creation of this new product at the Ochakovsky Meat Factory.
It’s not entirely clear what the new non-meat is made of, and it may be a while before it becomes attractive to consumers: for the time being, one kilogram of the substance will set you back some R5,800, or nearly $90.
In Doha this year Russian athlete Maria Lasitskene became the first woman to cinch a third high jump World Championship title. Like other Russians at the event, she competed under a neutral status, since the country’s athletics federation is still suspended.
Lasitskene dominated the competition, easily clearing 2.04 meters, and then tried three times to take an even higher mark: 2.08.
Lasitskene is one of the few Russian athletes to have openly criticized Russian sports authorities for not doing more to clear the country to compete internationally, after a 2015 report found evidence of state-backed doping in Russian athletics. In June she wrote a searing Instagram post, saying empty promises of imminent reinstatement are disrespectful to athletes.
“All these people [Russian officials] think athletes don’t see or understand anything, and their only concern is to jump and shut up,” she wrote, calling the situation a “never-ending shame spectacle.”
Though, like several other Russian nationals, Lasitskene was cleared to compete under a neutral banner, she has expressed exasperation. “I want to win with my flag,” she said. “With every tournament, it’s harder and harder, because you see how other girls are supported, based on their uniform, and you can tell by the flags who is rooting for whom. And today this was wearing on my nerves, so I shut myself off and didn’t even look at the audience.”
«На меня никто не может давить, потому что я президент независимой страны. На меня может давить только один человек — мой сын, которому шесть лет»
“Nobody can pressure me, because I am the president of an independent country. Only one person can pressure me: my son, who is six years old.”
Russian internet powerhouse Yandex is looking to get its taxi service off the ground – literally. The company has signed an agreement with Russian Helicopters to create a system of helicopter taxis in Moscow.
The service would be a welcome addition to the consistently traffic-clogged Russian capital, and the partners say a pilot program will launch as soon as next year for short flights from the capital’s outskirts out to the suburbs. Central Moscow will only begin to be serviced after the government is convinced the program does not threaten public safety.
If all goes well, aerotaxi rides from the Garden Ring to Moscow airports will take just 15 minutes. One challenge would be lifting no-fly restrictions over Moscow – even small drones have been banned, and very few helicopters (only those carrying top officials, hospital patients, and emergency services) are allowed to fly over the city center.
The deaths of about a third of Russian men who die before reaching 60 are related to alcohol consumption, Russia’s Health Ministry announced. Thirty to forty percent of deaths of young men whose hearts suddenly stop, or who die in car accidents or due to other trauma, “are associated with alcohol,” said cardiologist Sergei Boitsov, a consultant to the ministry.
Russian experts say health risks could be minimized if drinking were reduced to just 200 milliliters (6 ounces) of wine a day for women or about 900 milliliters (30 ounces) of beer for men – in conjunction with total abstinence from drinking two days a week.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports that, over the past 15 years, Russia has made great strides toward reducing heavy drinking: alcohol consumption has dropped by 43 percent since 2003, the peak of post-Soviet levels. In fact, Russians now drink less than residents of France or Germany, and are about on par with Britain. Government measures, like a curfew on selling alcohol and a ban on TV ads, have contributed to the trend, the report said.
Most every foreign adaptation of Russian history for the big or little screen is scrutinized in Russia. Following on the heels of Chernobyl and The Last Czars comes Catherine the Great, a British-American miniseries starring Helen Mirren as the legendary empress, and it is getting its share of scorn.
While the richly colored, lavish costumes have been praised by viewers both in Russia and abroad, the series sometimes plays fast and loose with history, according to some early Russian critiques. Gazeta.ru said the series’ modern dialog makes the plot seem unrealistic, and the “generous quantity of sex scenes” (perhaps influenced by the Game of Thrones) turns the series into a “fairy tale for adults.”
Russian Esquire called the series “Wild Empress,” remarking that, despite the presence of the formidable Mirren, the project has its share of klyukva (cranberry) – a term sometimes used to describe the improbable portrayal of Russia by foreigners. The magazine does, however, admit that, thanks to some great acting, it is “first-class, ultra-fresh klyukva.”
Car lovers can admire Soviet auto classics and even take a ride in a Pobeda at a new private Moscow museum. The little-known Motors of October opened this year on the premises of the Kristall Factory, just outside central Moscow, boasting a large collection. Visitors can check out long-forgotten models like the SMZ S-3A – a two-seater microcar made in the 1960s, or the prestigious GAZ Chaikas – government limos. Museum owner Dmitry Oktyabrsky has also collected many American and European models. The cost of entry is R550, and a ride in one of the retro cars is another R300.
automuseum.ru
«Я, может, вас разочарую. Но я не разделяю общих восторгов по поводу выступления Греты Тунберг. Я уверен, что Грета — добрая девочка и искренняя. Но взрослые должны сделать все, чтобы не заводить подростков и детей в какие-то крайние ситуации, должны оградить их от излишних эмоций, которые могут разрушать личность»
“Perhaps I will disappoint you. But I don’t share everyone’s excitement about Greta Thunberg’s speech. I am certain that Greta is a kind and sincere girl. But adults should do everything necessary to avoid allowing teenagers to get into extreme situations; they should protect them from unneeded emotions that can destroy their personality.”
Fans of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky can now visit the apartment where his family lived in Moscow. What was once home to his mother and two sisters has been opened as a memorial space for the first time and includes many of the family’s belongings.
Unfortunately, this is hardly a replacement for the renowned Museum of Mayakovsky, which has been shuttered since 2013, with no clear plan for reopening. That institution on Lubyanka Square, which opened its doors in 1989, was unlike any Soviet museum, full of warped spaces and strange sculptures that evoked the avant-garde world that Mayakovsky and his fellow Futurists inhabited, but also told the story of his age. The museum space has been gutted as part of a building renovation, and Moscow authorities have evaded all questions about their plans for the prime downtown real estate. Some preservationists worry that the space will simply be sold off to the highest bidder.
muzeimayakovskogo.ru
The Russian restaurant holding company Ginza Project has opened its first hotel. The new nine-story Arka Hotel in central Rostov-on-Don will have two restaurants with Caucasian and Asian cuisine, and a 24-hour health club. Construction and outfitting of the 69-room hotel cost some R1 billion. The hotel is expected to be a four- or five-star property.
Meanwhile, the global Marriott chain has opened a hotel in the southern city of Krasnodar. The five-star property, located in the city center, has 266 rooms, and prices start at around R6,000. It also has fitness facilities with a pool.
Moscow has launched a post-Soviet version of the Oil Pavilion at VDNKh, the Soviet-era complex designed to highlight the country’s economic achievements and industrial breakthroughs. The pavilion had been used as a warehouse since the 1990s, until reconstruction began in 2017. The building now has several multimedia exhibits devoted to the oil industry that trace the history of oil in Russia – one of the world’s largest producers. The 1954 building originally housed exhibits about Soviet sugar beet production. The shift to focusing on oil came after the Soviet government began drilling for oil in earnest in Siberia.
The current exhibit includes a scanner that informs visitors what percentage of their clothing is made out of petroleum, and a virtual reality tour of a home, describing the petroleum content of all the items filling it. The entry fee is R350 on weekdays and R400 on weekends.
Meanwhile, for a more artistic look at Russia’s most profitable natural resource, the Tretyakov Gallery is hosting an exhibit of the artist Nikolai Nasedkin, who paints with crude oil and deconstructs what the substance means for Russia and for the artist. Even though Nasedkin worked with a respirator while creating his paintings, his lungs were severely damaged. The exhibit, “Oil. A Personal Story,” runs through November 10.
Budget airline Wizz Air has launched two new routes to Russia. The connection from London’s Luton Airport to St. Petersburg and Moscow (Vnukovo Airport) will be welcome news to British budget travelers: prices start at just £25.99. Both routes began operation in October.
«Я не понимаю, просто возмущен: невиновный человек должен просидеть почему-то три с половиной года, потому что попался под горячую руку кому-то. Я не буду дальше разворачивать, но считаю это просто преступной несправедливостью. Поэтому буду бороться, не я один, будем бороться всей школой»
“I don’t understand, I am simply outraged: for some reason an innocent man has to spend three years in prison, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? I will not elaborate, but I consider this criminal injustice, plain and simple. So I will fight, not by myself, but with my whole school.”
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