A Flood. And Support.

A few days before this issue was scheduled to go to press, Montpelier, Vermont, where our headquarters is located, was inundated with a flood of biblical proportions. It decimated our downtown, gutting every street level business and causing millions of dollars in damages. Rebuilding will take a long time.

Thankfully, Russian Life’s offices were spared, as we are well above street level. But the disruptions to infrastructure, access, and services led to delays. And we are surrounded by neighbors –  both businesses and individuals – who are in need of help.

It was a graphic reminder of how puny humans are when measured against the power of nature, of how quickly life can turn from one filled with peace and beauty to one teeming with disaster and destruction.

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, Russia continues to carry out its aimless, criminal war of aggression on Ukraine (including using flooding as a weapon of war). But also, as we show in this issue, it is conducting a war on its own people – imprisoning dissenters, criminalizing entire groups of citizens for being born different, forcing young men to choose between fighting in a war or fleeing their home.

The world (and particularly Russia these days) is a dangerous, dark place.

But it is also a place of light and hope, of optimism and beauty.

While the mission of this magazine is to share stories of resistance to the Russian regime, to its senseless war, it is also to share stories of hope and determination. And our recent mass mailing confirmed that this is what you want to read here.

In that mailing, we asked you to show your support for the continuation of the magazine by re-subscribing for another year or, if your subscription had plenty of time left on it, by making a donation to our Journalism Fund.

You responded in force, ensuring that the magazine remains on firm footing. And the Journalism Fund now is sufficiently endowed to allow us to underwrite the work of brave reporters still at work inside Russia. You will see a notation starting with this issue of stories supported by this important fund (ko-fi.com/russianlife).

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. It means the world to us.

From the entire team at Russian Life.