July 14, 2016

Ballooning of strict laws, and ballooning of a hot air balloon


Ballooning of strict laws, and ballooning of a hot air balloon

Here, there, and to the courthouse

1. The Kremlin has given the Federal Security Service (the FSB) two weeks to decrypt the entire internet. In other words, they’re demanding encryption keys for all internet data as mandated under the newly adopted “anti-terrorist” laws. The laws limit information on the web, and they’re making the internet a much smaller place, what with political sites blocked for anti-Kremlin messages and a tech company withdrawing from Russia – likely just the first of many.

2. Russian tourists flock to Turkey, to be greeted by champagne and expectations of a big boost for Turkey’s tourist-starved economy. The influx of sightseeing Russians signals improved relations between Russia and Turkey, and comes on the heels of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s apology for the shooting down of a Russian warplane in November. With Presidents Putin and Erdogan planning to meet, it looks like they’ll let bygones be bygones.

3. In an endeavor not impacted by the new laws (at least, not yet), adventurer Fyodor Koniukhov has launched on a solo hot air balloon trip around the globe. His goal: to break the world record of circumnavigating Earth in 13 days. His balloon: reflective silver and emblazoned “Moscow” in bright red. It’s also the world’s largest, requiring a full night for 60 meters to fill up with helium. Either he makes it in 12 days, or he’s full of hot air.

kp.ru

Quote of the Week

“He’s an incredible adventurer. He’s what I call a responsible risk taker.”

—Dick Smith, fellow adventurer of Fyodor Koniukhov, on Koniukhov’s trip around the globe in history’s largest hot air balloon.

In Odder News

    • In case you didn’t get enough of St. Pete, here are nine of the city’s best beards. That’s right, beards. 
    themoscowtimes.com
    • Another group impacted by the strict new laws: Mormons
    • In honor of Fevronia’s Day, a region in north-western Russia refused to accept any divorce applications. What’s Fevronia’s Day, you ask? 

    RosKultLit
    Russian Cultural Literacy

        Fevronia’s Day is a little bit like Russian Valentine’s Day. You’ve got a celebration of romance and fidelity, a legend involving a talking snake, and corpses jumping between coffins. Come to think of it, there’s way more to it than Valentine’s Day. Find out what here.

        Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

         

        Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

        Some of Our Books

        The Samovar Murders

        The Samovar Murders

        The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
        Okudzhava Bilingual

        Okudzhava Bilingual

        Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
        White Magic

        White Magic

        The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
        The Moscow Eccentric

        The Moscow Eccentric

        Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
        Tolstoy Bilingual

        Tolstoy Bilingual

        This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
        Fearful Majesty

        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.
        The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

        The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

        The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
        Bears in the Caviar

        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.
        Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

        Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

        A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
        Murder at the Dacha

        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.

        About Us

        Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

        Latest Posts

        Our Contacts

        Russian Life
        73 Main Street, Suite 402
        Montpelier VT 05602

        802-223-4955