March 07, 2022

Russian Life Takes a Pause


Russian Life Takes a Pause

To our valued readers:

As the world reels from the horrific, criminal events being perpetrated in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the Russian state, and the Russian military, all of us who nurture a love for Russian people, their culture and history, have been heartbroken. It is not easy to remain a Russophile when suddenly, all across the globe, the adjective “Russian” has become toxic.

Russian Life is an independent, privately-owned magazine. We have been clear from the first hour of the Kremlin’s insane war that we find it to be a vile, reprehensible action in violation of international law. We are appalled by what Putin and his regime are doing in Russia’s name. We also feel certain that if the truth was able to pierce the Kremlin’s propaganda veil, if Russians knew the crimes being committed in their name, they would try to put a stop to this.

I have been discussing all of this with our editors, contributors, board, and advisors. Russian Life magazine would normally be eager to step into the breach, to focus on printing important stories about Russia, about Ukraine, about human resilience and hope. But, regrettably, we cannot, for three reasons.

First, we cannot put our contributors in peril. A heinous new law in Russia puts writers and contributors at considerable risk for writing the truth, for calling this war what it is, for doing honest, independent journalism. We cannot ask them to assume that risk.

Second, we cannot pay contributors. Much of the magazine is written, photographed, and illustrated by Russians. With the complete shutdown of all means of finance and international money transfer, we cannot get any money to them. And we cannot ask people to work for free.

Third, it would be disrespectful to continue work as usual. As Ukraine fights for its life, pummeled by Russian rockets; as millions of Ukrainians flee their homes; as the Russian state erases all basic human rights – it would be tone deaf and insensitive to carry on as we have done before, and unrealistic to attempt, with our slow publishing cycle, to write meaningfully about this fast-developing war. We need time to reassess our approach.

And so we are temporarily suspending publication of the print edition of Russian Life. Your subscription will freeze in place and the number of issues you have remaining will be unchanged when we resume the print publication.

In the interim, we will explore ways to grapple with each of the issues noted above, and we will consider the role we can play in furthering the dialog between Russia and the world. We remain ardent Russophiles, and are not for the “cancelling” of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin, of Chekhov, pelmeni, and vodka. We also have profound respect for Ukraine, for its brave defense of its freedom, and for its rich and vital culture, that the current Russian regime seems intent on destroying.

Meanwhile, we will continue to publish freely available articles and information at Russian Life’s online publication (russianlife.com). There, we will focus on the stories that need telling now, tapping into voices not heard elsewhere. The flexible, speedy online publishing cycle will allow us to respond to unfolding events in a more realistic time frame. You can show solidarity with this free publishing effort by choosing to renew your print subscription, or by purchasing an online subscription.

Thank you for your continued support of Russian Life. While recent events may have tarnished the first half of our magazine’s name, it is worth noting that the second half gives cause for hope and rebirth.

We will find a way through this and come back stronger. In the meantime, let us all hope and pray for peace and sanity to prevail.

Paul Richardson
Publisher

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Some of Our Books

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.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

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.  
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

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.

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