September 26, 2019

Save Russia by Air, Land and Sea!


Save Russia by Air, Land and Sea!
Now “I am the Walrus” sounds like a veiled Cold War era threat…  Leonid Kruglov | Russian Geographical Society 

Quote of the week

“Yo Gai-gui, save Russia!”

– A push notification sent to users of Moscow metro free wifi. Who sent it? Unknown. Who is Gai-gui? Unknown – maybe something in a southern Russian dialect for a boisterous holiday – but now it is temporary promocode to get ad-free wifi on the metro. 

 

Gotta Walk the Walk (on Thin Ice)

1. NATO, you taking notes? A female walrus attacked and sunk a Russian naval vessel. She was enjoying life on a Far North nature sanctuary with her young calf when she was disturbed by an expedition retracing the path of nineteenth century explorers. Probably fearing for her baby’s life, she attacked a rubber blow-up landing craft (not the main vessel) and successfully caused it to sink, while the crew made a quick escape to safety. No walruses were harmed in the making of this story. 

Caption: Now “I am the Walrus” sounds like a veiled Cold War era threat… / Leonid Kruglov | Russian Geographical Society 

2. Siberian shamans keep trying to exorcise Putin from Russia. In March a shaman from Yakutia set off on foot to Moscow – a two year journey – to banish the “evil spirit” Putin from the Kremlin, and was recently detained in Buryatia on charges of religious extremism. He was joined by a few dozen followers, whom he recommended pause the journey as he goes through the apparently perfectly pleasant and fair legal process. They refused, and continue to march on Moscow with a new shaman leader, seemingly in good spirits. 


The original shaman and his followers camp for the day near Lake Baikal shortly before he was detained. / Aleksandr Gabyshev Shaman | Youtube

3. Russia has officially ratified the Paris Climate Agreement three years after signing it. The announcement coincided with the UN summit on climate change on September 23. According to Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Gordeyev, Russia will adopt laws with concrete measures to reduce emissions above and beyond the Paris Climate Agreement by the end of the year. The country might be a little hot and cold on fighting climate change – on the plus side, new Arctic sea passage; on the downside, fires in Siberia – but with this ratification and promises of further legal action, it seems that Russia has definitively warmed on the idea. 

 

In Odder News

Horse trying to board bus in Russia
Get off your high horse, Voronezh (and bus driver, for refusing an unconventional passenger). Dima Bredov | Vkontakte 
  • You might be now allowed to take your pets on the Moscow metro for free, but please, hold your horses. An unaccompanied horse tried (unsuccessfully) to board a bus in St. Petersburg. 
  • Putin ate bread with sweetened condensed milk. Yes, that was a headline
  • In a shocking upset, St. Petersburg is only the second most arrogant city in Russia. The top place actually goes to Voronezh. (Moscow is in a pitiful 7th place!) 
     

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

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.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

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.
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.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
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.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

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