November 17, 2020

Mayorless Magadan


Mayorless Magadan
Not a great place to be mayor, apparently. Johannes Rohr, Wikimedia Commons

Politics are crazy the world over. Not even Russia's Far East can escape.

While most localities offer tense races leading up to election day, not so in Magadan: no one applied to run for mayor this year, according to Radio Free Europe.

The consensus seems to be that potential candidates are daunted by the social, fiscal, and economic woes plaguing the region. Thus, no one wants what would probably be a stressful position that would require them to face the ire of a dissatisfied citizenry.

The current mayor, Yuri Grishan, seems to understand. "You need more than just a desire to be mayor to resolve [the region's problems]. And inviting someone from outside the region who doesn't know our city and our region? You'd have to be crazy to accept such an offer."

In the meantime, the city of 92,000 is pushing back its deadline to apply for the position, so if any of our readers are interested... there you go.

Meanwhile, other city governments in the area are finding inventive ways to sate their citizenry.

You Might Also Like

Magadan
  • July 01, 2019

Magadan

On July 14, 2019, Magadan will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its founding. Alas, this date, like so much else in the city’s history, is a lie.
Road of Bones to the Coldest Place in the World
  • March 01, 1997

Road of Bones to the Coldest Place in the World

For the past 28 years, Gary and Monica Westcott have been circling the globe as the Turtle Expedition. In the winter of 1996, they began a 16,000 mile drive across Russia, from Magadan in the East to Karelia in the West. Gary Westcott narrates this first installment in their amazing adventure.
Crossing Kolyma
  • November 01, 2011

Crossing Kolyma

It’s not your average traveler who chooses to traverse remote Kolyma through the depth of a Siberian winter. But then Mikael Strandberg is no average traveler.
The Big Kolyma Streetcar
  • March 01, 1998

The Big Kolyma Streetcar

A documentary account of the harrowing trials faced by women sent to Stalin's gulags.
Kolyma Gold
  • July 01, 2004

Kolyma Gold

Siberia’s gold is one of its greatest riches. But that wealth is buried in one of the least hospitable places on Earth.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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.
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.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
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.
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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
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