August 02, 2018

A Round of Russian Rescues


A Round of Russian Rescues
Lavrov, the World’s Cure-All

1. With all this tension in the air, the Russian Foreign Ministry is trying a new tack. This week, it posted on its social media pages a photo of Sergey Lavrov (the Foreign Minister of Russia) holding a Russian flag. While the photo may be fairly innocuous, the caption is decidedly not Russian diplomacy as usual. The caption claimed that the photo has healing powers, advised that it be applied to the world’s sore spots, and warned that it may cause exorcisms. Although the photo quickly received sneering comments, perhaps this new strategy may break through current roadblocks of foreign diplomacy. After all, laughter is the best medicine.

Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry

2. One man’s trash is another man’s designer treasure. Police found two teenage boys sailing in a homemade boat crafted out of 300 plastic bottles and spray foam. Even better, the boat was lavishly decorated and spray painted with the moniker “Gucci.” Although the boys were doing just swimmingly, it seems that the police were uncomfortable with the whole situation, so they forced the intrepid sailors to disembark (despite it being Navy Day!).

Photo: Говорит Озёрск

3. As it turns out, it’s actually the eighth time that is the charm, not the third. Or so found Russian hiker Alexander Gukov, who was rescued from a mountain peak in Pakistan on the rescue team’s eighth attempt. Gukov’s hiking partner had fallen to his death days earlier, and Gukov was without food for three days. He is now recovering in a hospital. The pair were part of a first-ever attempt to climb the north side of Latok-1, a mountain in Pakistan’s Karakoram range.

In Odder News:
Quote of the Week:

“This photo is healing. Apply to the planet’s sore spots. The composition of geographical points can have the side effect of an exorcism.”

— The Russian Foreign Ministry, which is pretty hopeful about Sergey Lavrov’s effects on the world

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

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

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.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

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...

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

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.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

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.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, 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