Thursday, April 14, 2016

Icebergs and tigers and starships, oh my!

by Alice E.M. Underwood

Go With the Floe

1. One group of commandos is just the tip of the iceberg. Literally: a team of Chechen special forces and a Russian TV crew are stranded on an Arctic ice floe. The commandos were scheduled to lecture on survival at the North Pole, but looks like they’ll be giving a live demonstration instead.

2. Don’t drink and deride – especially when your target is a tiger. In a tragic accident, two drunk 13-year-old girls broke into Barnaul’s zoo and attempted to provoke the tiger. And succeeded too well, since it grabbed one of them and gnawed her leg. After a bout of surgeries, the girl will be back on her feet. Though she probably won’t stick them through a tiger cage again.

3. A Rossiya 1 report has accused opposition leader Alexei Navalny of cooperating with the CIA, and also the MI6. But critics have their doubts about the evidence: the audio doesn’t match Navalny’s voice, timestamps jump between years, and worst of all, there are grammar mistakes. Navalny says he’ll be filing a defamation suit, calling the report “pure fantasy.”

In Odder News

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner plans to spend $100 million to send tiny spaceships to another star system. Yuri Gagarin better watch his back.
The latest in Ukraine’s decommunization phenomenon: one village’s October Square is renamed for Andy Warhol. Who knew he had Ukrainian roots?
Parliament Deputy Speaker suggests creating a department for streamlining propaganda efforts. If you ask Navalny, there already is one.

Quote of the Week

—A Twitter user suspicious of the documents claiming Alexei Navalny’s association with American and British intelligence, calling attention to the report's not-so-stellar grammar.

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.

Image credit: "Gagarin's Breakfast," by Alexei Akindov (2006); Tweet via rferl.org

A Walk on the Wild Side (of Russia): Russia Weekly gets wacky with singing policemen, forbidden emojis, and flying plagues.

Life, Death, and Pizza: Climate change is destroying Russia and people still want to duel, but at least someone’s getting free pizza.

Ice Age Part 10, Coming Soon to a Russia Near You: The weather in Russia this week was chilly with a hint of thaw, at least regarding science and political relations.

Butina, Babies, and Baby-making: This week, depressing news about divisions and birth rates can only really be counteracted with a smile over the Orthodox church’s new take on sex.

Politics and Technology: And never the twain should meet: To selfie or not to selfie? That is the question, or at least one of the questions, addressed this week.

Things Look Different Below the Surface: What’s more surprising, fake feminists or fish with bad teeth?

Of Rockets and Ruptures: Falling objects, family feuds, and friendly felines dominated our attention this week.

Lawmakers versus Troublemakers: Russian law enforcement had a busy week, from taking on the ~high~ seas to putting rich jerks in their place.

« Prev
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Next »

Get The Weekly Russia File delivered free to your inbox each Thursday, along with exclusive subscriber-only offers.

Get TWERF

The Latest

Aleksashka in the Halls of Power: On this day 345 years ago, Alexander Menshikov was born into a poor peasant family. No one could have predicted to what heights he would rise.

Operation Infektion: This week, the New York Times released a well-researched, well-produced series of three videos on Russian and Soviet disinformation activities against the US and the rest of the world. Every Russophile needs to watch them.

Whoosh, Bark, and Boo: This week was a grab bag of jobs well done, tear-jerkers, and meta-scary stories. Buckle up!

Most Popular

War and Peace: 7 Fun Facts: How many characters are in Tolstoy's War and Peace? Could it have been any shorter? Did Tolstoy himself love it or hate it? Find out the answers to these – and more! – questions in this quick list of little-known War and Peace facts.

I'm Vysotsky: The Legend of Russian Songwriting: Everyone in the Soviet Union knew his songs, despite constant censorship and troubles with the Soviet regime. To this day, any Russian will recognize his raspy singing voice and silly falsetto. But what was the great Vladimir Vysotsky like in person?

The Most Useful Russian Inventions: What do radio, television, the periodic table, and helicopters have in common? Russians were involved in developing all of them – and more!