March 12, 2026

Groceries for International Women's Day


Groceries for International Women's Day
An elderly woman with groceries given by United Russia for International Women's Day. Edinaya Rossiya | Melovsky MO, VKontakte

On March 7, Verstka reported that, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, United Russia, President Putin’s political party, gave grocery bags to retired women, volunteers in war efforts, and the widows of soldiers who died fighting in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

In the village of Peschany Dol, Sakhalin Oblast, women volunteers who collect humanitarian aid for Russian soldiers in Ukraine received two bottles of sunflower seed oil. They were then photographed wearing caps with United Russia’s polar bear logo.

In Krasnoyarsky Krai, a Sochi local legislator gave “help that heartwarms” to 82-year-old Tamara Ivanovna. The deputy called an electrician to her house to fix her wiring and replace burned-out lightbulbs. Then United Russia gave her an assortment of food, including cookies, bananas, tea, milk, bread, and cold cuts.

In Yugra, widows of fallen soldiers in Ukraine received a bag (adorned with the United Russia symbol) containing a bottle of fruit juice, a loaf of bread, sour cream, eggs, butter, ham, sausage, and cheese. The United Russia party posted images of women holding the gifts with the caption “We do not abandon our own.” In Pyatigorsk, a disabled elderly woman approached a Duma member representing Stavropolsky Krai, asking her for food. The legislator took a picture with the elder as she lay in bed, eating a cake she had given her.

In the Shelestovka and Morozovka villages of occupied Luhansk, women were given cereals, tea, canned food, cheese, butter, and sweets. According to United Russia, they gave “lonely women” a “nice and very necessary surprise” to “make life easier.”

United Russia was not the only gift-giver on International Women's Day. The right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) distributed postcards to women with the image of the organization's leader, Leonid Slutsky. The cards included quotes from the political leader about how the political party had led Russian women "to confidence and prosperity." In Dagestan, the LDPR gave teachers an election calendar and a pair of white socks with the organization's logo.

You Might Also Like

Patriotic Post-Humanism
  • March 11, 2026

Patriotic Post-Humanism

The concept of a “plant-foreign agent” has appeared in Russian legislation. 
Transfers Taxed behind Bars
  • March 09, 2026

Transfers Taxed behind Bars

Russia has introduced rules allowing prison authorities to withhold up to 75% of the money transfers to inmates from relatives.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

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.

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

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.

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.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

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.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

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.

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