October 05, 2025

Rubles to Rebuild


Rubles to Rebuild
Businesses need to grow somehow. The Russian Life files.

On October 3, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that the government would allocate more than R 4 billion (about $50 million) for businesses in three oblasts bordering Ukraine: Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk.

These business investments are part of a "comprehensive recovery program" for areas impacted by Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. All three have been impacted by drone strikes and counteroffensives, and the money, according to Mishustin, would "strengthen the resilience of businesses that create jobs in these regions."

As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, citizens continue to feel the squeeze, even in regions not directly impacted by the horrors of conflict. The economy limps along towards an uncertain 2026, so much so that price controls on essential items are being considered.

In September 2024, the Russian state gave out R 5.2 billion (more than $56 million) to Kursk residents whose property was damaged in a Ukrainian offensive that took Russian forces weeks to halt.

You Might Also Like

Economy in Crisis?
  • September 13, 2025

Economy in Crisis?

A recent report summarized the potentially perilous state of the Russian economy.
Rubles for Rubble?
  • September 22, 2024

Rubles for Rubble?

The Russian state has given more than five billion rubles, or $56 million, to some 35,000 residents in Kursk who have lost property due to Ukraine's counterattack on Russian soil.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
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.
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.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

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.
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.

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