May 01, 2023

Sweet Discrediting


Sweet Discrediting
Anti-war cakes bakery_xoxo / Instagram

A court in Moscow fined pastry chef Anastasia Chernysheva for cakes with anti-war slogans. The pastry chef was accused of "discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation" and was ordered to pay an R35,000 ($435) fine.

Chernysheva, whose business was featured in Russian Life's Winter Issue, is a 22-year-old resident of Moscow, has an Instagram account with 29,000 subscribers. There she publishes her anti-war and anti-Putin cakes. In particular, there are photos of a cake with the flag of Ukraine and the phrase in Ukrainian, "Lyubov peremozhe" (love will win), mini-cakes with slogans "Putin will die, but we will stay" and "Russia will be free."

According to the BBC, Anastasia said she started the confectionery business four years ago and began making anti-war and protest cakes in March 2022. "When rallies became impossible, I started baking cakes and writing texts there. This is life in Russia. You could be afraid or you could choose not to be afraid. I made the decision not to be afraid," she told BBC reporters.

Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that the pastry chef was fined after a denunciation provoked by the pro-Kremlin TV channel Tsargrad (owned by the oligarch Konstantin Malofeev). After that, Anastasia also began receiving threats.

Denunciations have become a mass phenomenon since Russia began its War on Ukraine. According to the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, over six months in 2022, Russians submitted some 145,000 denunciations. Most concerned posting "illegal information" on the internet, including "fakes" about Russia’s war against Ukraine and "pro-Ukrainian propaganda."

Many informers are one-time stool pigeons. But there are some who make a habit of it, like 39-year-old Vitaly Borodin. In 2021 he filed a complaint against the independent media Proekt, and, after Russia invaded Ukraine, he started to write denunciations of Russian celebrities: actress Liya Akhedzhakova, artist Simon Slepakov, singer Valery Meladze, and many others.

You Might Also Like

Too Free for Russia
  • April 03, 2023

Too Free for Russia

The Russian Prosecutor General's office has declared the Free University "undesirable."
Screws are Tightening
  • April 12, 2023

Screws are Tightening

March has seen a serious tightening of the screws of repression by the Russian regime.
Dangerous Dreams
  • December 23, 2022

Dangerous Dreams

Russians are being fined for their dreams, "likes," and "silent support."
The Wrong Kind of Patriotism
  • November 30, 2022

The Wrong Kind of Patriotism

A student in Karelia was reportedly disciplined for wearing a sweatshirt with an American flag on it.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

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.
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.
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.
Marooned in Moscow

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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
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.
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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
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.

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