December 21, 2022

War, Not Fish


War, Not Fish
Still Live with Vobla. German Evseev

The Central District Court of Tyumen found local resident Alisa Klimentova guilty of "discrediting the Russian army" for writing "No to w*r" (Нет в***е!) on a roadway.

Klimentova was fined R30,000.

Interestingly, Klimentova's case was originally heard in October, and it was dismissed by the local court, because she was able to convince the judge that her inscription actually meant Нет вобле (No to vobla) – meaning the Caspian roach fish that is salt-cured and commonly consumed with beer.

Woman wearing anti fish tshirt
No fish allowed!

Not willing to let vobla be bygones, the local police filed an appeal. The Tyumen Regional Court overturned the decision of the Central District Court and sent the case back to trial, where Klimentova was convicted.

Needless to say, Klimentova's initial action attracted lots of public attention. In particular, the journalist Ksenia Sobchak (Putin's reputed goddaughter, herself a "foreign agent," who has since fled to Israel) launched a clothing line with the inscription "no to vobla," and the comedian Semyon Slepakov wrote a song on the them (below).

 

 

You Might Also Like

Money to the Wind?
  • October 01, 1997

Money to the Wind?

Beer is certainly not the first beverage associated with Russia. But, in recent yearsm ales, lagers, porters and stouts have been building a following in the land of vodka.
Gone Fishing
  • September 01, 2021

Gone Fishing

You’ve not been fishing until you have explored the Volga River delta. And what better guide to take us there than the intrepid Andrei Borodulin?  
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

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

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
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.
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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

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