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 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.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

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