February 07, 2023

What Is Fair in Love and War?


What Is Fair in Love and War?
Olympic rings in front of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris's city hall.  Wikimedia Commons, DiscoA340.

The possibility of Russian and Belarusian participation in the 2024 Olympic Games has been under serious consideration by both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and spectators in response to the two countries' (mostly Russia's) aggression in Ukraine.

Thomas Bach, the current president of the IOC, said that athletes should not be punished for holding Russian passports. Bach's position provoked a resentful response from multiple EU countries as well as Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky adamantly said that neutrality is not possible if you are opening the door for oppressors. Vadym Guttzeit, Ukraine's sports minister, said, "If we are not heard, I do not rule out the possibility that we will boycott and refuse participation in the Olympics."

In response, the IOC said that "a boycott is a violation of the Olympic charter, which obliges all NOCs [national Olympic committees] to 'participate in the Games of the Olympiad by sending athletes.' As history has shown, previous boycotts did not achieve their political ends and served only to punish the athletes of the boycotting NOCs."

Since January 25, the IOC Executive Committee has been deliberating various alternatives for participation by Russian and Belarusian athletes, all of which would require: not representing their country (or any organization relative to their country) in any way, abiding by all anti-doping rules, and only accepting athletes who have not opposed the IOC's mission to promote peace.

You Might Also Like

Doping, Bus Stops, and Journalists
  • December 02, 2017

Doping, Bus Stops, and Journalists

This week's Recommended Reads for Russophiles includes a dope-master's diary, a revisiting of bus stops, and an intriguing theory about the Putin-Trump nexus.
That's Not the Team Spirit
  • October 20, 2021

That's Not the Team Spirit

"Because of e-sports, we are losing future great athletes who could become Olympic champions.” – Svetlana Zhurova, State Duma Deputy and Olympic Champion, commenting on the recent (sedentary) victory of the Russian cybersports group Team Spirit.
Russia's Olympic Bid
  • September 04, 2021

Russia's Olympic Bid

Russia is hoping to host the Olympics for the third time – in 2036.
An Olympic Reintroduction
  • July 19, 2021

An Olympic Reintroduction

Everyone is excited for the long-awaited Games this summer, especially the Russian Olympic Committee, who is taking the opportunity to reintroduce us to their two new(-ish) Olympic mascots.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

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.

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.

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.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

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.

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.

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.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

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