Current Moscow Time: 08:34:1822 May 2013
The world’s biggest country, in a magazine. Since 1956.
Russian Life: Jan/Feb 2010
Cover: Osip Braz
7: Terror Returns
The November 27, 2009, train bombing turned public attention once again to domestic terrorism...
Note Book
12: An Activist is Born
Alexei Dymovsky becomes a YouTube star for highlighting police corruption, then loses his job... yet few Russians seem to know of him.
Note Book
19: Ivan the Terrible
In January 1565, Tsar Ivan the Terrible split Russia in two. Five hundred years on, Russia still hasn't gotten over it...
:: Translation by Nora Favorov
Russian Calendar
22: Literaturnaya Gazeta
Founded in 1830 by Alexander Pushkin and Anton Delvig, this important newspaper has long been something of a bellweather for Russia's relationship to literature...
:: Translation by Nora Favorov
Russian Calendar
24: Galina Ulanova
On January 8, 1910, Prima Ballerina Galina Ulanova was born. Unquestionably a great dancer, she has somehow always been above criticism...
:: Translation by Nora Favorov
Russian Calendar
26: Survival Russian
There is nothing like the tender, inoffensive insult to patch up strained relations...
Survival Russian
28: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Chekhov was one of Russia's most prolific and influential writers, and this January marks his 150th birthday. We look back at his work, always worth another read.
:: Translation by Paul E. Richardson
Features
36: Berlinograd
No other part of Europe can match Berlin and its immediate hinterland for having such a prolonged engagement with Russia. In fact, locals sometimes refer to the German capital as Berlinograd.
:: Illustrations/Images by Susanne Kries
Features
44: Russia On Line
Lines are "a condition of the Russian soul," as expat Carl Schreck rediscovered recently. And it may be that the only way to cope with this condition is to submit...
Features
46: Lev Tolstoy's Unhappy Family
Lev Tolstoy's family was unhappy in its own peculiar way, split by a three-decade-long disagreement between the writer and his wife about money.
Features
54: Sagaalgan
It could be the world's longest New Year's celebration, stretching a whole month in midwinter. Indeed, this Buddhist holiday is becoming an important way that Siberian Buryats seek to preserve their cultural identity.
Features
60: Feasting with Angels
A look at lubok and its use to promote etiquette, manners and morals at the dinner table. And a recipe for Steamed Trout.
Cuisine
62: Math and Memoirs
A review of "Perfect Rigor" by Masha Gessen, "Anton Chekhov, a Brother's Memoir," by Mikhail Chekhov, three excellent new fiction volumes, and the first of a two part series on language learning aids.
Under Review
64: Do Svidaniya Stirlitz
"We were all Stirlitzes..." A fond look back at the stoic actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who brought to life the WWII spy Stirlitz.
:: Translation by Maria Antonova
Post Script
65: Uchites 07
The seventh edition of our Uchites language insert, sponsored by Russkiy Mir Foundation, uses the works of writer Lev Tolstoy to explore fruit, verb and adjective declensions, animals, and more. Three recordings are also available online.
Language