St. Petersburg book-lovers can relax going into the city-wide shutdown knowing that their favorite bookstores will not shut down fully; the city has added books to the list of essential items. 

The Moscow Regional Coronavirus Headquarters are using all the available weapons at their disposal to fight the spread of COVID-19, and they've pulled out their biggest gun yet: cat memes. 

Oleg Rezanov claims to have overcome aging and pain by embracing the cold. Let’s look into this a bit more closely.

"Sauerkraut that can almost completely solve the problem with dysbiosis. This is because it contains a fairly large amount of dietary fiber, which is a good nourishment for your microflora, and immunity largely depends on the work of the intestines.”

– Nutritionist Andrey Solotarev on what might be good for the gut.

One Russian city is taking moonshine off the streets by offering a trade: groceries in exchange for booze.

The new head of Yekaterinburg's youth commission is perhaps a little older than one might expect.

How has Russia changed since the last time you were there, pre-pandemic?

In May, the Russian Federation temporarily banned the export of grechka, also known as buckwheat, from June 5 to August 31.

“Today, the city bath house needs support because, due to last year's lengthy six-month shutdown associated with the coronavirus, the banya cannot pull itself out of debt."

– Mikhail Valov, Mayor of Sayanogorsk, inviting citizens to save his city’s municipal bathhouse from the economic ravages of the Coronavirus on August 23.

In Russia, mascots only get better. Imagine a child cracking a smile not JUST for a man bungling in a hot costume, but for a role model who looks like a beloved teatime treat…

A little levity can be good for the Covid blues, and expert Khadizhat Omarova of Russia’s Rospotrebnadzor has given a variety of advice to accelerate recovery. Why not give your lungs a good stretch and practice your folk song, too?

“These people do not go to relax in other resorts, they settle in neighboring hotels: the more restrictions are imposed on legal business, the more it plays into the hands of those who work in the dark.”

– Natalia Stambulnikova, Chairman of the Association of Small Hotels of Crimea, warning of the ominous nature of coronavirus restrictions that impede tourism.