Where we explore Russia’s oenophilic intentions and vine-driven tourism, rooted in the hills of Krasnodar Krai.

This week, your mother turns out to be right all along; Aeroflot adapts to COVID; and the European Commission says you can get good, free movies from Russian social media.

A recent survey of the elderly finds that one-fifth of pensioners hope to supplement their income with a blog.

“Not working at all is death… The authorities chose a blow worse than a lockdown. Any sane person understands that the coronavirus is terrible. But this does not mean that the coronavirus should kill an industry to the point that it cannot be restored in any way.”

- Alexander Konovalov, organizer of the “Map of Resistance,” a group of bars and restaurants in St. Petersburg that plan to defy new coronavirus restrictions calling to close all bars and restaurants from December 30 through January 3

“The share of completely non-cash customers who use a bank card but do not withdraw cash from an ATM for a month is steadily growing. Now it is 39%, which is 5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.”

– Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, on the growing number of clients who are not using cash at all

Yandex.Food releases fascinating data on the most popular foods for takeout this year.

This week is full of surprises: Moscow schools train future journalists; cars branch out into new materials; and vodka exports decline, which is maybe less surprising than you'd think.

A Russian non-profit economic organization recently forecasted a way for Russia to achieve better GDP growth: fire ineffective workers.

This week, puddles get the spotlight, weapons become instruments, and the life of a sausage tycoon ends abruptly at the business end of a crossbow.

This week, officials make outrageous demands, maps cost a man his job, and science meets geopolitics.

This week, we've got math olympiads, economic data, and exploding permafrost.

This week, education is worth fighting for; corrupt officials go for all-or-nothing; and Lenin's mausoleum makeover is cancelled.