Short Film: Anya A touching, short, CGI animated film looks at 20 years in the life of a Russian orphan.
Saving Steelhead in Kamchatka This beautiful film from YETI on an enviro-tourism effort to save Steelhead in Kamchatka is our video of the week.
The Nose Knows Dancing noses, we have dancing noses, people! This week's video of the week is courtesy of Gogol, Shostakovich, and The Royal Opera.
The Occupant In our video of the week, something from the realm of scifi: A Russian drone operator encounters a UFO, then must decide what is real and not.
Piter's People – Natalia Kapiturova We begin a new project, in which readers meet regular St. Petersburgers, to learn about their lives and their favorite places in the Northern Palmyra. First up: coffee!
Piter's People – Nikolay Predtechensky St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 as a port on the Baltic Sea, and about 10% of its surface area is water. So we meet a boat rental company owner and find out the best place for pizza in the city.
Piter's People - Katya Kotlyar Graphic designer, traveler, instagram explorer, Katya Kotlyar knows her home city inside out, and sees it as an artist would, as a beautiful backdrop for living.
Piter's People – Sergey Goorin St. Petersburg is often thought to be a gray city, as it only has about 75 sunny days each year. Still, photographer Segrey Goorin finds inspiration here for his black and white photography, capturing street life, extraordinary locals and numerous parties.
Tchaikovsky Maria Plotnikova acquaints us with Tchaikovsky. No, not the composer, the town named for him in Siberia's Perm Krai.
Samara Photographer Kristina Syrchikova explains what a goose has to do with Samara and the Volga River.
Beslan Photographer Oksana Yushko offers us a poignant look at Beslan, 12 years after the horrific tragedy there.
Smolensk Irina Novikova explains the resilience of Smolensk, its legends, ghosts, churches and fortress. Oh, and why people stop by a city park to stroke the genitals of a bronze deer.
Two Samara Stories In which we move east to Samara, on the Volga River, and meet two centenarians living alone in very different ways.
What a Difference a Border Makes On borders, learning Polish, the influence of culture, and the importance of a sense of humor.
Meet the Team Since we will be asking lots of questions of our interview subjects, we thought it only fair to answering some questions about ourselves, so that readers can get to know us all a bit better.
The Full 100 On the eve of our visit, the ambulance came for Maria Nikolayevna Ryabtsova: there was something wrong with her neck. The doctor examined her, but found nothing serious. He did an EKG and was surprised: “if only everyone had a heart like yours,” he said.
Alexandra Turchenkova Vocal student at the Gnesin Academy of Music, Moscow I am now am studying in the Gnesin Academy, an academy which has a really huge musical tradition. And for a musician, there should be no limits, a musician should create and be capable of expressing herself. And I, of course, am lucky to have been born in Russia, and to know Russian, to be able to interpret Russian music, because I can feel it. I feel that the main patriotism of a musician is to be able to perform Russian music. But, of course, to always seek to widen her horizons and be engaged in music more generally, that is in its broadest sense.
Vadim Markelov Businessman, producer of barbells and weight machines, Petrozavodsk I am not ready to give some sort of high-falutin answer. Patriotism – what is it? Love for one’s country, we love it; the government, not so much, because we can distinguish between the two. We love the place we live, and all of those who surround us. This is a fact. But what patriotism is, I don’t know... I just don’t know what patriotism is, truly. That is all.
Vladimir Simonov Feldsher (primary care physician). Krasniye Stanki village I don't get it, why a patriot? I'm a typical person, doing his work honesty with respect to his people. Whether this is a patriot or not, I cannot say.
