September 10, 2019

Cover Story


Cover Story

Readers have been asking us about Asya Lisina’s “powerful” illustration, which graces the cover of the September/October issue of Russian Life. It shows seven “siloviki” enjoying a beautiful fall day in a Russian park. We asked Asya to offer some insight into her creative process…

The brief for designing the cover of this issue was to illustrate fall in Russia. This is a rather broad and rich theme that includes everything from the beauty of nature at this time of year to our national symbols: historical personalities, typical situations, cultural events, animals, babushkas. In general, given such broad parameters, there was plenty of room for fantasy.

What I really wanted to do was find a subject that presented a surprising contrast, and so I decided to create a pastoral image – something that might have been described by Bunin or Turgenev – and insert into it another popular symbol of our culture: Siloviki.

As it turns out, this creative decision coincided with events that were unfolding in Russia at the time I was working on the illustration: meetings, protests, the garish detention of a famous journalist, investigations of corruption, arrests of independent candidates for the Moscow Duma, and the endless stream of media reports about clashes between the public and representatives of the Powers that Be.

The Siloviki are often associated not so much with security, as with an inexorable threat. So I decided to use humor to lower my own anxiety level, in order to show that even the most ominous of individuals can be capable of tenderness. I am convinced that there can be people of wildly differing views and characters in any profession, quite independent of their political views.

Yet, in my opinion, I don’t feel I succeeded in debunking the stereotype of the typical Silovik. Because the policeman shedding a tear over the fate of Jane Eyre frightens me far more than if this fellow were in an environment where we are more accustomed to seeing him.

Here is Asya's Instagram post, that includes a super cool time lapse showing her work process:

Lisina will be designing the next cover of Russian Life as well. Her brief on that issue is no less broad: Winter.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

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.

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.

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.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, 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