October 25, 2018

Lawmakers versus Troublemakers


Lawmakers versus Troublemakers
Them’s fightin’ words!

1. Challenge accepted! Prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny accepted head of the Russian National Guard Viktor Zolotov’s challenge to a duel. However, he did so on his own terms. Zolotov had initially suggested that he and Navalny engage in a duel after an unflattering investigation by Navalny into the National Guard. Navalny has now accepted the duel (while reiterating and repeating his claims of corruption and nepotism; link shows video with subtitles), though he stipulated that he is entitled to choose the weapon and the location. What weapon and location did he choose? A debate on a federal television channel. Zolotov’s reaction? Well, apparently he had “something else” in mind.

2. You’re never safe from the narcs, not even on the *high* seas. This week police raided a floating marijuana farm in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia, confiscating 230 cannabis plants and other products used to grow marijuana. A video of the raid shows Russian police officers raiding the vessel and finding both the plants and the people growing them. Let’s be *blunt* though, maybe floating your weed farm on a boat is not the best idea.

The High Seas

Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

3. Is throwing money out the window of a Bentley making a political statement or just being obnoxious? Whatever the right answer, these rich Russian kids are doing it. Literally, the “Rich Russian Kids” instagram account posted a video of a man in a gem-encrusted balaclava stating that working all one’s life for money is pointless, then making it rain cash as he drives around in his Bentley (the account has since been set to “Private”). Although this isn’t technically illegal, two businessmen have been fined in relation to the episode for traffic violations. Apparently, wealthy people telling regular people they shouldn’t work for money is a poor joke.

In Odder News:

 

  • Ok, ok, we know this hilarious dub of the Russian national anthem didn’t come out this week. But let’s just pretend it did, just so that we can all get in a good laugh.

  • Congratulations! You just won a… parcel of land in the Far East? That you could have gotten for free? [Special thanks to reader David Edwards]

  • Steven Seagal was whipped to become an honorary Russian Cossack

Quote of the Week:

“Since there’s no law banning the throwing of money, you can always look into traffic violations.”

— An unnamed Russian law enforcement officer, ruminating on how to trip up self-satisfied rich kids

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

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

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
How Russia Got That Way

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.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

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