March 18, 2021

Lukashenko Gets the Putin Treatment


Lukashenko Gets the Putin Treatment
You wouldn't know it, but that dog is actually a fifteen-million-dollar purebred Pomeranian (not really). CTV.by

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, well-known to our team for his various hijinks, has fallen under scrutiny for what some say are ill-gotten gains.

Investigative journalists at Radio Free Europe's Russian branch⁠— Radio Svoboda— have published a damning report on the origins of Lukashenko's wealth. Entitled "27 Years of Luxury," the article details Lukashenko's term in power (since 1994, almost 27 years) and argues that the high standard of living he enjoys in one of Europe's most impoverished and repressive countries is due to ill-gotten gains.

At least he's probably flattered, given his reported quote that Putin is one of his few friends, as the project is a parallel effort to Russian activist Alexei Navalny's exposé of Putin's enormous wealth.

Highlights include lavish palaces, high-quality food, and hangouts with other post-Soviet presidents, like the equally goofy equestrian/dentist/author/firearms expert Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan.

See the investigation for yourself here.

Perhaps it's time for Lukashenko to face the music?

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May 01, 2011

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This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

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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.

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

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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.

Little Golden Calf
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Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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