March 14, 2022

Subversion Subverted


Subversion Subverted
Putin must now figure out who ruined his perfect plan. Image from the Kremlin's Twitter

Recent reports say that Putin's plan was to infiltrate the Ukrainian military from the rear through subversive activities. At least, that's what Putin thought was going to happen, until over $5 billion were stolen from the campaign.

This past week, the Ukrainian security agency, SBU, uncovered the organizers behind the new proposed "People's Republics" in western Ukraine (echoing those in eastern Ukraine). A large sum in rubles were allocated by the Russian government to these subversive activities from 2014 to the present, all of which was supposed to combine with Russia's all-out propaganda campaigns in Ukraine so that when Russian soldiers arrived in Ukraine they would be met with flowers.

This massive sum was meant to include not only propaganda, but also "agitation activities, agents among nationalist organizations, a network of activists, and so on." Instead, for eight years Putin received disinformation about the likelihood of support from the Ukrainian army, and the information he was given turned out to be the opposite of the truth.

It's a bummer when kleptocracy turns out not to work in your favor.

You Might Also Like

The Toughest Sanction
  • March 07, 2022

The Toughest Sanction

Putin has been stripped of two martial arts honors in response to his invasion of Ukraine.
A Different Kind of Train Schedule
  • December 20, 2021

A Different Kind of Train Schedule

Second-class travelers on Russian trains may soon be required to take turns with their neighbors to use their compartment's table.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

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.

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.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

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. 

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

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.

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