December 15, 2021

We're in Your Camp! Just Kidding


We're in Your Camp! Just Kidding
Livin' like a tsar Telegram, RIA Novosti

“Why feed poor kids well when you yourself can eat like a tsar?” the deputy may have pondered right before he grubbed money skimping on their grub.

On December 10, online news portal Meduza reported that former deputy of the Neklinovsky district assembly and current deputy of the Polyakovsky rural settlement Vitaliy Latyshev, who is a member of the United Russia party, is thought to have been skimming from a budget allocated to service poor families in the Rostov region.

Latyshev is the head of more than a dozen companies that own children’s recreational camps in the Neklinovsky district. The camps, designed for low-income youth, have been allocated nearly one billion rubles since 2015. Latyshev is thought to have embezzled around 30 percent of the money.

The Telegram channel Baza recently published a recording, allegedly a conversation between Latyshev and some of his subordinates, where the officials discussed how to properly finance the best menu for their disadvantaged charges.

When one woman suggested that youth should be fed cutlets every day, another was taken aback by the suggested increase in price. The offended was quickly reassured, however, that “on the menu [you can] write that they always need cutlets, but it doesn’t mean you have to give them.” Another woman offered that the menus include “grain, meat, everything,” but only on the days when inspectors come to the camps.

Most important, of course, is that the children are fed well enough that they “aren’t hungry” and don’t complain to their parents.

There’s a chance we should give Latyshev some credit here – he obviously knows how to save for what’s important. His home, decked out with golden wallpaper, a white fireplace flanked with statues of alluring women, a bathtub on golden clawed feet, and a swimming pool, is the sign of a man inspired!

Perhaps he fashioned his place as a recreation center of sorts, and when it’s quite ready, he will invite the neighborhood in for a swim?

 

You Might Also Like

Mother Russia's
  • June 01, 1997

Mother Russia's "Difficult Kids"

Russian folk wisdom has it that, the more difficult the child, the stronger you love him (or her). And so, in honor of International Children’s Day, this year’s first summer issue is dedicated to Russia’s difficult kids, greatly loved.
Scout's Honor
  • September 01, 2019

Scout's Honor

Scouting has had a long and complicated history in Russia. And, not surprisingly, it gets a bit political.
Rostov-on-Don
  • June 07, 2016

Rostov-on-Don

Sveta Balashova-Kuzmina gives us a tour of her hometown, Rostov-on-Don, at the apex of five seas.
Tourism for Tykes
  • July 10, 2021

Tourism for Tykes

Youthful tourism ambassadors might be coming to a Russian region near you.
Polar Youth
  • March 18, 2021

Polar Youth

Andrey Borodulin made a video to go with the story in our March/April issue on Polar Youth.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

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.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

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. 

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

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.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

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.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

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