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

Some of Our Books

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. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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.
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.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

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.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

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.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.

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