July 05, 2026

A Bear Back Home


A Bear Back Home
Why would nature make them look so cuddly if they weren't meant to be cuddled? Zoo Hluboka, Wikimedia Commons

On July 2, Russian state media outlet Izvestia reported that a bear in Russia's Far East has, fortunately, completed a journey and is now home.

The female Himalayan brown bear first gained fame on July 1, for swimming long-distance across Amur Bay and walking into the city of Vladivostok (population 600,000), on Russia's Pacific coast.

The three-year-old Russian ursine was captured by veterinarians, and given a clean bill of health, then re-released onto the taiga on July 2.

Notably, updates on the bear's status were given on the Russian state-owned social media platform Max, which has garnered criticism from users for its stripped-down functionality. Fortunately, updates on unexpected furry visitors are unlikely to fall under speech restrictions, even in Russia.

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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.

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June 01, 2021

White Magic

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Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

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.

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Russian Rules

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Little Golden Calf

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Bears in the Caviar
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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.

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