December 22, 2020

An Apocalyptic Aircraft Heist


An Apocalyptic Aircraft Heist
Cue Ocean's Eleven montage...
Kirill Naumenko, Wikimedia Commons

A Russian military "doomsday" plane has been looted while undergoing repairs in the southern city of Taganrog.

Since early 2019, the Ilyushin Il-80, a flying command-and-control center designed to keep military operations up and running in the case of nuclear war, has been berthed and in the process of being upgraded, one assumes under heavy guard.

That didn't stop robbers last week from getting on board and stealing 39 pieces of radio equipment, reportedly through an open cargo door. A criminal investigation is being considered.

This aircraft is one of four such craft in the Russian military, all of which are shrouded in secrecy.

Perhaps the plane's security system could use an upgrade, a la Home Alone?

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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.

Moscow and Muscovites
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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. 

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
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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.

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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The Moscow Eccentric
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The Moscow Eccentric

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Woe From Wit (bilingual)

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