October 13, 2022

Conflict Conflagration


Conflict Conflagration

On October 8, the Kerch Strait Bridge linking mainland Russia and Crimea was rocked by a blast from a car bomb.

The explosion occurred just after 6 a.m. and killed three. Footage from the incident shows twisted metal and a collapsed roadway. A train carrying oil and running parallel to the bridge caught fire and accounted for most of the conflagration.

Initial reports suggest that Ukrainian security services carried out the attack. Whether it was caused by a truck-laden bomb, a maritime drone, or something else has yet to be determined.

The bridge itself was only completed three years ago and has become the main symbol of Russia's annexation of Crimea. During construction, Russian officials blocked the Kerch Strait to Ukrainian shipping. It was thus already fraught with controversy even before this blast.

Russia retaliated on Monday and Tuesday with rocket and drone strikes, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed an overall commander of the Ukrainian invasion, called by some "General Armageddon." Adding all of this to the recent mobilization orders, suggests that the conflict is growing ever deadlier, and/or more desparate.

You Might Also Like

The Not-too-Mighty Russian Armed Forces
  • July 24, 2022

The Not-too-Mighty Russian Armed Forces

It's been four months, and Ukraine is still standing. The front lines have hardly moved in ten weeks. Is this the Russian army everyone so feared?
Referendum Redux
  • September 23, 2022

Referendum Redux

The governments of the Ukrainian separatist LPR and DPR are calling for referendums on joining Russia – a callback to 2014 Crimea.
Flipping the Script
  • September 13, 2022

Flipping the Script

A massive Ukrainian counterattack in Kharkiv Oblast now places the frontline at the Russian border.
No Rush to Surrender
  • September 18, 2022

No Rush to Surrender

The Russian military's morale weakens as Ukraine announces the liberation of two villages.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

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.
Moscow and Muscovites

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. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
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...
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
White Magic

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.
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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

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.

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