September 26, 2023

Descending from Roskosmos, Crashing in Zaporizhzhia


Descending from Roskosmos, Crashing in Zaporizhzhia
Dmitry Rogozin, former head of Roskosmos. Witness., Twitter.

On September 23, Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the state space corporation Roskosmos, has been appointed senator for Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a new territory made up of lands taken from Ukraine.

Independent media outlet Meduza wrote of Rogozin, "[Russian president Vladimir] Putin loves him – and has for a long time." The former Roskosmos head's right-wing views propelled his career from the Transnistrian trenches to Russia's NATO ambassador. Rogozin also served as deputy prime minister in charge of the defense and space industries in the previous presidential terms of both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin. In 2018, he landed at Roskosmos, where he started a TV channel for Roskosmos and released a space-related musical album.

Rogozin has a history of disrespectful bombast. He has called the Ukrainian president "[a] clown," insulted Montenegrins and Bulgarians, and threatened Romanians on Twitter, as well as calling for the genocide of Ukrainians.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Rogozin warned he would leave an American astronaut in space by not allowing him to board the Soyuz rocket back to Earth with his Russian colleagues. Despite being dismissed from Roskosmos in 2022, the 59-year-old maintained strong ties to the Kremlin and led battalion groups on the frontline in Donbas. There, he was injured by shrapnel during his birthday celebration.

The Human Rights Watch has denounced forced disappearances, torture, and killings of prisoners of war and civilians in the territory Rogozin now represents. 

You Might Also Like

Stop My Flight If You Can
  • September 21, 2023

Stop My Flight If You Can

Despite sanctions, Russia imported Boeing and Airbus spare parts worth at least R18 billion in 2022.
From Trenches to Schools
  • September 18, 2023

From Trenches to Schools

Russian soldiers returned from the war in Ukraine will give new practical courses on security and defense for schoolchildren.
A Shortage of Drugs
  • August 23, 2023

A Shortage of Drugs

Nearly 200 medications could vanish from the Russian market due to sanctions and isolation.
Lords of War
  • August 10, 2023

Lords of War

New report details how Russian oligarchs are recruiting "volunteers" for Russia's War on Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

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.

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.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

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.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

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.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

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.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

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. 

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