January 17, 2023

Dubai is the New Vologda


Dubai is the New Vologda
United Russia deputy and the daughter of defense minister Sergei Shoigu in "Vologda" (Dubai). Denis Dolzhenko, VKontakte

A United Russia legislator has come under fire for bragging about his vacation to Dubai on social media during wartime. As part of the scandal, he lied about his whereabouts, posting a picture with a daughter of Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu and saying they were in a region of Russia where the temperature was -20ºC, yet he was wearing shorts.

On January 6, Denis Dolzhenko, a member of the legislative assembly of Vologda Oblast, uploaded a selfie to his VKontakte account while on a jog in Dubai. The caption read: "I'm not good at skiing, and running in such cold weather isn't pleasant. I listened to the recommendations of weather forecasters, I warmed up."

However, this didn't fool many. The Vologdian press criticized the legislator's insensitivity in times of war. The Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Andrey Turchak, promised that Dolzhenko would be punished and deprived of his party card.

The press also noted that Dolzhenko uploaded a picture of himself alongside Ksenia Shoigu, who was promoting her half-marathon "ZaBeg." According to the post, Shoigu's daughter and the legislator were in Vologda. Yet journalists from Sotavision who examined the picture closely pointed out a reflection of the brand name "Louis Féraud." The company has a shop near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but nowhere near Vologda. 

Investigative journalist Sergey Yezhov posted on Telegram that the defense minister's daughter has been staying in the $590-a-night Caesars Palace hotel in Dubai since New Year's day. Russian authorities have not commented on Ksenia Shoigu's vacation.

You Might Also Like

Keep Calm and Be Polite
  • January 03, 2023

Keep Calm and Be Polite

The United Russia party has developed a code of conduct for deputies when they are interacting with media.
Let it Go, Let it Go
  • December 30, 2022

Let it Go, Let it Go

Russian men mobilized to fight in Russia's War on Ukraine will be able to freeze and store their sperm for free.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
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.
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.
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. 
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
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.
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. 

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