Going Postal, Falling in Rivers, and Surviving Crimean Vacation

In this week's Odder News, postal workers gone wild, athletes weighing in on Afghanistan, and things in water that do not belong in water.

• An exhausted pregnant cow was rescued from a river by cat experts. Geez, that is a sentence we never thought we would write. The Leningrad Region veterinarians harnessed the power of a crane, an ATV, a helicopter, and a Russian flag to right the stranded 500-kilogram (1,102-pound) cow. In a report, a journalist called it a "typical scene from an American film." Whatever that means.
• A drunk man fell from one of St. Petersburg's famous bridges recently, first falling into a boat, then falling into the Fontanka. The partier leaned over to say "hello" to the passing boat and ended up joining them. Before the captain could do anything, the man had already rolled into the river. Emergency services were called because the man was too drunk to pull himself out of the water. He was reported as being in "satisfactory condition" after the incident but also in an "extremely intoxicated condition."
• Conditions for tourists in and around Crimea continue to deteriorate. A mysterious black runoff flowed onto the beaches of Anapa. Some vacationers complained that it looked like sewage was draining into the Black Sea. Area administration tried to assure visitors that silt is commonly stirred up by storms, and a mesocyclone just ripped through the area. Even so, a swimming ban was curiously leveled until Rospotrebnadzor could test the water. Check out the gnarly photos here.
• Everyone loves to hate the post office. A St. Petersburg postal worker went viral for throwing a package at a customer and slapping the customer's phone out of her hand. The customer started filming after being ignored for several minutes. The video, here, is unexpectedly dramatic. The customer, who maintained her cool throughout the entire video, even laughing, got her revenge, since the postal employee is now on leave and under investigation.
• Celebrity athletes are often called upon to respond to politics, even if being a good athlete has little to nothing to do with politics. Russian UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov held a press conference for a new sponsorship deal, and it turned bad quickly when a journalist asked him to weigh in on what is happening in Afghanistan. The mixed martial artist asked the journalist what relationship the journalist had to Afghanistan – none – and then stated that he would not discuss such political matters unrelated to his sport and the sponsorship deal. Many Muslim and Afghan fans have voiced that they are withdrawing support from him after his failure to comment.