March 23, 2017

Grab a Guinness for Orthodoxy


Grab a Guinness for Orthodoxy

Reindeers, retweets, and rocketmen

1. It’s not every guardian of a holy lake that has to battle with oil excavators. But Sergei Kechimov, a Khanty reindeer herder and shaman entrusted with protecting Lake Imlor, has spoken out against extraction companies that he says are damaging the ecosystem and his community’s indigenous way of life. The United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is paying a visit to Imlor to assess the situation, but the oil companies – already having attempted to discredit Kechimov – will fight any attempt to staunch the flow of black gold.

theguardian.com

2. The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom is encouraging its followers to gain and share knowledge about the Russian Embassy – or in other words, become Twitter bots. By joining Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko’s Russian diplomatic online club, members’ accounts will automatically retweet one of Yakovenko’s tweets each week. The “Tweetsquad” has under 500 members, with fully automated bots outnumbering the semi-automated retweeters who have joined the squad.

3. There’s no harsher contrast to a life dreaming of the stars than a tragic demise in a prison cell bathroom. This was the fate of Vladimir Yevdokimov, former executive director of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, who was being held in pre-trial detention after being arrested on charges of embezzlement in December. A murder investigation has begun, with some suspecting a contract killing ordered by other space industry officials implicated in corruption charges, who feared Yevdokimov might be used as a witness against them.  

In Odder News

  • St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated in Russia on March 30, rather than March 17. But don’t look for leprechauns: Russian Orthodoxy is making it a festival all their own.
rbth.com
  • Bad news for shoes: with economic woes continuing, annual Russian shoe purchases are at 2.5 pairs per person. Perhaps a St. Patty’s Guinness is in higher demand.
  • In a bid to evaluate airline quality, Aeroflot plans to hire “secret passengers.” Presumably, it’s the evaluations that will be secret, unless the passengers are planning on stowing away.

Quote of the Week

"A pint of Guinness has only 198 kilocalories, which is less than orange juice or skim milk. You will understand why I am saying this and how this is related to the decision the Holy Synod made today after a short break.”
—Alexander Volkov, Patriarch Kirill's press secretary Alexander Volkov, in a Facebook post raffling off a cartload of Guinness in preparation for Russia’s St. Patrick’s Day.

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

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.
The Moscow Eccentric

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.
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.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Murder at the Dacha

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.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

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