January 20, 2021

Opposition, not Operation Barbarossa


Opposition, not Operation Barbarossa

“Don’t feel sorry for us, we’re simply working. We adequately “met” the airplanes from Germany in 1941, and we will meet all aircraft in the year 2021. This year we will be 80 and we have already seen and survived a lot.”

– The Twitter account of Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, on the controversy surrounding the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny upon his arrival, drawing parallels to the Second World War. In response to a quip from Twitter user @salick27, the administration of Vnukovo Airport in Moscow could not resist reminding Twitter users of the harrowing trials the Russian air force faced during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
 

 

 

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The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

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Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

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