Poisonous Furniture, Rugs, and Rail Carts

In this week's Odder News, Russian diplomats leave their post by foot, a Ukrainian man tired of snow pretends to be a murderer, and if the Ukrainian man doesn't kill you – your couch might.

• Remember when every Soviet apartment had an "oriental" rug on the wall? Well, now it's on the ground. Outside. In Lipetsk, an apartment building's management company installed the rug at the building's entrance instead of replacing tiles destroyed by water and mud, which seems like it was the right thing to do.
• Almost every second couch or wardrobe (Russian apartments do not come with closets) in Russia is a "fake" – made with poisonous, illegal chemicals. You might just have a "killer table" or cabinets made with formaldehyde. The cheaper price is just too compelling, driving the industry toward counterfeits. Caveat emptor.
• A Ukrainian man pretended to be a murderer to get the cops to come and plow his street. When he called, he told them to bring along a snowplow. Imagine the carnage when the snow melts in the spring and floods the road and the man needs help again.
• Russian diplomats expelled from North Korea had to get home via self-propelled rail cart this week. The traditional transit methods were unavailable due to the pandemic-closed border between the countries. Thankfully, the entire trip was not self-propelled – only the last kilometer or so. Russia-North Korean relations seem to have reached an all-time low. But the group of Russians seems giddy to be leaving in a video they shot, embedded in the article.