February 14, 2023

Show Me Your Face


Show Me Your Face
Cars crossing the Russian border. Poligon.media, Telegram.

Russian authorities plan to tighten the screws at the country's borders by installing face-recognition systems to identify drivers entering or leaving the country. The move directly violates a law President Vladimir Putin signed on December 29, 2022, prohibiting the forced collection of biometric data by the government or businesses.

Concerns over border security rose after the killing of pro-war activist and journalist Darya Dugina, as the killer allegedly crossed Russia's border with Ukraine. Opposition leaders escaping Russia while under house arrest may have also contributed to the new measure, since the current video surveillance systems can't detect such crossings.

The systems will be installed at nine different points. There will be three checkpoints along the Russo-Chinese border (Zabaykalsk, Pogranichny, and Kraskino), another three along the borders with Poland and Lithuania (Bagrationovsk, Mamonovo, and Chernyshevskoye), and three  more at crossings between Russia and Kazakhstan (Mashtakovo, Orsk, and Sagarchin).

The project is expected to cost R830 million ($11.5 million) and is planned to be completed before November 25, 2023.

You Might Also Like

From Hero to Zero
  • January 11, 2023

From Hero to Zero

A Russian “hero” of the war in Ukraine was convicted for not showing up for military service.
The Threat from Abroad
  • December 28, 2022

The Threat from Abroad

Putin has issued a call to hunt down spies and saboteurs. The State Duma has prepared new “anti-sabotage” laws.
Russia in 2022
  • December 23, 2022

Russia in 2022

In which we look back at Russia's performance in 2022.
War, Not Fish
  • December 21, 2022

War, Not Fish

A Tyumen resident at first convinced a court she was objecting to dried fish, not war. But the police were not having it...
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
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.
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.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
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.
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. 

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