January 19, 2017

The spy who stayed out in the cold


The spy who stayed out in the cold

TGI Spyday

1. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov knows how spies operate: they dress up as women or in other silly costumes and try to eavesdrop on government officials. Some Internet users went on a quest to unearth these spies. Some were in chicken costumes. Some really were cross-dressed. Others were simply trying to embarrass Russia, disguising themselves as eating out of a dumpster or being drunk in public. James Bond only wishes.

twitter.com

2. On a day meant to celebrate snow, festivities were canceled because of too much snow. The island of Sakhalin had planned a World Snow Day festival with races and classes, but with wintry weather proving too much for the winter sports, the Sakhalin Sports Ministry postponed the events to a day when the thing they’re celebrating is a bit less abundant. After all, a surefire way to celebrate Snow Day is to stay out of it.

3. You know that artist who nailed his scrotum to Red Square, wrapped himself in barbed wire, sliced part of his ear off, and sewed his own mouth shut? He’s just made his most shocking move yet: applying for political asylum in France. Fines and short jail stints didn’t stop Pyotr Pavlensky before, but now he’s being accused of attempted rape – an accusation he sees as a move to silence his anti-Putin protests – and the heavy sentence is sending him out of the country. What plans he has for the Eiffel Tower remains to be seen.

In Odder News

greatdane.photography
  • The Trans-Siberian Railway? Child’s play. The first direct train from Yiwu, China has made it all the way to London. 12,000 miles: that’s a raily big deal.
  • A true animal lover doesn’t leave wild boars trapped in an ice hole to freeze: he helps them get out. Even if they threaten to nab a bite of him in the process.

Quote of the Week

“All of these years, the regime has trying to prove that I am a criminal or a madman - not an artist, but the destroyer of cultural values. The state machine has been able to execute this play successfully. But we will be careful, and life will show who has the last word.”
—Pyotr Pavlensky, a political artist famous for his extreme performances, on what he calls false accusations meant to get him out of the country.

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

The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
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.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Russia Rules

Russia Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

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.
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.
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.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

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