June 14, 2018

The World Cup Whirlwind Begins


The World Cup Whirlwind Begins
Mustaches of Hope Spring Eternal

1. Today, June 14, marks the first day of the 2018 World Cup, which Russia is hosting (if you didn’t know that, please let us help you out from under the rock that you’ve been living under). The festivities begin with a match between Saudi Arabia and Russia, but, unfortunately for Team Russia and its fans, Russia is now the lowest ranked team in the tournament. However, television personality Ivan Urgant has a bold plan to rescue Russia’s chances in the World Cup: grow a mustache (or, at the very least, paste one on). This large-scale campaign, called Mustaches of Hope, draws inspiration from the mustachioed Russian coach, Stanislav Cherchesov, and it has already garnered a wide array of adherents from fans of all ages, genders, and even species. Will Team Russia really benefit from the proliferation of handlebars and goatees? We mustache you to wait and see.

Photo: валерия кристовкая

2. A schoolteacher in Omsk, Viktoria Popova, made a splash after a modelling agency posted photos of her in a bathing suit in a pinup style, and she was fired from her job. However, every splash has an opposite and equal counter-splash (that’s Newton’s third law of splashes for you), and dozens of teachers across the country posted photos of themselves in bathing suits with the hashtag “teachers are humans too” (#учителятожелюди) As a result, school administrators offered Popova her job back. Maybe things will actually go as swimmingly as the first pictures indicated!

3. Here’s a little ray of sunshine to brighten everyone’s day. “Does the Sun Have an Off-Switch?” is the title of a book produced by a group of Russians who are transitioning to life after prison. The book, an anthology that engages with an excerpt of Plato’s “Republic,” is the result of a creative writing workshop called “Freedom Words.” The workshop was led by an American University of Chicago student who engaged participants with readings, discussions, and writing exercises. The workshop generated healing and growth for those who participated (not to mention a deep dive into Plato!).

In Odder News:

Photo: Meduza

  • For sale: a “life in Krasnoyarsk.” One man is auctioning off his whole life (which, if you’re curious, includes an apartment, a dacha, two cars, and even a cafe)

  • One German is driving to Russia for the World Cup in a tractor with a small house attached, which travels at the quick clip of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) per hour: it should only take him 10 days!

  • June 12 was Russia Day, which was celebrated in style across the country

  • A picture of a missing Russian creepily follows you. In Russia, the poster reads you!

Quote of the Week:

“Everything is against him now: expectations, the weather, the laws of physics, the anatomy of certain footballers and just plain-old logic.”

— Ivan Urgant, referring to Stanislav Cherchesov and Russia’s chances of succeeding in the 2018 World Cup

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

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

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.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

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.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

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. 

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian 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.

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