December 15, 2021

We're in Your Camp! Just Kidding


We're in Your Camp! Just Kidding
Livin' like a tsar Telegram, RIA Novosti

“Why feed poor kids well when you yourself can eat like a tsar?” the deputy may have pondered right before he grubbed money skimping on their grub.

On December 10, online news portal Meduza reported that former deputy of the Neklinovsky district assembly and current deputy of the Polyakovsky rural settlement Vitaliy Latyshev, who is a member of the United Russia party, is thought to have been skimming from a budget allocated to service poor families in the Rostov region.

Latyshev is the head of more than a dozen companies that own children’s recreational camps in the Neklinovsky district. The camps, designed for low-income youth, have been allocated nearly one billion rubles since 2015. Latyshev is thought to have embezzled around 30 percent of the money.

The Telegram channel Baza recently published a recording, allegedly a conversation between Latyshev and some of his subordinates, where the officials discussed how to properly finance the best menu for their disadvantaged charges.

When one woman suggested that youth should be fed cutlets every day, another was taken aback by the suggested increase in price. The offended was quickly reassured, however, that “on the menu [you can] write that they always need cutlets, but it doesn’t mean you have to give them.” Another woman offered that the menus include “grain, meat, everything,” but only on the days when inspectors come to the camps.

Most important, of course, is that the children are fed well enough that they “aren’t hungry” and don’t complain to their parents.

There’s a chance we should give Latyshev some credit here – he obviously knows how to save for what’s important. His home, decked out with golden wallpaper, a white fireplace flanked with statues of alluring women, a bathtub on golden clawed feet, and a swimming pool, is the sign of a man inspired!

Perhaps he fashioned his place as a recreation center of sorts, and when it’s quite ready, he will invite the neighborhood in for a swim?

 

You Might Also Like

Mother Russia's
  • June 01, 1997

Mother Russia's "Difficult Kids"

Russian folk wisdom has it that, the more difficult the child, the stronger you love him (or her). And so, in honor of International Children’s Day, this year’s first summer issue is dedicated to Russia’s difficult kids, greatly loved.
Scout's Honor
  • September 01, 2019

Scout's Honor

Scouting has had a long and complicated history in Russia. And, not surprisingly, it gets a bit political.
Rostov-on-Don
  • June 07, 2016

Rostov-on-Don

Sveta Balashova-Kuzmina gives us a tour of her hometown, Rostov-on-Don, at the apex of five seas.
Tourism for Tykes
  • July 10, 2021

Tourism for Tykes

Youthful tourism ambassadors might be coming to a Russian region near you.
Polar Youth
  • March 18, 2021

Polar Youth

Andrey Borodulin made a video to go with the story in our March/April issue on Polar Youth.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

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.
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.
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.
The Latchkey Murders

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...
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Bears in the Caviar

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.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 

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