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

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

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.

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.

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. 

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

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.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

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 Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

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.

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