(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck – WASHINGTON, May 9, 2013) It’s a mere three seconds of stock footage in the critically acclaimed Cold War television series “The Americans,” a nighttime panorama showing Moscow’s renowned Christ the Savior Cathedral as a US counterintelligence official explains that a top KGB officer is about to be assassinated. There’s just one problem: The scene takes place in 1981, a half century after the
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – May 6, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is a correspondent and editor at themoscownews.com When, over the long weekend, I sat down to watch “Game of Thrones,” a fantasy series set in a mythical realm where seven houses ruthlessly vie for supreme power, I was prepared to draw parallels with Russian politics. At first, the show delivered to my inner geek as would
(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 8, 2014) Vladislav Surkov says he plans to write a political comedy based on real events. “I have some plans. I have a plot for a political comedy based on real events,” Surkov said in an interview with the magazine Russky Pioner, for which he writes columns, responding to a question as to whether he will be able to focus on his literary activities, inducing writing
(Interfax – Moscow, May 1, 2013) A rally promoting European electronic music in Russia was the first event held at the “Hyde Park” (speakers’ corner) that opened in Moscow’s Gorkiy Park on Wednesday (1 May), the creator of Hardcore Russia TV, Yuriy Markin, has said. “We are pioneers, the first people who held an action in this ‘Hyde Park’. We gathered here at seven o’clock in the morning, we love
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 30, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to consider by June 15 the expediency of restoring a contemporary Western art museum in Moscow. “To consider the expediency of restoring a new (contemporary) Western art museum in Moscow,” say Putin’s instructions given after the Direct Line with Russians. The government’s report on the subject is due on June 15. Pushkin State Museum of Fine
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 1, 2013) Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Russia on Wednesday to mark Labor Day with events ranging from Soviet-style state-endorsed marches to campaigns for promotion of European techno and single ladies’ rights. Moscow saw seven rallies, the biggest of them being a march of labor unions in Moscow, co-organized by the ruling United Russia party, which was attended by some 70,000 participants,
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktoriya Semioshina, special to RBTH – May 1, 2013) In early May, Russians have two bank holidays in quick succession, both inherited from the former Soviet Union. This sometimes translates into as many as nine days off work plenty of time to head for warmer climes, though many will opt to stay at home. For the latter, there will be numerous recreational
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Simon Speakman Cordall special to The Moscow News – April 29, 2013) Overshadowed by dramatic Victory Day celebrations, the May 1 holiday has yet to be redefined in the post-Soviet landscape There were four pivotal dates on the Soviet calendar; January 1, May 1, May 9 and, the anniversary of the revolution, November 7. Times, like regimes, do change, however and with the anniversary
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 25, 2013) Russians are mostly happy with their lives, especially those living in Tyva, Dagestan, Adygea and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the poll held by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) showed. The poll was carried out in 2,220 settlements in 79 Russian regions among 56,900 respondents. A total of 73% Russians consider themselves happy. The following groups of respondents are the most optimistic: students (88%), executives
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – George Feifer, special to RBTH – April 25, 2013) Author and longtime Russian expert George Feifer turns conventional wisdom on its head and explains the ways in which Russians are free and Americans are dully imprisoned. When Denis Diderot visited St. Petersburg at Catherine the Great’s invitation, the great philosopher and founder of the Encyclopedia whose writings made substantial contributions to the Enlightenment
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – April 18, 2013) The 19th annual Golden Mask Festival award ceremony began with a drum roll and a walking bass line from the Oleg Lundstrem Jazz Orchestra and ended with standing ovations for six veteran theater artists who were honored with lifetime achievement awards. As 47 awards were announced over the course of three hours on Tuesday evening in the beautiful main
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – April 16, 2013) If you wonder why Russians don’t smile in the metro, what they really think about corruption, how many of them fought bears and how many of these brave souls were drinking vodka at the time, now you can satisfy your curiosity. A Moscow-based team of market researchers has recently launched a project on the crowd-funding resource Kickstarter that aims
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – April 12, 2013) As Russia’s relationship with Georgia warms up after the new Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili assumed power in Tbilisi, Moscow will host its long awaited Georgian guest, the famous Rustavi ensemble. Rustavi, a folk dance and chorus group, will perform in Russia on Thursday after a 10-year absence. “We are awaiting those spectators who love Georgia and Georgian culture,”
(Interfax – MOSCOW. April 6, 2013) Russians are split in their perception of the acid attack on Bolshoi Theater Ballet Art Director Sergei Filin in January and the way it characterizes the situation in the theater, the Levada Center public survey organization found after conducting a poll in 130 communities of 45 regions of Russia in March. The poll showed that 35% of Russians are convinced that the attack on
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 8, 2013) “Do you dare come to the square where the regiments are waiting … between the Senate and Synod?” These lines, though written by Russian poet Alexander Galich in 1968 about the Decembrist revolt of 1825 on St. Petersburg’s Senatskaya Ploshchad, express the spirit of the art inspired by Russia’s unprecedented protest movement that began in December 2011. The poem
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – April 8, 2013) The Graduate School of Urban Studies and Planning at the Higher School of Economics here in Moscow has come out with a report that says that most Muscovites want little to do with their neighbors. A recent poll conducted by the graduate school revealed that less than a third of Muscovites report having “regular contact” with their neighbors. Fifty-two
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – April 5, 2013) Moscow has finally taken first place in an international rating, but it’s in a category the authorities would like to be excluded from. According to the Tom-Tom congestion index, which was released Thursday and is produced annually by the Dutch firm specializing in navigation products, Russia’s capital is ahead of the other 160 cities around the world that were
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – April 3, 2013) He never appears for the presentation of his books. His interviews, even short ones, are often literally a sensation and some people even question his very existence. In modern Russia, Viktor Pelevin is considered a cult figure and many of his books, from “Omon Ra,” a touching and grotesque story about the Soviet space program, to “Generation P,” a
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Raymond Stults – March 26, 2013) Despite the turmoil following the attack in mid-January on Bolshoi ballet artistic director Sergei Filin, the theater has continued without hesitation to follow the age-old precept “the show must go on.” And this week it promises to do so with still greater intensity when it opens a four-week-long festival, “Century of ‘The Rite of Spring’ Century of Modernism,”
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – March 25, 2013) “A lot of people these days are finding parallels between the present and the 1930s, but the real connection I see is between the present and 1968.” Playwright Mikhail Durnenkov made that comment to me as we chatted Friday prior to the beginning of an evening called “1968. Prague Spring” at the Memorial Society on Karetny Ryad. Durnenkov, along
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 22, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/03/window-on-eurasia-136-national.html) Some 136 national languages of the Russian Federation are at or already beyond “the edge of extinction,” according to UNESCO. Many of these languages are subgroups of others, but the danger of disappearance exists for groups as large as Avars, Bashkirs and Chechens. According to the United Nations body, 20 languages in the Russian Federation are already
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – March 17, 2013) Around 250 languages are spoken in Russia, including Russian, which is spoken by some 150 million people. Russian, along with several Turkic-based languages, is doing fine. However, the linguistic situation for many lost tribes and Small Indigenous People in Russia is far more Dmitry Sukhodolsky, special to RBTH Russia’s many languages are the same kind of impenetrable mystery for the
(Interfax – March 17, 2013) Russians have been losing interest in the supernatural over the years, sociological studies indicate. Whie in 2000 57 percent of respondents admitted that they believe in omens and 52 percent in prophetic dreams, last February the figures dropped to 52 percent and 43 percent respectively, Interfax was told at Levada Center that conducted a special study of the subject. Belief in omens is more inherent
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – March 13, 2013) When Royal Shakespeare Company alum Jonathan Bex realized he was spending a lot of time in Moscow but had little hope of acting in any of the city’s many theaters, he came up with a creative solution. He decided to start a theater company that would offer exclusively English-language productions to local audiences. Moscow English Theater will bring professional
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – March 11, 2013) Journalist and theater director Mikhail Kaluzhsky called it a “theatrical slam.” Olga Shakina, a journalist from the Dozhd television channel, said it was a moment when “one theatrical event replaced another.” What they were discussing on Saturday on Echo Moskvy radio was a now-notorious performance of “Moscow Trials,” a documentary theater project at the Sakharov Center on March 3.
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Inna Soboleva, Combined report, RBTH – March 8, 2013) Before International Women’s Day, Russia’s leading media revealed a list of the country’s 100 most influential women. The speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of Russia’s parliament), Valentina Matviyenko, topped the list of the 100 Most Influential Women in Russia for the second consecutive year, while third place went once again to Prime
MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) A lawyer for the star Russian ballet dancer who admitted this week to having masterminded an attack on the artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater said in court on Thursday that his client had not ordered acid to be used in the assault. A masked assailant threw concentrated acid into the face of Sergei Filin, the Bolshoi’s artistic director, on January 17 in Moscow
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Natalia Yamnitskaya, special to RBTH – March 7, 2013) A “babushka” used to spend her time babysitting grandchildren and gardening, but today’s retirees are taking advantage of a wide range of opportunities. Olga Kuznetsova, who graces the floor of a dance studio in an elegant dress and heels, can hardly be described as a babushka, the Russian word for grandmother. The 55-year-old’s recent
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 26, 2013) President Vladimir Putin said last week that returning a Jewish book collection confiscated after the Bolshevik Revolution was impossible because it would open a “Pandora’s box” of claims on such property. “[If Russia] starts satisfying these sorts of claims, there would be no end to them and no telling what the consequences might be,” Putin said at the vast
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Stepan Ivanov, combined report, RBTH – February 24, 2013) Dmitry Bak, the new director of the Literature Museum, talked to a number of journalists about how the museum is developing and emphasized how classic Russian literature needs to be understood through the contemporary. To this end, the director suggests branding Russian literature starting with unknown contemporary authors with bright futures ahead of
(Interfax – February 19, 2013) The decision to abolish daylight savings time, taken in June 2011 under then-President Dmitriy Medvedev and hotly debated since its implementation, is becoming increasingly more annoying for Russians, a survey by the pro-Kremlin All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) pollster has found, the Interfax news agency reported on 19 February. The poll, posted on the VTsIOM website (http://wciom.ru/index.php?id=459&uid=113669) tracked responses about the preferred winter/summer time
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 From: Sue Dorfman <Sedorf@comcast.net> Subject: PUTIN’S KISS on 2/20 in DC Matt Rojansky suggested I contact you to help spread the word on the upcoming screening of the film, PUTIN’S KISS. The film shows on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 pm at the West End Cinema, located at 2301 M St NW Washington, DC 20037. Rachel Denber, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director of the Europe
(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – February 11, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News In early December in the Siberian city of Barnaul, Vitaly Sidukhinsky, 28, was trying to board a bus with his mother. The doors closed before his mother could get on the bus, and Sidukhinsky, who was mentally disabled and had difficulty communicating, rode on the bus alone. When the
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – February 11, 2013) Unless you have traveled forward in time from the beginning of the 20th century, writing rhymes might not seem like the hippest thing to do. Such an old-fashioned skill probably won’t even get you a date. But this preconception is changing thanks to a group of young poets who are making poetry modern and breathtaking again. On Feb. 14,
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Roland Oliphant – February 6, 2013) The heaviest snowfall in a century brought Moscow and the surrounding region to a near standstill and left hundreds of people without power, officials said Tuesday. And with snowfall set to continue at least until the end of the week, the authorities are bracing for more chaos on the roads. “There hasn’t been such a winter in 100 years,”
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Aliide Naylor – February 4, 2013) When I met the collective of 25 young people who traveled across Russia in one month and had just arrived after a three-day train trip from Irkutsk, they were, understandably so, at first more preoccupied with eating dinner, washing, shaving and finishing their film edits. These young people are documentary filmmakers from 16 countries whose mission in Russia was
MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) Moscow has not witnessed such a snowy winter in the past 100 years, Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov said on Tuesday, after heavy snowfall hit the Russian capital last night. “This is the snowiest winter in 100 years,” Biryukov said, adding that 216 centimeters (85 inches) of snow have blanketed Moscow since the beginning of winter, which is 1.5 times above climatic norm. The snowfall,
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 1, 2013) Ballet may be high art onstage, but last month’s acid attack on Bolshoi Ballet chief Sergei Filin has drawn attention to the fact that it’s a dirty business behind the scenes. Two weeks after an unidentified assailant threw sulfuric acid in Filin’s face outside his apartment building, the attack remains in the national spotlight. Police have opened a criminal
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 28, 2013) In a grim Soviet reality, he lived the lifestyle of a playboy. While not being a dissident, he sang satirical songs. While not writing a single song that would praise the authorities, he wrote ballads about World War II and was a symbol of patriotism for many Russians. Vladimir Vysotsky, a bard singer, poet and actor who would have
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eradzh Nidoev – January 21, 2013) If you live in Moscow, breathe and have a fairly stable hand, consider yourself invited to take part in a new documentary series. Casting for the documentary project “Realnost.Doc” (Reality.Doc), which aims to chronicle life within Moscow society through a series of amateur-shot clips, launched on Sunday. Chosen candidates it can be anyone regardless of age, status, job
(RFE/RL – January 21, 2013) Despite claiming that he’s not a politician, Yury Shevchuk, frontman for the legendary Russian rock band DDT, is quite vocal when discussing political topics. Speaking recently at the Brooklyn Public Library, Shevchuk said he and his band are seeking to bring about democratic change in Russia through music. Nikola Krastev caught up with Shevchuk in New York right before the start of his U.S. tour.
WASHINGTON, January 17 (RIA Novosti) The United States government disagrees with a federal court’s decision to impose a $50,000-a-day fine on Russia for failing to comply with an earlier order to hand over religious texts to a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group, a US State Department spokeswoman said Thursday. On Wednesday a federal judge in Washington ordered Russia to pay the fine for every day it fails to return
Moscow, January 17, Interfax – Russian presidential representative for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy is perplexed by a U.S. court order on the so-called Schneerson collection, as he thought Russia and the United States had earlier settled the problem. “Russia earlier honored all agreements on this issue. The problem was discussed within the Gore-Chernomyrdin commission’s framework, and we reached quite a reasonable compromise with the American side then,” Shvydkoy told
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 18, 2013) The culture and education ministers on Thursday presented a list of 100 Soviet and Russian films that schools will be advised to show students to strengthen their cultural values and to build bonds with their parents and teachers from older generations. “This is not a list of the best Russian films, and this is not a Russian Oscar. It
(www.opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Loginov – January 16, 2013) Mikhail Loginov is a journalist and novelist based in St. Petersburg. He is the author of the recently published bestselling political thriller “Battle for Kremlin”. Most radiators in urban Russian homes are fed by hot water transported from heating plants miles away. Ageing pipes frequently burst, causing hardship and even fatalities. Could a return to an older form of heating be the
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – January 16, 2013) Loudly and menacingly, the train on the large screen of a darkened cinema raced toward the audience in a foreshadowing that the lead character, just a few years deeper into the plot, would commit suicide by throwing herself on the railroad tracks. The expected response would have been gasps of horror or, at the very least, silence. Instead, the
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – January 15, 2013) When President Vladimir Putin gave Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu, the story became the biggest Internet hit and a subject of political controversy over the long New Year’s vacation. It was the first time in modern Russian history that someone who was not a former spy but rather is a seasoned, global celebrity has become a Russian
MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) – Political, economic and financial stability attracts investors and artists, Sberbank CEO German Gref told Interfax on Friday, speaking of Russian citizenship conferred to French actor Gerard Depardieu. “The Depardieu situation shows that financial, economic and political stability is frequently a key factor in the choice of the country by investors and artists. I think people would have been standing in line for our passports if
MOSCOW, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – Legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu said he is glad to be granted Russian citizenship, adding that he loves Russia and promising to study the Russian language. “Yes, I have applied for a passport and I am glad my request has been granted,” Depardieu said in a letter to Russian journalists posted on the website of Russian federal TV Channel 1. The Kremlin press office
(Ten reasons for Russians to be proud of their country – Russia Beyond the Headlines/ Russky Repoter – December 31, 2012 – click here for full article) Russia Beyond the Headlines covers Russky Reporter magazine’s list of 2012 events it argues should stir Russian pride. They focuses on volunteers first: Volunteers The birth of the volunteer movement is usually traced to the season of wild forest fires in 2010 when
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