Victory Day/ Den Pobedi 9th May

The 9th May is when Russia celebrates VE Day. For them, though, this is the end of what is seen as the "Great Patriotic War" (1941-1945) rather than WW2 and earlier or later military action (Baltics, Japan) is viewed as something separate.

This is one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Russia and is a national holiday, so people are off work too and free to attend the parades, which many of all ages do. It's a time when war veterans are especially remembered and there are social programmes around 9th May in which gifts and extra help is given to those participated.  The country becomes awash with the orange and black-striped ribbon of St. George and with large banners celebrating the victory, as well as a string of war films on TV. Events take place across the country ranging from concerts, firework displays and the show of military might in Red Square, Moscow.

Thinking of emigrating?

Russia Today summarises findings of a survey by the Levada Centre which says that the percentage of Russians wanting to emigrate is at a historic low.

The poll says that a surprisingly low 9% of Russians "are having thoughts of emigrating" while 81% "have never thought of uprooting to another country".

However, a survey from the same pollsters two years ago

Up in smoke

As widely reported, a fire in a shopping centre in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian has killed 14 people, with more bodies likely to be found.

Photo: BBC

Reuters say that the cause could be arson, but, according to the President of Tatarstan, that the managers hadn't complied with safety regulations. This reminds me of a couple of things from my time in Russia.

photo of the month

My wife's in Moscow for a week - gone to see family and her favourite Russian group, Agata Kristi, who've reformed for a couple of concerts.

Her trip has me thinking about the city and family and got me flicking through photos of our times in Moscow. For photo of the month, I selected one of Granny... or Babulya.

A return to Russia?

With not being certain about whether Lily and I will stay in the UK long-term.. or even short-term, it got me thinking about whether I'd ever return to Russia to live...

Russia-bound?

Disability in Russia

Nowhere's perfect, but the UK has come a long way in terms of increasing access for disabled people, with facilities to work around impairments and the legal right to equality. There's still some way to go here but it's also indicative of the improvements that you don't think twice about ramps in or leading to buildings, notices for subtitles or audio-described films at the cinema, mini, braille signs, wheelchair-sized elevators next to steps in buildings, signs for hearing loops or those knobbly slopes next to crossings and so on.

The differences are highlighted if you go to Russia, where there are far fewer (useful) adaptations...

Kazan: Source

KVN/ КВН

KVN, pronounced ka-veh-en, is a national institution. The Club of the Joyful and Inventive is like the Cambridge Footlights kind of sketches and Whose Line Is it Anyway? turned into a competition. It takes the form of clubs, teams often from universities, who compete against each other at city level, regionally and nationally.

Higher Level Contest, from an official video

Russia: A Victim of Bad Press?

It's fair to say that Russia has something of an image problem. Despite the opportunity offered by this year's Winter Olympics to win new friends, Russia is in fact doing the opposite. In addition to the obvious, major candidate of Crimea and Ukraine, there is a steady stream of minor news stories relating to issues such as racism, freedom of speech and homophobia.

Screenshot of the Guardian website today

Documentary review: Storyville. Russia's Toughest Prison: The Condemned

This is Russia's prison for its most dangerous men; 260 inmates convicted of 800 murders collectively. The documentary, shown as a part of the BBC4 Storyville series, was as interesting as it was depressing. It focused on half a dozen prisoners, the governor and, briefly, a handful of family members and takes us through how they came to be in prison, their guilt, prison hierarchy, family and their future, giving an insight into thoughts and lives, or rather existences, of some of its prisoners and, to a lesser extent, of others involved. Welcome to a world of thin faces, sunken eyes and missing teeth in mouths offering few smiles. a place where hope and hopelessness vie for supremacy in the minds of people who have much to fear on both sides of the walls.

All along the watchtower

Gruppa Kino/ Группа Кино

Of this legendary Soviet rock group, I once told a friend that I'd translated a couple of songs. He answered, "You cannot understand. You can know the words but you cannot understand." But I'll try to explain anyway.

Gruppa Kino

Racism in Russia

Football-related incidents bring issues of racism in Russia to the attention of more people. But that sadly is not the limit of the problem's scope: according to the Levada Center, 28% of Russians feel hostility towards other ethnicities, 34% think that non-Russians hold varying degrees of responsible for Russia's problems, 45% have negative feelings towards people from 'southern republics' and 56% agree with fully or partially implementing policies of 'Russia for Russians'.

No to Halloween

With the end of October fast approaching and the accompanying annual festival, it is only appropriate that Russian politicians come up with some of their own appropriately creepy ideas. Russia Today reports on one such suggestion from the Public Chamber.

Strange connections

While waiting for the kettle to boil, I noticed the Russian bicarbonate of soda on our shelf and started reading the box, as you do,

Russian bicarb

and made the connection with

A match I went to in Khimki, near Moscow

Any guesses?

Animals in the streets

If you saw a cat or a dog in the street in the UK, you'd bet that it had a home to go to, even if it didn't have a collar. Not so in Russia.

No collar, no home

Squirrels, metaphorically speaking

Lily and I are trying to declutter. We'd been acquiring stuff in the way typical of many new-weds, for whom money isn't free-flowing and life plans change with the seasons. 'We'll take it' and 'we'll keep it, just in case' saw us become overwhelmed by possessions... two washing machines, three Christmas trees (yes, seriously), a printer for which we have no cables or adapter. Insane! Now... ebay if it's worth something, recycling if it's beyond repair in the damp cellar and charity for things that we can't be arsed to deal with any other way. All this got me thinking about stuff and the British and Russian attitudes.

A Siberian squirrel.

The Dacha

Many Russians have a dacha, a country house. If a Brit mentions going to spend the weekend at the country house, you think of the landed gentry and large country estates. In Russia, it could mean many things.

Picking potatoes.

Is Going to Work in Siberia (or Russia) Right for You?

I went over to Russia for the first time in 2004 to teach English; not just Russia, but to Surgut - a smallish town in the frozen wastes of Siberia. The time was right for me and it was just what I needed. That, however, isn't the case for everyone.

Siberia... snow and apartment blocks... get used to it.

Russian Superstitions

In my early days in Russia, a friend, Vadim, called me to invite me over. Soon outside his flat. I rang the bell and the door opened. I had already learnt that the standard greeting between men is to shake hands. I duly extended my hand. He looked at it, then at me, “Come in.” I left my hand outstretched but quickly understood that the gesture was not about to be reciprocated. I was confused and wondered if and how I’d offended him. I got inside, unnerved, removing my outdoor shoes in the house, as is usual. Vadim then grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. I was baffled. The explanation was a superstition, which I’ll explain, along with some others I’ve experienced.

An animated version of a domovoi, a character of superstitions, from a Russian film

Alcohol

Ask most people to name things associated with Russia then vodka and/ or alcohol are going to be high up on that list. This isn’t helped by those who remember Boris Yeltsin ‘leading by example’ as president, which included him standing outside the White House in his underwear trying to hail a cab to go for a pizza! So, I thought I’d take a look at whether this stereotype was fair or not.

refreshing...