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.

Tulsky Pryanik/ Тульский пряник

A Tulsky pryanik is one of those things that Russians appear to think that everyone abroad knows about Russia and buys as a souvenir... like vodka and Russian dolls. It might be true for the latter two, but I hadn't heard of this cake until after leaving 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.

The good news

The good news is that the Moscow Times reports that the suicide rate is the Russian capital is falling.

 The bad news is that...

If you can't do it right...

...don't do it at all.

The president has faced a lot of criticism recently...

Crisis? What Crisis? (part 2)

I wrote about some Russians' reactions to the Rouble's fall a few weeks back.

Had some more feedback...

Competition time

Saw this beauty on a Russian social network...

Can you tell what it is yet?