Publications
Director of Munich-based Center of Domestic Politics (FRG) Heribert Prantl explains why former Russian Germans have started returning to Russia and what the Russian and German migration policies have in common – in his interview for the Russkiy Mir portal.– Mr Prantl, why are former Russian Germans returning from Germany to Russia, even if not en masse?– I’d like to underline straight away that we are dealing with individual stories rather than a trend. On the contrary: the German authorities are restricting and narrowing the flows of “late migrants” (the name for former Russian Germans used in Germany)...
On July 22, 1240, Novgorod Prince Alexander Yaroslavich smashed the Swedish force on the spit of rivers Neva and Izhora. People gave this battle the name of Nevskaya and started calling Alexander nothing less than his now famous Prince Alexander Nevsky!It’s no secret that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of our nation is the tendency to self-humiliation, based on inherited modesty. It drives us in our attempts to simplify, belittle and shade whatever was done by our great ancestors, then to compare, juxtapose and parallel their exploits with the feats of other nations, and eventually to remember the great deeds of other...
The XXII Olympic Games opened in Moscow on July 19, 1980. Then global politics interfered with sports. After Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan a number of Western nations decided to boycott the Moscow Olympiad and not to send their athletes to Russia.In the lack of main competitors from the US and leading European nations the Soviet national team looked much stronger than others and won 195 medals, including 80 gold medals.That Olympiad left a multitude of diverse impressions, sensations and… aftertastes. For the first time millions of Soviet people tasted Cola drinks and Finnish cervelat prepackaged into neat plastic bags. Moscow was...
July 17, 1942, 70 years ago today, saw the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad – one of the epic and decisive battles in the Great Patriotic War. It would end on February 2, 1943, with capitulation of the entrapped northern German army that had already been broken up by that time.Let’s try to imagine the scale of the Battle of Stalingrad: fighting went on for six and a half months. During this time our forces survived a defeat, a retreat to the Volga, the most difficult defense of a city lying in ruins, and a victorious offensive that ended in encircling and destruction of a strong German force. Participating in different...
The Children’s Biennale, as the brainchild of the Moscow State Contemporary Art Center is usually dubbed, this time has taken on some European gloss. While in the past years its expositions resembled an anarchic revue sketch show where works were struggling for their place under the sun, now artists enjoy the incredibly vast spaces of CHA (Central House of Artist), with three-meter spacing between the exhibits is left. The works are placed inside an architectural installation of unmatched beauty, with the walls being coated with self-colored chipboards. The choice of this material should probably be perceived as a metaphor of low...
Foreign businessmen of the Russian descent will gather in Moscow for an International Forum of Compatriots, which will be held for the first time this October. The authorities will summon ex-Russian citizens to turn their eyes homeward and contribute to its economy and to improving its image abroad.“Moscow and Russia have long been supporting their compatriots abroad and may rightly expect compatriots to share something with their home city,” said Director of Moscow’s Foreign Economic and International Relations Department, Sergey Cheremin. “They will probably bless Moscow with their creative thinking, contacts,...
