Publications

Every time I hear a discussion about the Battle of Stalingrad (which ended on February 2, 1943), I recall two stories, or rather the slips of my grandfather’s tongue. The first time I provoked him by my audacity. When I got another A at the lesson of history in the fourth grade, I decided to “educate” my grandpa regarding the Stalingrad battle. He replied: “Heroic pioneers, you say? I don’t know anything about them but we had nothing to eat for weeks. We did not have enough strength even to shoot a horse. One day one horse got behind the wagon train and we were so cold and hungry that we couldn’t even hit...

The Russian Ministry of Culture reported on the results of inspection in the Borodino Field. Using the bureaucratic language, “no new objects of unlawful construction” were detected in spite of media investigations. If there is no cover-up (and it’s difficult not use such a caveat) this is partly encouraging, given that the houses which have already been built on the territory of the war history reserve are not likely to disappear before the 200th jubilee of the Borodino Battle by virtue of complexity and long duration of legal proceedings leading to the demolition of the illegal development. What is going on in the...

In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Russkiy Mir Foundation Director Vyacheslav Nikonov talks about the role and objectives of Russkiy Mir in the formation of Russia’s image and the development of national culture. – To what extent is Russkiy Mir concerned about the image of our country? – The task of forming and correcting the country’s image is a task for the entire state and a large number of organizations. We do not have a special focus on PR. The Foundation was created four years ago as a nongovernmental center for the popularization of the Russian language and support of programs for its study abroad....

We are living in a period of radical change in the global economy. Technology is being modernized faster than ever before. Much of what is routine to us today looked like science fiction 15 to 20 years ago. The struggle for global leadership has become more acute than ever before, and we see countries whose standing seemed rock solid giving way to those countries that were looked down on only yesterday. The threat of man-made catastrophes and environmental disasters is greater than ever. But human opportunities have never been greater either. And it is those who make the fullest use of these opportunities that will be the winners. In these...

One can certainly stand still and listen at his or her leisure. Others may even miss it altogether, absorbed with the “urban fuss and traffic flows.” Still others may not only listen but count all the strikes… Various calendars are now available, including the Orthodox calendar of bell chime! Thus on a weekday a bell at the belfry is to be clanged 40 times – 10 minutes before the morning liturgy and then some peal should be rung. Bell music artists see nothing wrong in this practice. A light peal of bells after a worship service. The same procedure is repeated before the evening liturgy. On big holidays, however, a...

On Washerwoman Bridge, where you and I stood like two hands of a midnight clock embracing, soon to part, not for a day but for all days – this morning on our bridge a narcissistic fisherman, forgetting his cork float, stares goggle-eyed at his unsteady river image. … So let him gaze into our waters, calmly, at himself, and even come to know himself.  The river is his by right today.  It's like a house in which new tenants have set up a mirror but have not yet moved in. *These lines are to be found in many anthologies of Joseph Brodsky’s poetry. And above this verse we find the initials F.W., the initials of Faith...