Windows to Russia

Just what Sveta and I have waited for. Now Sveta can travel to Turkey visa free. It was just officially announced that Russians will be able to travel to Turkey visa-free as of the 16th of April, 2011… This is according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. It seems that a new Russian-Turkish agreement is dueContinue reading Turkey is Visa Free For Russia…

Russia employs Arctic brigade to defend oil and gas reserves Russia is setting up a special motorized infantry brigade of troops ready to fight in the Arctic as tensions over the region’s allegedly vast oil and gas wealth reserves grow. The troops will be based in the far northern town of Pechenga on Russia’s KolaContinue reading Russia’s Kola Peninsula Close to the Norwegian / Finnish Borders Will be Combat-Ready…

Russia has raised social pensions in Russia by 10% as of today (April/01/2011).  They will now be reconfigured  once a year in Russia, rather than every two years, as it was in the past. The amendment to the pension law was approved by Russia’s parliament and signed into law by the Russian President on theContinue reading Not A Lot, But Russia Raised Social Pensions by 10%…

Paradise Lost?By Dmitry Babich Although the totalitarian Soviet education system barred questioning or criticism, it nonetheless produced some of the greatest scientists and performers in Russian history. Windows to Russia!

Everywhere I go in Russia. I see a Soviet past that is missed by more than just a few people.. That is what I was thinking this morning over coffee. That thought came from when Sveta and I the other night visited some friends. It was a typical visit to a Russian and that meansContinue reading Russia’s “Good ol’ Days” Past…

Gorby 80: Mikhail Gorbachev’s 80th birthday gala in London… (In London?) The star-studded charity concert at Royal Albert Hall for the last leader of the Soviet Union – Gorby! Given for his 80th birthday, where guests included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lech Walesa, Kevin Spacey, Sharon Stone and many many more famous… Gorbachev, the so-called “architect ofContinue reading Mikhail Gorbachev’s 80th birthday – Held in London…

Moscow police have said they will not allow radical opposition leader Eduard Limonov to stage a banned anti-Kremlin rally on Triumfalnaya Square on Thursday. Limonov, who has faced off with fellow activists over the Strategy 31 cause, was denied approval even as Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, was given the go-ahead forContinue reading Moscow police say Limonov rally out of question

On April 12, 2011, Russia and the world will mark the 50th anniversary of the historic flight of Yury Gagarin, the first man in space. Yury Gagarin was born March 9, 1934 in Klushino, a village in the Gzhatsk (now Gagarin) District of Russia’s Smolensk Region. His parents, Alexei and Anna Gagarin, came from localContinue reading Yury Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union: Biography

Unbelievable – we have followed this for what seems like years now. This is big news in Russia and I hope it helps the situation. It has been a long process and I know it means a huge change in how America handles adoptions with Russia. There are a lot of Russian children that areContinue reading Russia, America Conclude Treaty on Adoption…

A number of HIV infected people in the Moscow Region rose by 64.5% in January and February in comparison to the same period in 2010, Russia’s sanitary watchdog said on Wednesday. The Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare said currently the number of the HIV infected people in the Moscow RegionContinue reading HIV on rise in Moscow Region by over 60% in Jan.-Feb. y-o-y