🤩 August is the peak of lotus blooming in Russia. It can be seen in the Volga delta in the Astrakhan Region, the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain near Volgograd and the lakes of Primorsky Krai. This year, because of the abnormal heat in the Far East, the lotuses bloomed almost a month earlier, but now the season is in full swing across the whole country.

✨ The lotus is a rare plant listed in the Red Data Book, so picking it is strictly forbidden. In Primorye an endemic species grows — the Komarov lotus, whose age is estimated at 100 million years. In Astrakhan a festival called "Lotus Blooming" is traditionally held at this time.

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📖 The Church of the Transfiguration is the main church of the Zakharovo and Bolshiye Vyazyomy estate complex, which is part of the State Memorial Museum-Reserve of A.S. Pushkin. It was here that the poet spent his childhood, and this snow-white church with a graceful bell tower became one of the first churches he saw in his life.

☦️ Today the church is active and is organically integrated into the museum ensemble. Boris Godunov and Peter the Great once visited here, and in 1812 the troops of Kutuzov and Napoleon passed through these places.

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🤩 Pushkin is a rare example of how the legacy of one poet becomes the foundation for the literature of other countries. He reformed the Russian literary language, abandoning the cumbersome constructions of the 18th century, and gave the narrative a natural freedom.

📚 Pushkin's influence on world literature lies not in direct imitations, but in tone. Mérimée, and later Camus and even Nabokov, learned from him this cold honesty of observation and tragic irony. He showed that the Russian soul can be depicted not in a heart-rending tome, but in an elegant half-line, and that a plot can be sustained not by intrigue, but by the air between the lines.

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🪂 Festive events for Airborne Forces Day are taking place all over Russia

🇷🇺 On 2 August Russia celebrates Airborne Forces Day (VDV). The history of the holiday dates back to 1930, when a unit of 12 men was parachuted for the first time during Moscow Military District exercises near Voronezh. A wreath-laying ceremony took place in Voronezh at the monument «Voronezh — the birthplace of the VDV». Officials and law-enforcement representatives, veterans and cadets paid tribute to the fallen servicemen.

Solemn events are being held in various regions of the country. In Simferopol, Orenburg and other cities, reunions of brothers in arms and commemorative actions took place. In Sochi's «Riviera» Park, themed areas, an armament exhibition and a parachute-packing demonstration before a jump were organised for visitors.

🇧🇾🇲🇩 The celebrations also extended beyond Russia's borders. In Belarus and the Moldovan city of Bălți, marches and folk festivities were held.

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🌁 The Picturesque Bridge (Zhivopisny Most) in Krylatskoye is a unique cable-stayed structure across the Moskva River that connects the districts of Krylatskoye and Serebryany Bor. Its total length is about 1.5–1.7 kilometres, and the eight-lane roadway is suspended 30 metres above the water by 72 high-strength cables enclosed in red plastic pipes.

😁 The main architectural "highlight" of the bridge is its bright red arch structure and the glass capsule shaped like a lentil suspended beneath the arch. Initially it was planned to house a restaurant or even a civil registry office, but for now it is used as a viewing platform. For its bold and innovative design, the author of the project, the architect, was awarded the prestigious international Auguste Perret Prize.

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