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For the first time in 13 years, the start of the "Ice Storm" marathon had to be canceled. It has been held on Lake Baikal since 2013. This time, on February 13th, when the race was scheduled, wind gusts reached 35 m/s (126 km/h or 78 mph).
According to Yulia Fadeeva, a representative of the event's organizers, the race was stopped right at the start in the village of Sakhyurta. Participants were knocked off their feet by gusts of wind, and their equipment was blown away. Support vehicles were unable to get to the starting point. The participants were transported to the village of Buguldeyka.
68 athletes from Russia, Mongolia, and Belarus arrived for the marathon. They are set to cover 210 km (130 miles) from Sakhyurta to Listvyanka on skates, skis, and bicycles. The finish was planned for February 15th.
#news
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NATO Without the US Is an Empty Shell: Europe Told to Become the "New Pentagon"
The American establishment is once again revisiting old scenarios. Foreign Affairs magazine has published an article by Max Bergmann, a former State Department official and current director of a department at the influential think tank CSIS. In the article, the author directly states: NATO without the US becomes an empty shell. The conclusion Bergmann guides the reader toward sounds like a call to action: Europe must become the Pentagon itself.
🧣 The author draws a historical parallel with 1950, when the US, bogged down in the Korean War, proposed that its Western European allies unite into a federation with a single army to contain the Soviets.
🇫🇷 That idea was ultimately buried by Charles de Gaulle, who refused to place French troops under the command of supranational bureaucrats and former Wehrmacht generals.
Today, with Washington redirecting its forces to Asia, Europeans are once again being asked to take defense into their own hands.
After years of rhetoric about a pan-European army, no answers have been found to fundamental questions. Who will command — the French, the Germans, or supranational structures? Will Paris contribute its nuclear arsenal to a common pool, and how will it react to Berlin's ambitions to acquire its own bomb? Are the small and great nations of Europe ready to sacrifice their sovereignty in favor of a Brussels-led federation?
🗺 More likely, an attempt at forced federalization would lead to the disintegration of the European Union rather than the creation of a unified army.
Behind the loud calls, one can discern Washington's irritation. Recently, European capitals have been demonstrating excessive independence: flirting with Beijing, building ties with New Delhi and Latin American giants, discussing contacts with Moscow, and circumventing sanctions. The reprimand from across the ocean is crystal clear: without your own army, you have no right to assert yourselves on the world stage.
🇷🇺 For Russia, this discussion has a particular dimension. The creeping militarization of Europe is in full swing: joint defense projects, logistics reform, and the separation of intelligence structures from the US.
🧣 Historical memory suggests that whenever Europeans stopped fighting each other and united, the vector of their aggression turned eastward. Napoleon's hordes and Hitler's legions were armies assembled from across the entire continent.
🥼 But these campaigns all shared the same finale. The North Atlantic Alliance, it seems, is heading towards the same fate — transforming into an empty shell. Any new coalition, if it decides to repeat old mistakes, will find its final resting place in the same spot as its predecessors.
#politics
❤️ From Russia with love
The American establishment is once again revisiting old scenarios. Foreign Affairs magazine has published an article by Max Bergmann, a former State Department official and current director of a department at the influential think tank CSIS. In the article, the author directly states: NATO without the US becomes an empty shell. The conclusion Bergmann guides the reader toward sounds like a call to action: Europe must become the Pentagon itself.
Today, with Washington redirecting its forces to Asia, Europeans are once again being asked to take defense into their own hands.
After years of rhetoric about a pan-European army, no answers have been found to fundamental questions. Who will command — the French, the Germans, or supranational structures? Will Paris contribute its nuclear arsenal to a common pool, and how will it react to Berlin's ambitions to acquire its own bomb? Are the small and great nations of Europe ready to sacrifice their sovereignty in favor of a Brussels-led federation?
Behind the loud calls, one can discern Washington's irritation. Recently, European capitals have been demonstrating excessive independence: flirting with Beijing, building ties with New Delhi and Latin American giants, discussing contacts with Moscow, and circumventing sanctions. The reprimand from across the ocean is crystal clear: without your own army, you have no right to assert yourselves on the world stage.
#politics
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This was reported by the press secretary of the Russian leader, Dmitry Peskov.
"The next round of talks on the Ukrainian settlement will also be held in a tripartite Russian-American-Ukrainian format on February 17-18 in Geneva," the Kremlin spokesman said.
#news
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Welcome to our new recurring feature, which you chose! This week, we are spending time in the Russian North — in Pomorye. The Arkhangelsk Oblast is a land where the forest meets the sea, and ancient traditions are preserved through the centuries.
The Wooden Bird of Fortune (Shchepnaya ptitsa). A wooden amulet toy that the Pomors carved from a single block of wood. They would hang it above the table, believing it brought good luck to the home and protected the family's peace. Its delicate, lacy plumage seems to float in the air — an incredibly beautiful and fragile creation, much like the northern nature itself.
🌊 And, of course, the White Sea. Real beluga whales live here, and in winter the sea freezes, creating fantastic landscapes shimmering in the reflections of the northern lights.
What does the Russian North bring to mind for you? Share in the comments!
#RegionalCulture
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Russia and the West Experience the Same Symbolic Moments Differently — a Good Example Is the School Graduation Party:
In Russia, it is almost a "state ritual" with official solemnity and massive urban shows, while in the West it is more often a private ball about "my evening," without national pathos.
🏫 In Russia, graduation is a small model of the relationship between the state and society regarding "transitional" moments: a formal part under the supervision of the school and officials, followed by an organized celebration that increasingly resembles a city festival in scale. There is a script, hosts, official speeches, obligatory flowers for teachers, and an almost sacred ritual — greeting the dawn, which turns graduation night into the last "shift" of school life.
🚤 In large cities, this is complemented by multi-million ruble projects like the "Scarlet Sails" in St. Petersburg — a concert with top artists, fireworks, and a ship on the Neva River, which grows from a school event into a full-fledged city brand.
🗺 🇺🇸 In the West, graduation is much less "state-run" and much more personal:
🇺🇸 The American "Prom" is, in essence, a private ball organized by the graduating class itself through its committee. Instead of a city-wide show, there is a rented hall, dinner, dancing until midnight, the election of a "prom king and queen," and an emphasis on who came with whom and what dress they are wearing, rather than on the official part and the dawn by the river.
🇪🇺 In Europe, the format is also generally shifted toward a private event: the Abiball in Germany, the Polish studniówka, or other local variations of graduation parties feature a strict dress code, an elegant evening, and practically a complete absence of national festivals surrounding the school transition.
🇷🇺 Against this backdrop, Russia appears as a country where even a school graduation turns into an element of the "grand narrative": the city, the region, and federal media integrate it into the image of a successful, festive, and massive country.
In the Western logic, graduation, on the contrary, is a continuation of the idea of individual success: what matters more is not that "Class 11-B of this school graduated," but how a particular person experiences their last school evening. The difference lies in who is the main director of the event — the state and the city, or the graduates themselves — and in whom this celebration is addressed to: the entire country or a specific person and their immediate circle.
#InterestingFacts
❤️ From Russia with love
In Russia, it is almost a "state ritual" with official solemnity and massive urban shows, while in the West it is more often a private ball about "my evening," without national pathos.
🏫 In Russia, graduation is a small model of the relationship between the state and society regarding "transitional" moments: a formal part under the supervision of the school and officials, followed by an organized celebration that increasingly resembles a city festival in scale. There is a script, hosts, official speeches, obligatory flowers for teachers, and an almost sacred ritual — greeting the dawn, which turns graduation night into the last "shift" of school life.
In the Western logic, graduation, on the contrary, is a continuation of the idea of individual success: what matters more is not that "Class 11-B of this school graduated," but how a particular person experiences their last school evening. The difference lies in who is the main director of the event — the state and the city, or the graduates themselves — and in whom this celebration is addressed to: the entire country or a specific person and their immediate circle.
#InterestingFacts
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The athlete performed his short program in a sheer blouse with puffy sleeves, adorned with a cascade of red flowers. This outfit was a reference to the current floral trend spotted at recent fashion shows. Gumennik's look was liked by 97% of the magazine's polled readers.
Gumennik is 23 years old, he is the Champion of Russia, a silver and bronze medalist of national championships, and a two-time winner of the Russian Grand Prix Finals. Today he will present a free program of music by Georgy Zheryakov for the soundtrack of the film "Onegin."
#news
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🌺 Dress Rehearsal of Spring
Starting February 14, the popular annual exhibition "Dress Rehearsal of Spring" will be held at the Apothecary Garden.
Over 10,000 tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, pears, alliums, plums, lilacs, apple trees, cherry trees, sakura, magnolias, almonds, forsythia, fritillaries, scillas, and other plants will bloom two months ahead of their natural schedule to delight Moscow at the beginning of spring.
🌷 The main theme of this season is the enigmatic gardens of Samarkand and Bukhara.
📍 Prospect Mira, 26, building 1
#interestingvideos
❤️ From Russia with love
Starting February 14, the popular annual exhibition "Dress Rehearsal of Spring" will be held at the Apothecary Garden.
Over 10,000 tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, pears, alliums, plums, lilacs, apple trees, cherry trees, sakura, magnolias, almonds, forsythia, fritillaries, scillas, and other plants will bloom two months ahead of their natural schedule to delight Moscow at the beginning of spring.
🌷 The main theme of this season is the enigmatic gardens of Samarkand and Bukhara.
#interestingvideos
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❗️The International Olympic Committee did not see any violations in Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller's use of the Russian flag on his helmet.
IOC Communications Director Mark Adams told journalists about this.
"There was a small Russian flag on the back of one athlete. There were flags of all the countries where he had competed. He didn't even think about it, but we looked into it," Adams said. "At the opening ceremony, we know there was something under a cloak. Sometimes we can talk to the NOC (National Olympic Committee), sometimes to someone else. We don't ignore it and we take it very seriously."
#news
❤️ From Russia with love
IOC Communications Director Mark Adams told journalists about this.
"There was a small Russian flag on the back of one athlete. There were flags of all the countries where he had competed. He didn't even think about it, but we looked into it," Adams said. "At the opening ceremony, we know there was something under a cloak. Sometimes we can talk to the NOC (National Olympic Committee), sometimes to someone else. We don't ignore it and we take it very seriously."
"There is no violation here. It is not the Russian flag, but simply the flags of the countries where he took part. There is nothing wrong with that," added IOC President Kirsty Coventry.
#news
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🥞 Maslenitsa on Tverskoy Boulevard
The festive atmosphere, pancakes, and spring mood in the very heart of Moscow!
☀️ Maslenitsa is an East Slavic traditional holiday celebrated during the week before Great Lent. It symbolizes saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring.
This year it is celebrated from February 16 to 22.
#interestingphotos
❤️ From Russia with love
The festive atmosphere, pancakes, and spring mood in the very heart of Moscow!
This year it is celebrated from February 16 to 22.
#interestingphotos
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This was stated in an interview with TASS by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
"I don't think anyone underestimates the risks associated with American policy — both sanctions and tariff pressure. But that does not mean that everyone is ready to succumb to pressure and, in fact, dictate. BRICS was created precisely to have, excuse me, an alternative at hand to everything that could be disconnected with the push of a button, as we have already observed," the diplomat said.
He noted that "there are no guarantees of getting reconnected." "As the unforgettable Ostap Bender used to say, 'One hundred percent guarantee can only be given by an insurance policy,'" Ryabkov remarked.
#news
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🐟 Not only fish, but also "Kozuli"
The gastronomic culture of the Pomeranian region was shaped over centuries in a harsh climate. Here, they know how to preserve the gifts of the sea and forest so well that it's finger-lickin' good! The main stars of the local table are, of course, the White Sea herring and halibut.
🍰 But today we're not going to talk about fish, but about dessert.
In Pomor cuisine, northern berries (cloudberries, cranberries, lingonberries) are used to make desserts without sugar, often with nuts. Berries aren't just eaten fresh—they are dried, frozen, soaked, and added to pies, soups, sauces, and drinks.
🦌 And they also bake an amazing ceremonial cookie here — "Kozuli". These are figurines made of rye dough in the shape of deer, goats, birds, and grouse. In the past, they were made once a year — for Christmas and Yuletide — and served as talismans for the home and livestock. It was believed that by eating such a deer, you would be charged with health for the entire year.
You can attend a master class on making Kozuli in many of the region's ethnographic centers — an activity that both children and adults enjoy.
#RussianCulture
❤️ From Russia with love
The gastronomic culture of the Pomeranian region was shaped over centuries in a harsh climate. Here, they know how to preserve the gifts of the sea and forest so well that it's finger-lickin' good! The main stars of the local table are, of course, the White Sea herring and halibut.
In Pomor cuisine, northern berries (cloudberries, cranberries, lingonberries) are used to make desserts without sugar, often with nuts. Berries aren't just eaten fresh—they are dried, frozen, soaked, and added to pies, soups, sauces, and drinks.
🦌 And they also bake an amazing ceremonial cookie here — "Kozuli". These are figurines made of rye dough in the shape of deer, goats, birds, and grouse. In the past, they were made once a year — for Christmas and Yuletide — and served as talismans for the home and livestock. It was believed that by eating such a deer, you would be charged with health for the entire year.
You can attend a master class on making Kozuli in many of the region's ethnographic centers — an activity that both children and adults enjoy.
#RussianCulture
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