How do the Hermitage cats live?
I wrote about them▶️here. Now you can see everything with your own eyes!

🔻Let's go down into the basements of the Winter Palace. These basements are over 200 years old. And the cats have lived here since the time of Catherine the Great.

🔻But why are they here? It's simple: the Hermitage cats protect the museum from rats and mice. Consider them to be in the palace's service. You won't find them in the museum itself, though – they have plenty of space: the basements stretch for tens of kilometers!

🔻However, each cat has its own bed and bowl, and three people care for them every day. There's a washing machine, clean bedding, and a sink – everything like home.

🔻The cats also have special doors through which they can go out for a stroll in the Hermitage courtyard.

🔻But where do all these kittens come from? Some are from Hermitage staff, but most are from buildings being redeveloped in the city center.

🔻There are 50 cats here permanently. The oldest one is currently 20 years old.

🔻Incidentally, you can also take an Hermitage cat home. To do this, you can register to view a fluffy friend on the official Hermitage website.

🔻You can also visit the basement once a year on Hermitage Cat Day, held on the last Saturday of May. Entry is free, so be prepared for a long queue. It's usually open from 12:00 to 17:00.

❓️Would you like to take an Hermitage cat home?

Video: Guide Sergey Leonidov

#brief_and_interesting
#StPetersburg
#just_cats

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👋Бодрого утра, товарищи!
TGIF!

Who's survived this week? Tap❤️!

#just_cats
#NonLinguisticPost

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🐱Russian is rich with vibrant, often humorous, idioms, and one that frequently puzzles language learners is:

• Тянуть кота за хвост (imperf.)
[ti-nut' ka-ta za khvost]
SLT: To pull a cat by its tail

Meaning:
Thankfully, its meaning is purely metaphorical and has nothing to do with harming felines! It means:
- To procrastinate
- To drag one's feet
- To prolong a task unnecessarily
- To dilly-dally

Example:

• Хватит тянуть кота за хвост! Заканчивай этот проект!
Stop dragging your feet! Finish this project!

❓️Are there similar idioms in your native language?

🇩🇪 ...
🇫🇷 Se faire tirer l'oreille


See also:
▶️Тянуть за язык

🎧🗣👇

#phraseology
#spoken_Russian
#useful_vocabulary

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The Battle of Poltava is a victory of Russian weapons.

🔻On this day, June 27, 1709, the Russian military council, headed by Peter I (Peter Alekseevich Romanov), decides to give the Swedish army a general battle near Poltava. 1.5 weeks after that, the Russian Army will inflict a resounding defeat on the army of Charles 12.

🔻The elite Swedish army will simply cease to exist. At the end of July, Peter the Great, after the victory at Poltava, will triumphantly enter Russian Kiev.

🔻There are only 12 years left before Russia acquires the status of an empire.

Video: История.рф

#brief_and_interesting
#Kulibin_and_the_Red_Army

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The world's only and northernmost floating nuclear power plant!

🔻 Akademik Lomonosov FNPP in Pevek celebrates its anniversary 5 years since its commissioning. During this time, his KLT-40C reactor has generated more than 900 million kWh of electricity, almost 300 thou. Gcal of heat and has become the basis for the energy stability of Chukotka

🔻The FNPP has proven its environmental and radiation safety. Monitoring is carried out annually at the station, which records an increase in the number of aquatic plants and animals, and a decrease in the natural radiation background

🔻 The station's capacity is enough for a city with a population of 100000 people The operation of the FNPP turned out to be successful and impressive. Academician Lomonosov became the "father" of a family of FNPP, which are currently being mass-produced by the Iceberg CDB

Electricity is everywhere!
Warmth for the north, cold water for the south!

S.A.E.C Rosatom

#brief_and_interesting
#Kulibin_and_the_Red_Army

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Как правильно благодарить жену за вкусный ужин:
- Это лучшее, что я ел в своей жизни!
How to properly thank your wife for a delicious dinner:
- This is the best thing I've ever eaten in my life!

▶️Благодарить

😉Не благодарите!

#lifehack
#useful_vocabulary

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- Как переводится на английский 'окрошка'?
- Oh, baby!
- How do you translate 'Okroshka' into English?
- Oh, baby!

• Окрошка (femin.noun)
[a-krosh-ka]
Okroshka

🔻It's the name of a specific dish, a popular cold Russian soup.

🔻However, the joke plays on a phonetic breakdown and a double meaning in Russian:

Окрошка = О (an interjection)+ крошка (а bread crumb or a sweetheart/baby!)

🔻In reality, the word окрошка originates from the verb крошить, meaning 'to chop into small pieces' or 'to finely dice'.

#memes
#useful_vocabulary
#just_a_joke

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Traditional Russian Okroshka: A Cold Summer Soup

🍲Okroshka is a refreshing, savory cold soup perfect for hot days.

Ingredients:

☆Chilled Bread Kvass (or Kefir+sparkling water)
☆Cooked Sausage ("Doktorskaya" sausage) or cooked beef/chicken
☆ Hard-boiled Eggs
☆ Fresh Cucumbers
☆ Radishes
☆ Boiled Potatoes
☆ Fresh Dill
☆ Green Onions
☆ Sour Cream
☆ Dijon Mustard (optional)
☆ Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Dice all cooked and raw solid ingredients (sausage/meat, eggs, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes) into small, even pieces.
2. Finely chop the fresh dill and green onions.
3. Place all diced ingredients and chopped herbs into a large bowl or individual serving bowls.
4. Stir in a dollop of sour cream, a small amount of mustard (if using), and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Pour in the chilled bread kvass over the mixture.
6. Mix gently. Serve immediately.

😋Enjoy your meal!

Video: Domanski

#Russian_cuisine

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🥳 Today is:

• Счастливый день сердечных объятий!
Happy Heartfelt Hugs Day!

😉You know who to send it to.

#holidays

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😉Okroshka Special Recipe for the Weekend:

Mix together:
☆ shrimp,
☆ cucumber,
☆ avocado,
☆ some radish,
☆ boiled potatoes,
☆ eggs.

🔻Don't forget to add greens (herbs) and sour cream.

🍾🥂Pour in prosecco and ayran, half and half, and it's all done!

❓️Would you dare😉?

▶️Traditional recipe of okroshka

Отличных выходных, товарищи! Всех обняла!

#just_a_joke

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🫨How Orenburg by night really scared a foreigner.

#around_Russia

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👋Приветствую!

Is there even a point in waking up to this cruel world on Monday?

❤️Лёгкого понедельника, товарищи!

#Monday
#NonLinguisticPost

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The North–South International Transport Corridor (ITC), will Iran become a key trading point in the Middle East?  

🔻The implementation of the Rusian-Iran MTK North–South project began in the 2000s, but the project received a significant boost after the accident on the Suez Canal in 2021.

🔻The length of the North–South railway from St. Petersburg to the Indian port of Mumbai is about 7200 km. Within the framework of the project, three branches are being created: western, eastern, and trans-Caspian. The branches converge at ports in southern Iran Bandar Abbas, Chabahar from where goods go and/or arrive in India, the Persian Gulf countries, East Africa, Europe.

🔻In the future, Russian and Chinese projects can strengthen Iran's position in the Middle East, economically and geopolitically. In 2022, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mohber suggested that the development of transit routes through the country could generate more revenue than oil exports.

Source: ИИМР

#news
#global_trade

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• Как ни в чём не бывало
[kak ni f chom ni by-va-la]
SLT: As if in nothing not been / As if nothing had happened.

Meaning:

This expression, using the colloquial word быва‌ть (быть = to be/ to happen), means without any unpleasant consequences, or completely disregarding what happened and pretending that nothing occurred/happened.

Example:

• В России русские могут выпустить пар и как ни в чём не бывало продолжить путь вместе.
In Russia, Russians can let off steam and then carry on together as if nothing had happened.

🎧🗣👇

#phraseology
#spoken_Russian

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