Russian Stereotypes

Stereotypes are everywhere. Here are some example stereotypes about Russians.

- Russians love Vodka.
- Russians are anti-laughter (Putin)
-All Russians wear Ushankas (fur hats)
-All Russians are bad drivers

Russian Athletes Under Investigation for 2016 Olympics

Recently, after allegations that professional Russian athletes have been using performance-enhancing drugs, Russia's sports programs have been put under investigation for the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics.  The Russian sports authorities are suspected of sponsoring a nation-wide doping program.  So far, the entire Track & Field team has been put under suspension for the upcoming 2016 Olympics. However, Russia is doing all they can to make changes to earn back their privilege of going to Rio de Janeiro by cracking down on the athletes, coaches, and officials who have been participating in this doping program. Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko has taken up responsibility in making sure that all Russian professional athletes stop taking the performance enhancing drugs.  His hope is that in a few months, they can present themselves to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to show they are capable of following IAAF rules and have their competitive status back for the 2016 Summer Olympics.    

Climate Change and U.S. - Russia Relations

The arctic region of the world is melting due to climate change. An area that has been predominantly frozen over for as long as anyone can remember, is now a sea that ships can navigate through. The United Staes Navy has recently been scrambling to catch up with countries prodding around with large navy ships. China and of course, Russia, have been sending their navies to explore this area significantly and officially "snoop around'. We have now sent some ships up to this area, formerly protected by the ice, to snoop on the folks that are snooping. This is also really freaking NATO out, cuz we all know how friendly those two are. Who knew climate change would cause so many problems?!?!?!

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/08/u-s-adds-spy-intelligence-in-arctic-due-to-russian-chinese-ships/

Click the link above to learn more about sneaky Russian ships :)

Russia hits 206 ISIS targets in Syria after confirming bomb downed passenger plane over Sinai

Russia has recently increased the number of sorties flown in Syria by the RuAF. After the confirmation that last months downing of a commercial jet was indeed caused by a bomb, Russia has escalated its intervention in Syria Bringing in Strategic bombers such as Tu-22m3s, Tu-95MCs, and TU-160s. It was also the first time Russia used in combat a new air-to-surface missile, KR Kh 101/102, which has been in service since 2012 but was not shown in public before. Many of these bombers being used were made in the early 80s and before. 

Katyn Massacre

In 1940, Soviet NKVD (secret police) agents massacred 22,000 Polish citizens, including military officers, scholars, and professionals. In the Katyn forest, 4,400 were massacred. Initially, the USSR blamed this tragedy on Nazi Germany. Special commissions were established to cover up the crime. In the end, those 'investigating' the massacre were the same men who had committed the original crime. These men originally used German pistols in anticipation of having to disguise their guilt. When the NKVD went back to the forest, the bodies were removed from their mass graves and false documents were planted on the victims in preparation for further investigation. It took many years of both the USSR and Germany rejecting all accusations of guilt before the truth was finally revealed during Gorbachev's glasnost. Still, not all of the documents were released and it took many years for the Polish to piece together these tragic events.

The Ural Mountains

One of Russia's major geographical features is the Ural mountain range. The range runs from the Arctic Ocean down to Kazakhstan and is considered to be natural division between Europe and Asia. "Ural" also refers to the region famous for the presence of gems and other stones. Mining in this also includes copper, iron, gold, platinum, silver, nickel, and other various metals.

In addition to the natural resources found in this area, there are also a variety of people groups inhabiting the area. One website (peoplegroups.org <- very original name), claims there are 42 people groups in this region.

Also, there was a meteor that hit in 2013.

Фёдор Достое́вский

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is an acclaimed Russian writer and regarded as one of the best not only in Russian culture, but also internationally. After experiencing traumatic events in his life such as imprisonment, exile, and most importantly the mock execution ordered by Tsar Nicholas I, he wrote about human weakness and the struggle to fit in with society. His influence for writing came from no other than Pushkin, arguably the largest name in Russian literature. Notable works include Idiot, Notes From the Underground, and Crime and Punishment. 

Come and See

Come and See is a soviet anti-war film from 1985. It takes place in 1943 Belarus and follows a young boy trying to survive as part of a group of Belarusian partisans fighting the German occupation. At first the young boy is excited about joining the cause against the nazis, but he soon finds out about the harsh realities of war, and especially the atrocities done by the Nazis. Many of the scenes of this movie, although accurate, are truly vile and will put you in a state of shock. The director was truly trying to portray the evil deeds done by the Nazis in the war against the Eastern European countries. Although hard to watch, this remains one of my all time favorite movies. The title refers to the beginning of several sentences in the Book of Revelations, which tell you to look upon the destruction brought upon by the four horsemen of the aocolypse.

Kazimir Malevich

Kazimir Malevich was a notable artist born in Kiev when it was still part of the Russian Empire in 1878. He was one of the first artists to move towards Suprematism. Suprematism focuses on shapes and limited colors. Many of these suprematism works were banned in the USSR because the Stalin regime considered them to be too bourgeois. Two of his most famous paintings are White on White and Black Square. White on white is now located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and Black Square, his magnum opus, is located in Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

          This popular Russian board game is easy to master and can be played with two to four players. There are nine levels of the playing field, and the first player to cross the finish line wins!!! This is accomplished by each player's "bug's" legs being moved toward victory.

           Each bug runs its own track, which is divided into sections, and each bug will have a "body" and six legs. Each side of the track has spaces for the bug's legs. Players are not allowed to lose legs, meaning that the legs must be connected at least diagonally at all times.

           The game begins with the bugs being placed at their start positions, which would be the first three sections of the track.

            Players move their bugs by using special cards. Each special card allows the player to move two or three of its bug's legs. At the beginning of each round players draw two cards from the card stack. If it's permitted, players will move the legs specified by the cards forward. The bug's body can be moved forward at any time during the turn, so long as it doesn't cause the bug to lose a leg.

            A round is completed when all of the players have played their current cards. After a round finishes, players draw a new set of cards and continue playing. The game is over when one bug's body has completely passed the finish line, which is located at the last three track sections.

This post is for Elementary Russian I: Unit 4