... large-scale "January Thunderstorm" military operation took place on the Leningrad Front near the village of Porozhki. About 300 professional reenactment aficionados portrayed the successful attack of the Red Army against Nazi troops. On Friday, memorial ceremonies will begin at 9:30 a.m., when city residents will lay flowers by the board at 14 Nevsky Prospekt that warns citizens to shelter on the other side of the street during artillery bombing. Later that day, flowers will be laid at the...

... this space, this season marks the 20th anniversary since I began reporting on theater for The Moscow Times and its precursor, The Moscow Guardian. That event has twice sent me to my back pages to recall bits and pieces of ancient history – my memories of my first review for the Moscow Guardian and some thoughts on the nature of Moscow theater in the early 1990s prompted by an early Moscow Times review of a show called “The Gamblers – 21st Century.” Today I again return to...

Opening a can of pungent preserved meat may bring back less than fond memories from childhood for some, but for one Moscow restaurant it is the basis for a new menu. Opening a can of pungent preserved meat may bring back less than fond memories from childhood for some, but for one Moscow restaurant...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Some 300 opposition activists staged a rare rally Saturday to protest recent elections and the violent suppression of oil workers. Hours later, speakers at the rally were handed jail sentences for holding the unsanctioned gathering. Bulat Abilov, co-chairman of the All-National Social Democratic Party, or OSDP, said such rallies would be held once a month. A court later sentenced Abilov and OSDP deputy chairman Amirzhan Kosanov to 15 and 18 days in jail, respectively. Before...

Russians joined the world Sunday in mourning the death of singer and actress Whitney Houston, who passed away suddenly at the age of 48. Russians joined the world Sunday in mourning the death of singer and actress Whitney Houston, who passed away suddenly at the age of 48. Houston, who was in Los Angeles to attend a pre-Grammy Award gala, was found dead Saturday in her room at the Beverly Hills hotel. Police said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the...

In celebration of the 253rd birthday of Robert Burns, Scottish Muscovites and those with Celtic longings will attend the St. Andrew Society's Burns Supper at the Marriott Royal Aurora on Saturday. In celebration of the 253rd birthday of Robert Burns, Scottish Muscovites and those with Celtic longings will attend the St. Andrew Society's Burns Supper at the Marriott Royal Aurora on Saturday. A farmer's son from South Ayrshire, Burns was born Jan. 25, 1759, and...

Cran the Intern looked at me askance. "What did you say?" she asked. Cran the Intern looked at me askance. "What did you say?" she asked. "I said, get me Kermit. And Miss Piggy" One eye roll later, she rang up Disney and asked about an interview with The Muppets. They should be coming here for the premiere of the new Muppets movie in April, but Disney, for reasons hard to fathom, is not stumping up a private jet for the two. Back in the old days...

... that up to 50,000 Chechens currently live there. Human rights activists say most of them should fear for their safety if they return because many fought on the side of the rebels, who are persecuted by Kadyrov to this day. Alexander Cherkasov of the Memorial human rights organization expressed dismay at the trip. "To say the situation is safe is rather strange. It strikes me as schizophrenic," he said. Cherkasov pointed to the murder trial of Chechen refugee Umar Israilov, who was gunned...

... supervisory council would make sure that the money was spent in a transparent manner. The supervisory council will include Alexeyeva; Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the opposition-minded Novaya Gazeta newspaper; and a representative of human rights group Memorial. Notably, Monday's news conference was covered by about 40 reporters and 14 cameras, including the three national state television channels, which in recent years have rarely mentioned the nonparliamentary opposition in their broadcasts. State...

Linda Bortoletto spent two months with eight reindeer herders, two cooks, and 2,000 reindeer in a stunning landscape ringed by rivers and mountains. There are a fair number of people who have traveled to Kamchatka or Alaska. There are few who have reached the Aleutian Islands, and fewer still who have passed months with nomadic reindeer herders or biked 1,200 kilometers from Anchorage to Haines, but in one season last year, Linda Bortoletto did all of that — and more. By foot, plane, boat...

Kazakhstan shouldn't use an official investigation into recent violence to crack down on opposition politicians and government critics. ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan shouldn't use an official investigation into recent violence to crack down on opposition politicians and government critics, international rights groups said Wednesday. New York-based Human Rights Watch said this week's arrest of activists and journalists suggests authorities want to silence their...

Last month's large anti-government protests were triggered in part by President Dmitry Medvedev's failure to live up to his words, the founder of the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement said in a rare interview published Tuesday. Last month's large anti-government protests were triggered in part by President Dmitry Medvedev's failure to live up to his words, the founder of the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement said in a rare interview published Tuesday. "Much...

Peter Hufschmied was the engineer charged with diverting runoff water from a rail tunnel under the Bernese Alps when he remembered a 1995 trip to Moscow's Bolshoi Theater and his first bite of caviar. Maybe the warm geothermal streams could feed Switzerland's first sturgeon farm, producing Alpine caviar to rival Russian brands that dominate the market. Peter Hufschmied was the engineer charged with diverting runoff water from a rail tunnel under...

The legendary St. Petersburg cafe Stray Dog, once the haunt of Silver Age writers such as Vladimir Mayakovsky and Anna Akhmatova, is celebrating its centenary with a series of cultural events. ST. PETERSBURG — The legendary St. Petersburg cafe Stray Dog, once the haunt of Silver Age writers such as Vladimir Mayakovsky and Anna Akhmatova, is celebrating its centenary with a series of cultural events. Opened on the cusp of 1911 and 1912, the Stray Dog cafe became...

... author of some stories published in the popular press at the end of the 19th century and is often mentioned as one of Chekhov's many love interests. There are hefty scholarly debates about how close Avilova really was to Chekhov and how reliable her memories are of what transpired between them. Melnikov, who based his screenplay on writings by Avilova, Chekhov and the writer Ivan Bunin, isn't the least interested in any of that. He immediately waves off anyone's attempt to pin him down to historical...

... empire that includes the New Jersey Nets basketball team in the United States. "Stability at any price is no longer acceptable for Russians." But Prokhorov made clear that he considers revolution equally unacceptable for a country with grim memories of a century of hardship, war and upheaval starting with the 1917 Revolution, instead calling for "very fast evolution." "I am against any revolution because I know the history of Russia. Every time we have revolution, it was a...

... and perfectly formed Palace Square, where the curved facade of the Admiralty faces the Winter Palace (now housing the Hermitage Museum). You could also get the chance to take a small diversion to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, an elaborate memorial church built on the spot Tsar Alexander II was killed by anarchists in an explosion in 1881. What to do if you have two days If in season, definitely see a ballet or opera at the Mariinsky or Mikhailovsky theaters (see interview). But you don't...