The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word Gulag originally referred only to the division of the Soviet secret police that was in charge of running the forced labor camps from the 1930s to the early 1950s during Joseph Stalin‘s rule, but in English literature the term is popularly used for the system of forced labor throughout the Soviet era. The abbreviation GULAG stands for “Main Directorate of Correctional Labour Camps“, but the full official name of the agency changed several times. read more…
The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (de facto until 1915) in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden. Most Jews were still excluded from residency in a number of cities within the Pale as well. A few Jews were allowed to live outside the area, including those with university education, the ennobled, members of the most affluent of the merchant guilds and particular artisans, some military personnel and some services associated with them, including their families, and sometimes their servants. Pale is an archaic term meaning an enclosed area. read more…
Chicken Kiev, also known as chicken à la Kyiv, is a dish made of chickenfillet pounded and rolled around cold butter, then coated with egg and bread crumbs, and either fried or baked. Since fillets are often referred to as suprêmes in professional cookery, the dish is also called “suprême de volaille à la Kiev”. Stuffed chicken breast is generally known in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines as côtelette de volaille. Though it has disputed origins, the dish is particularly popular in the post-Soviet states, as well as in several other countries of the former Eastern Bloc, and in the English-speaking world. read more…
The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces (Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ) is a lavish Russian Patriarchalcathedral in honour of the Resurrection of Christ and “dedicated to the 75th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, as well as the military feats of the Russian people in all wars”, built in the Patriot Park in Kubinka, Odintsovsky District, Moscow Oblast. It is quite unbelievable that the devil worshipers of the fascist Putin regime give themselves a Christian veneer, even though it is crystal clear that Putin’s state terrorists, mass murderers, mass rapists, war criminals and child molesters worship only one thing: the devil himself and his profoundly evil representative on earth, dictator Vladimir Putin. This is a clear case of blasphemy in which even the Patriarch takes part. read more…
Rublevka or Rublyovka is the unofficial name of a prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow, Russia, located along Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway, Podushkinskoe, 1st Uspenskoe and 2nd Uspenskoe highways. There is no official administrative unit called “Rublyovka”, but this name has become popular in society and in mass media. The area features good ecology and rather clear air in comparison to Moscow and the rest of its suburbs. Many Russian government officials and successful businesspeople reside in the gated communities of Rublevka. Real-estate prices there are among the highest in the world. The New York Times called it “home to the sprawling villas of Russia’s ruling class”. read more…
