Raw Anti-Putin punk from Nizhny Novgorod / Нижний Новгород. Loosely based on ‘Maggie’ by The Exploited.

An interview becomes legendary when it gets its own page on Wikipedia. On February 6, 2024, Tucker Carlson spoke with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The report (127 minutes) offers a good, or at least broad, opportunity to hear the Russian perspective on the war against Ukraine.

And then it became war. Or should we say began the special military operation. On February 24 2022 Russian troops entered Ukraine. It was allowed neither war nor invasion be called, but it was akin to both.

Of all the Russian holidays and traditional days, and there are many, New Year or Novy God is perhaps the most important. Also, a holiday of at least two days: it starts on 12/31, with Christmas, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, All Rolled Into One (The New York Times, 2018).

‘The man we all know: Putin. Does that name actually mean something?’ A question from an interview on FunX with Ellen Rutten, in celebration of Russian Language Day (June 6) 2019.

Russia doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to LGBT rights and acceptance. However, it’s not impossible or illegal to live your life with any orientation there. What is banned (since 2013) is propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships ( Wikipedia).

From earlier (2017) and corona-free, here’s an analysis by Anna Cher (Russian from the Heart) of a short excerpt from a TV interview. Putin talks about social media and the common practice of operating under a pseudonym.

Whatever your opinion may be of Russia’s president, his language is excellent material for learning. He expresses himself clearly, but with sentences that are not simple or impoverished — something not all presidents manage, even in their own language. While the language isn’t always easy and may not be ideal for beginners, there are subtitles and explanations available, and it’s about more than just language alone.

Владимир Владимирович Путин is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on October 7, 1952, президент (= president) since Boris Yeltsin stepped down with this speech on December 31, 1999. For the entire 21st century, Putin has been босс or the boss, even when Medvedev was officially in charge for a short time.