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Culture

Expat Russians in London weigh attractions of home and abroad

70 years on, the epic battle that changed world history

Novelist Mikhail Shishkin on why he won’t compromise

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Stalingrad FROM PERSONAL ARCHIVES

Emigration

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Winter Olympics Building world-class sports facilities will create Russia’s first international year-round resort

Comment & Analysis Eurosceptics, unite! Why the UK and Russia distrust European ideology

IORSH

PAGE 6

Feature Blood on the snow

Foreign experts agreed a new tone from Moscow set the mood at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum

YULIA PONOMAREVA RUSSIA NOW

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. The work seems to be going more or less to schedule. Earlier this month, JeanClaude Killy, chairman of the IOC Coordination Committee for Sochi, praised President Vladimir Putin for the progress achieved so far. “Indeed, it is hard to believe that the promises you made in Guatemala in 2007 have become a reality today,” Mr Killy told Mr Putin. “The work that has been done is truly outstanding.” During his latest inspection of Sochi Olympic facilities and construction sites, Mr Putin made it very clear that he has zero tolerance for corruption in Sochi, strongly criticising the vice-president of Russia’s Olympic Committee, Akhmed Bilalov, whose company was contracted to build a Sochi ski jump, now 20 months over-

ONLY AT RBTH.RU

Age of the robots An international robotics forum comes to Moscow WWW.RBTH.RU/22807 MIKHAIL MORDASOV_FOCUS PICTURES

The weather is perhaps the biggest challenge: in February 2014, when the world’s athletes descend on Sochi, the average temperature is likely to be a mild 7C. One day earlier this month, the weather at Sochi’s Krasnaya Polyana ski centre was the warmest in Europe at 20C, according to the weather portal Gismeteo.ru. The organisers’ solution is to make their own snow. An estimated 100,000 cubic metres (3.5 million cubic feet) of artificial snow – equivalent to a 46-metre (150ft) ice cube – will be required. Next, there is the price tag: an estimated $50bn (£33bn)

– the equivalent of building a football pitch, swimming pool, skating rink and indoor sports ground in each of Russia’s 1,100 cities and towns. Unlike other host cities of the Winter Olympics, the work involved is immense because Sochi’s infrastructure is practically being built from scratch. For comparison, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver cost $6bn. Sochi is getting a total of 14 new Olympic facilities, including stadiums, skating rinks, ice hockey arenas and alpine ski trails. This is in addition to 30 new 4-star and 5-star hotels, and 54 3-star hotels. Half of the finance is coming from private investors – mostly Russia’s richest billionaires – who are pumping up to $25bn to make the Games a success. From federal and regional budgets, the total spend so far is $13bn, according to

Aiming high: Sochi is building 14 new Olympic sports facilities, including stadiums, skating rinks, ice hockey arenas and alpine ski trails. The city expects the number of tourists to grow to 4.4 million in 2014, and be more than four million for the rest of the decade

Sochi into an international holiday resort – one capable of attracting tourists all year round. “This new infrastructure simply gives Sochi, already

due and seven times more expensive than planned. “Good job,” Mr Putin said ironically of Mr Bilalov, who a few days later quit his post. Experts say that despite the price, the Olympics should succeed in turning

Volunteers get into the Olympic spirit

SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

With the Sochi Winter Olympics due to begin in less than 12 months, there is still time

information and to apply, go to vol.sochi2014.com The Sochi Olympics have stirred up a wave of interest throughout Russia among would-be volunteers filled with the Olympic spirit and keen to be part of the Games. After filling in a detailed application form, every volunteer has to go through a round of tests: the first test

ANDREI RASKIN

– just – to apply. Although 80pc of the 25,000 volunteers have already been selected, applications by Russians and foreigners alike are still being accepted online until March 1. The competition for places is tough. Earlier this month, the total number of applications stood at 160,000 and has risen since. For more

Team Sochi: supermodel Natalia Vodianova with volunteers at London 2012

MPs under scrutiny Russia’s parliament probes politicians’ foreign assets WWW.RBTH.RU/23163

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Sport Thousands keen to be part of Games

Are you between 18 and 80, and speak fluent English and Russian? If so, you could have what it takes to be an Olympic volunteer.

PAGE 8

checks the applicant’s diligence, while the second evaluates applicants’ Englishlanguage skills. Successful applicants are then invited to a 30-minute interview to check their suitability, work experience and spoken English. Applicants with upperintermediate English have a better chance of being selected as a volunteer. Any foreigner between 18 and 80 can apply, and applicants who speak Russian and English will have an advantage. The Organising Committee pays for accommodation and meals, but volunteers have to pay for their own travel to Sochi.Volunteers will stay at a health resort CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

PRESS PHOTO

Turning Sochi into a worldclass Olympic centre will take not just man-made snow, but a disciplined approach to construction.

GETTY IMAGES/FOTOBANK

Taking the Sochi challenge

A spooky Soviet mystery is re-examined in the film The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Siberian off-road trip Russia Now blogs from an epic journey across Russia WWW.RBTH.RU/EXPEDITION_TROPHY

Russia’s big society Activists start their own e-government project WWW.RBTH.RU/22433

Politics & Society

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The Big Chill: will the US-Russia reset keep cooling? http://rbth.ru/22573

Emigration Russian expats may complain about the high cost of living in London but they find Britain’s understated charms hard to resist

It’s not perfect, but we call it home house in 2008, shortly after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy: “We were the only buyers at the time. We were walking around making these ridiculous offers, knocking tens of thousands PHOEBE TAPLIN SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW off the asking price, then one What attracts thousands of of those offers got accepted.” House prices may be highRussians to the UK each year? “Sex tourism,” jokes er than in Moscow (although Natasha Semyonova-Bate- in both cities they are“on the man. “British men are the ridiculous side”), but mortbest – and easily available!” gages are more easily availMs Semyonova came to able in Britain “You would London from Moscow 16 have to pay half the cost of years ago and started work the house up front, plus 15pc as a headhunter. She is now or 17pc interest rate on your running her own relocation mortgage in Russia,”says Mr business, capitalising on the Pinayev. “I never thought recent influx of wealthy about buying a place in Moscow… it’s a very British thing fellow Russians. Estimates vary on how to do, own the land; I’ve many hundreds of thousands picked that up here.” of Russians live in the British capital, but most are not Land of opportunity especially rich. For those with “I’d be on a better income in enough money, Chelsea and Moscow – it’s the land of Kensington have become opportunities,” Mr Pinayev prime residential areas but says.“I’d have my own comthere are plenty of Russians pany and be successful, but living in other parts of Lon- it would come with sleepless don and further afield. nights and safety inspectors Ms Semyonova lives in a asking for a bribe. So my small village in affluent conscious choice was a Buckinghamshire.“My Brit- steady professional career in ish husband dragged me London.” there when we had our secSimilarly, Ms Semyonova ond child. It was his idea of feels it is “easier to find a pulling me out of the gutter,” well-paid job in Moscow. The she says. market is still quite raw so there are plenty of opportu‘Ridiculous’ house prices nities… but the UK offers Konstantin Pinayev, from much more security and staBalashikha near Moscow, ar- bility than Russia can.” She rived seven years ago. He now also feels there are benefits lives in Islington with his of living in Britain that are wife, Natalia, and their one- less easily quantifiable.“Peoyear-old daughter, Isabelle. ple smiling in the streets – Mr Pinayev is a qualitative you can’t put a price on that.” market researcher and his LiveJournal blog Zapiski A price worth paying Emigranta (An Expat’s For parents like Darya ProNotes) attracts up to 100,000 topopova, the high prices of readers a month. He remem- child care and housing are bers buying the Islington also worth paying. Living

FROM PERSONAL ARCHIVES

British stability or the chance to make it big in Russia’s dynamic new economy? Expats weigh the pros and cons of life abroad.

Family values: mother of twins Darya Protopopova (left) praises the British mortgage system. Konstantin Pinayev (right) pays £1,500 a month in nursery fees

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Konstantin Pinayev

Natasha Semyonova

QUALITATIVE MARKET RESEARCHER

BUSINESSWOMAN, HEADHUNTER

I’d be on a better income in Moscow – it’s the land of opportunities. But my conscious choice was a steady professional career in London.

It’s easier to find a wellpaid job in Moscow. But then the UK offers much more security and stability than Russia can.

with her Italian husband and two-year-old twins in a three-bedroomed flat in Acton, west London, Ms Protopopova says London hous-

ing costs a lot but at least there is “a mortgage system you can rely on.” Mr Pinayev says that sending his one-year-old daugh-

ter Isabelle to nursery is “both fantastic and extortionately expensive… £1,500 per month if you go or not! But you can see in her face that she loves it.” Yelena Pakhomova,who has spent four years in London working for the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, is less attached to her temporary home. “I always say I work in London; I don’t say I live here.”Like many of her fellow Russians, she is renting in South Kensington and says she and most of her friends pay more than £1,000 a month for accommodation. The number of Russians in the area has had a visible ef-

fect on local commerce.There are several specialist shops and cafés in Kensington, but now other businesses are

I know it sounds like a cliché but one of the things I miss the most in London is snow catching on. “Our local florists has a special promotional offer for March 8 [International Women’s Day, a big event in Russia] with notices in Russian telling people to buy their roses,” says Ms Pakhomova.

Law Critics say proposed legislation may be intended to distract attention from other issues

Two decades after legalising homosexuality, Russia’s parliament has voted in favour of a bill to ban ‘gay propaganda among minors’.

Are Russians intolerant of homosexuality?

YULIA PONOMAREVA RUSSIA NOW

The debate about gay rights in Russia intensified as the country’s parliament pushed ahead with a bill introducing fines of 4,000 roubles (£85) to 500,000 roubles (£10,700) for“promoting homosexuality among underage youth.” The bill, which was passed by members of parliament unopposed in a first reading last month, has every chance of being given a key second reading in May. Its main sponsor, Yelena Mizulina, head of the family affairs committee of the lower house of parliament, has campaigned against“homosexual propaganda”, claiming it“has increased in scope” and “can affect children’s health and their moral and spiritual development”. In an interview with the Izvestia daily, Ms Mizulina said the government should take into account public attitudes to homosexuality.“In Russia, the public is intolerant of it,”she says. The claim is backed by opinion polls – more than 60pc of Russians say homosexuality irritates them, while 43pc describe

NATALIA MIKHAYLENKO

Russians’ attitudes towards homosexuality are rooted in Soviet times homosexuality as debauchery, and 32pc say it is a psychological disorder. The respected sociologist Igor Kon wrote that Russian attitudes towards homosexuality were rooted in Soviet times, when it was consid-

ered a mental disorder and a crime, punishable by up to seven years in jail. It was not decriminalised until 1993. “This was not the result of the government’s enlightenment or mounting public pressure,”Mr Kon said.“Gay rights groups had no influence and the rest barely cared – it was done to gain access to the Council of Europe.” When homosexuality became“more seen and heard” it exasperated the conservative part of society, Mr Kon

wrote, adding: “Gay people were made the scapegoats for all troubles in Russia, from demoralisation of the army to declining birth rates.” In 2002, three years after Russia adopted World Health Organisation guidelines that treat homosexuality as a normal sexual orientation, Dmitry Rogozin (now a deputy prime minister) proposed a motion to jail gays for up to five years. If the bill had been passed, Russia would have lost its place in the Council

Ms Pakhomova says the cost of living is higher in London. “London has the most expensive underground in the world; Moscow by comparison is free,” she says. “It sounds like a cliché, but one of the things I miss most is snow.” Mr Pinayev says he has changed his view on car ownership since moving to London: “We were proper Russians and we bought a Mercedes straight away. Two months later we wanted to sell it; there is no point having a car in London… now, most days I cycle to work.”

Spontaneity seems to be a key thing people miss about life in Russia: late-night bar crawls or impromptu drinks in a friend’s kitchen. In London things tend to be planned in advance but, in cultural terms, nobody feels they are missing out. “You can get advance tickets at Covent Garden for £10,” says Ms Protopopova.“I go to the theatre more here now than in Moscow.” “London i s s u ch a Read more cosmopol- on London at i t a n c i t y. rbth.ru/tag/ I a lway s london feel Russia comes here.”

Space Urals strike inspires dark humour on the web

GEOPHOTO

‘Gay propaganda’ ban stirs high emotions

of Europe. Some political analysts see the attempt to ban gay propaganda as a reaction to growing middle-class discontent with the government. “There are two main trends now – growing protest, dissatisfaction with the regime, its waning legitimacy, and a clampdown on the regime’s opponents in response,” says Lev Gudkov, head of the Levada Centre, an independent pollster. “People in the government are feeling disturbed over dwindling support, and in such a situation one is more likely to resort to repressive decisions,”says Mark Urnov, who heads the political behaviour department at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.“Having abandoned hope to win over the most progressive social groups, they are struggling to solidify the support they have among the larger, conservative part of society.” Over the past year, parliament has passed a string of laws that critics say infringe human rights, from toughening street rally regulations to banning adoptions by American couples, prompting a wave of indignation from government critics. “The government is trying to impose its agenda on society and the opposition, diverting public discourse from really important problems,” says Alexei Makarkin of the Centre for Political Technologies. “If the opposition brings up corruption, the government will raise morality. If the opposition says the economy is in a shambles, the government will try to switch the opposition’s attention to the issue of sexual minorities’ rights.”

Snow and spontaneity

Sky fall: a spoof weather report forecast ‘light meteorite showers’ for Chelyabinsk

It’s a blast: the funny side of a meteorite A 17-metre wide meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk in the Urals, injuring more than 1,500 – and inspired an outbreak of internet jokes. CAMILLA SHIN RUSSIA NOW

A total of 1,552 people were hurt by the meteorite, which spread a wide range of debris and shattered windows in hundreds of apartment blocks, according to the Chelyabinsk region health authority. Nasa said the Chelyabinsk meteorite weighed about 10,000 tons and estimated that the energy released in the meteorite explosion at 500 kilotons or 30 times larger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Yet within a couple of hours, Russians across the country were looking on the bright side of the phenomenon, posting a wave of gags

on the Russian-language social networks. Jokes included references to the Mayan calendar, the film Transformers, Chuck Norris and the Russian postal service. “Nothing makes you as bright as your morning meteorite,”was retweeted nearly 3,000 times. A weather forecast spoof suggested,“And in

'Some suggested the event signified the announcement of a new pope... or the end of the world' Chelyabinsk there’ll be ice, wind, and light meteorite showers.” People joked that there could be an asteroid strike, as well. Someone quipped that the American actor Chuck Norris had thrown out a cigarette butt while flying

over Chelyabinsk. Others suggested that the event signified the announcement of a new pope. Meanwhile, there were versions saying that the end of the world, as allegedly prophesied by the Mayan calendar, was running a little behind schedule. The Russian-speaking Twitter community outdid itself. Dozens of accounts were opened on behalf of the meteorite itself. The most popular, @Che_meteorit, gained more than 1,000 followers.“People say the emergency services are looking for me. I’ll try to send out a signal. But I don’t know where I am, I repeat, I’m not from around here, I don’t See the know your video at local geo- rbth.ru/meteg r a p h y, ” orite_fall read one tweet.

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MOST READ DreamWorks to build three theme parks in Russia http://rbth.ru/23107

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Start-ups E-commerce is now a key growth sector

BEN ARIS SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

Kazakh-born entrepreneur Oskar Hartmann had his first experience of e-commerce in Germany, selling health foods to bodybuilders. But it was in Moscow where his career really took off, after he spotted a huge market opportunity: no one was selling designerlabel clothes online to fashion-savvy Russian women. “I wanted to go into business and I was looking for something that could become big, that could be developed over the next 20 years,” he says.“I wanted something that would lift the public.” Raising just €100,000 (£87,000) from his friends and family members, he launched KupiVIP. The company flourished and quickly became Russia’s premier online fashion retailer. Ironically, the economic crisis that hit in its first year of operation was a boon: high-end retailers with plummeting sales were desperate for new distribution channels. For all of 2009 KupiVIP was signing up a brand a day, and sales soared. The company clocked up turnover of $50m (£32.4m) last year, and expects to be selling hundreds of millions of dollars’worth of goods within a few years. In December 2012, 67pc of Russians aged 12-54 were online, or some 95 million people, according to TNS Gallup – just short of the 70pc-80pc Mr Hartmann estimates is the saturation point, and well up from 24pc in 2006. This fast growth has piqued the curiosity of Russian angel investors. Raising the first £100,000 to £1m for start-ups is relatively easy, as Moscow

LaneVentures, an internet incubator that has supported several successful start-ups. Two government-backed funds also provide money to start-ups: the RussianVenture Company has £1bn of federal cash to co-invest with privately run funds, and state hitech agency Rusnano has also brought in several deals. The big break for hi-tech start-ups came with the successful IPOs of Mail.ru, which raised $912m (£591m) in London in November 2010, and Yandex, which listed on Nasdaq in May 2011 with a valuation of $11bn. Now the institutional money is starting to arrive. Investments into Russian hitech firms more than doubled in value to $550m in 2011, up from $220m the year before,

has the highest concentration of billionaires in the world. KupiVIP’s rival KupiKupon is also a daily discounter, and its four Uzbek founders, all in their 20s, raised £1m from an Uzbek billionaire after only a few weeks. Getting the next round of investment, of up to £20m-£30m, is the tricky bit. Today, there are only a handful of private equity or venture capital funds operating on the Russian market. The biggest is Baring Vostok Capital Partners, which raised a new £1bn fund late last year and stands behind some of Russia’s best-known internet companies, such as Yandex, Russia’s answer to Google. State-backed lenders are also becoming more active. Last year, investment bank VTB Capital bought a stake in Fast

Moscow stock exchange IPO raises £330m

Fashion sense: KupiVIP’s Oskar Hartmann is bringing designer labels to online customers

Top 50 Russian start-ups

ALYONA REPKINA

Smart camera solution spreads like wildfire Instead of starting from scratch, Mr Shishalov and his fellow student, Yaroslav Solovyov, adapted their traffic jam system to fight fires instead. The idea was to locate video cameras at strategic spots to track outbreaks of fire, using software they had already developed. The two men set up DSC, a company specialising in remote surveillance systems, and called the project Lesnoi Dozor (Forest Watch).The timing could not have been better, as the next summer, 2010, Russia suffered a large number of forest fires across the country. Yet Forest Watch was not swamped with orders at first.

Lesnoi Dozor (Forest Watch) has proved to be a key tool in tackling Russia’s forest wildfires, which create havoc every summer. SERGEI TITOV SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

Just four years ago, Ivan Shishalov, a postgraduate physics student in Nizhny Novgorod, 250 miles northeast of Moscow, was working on a project to monitor the city’s traffic jams. He was approached by officials from the local Forestry Ministry, who were looking for help in detecting the forest wildfires that strike Russia every summer – causing massive damage and disruption.

Russia Now has teamed up with Digital October and PwC to compile a groundbreaking rating of the top Russian start-ups (updated twice annually) in IT (191 companies), hi-tech (22) and life sciences (10). The rating uses criteria such as the amount of investment capital attracted, corporate legal protection, presence in the media and team to assign a grade from AAA (highest) to CC (lowest). All companies must be incorporated in Russia, employ no more than 100 people and be no older than four, five or six years (in IT, hi-tech and life sciences, respectively). For more information, go to: rbth.ru/startups

Officials were slow to respond to their proposals, and mobile communications providers, whose towers were to be used to deploy cameras and sensors, were reluc-

There are video surveillance systems for security, but [for wildfire detection] we are the best tant to co-operate. DSC then decided it would take part in all tenders and bids for innovative companies and start-ups to make their brand better known.“When your project is getting ex-

pert assessments from everywhere, selling it to both investors and customers becomes easier,” Mr Shishalov says. After then-President Dmitry Medvedev took a personal interest in the company in 2011, its portfolio of government contracts expanded significantly, as did its brand. Lesnoi Dozor’s coverage expanded from five to 20 regions of Russia, and revenues reached a total of £190,000 in 2011. This year, t h e c o m p a ny expects the figure to be £1.5m. Forest Watch rec e n t ly m ov e d i n t o Russia’s own Silicon Valley, the Skolkovo Innovation Centre near Moscow, and most of its customers are government fire and forestry departments.

according to data from Fast LaneVentures. Revenues from Russia’s internet business are growing at 30pc a year and the volume of e-commerce is growing even faster: Russians spent an estimated $18bn on goods bought from online stores last year. Mr Hartmann hopes this will rise to £30£50bn over the next five years. “Typically, people start to buy things after they have been online for about three years, and they buy things like fashion after seven years,”he says.“But Russia’s online population is so young that that seven-year wall has yet to hit. When it does, in the next few years, the market here will become the largest in Europe.”

Moscow’s stock exchange raised $500m (£330m) in a domestic share offering in February, with the order twice oversubscribed at $1bn, the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti has reported. At 57 roubles (£1.25) per share, investors valued Russia’s main trading venue at a total of £3bn. Large bids are reported to have come from several funds attracted by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, including CIC, Blackrock, and Oppenheimer.

Russia’s ﬁrst smartphone

Russia’s first smartphone, YotaPhone, has been showcased in the United States. The phone, which introduces two screens for mobile phones, won a Best of Consumer Electronics Show award from CNET.com. The device is not yet available for sale but is already being tipped as one to watch.

Potanin pledges half his fortune Vladimir Potanin has become the first Russian billionaire to pledge half his wealth to charity under the Giving Pledge project, run by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Mr Potanin says he wants his heirs to achieve success on their own.

BUSINESS NEWS Read more about Russian business and finance

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Rapidly becoming a mainstream investment proposition, e-commerce is now attracting institutional and state-backed funds.

NEWS IN BRIEF

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Glad rags-toriches story reflects online sales boom

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Commemorating a battle that turned the tide of war http://rbth.ru/21799

1942 JULY 28 • Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues his famous order: ‘Not a step back!’ The NKVD ruthlessly prevents soldiers retreating.

AUGUST 20 • Soviet troops are pushed back from the western bank of the Don. At this point, the German Sixth Army is 37 miles away from Stalingrad. AUGUST 21 • General Freidrich Paulus’s 6th Army crosses the Don. The following day, German tanks race to Stalingrad. At this point, the evacuation of the city is still under way.

Major milestones from the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the defining moments of the Second World War, as seen through the eyes of its participants

AUGUST 23 • By 4pm, Paulus’s armoured division reaches Stalingrad from the north. But it fails to capture the city immediately, and the Germans suffer sustained attacks from the Red Army.

After lunch on August 23, a colossal bombardment of the city began. The whole city was razed in just two days. The central district was destroyed first. We left for a refugee centre – on the next day, our house just wasn’t there any longer.

Excellent news! Our forces have reached the Volga and taken part of the city. There are only two choices for the Russians. To the north, our forces are taking the city and reaching the Volga – but to the south, ill-fated Russian divisions continue to offer terrible resistance. These people must be fanatics...

BORIS KRYZHANOVSKY MEMOIRS OF STALINGRAD RESIDENT

WILHELM HOFFMAN GERMAN SOLDIER, AUGUST 23

Two soldiers popped in yesterday, for a drink, so we asked them, ‘Will it all end soon?’ They said they didn’t know – no other city has stood up to it as long as Stalingrad. Today, it’s 30 days since the bombardment began. Thirty days since we hid in this crack.

SEPTEMBER 27 • Paulus fails in another attempt to storm the city. On October 4, he captures the station, pushing the Soviets towards the Volga but paratroopers halt the advance.

SERAFIMA VORONINA STALINGRAD RESIDENT, SEPTEMBER 21

See the timeline of the Battle at rbth.ru/22383

Front line Snipers such as Vasily Zaitsev boosted the Soviet soldiers’ morale in their superhuman defence of Stalingrad

The deadly duel in a shattered city SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

On Christmas Day 1942, Radio Moscow broadcast a simple message to the members of General Friedrich Paulus’s 6th Army besieged in the city of Stalingrad. To the background sound of a ticking clock came the message: “Every seven seconds a German soldier dies in Russia. Stalingrad is a mass grave.” With a relentlessness that mirrored a battle which had begun four months earlier and had brought the German advance into the Soviet Union to a grinding halt, the message was repeated throughout the day. As temperatures dropped to minus 25C, encircled by an ever more confident Red Army, with their supplies and weapons rapidly diminishing, the same troops who had victoriously goosestepped down the Champs Élysées in Paris fewer than 30 months earlier were now on the brink of utter collapse. A day that many had speculated would see them victorious, perhaps even safely returned to Germany, had become instead the stuff of their darkest nightmares. Just over a month later, on February 3, 1943, Paulus (promoted a few days earlier by Hitler to Field Marshal on the assumption that he would commit suicide rather than become the first German soldier of that rank to be taken alive) signed the surrender. Like the battle itself, the defeat was one of epic proportions. Two entire German armies, 22 generals and more than 90,000 men along with what remained of the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian forces were taken prisoner. Of these, only 6,000 would ever see their homeland again. The Russian victory at Stal-

The troops who had goosestepped down the Champs Élysée were on the brink of utter collapse Red Army found a new cohesion and purpose born out of a blend of patriotism, desperation and fear. Symbolic of this resurrection was the story of Stalingrad’s most celebrated hero, the accountant-turned-sniper, Vasily Zaitsev. He landed in Stalingrad on September 22, 1942 and within a week – seven times the average life expectancy of Soviet reinforcements arriving in the city – he was in his grave. According to his memoir, Notes of a Russian Sniper, Zaitsev, in a deep post-battle sleep, had been dumped in a pit along with the newly dead. When he awoke, he managed to dig himself out of his tomb, and promptly killed two German machine gunners close by with grenades he had taken from the adjacent corpses. While some elements of Zaitsev’s memoir need to be read with caution, there’s no doubting either his or the collective spirit of the city’s defenders whose superhuman efforts in every part of the city rapidly planted doubt in the minds of the previously invincible invaders. Wilhelm Hoffman of the Sixth Army’s 94th Infantry Division wrote

in his diary: “The [grain] elevator is occupied not by men, but by devils that no flames or bullets can destroy… Wherever you look is fire and flame. “Russian cannon and machine guns are firing out of the burning city. Fanatics!” That the city was starting to resemble the Apocalypse was emphasised in a letter written by Lieutenant Reiner of the Fourth Panzer Army. “Animals flee from this hell,” he wrote, noting the attempts

of decoy and subtle feints. A favourite manoeuvre of Zaitsev’s was to convince a rival sniper that he had made a successful kill and wait for him to reach fatally for the spent cartridge, as was the German tradition. Others constructed pulley devices to raise white flags, claiming no German soldier could resist the urge to stand up and bait their would-be prisoner with, “Rus, komm, komm.”

From details such as the Russian password, doroga meaning “make way” (chosen because no German could pronounce it properly), to the technique of tracking enemy movements by putting a shovel in the ground and placing one’s ear to the handle, it testifies to the daily realities of a titanic struggle fought amid a pulverisingly confined arena. Above all, it shows an understandable, but all-consuming hatred of the “Fritzes”. “I have a passion for observing enemy behaviour,” recalls Zaitsev. “You watch a Nazi officer There were more come out of a bunker acting prolific snipers but all high and mighty, ordering none captured the his soldiers every which way people’s imagination and putting on an air of authority. The officer hasn’t the more completely slightest idea that he only has of dogs to swim theVolga.“The seconds to live.” hardest stones cannot bear it Zaitsev’s success soon saw for long. Only men endure.” him responsible for training There were more prolific other snipers, who became snipers than Zaitsev (a sol- known as“leverets”,a play on dier known only as “Zikan” the meaning of his surname, accounted for 224 Germans which translates as“hare”.As by mid-November) but none well as being deadly accurate, captured the imagination of successful snipers needed to the defending forces and the be masters of patience and Soviet people more complete- camouflage, skilled in matters ly. Stalin’s propagandists seized on this exponent of the new craze of“sniperism” CURRICULUM VITAE both for its obvious boost to morale and the fact that in the enclosed, bombed-out surroundings of Stalingrad BORN: 1915 where German tanks could BIRTHPLACE: YELENINSKOYE not pass, an expert marksman could exert a disproporDIED: 1991 tionate influence.

the ruins. Under orders, they too met the same fate at the hands of snipers. While the German failure to capture Moscow the previous winter had signalled the first weakness in the Wehrmacht, its utter annihilation at Stalingrad left no room for recovery and determined the

To soldiers who felt powerless before a better-equipped and relentlessly successful foe, the feats of a single man with a simple gun carried a potent, invigorating hope. Zaitsev’s memoir is a pungent, earthy account of the reality of close-quarter combat, which emphasises the cunning and endurance of men existing on flasks of hot kasha (porridge) and meagre rations of makharka (cheap tobacco).

Zaitsev grew up in the Urals, where his grandfather taught him to hunt and shoot. He was drafted into an infantry unit but was made a sniper when a brigadier saw him shoot three German machine gunners in quick succession. Temporarily blinded by shrapnel in January 1943, he was invalided out of Stalingrad, but returned to the front in Germany, finishing the war as a captain. He settled in Kiev, where he ran a textile factory. He died in the Ukraine

the Red Army was closing fast on the German capital. Here, according to historian Antony Beevor, a gallows humour prevailed. In anticipation of their traditionally beloved Christmas, Berliners joked about the ideal Yuletide present. “Be practical,” they said. “Give a coffin.”

Civilians sacrificed Other snipers achieved fame beyond Stalingrad. The 20-year-old Anatoly Chekhov gained a reputation for fearlessness, along with an ability to improvise a device to conceal muzzle flash. He took Vasily Grossman, the war correspondent who later wrote an epic account of Stalingrad in his novel Life and Fate, along with him on one expedition where he shot a German ration carrier and then picked off two further men sent to complete the task. German forces soon employed Russian civilians, including children, to make these hazardous runs through

Vasily Zaitsev’s story achieved wider recognition in 2001 through the Jean-Jacques Annaud film Enemy at the Gates, pictured below, which portrays a ‘duel’ in Stalingrad between Zaitsev (Jude Law) and German Erwin König (Ed Harris). The film is in the biographical tradition of Howard Hawks’ Oscar winner, Sergeant York (1941) which saw Gary Cooper cast as the sharp-shooting pacifist backwoodsman turned First World War hero. There’s even a nod in the direction of Fred Zinnemann’s The Day of the Jackal, where Edward Fox’s assassin pursues President Charles de Gaulle with

Vasily Zaitsev

Cunning and endurance

war’s final outcome. German soldiers familiar with the notion of Götterdämmerung from Wagner’s opera had seen it brought to life amid the endof-days destruction of Stalingrad, which would, in turn, be replicated in Berlin. Two years on from that freezing Christmas of 1942,

The legend on celluloid

in 1991 and was buried there. But in 2006 he was reinterred, according to his wishes under the Mamayev Kurgan, epicentre of the battle of Stalingrad, with full military honours.

LEGION-MEDIA

JOHN NAUGHTON

ingrad, as well as being the pivotal moment in the Second World War, also reflected the incredible renaissance of the Red Army, which, riven by Stalin’s purges and moralesapping defeats, had for 18 months seemed to have little answer to the Wehrmacht’s might. Bolstered by the rallying cry,“There is no land for us beyond the Volga,” and a ruthless discipline enforced by the fearsome NKVD, which executed 13,500 of its own side at Stalingrad alone, the

PRESS PHOTO

The ferocious Battle of Stalingrad saw individual soldiers, armies, leaders and ideologies locked together in a savage war of attrition.

military precision. And while that film took a 1962 assassination attempt on De Gaulle as the point of departure for a wholly fictional story, there are suggestions that Enemy at the Gates is a comparable mix of fact and fantasy. The source material was the novel War of the Rats by David Robbins, which sees SS Colonel Heinz Thorvald sent from Berlin to eliminate Zaitsev. It’s easy to see why Annaud changed the background of his German sniper from SS to Wehrmacht, but there are doubts that the Nazis sent any special sniper to target Zaitsev. Antony Beevor in

his exhaustive history Stalingrad finds no evidence in the Russian Defence Ministry archive to support claims that there was a duel, although the files contain extensive reports of sniper activity. Equally problematic is Zaitsev’s memoir, Notes of a Russian Sniper, which gives a brief account of his three-day duel with a ‘Major Konings’. It concludes with Zaitsev spotting his foe beneath a piece of scrap metal. Annaud told the BBC: ‘It’s an extremely famous story, but I don’t know how true it is… Audiences know when they go see a movie that it is fiction.’

Stalingrad

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1943 NOVEMBER 19 • Soviet troops start their counter-offensive, codenamed Operation Uranus. By November 22 Soviet forces had encircled some 290,000 men east of the Don.

December 26. We’ve eaten all the horses. I’d even eat cat: cat meat can be tasty. The squaddies look like corpses or zombies, searching for anything to eat. They don’t even try to duck from the Russian shells – they haven’t the strength to run or hide.

1943 • The operation to finish off the surrounded troops, codenamed Ring, was carried out by the Don Front, reinforced by three armies of the disbanded Stalingrad Front.

JANUARY 9 • Soviet commander Konstantin Rokossovsky issues an ultimatum for the Nazi troops to surrender, but Paulus refuses to give up on Hitler’s orders.

JANUARY 17-22 • The assault is halted to realign Soviet forces. New attacks from January 22-26 split the 6th Army in two, and Soviet troops link up near Mamayev Kurgan.

JANUARY 10 • Soviet heavy artillery and mortars open fire all along the front of the 65th Army, which begins storming the German 6th Army positions from the west.

WILHELM HOFFMAN DIARY OF GERMAN SOLDIER

My dear brother! Sorry about the messy handwriting, my hands are frostbitten and my head’s confused. We’ll never get out of here. The breakthrough won’t happen. We’re all dead here – it’s just that we don’t decompose, because of the Russian frost. HELMUT QUANTZ OBERLEUTNANT, JANUARY 24

GEOPHOTO

Memorial The streets of Volgograd still bear vivid reminders of the struggle

JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 2 The 6th Army headquarters commanded by Paulus is captured, and the German Northern Army Group surrenders.

I’m a believer, I’m a Christian – I reject suicide.

FIELD MARSHAL FRIEDRICH PAULUS FROM THE MEMOIRS OF OBERLEUTNANT GERHARD HINDENLANG

Name change will celebrate victory

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The city of Volgograd will be called by its former name of Stalingrad for six days a year in official documents and during official events.

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EUROSCEPTICS, UNITE! (ON THIS, WE CAN AGREE) Dmitry Babich POLITICAL ANALYST

ust about everyone is scolding Britain for being dismissive of the European Union – with the notable exception of Russia. Strange as it may seem, our two countries, without consulting each other, have adopted very similar policies towards the EU. These boil down to: “Yes to economic co-operation; no to political union and surrender of sovereignty.” While British Prime Minister David Cameron is fighting to curb the EU’s budget appetites, Moscow’s scepticism can be seen in the longrunning stalemate over the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the EU (the old one formally expired back in 2007). President Vladimir Putin from time to time enlivens the scene by his critique of the EU’s economic policy on Russia, with its emphasis on “reduction of the EU’s energy dependence on Moscow”. Translating this from the EU’s politically correct Newspeak, it means trying to replace Russian energy exports to the EU with exports from other sources, including the dictatorships in Turkmenistan and Iran. Of course, there is a big difference between the two countries’ images, which, in the eyes of a layman, might make a travesty of the very idea of comparing Britain’s

IORSH

Henry VIII and Ivan the Terrible were both sceptical of the idea of a centralised European ideology and Russia’s visions of the EU. Britain is very much Europe’s “good boy”, so its opposition to the EU’s influence, based on Britain’s traditional independence and values, is respected in Brussels. Russia, on the other hand, is Europe’s“bad boy”,and its

criticism of the EU is seen as stemming from its “Communist past”. Also, EU institutions, while demonstrating great tolerance towards Britain’s Eurosceptics, pull no punches when dealing with Russia. Some of the EU’s think tanks view Russia’s European projects, including the construction of undersea pipelines for pumping natural gas to Europe, with great suspicion, seeing in them one more sign of Moscow’s unapologetic imperial ambitions. But, pragmatically, these EU policies make no sense.

state of affairs is not very different from the reason for EU-British friction. The EU is increasingly an ideologically intransigent body, advocating rather questionable modern values (such as same-sex marriages, which not all Russians or Brits find easy to stomach) as obligatory elements of “European identity”. In this situation, Russia’s relations with individual EU member states tend to be invariably better than Russia’s relations with the EU as a whole. Even Hungary, headed by one-time Russo-

Militarily, Russia ceased being a threat to the EU two decades ago. Russia’s elite is very well disposed towards the EU, making its banks the primary holders of its savings and unilaterally introducing many European norms into Russian law. Russia’s new restrictive anti-smoking law is an example of such voluntary imitation. So it’s a travesty that Russia’s relations with the EU are more permeated with hostile rhetoric than Russia’s relations with China or, say, Central Asian countries. The reason for this sad

LEARNING HOW TO SELL SNOW Marat Guelman ART GALLERY OWNER

ussian winter – it’s a “Russian idea” and a “tourist brand” as well as an integrator of every conceivable, inconceivable, simple or hogwash concept of Russian “identity”. For one thing, it’s very cool, even for someone who has taken holidays in Jamaica, Goa, the Maldives and Jordan, in China and in Venice, in Italy and France. The buzz of a snowy winter isn’t less, but much, much more. If the latest“warmth technologies” are factored in – thermal underwear, compact room heaters, ski-jackets that keep you warm all day – there are no downsides at all. The second plus of a snowy winter is that it’s amazingly beautiful. None of the woefully kitsch ideas from Russian architects, wannabe designers, fans of“à la Russe” or faux-European projects can mess up the magnificence

OLGA MARKOVICH

of snow-dusted cities, hills or fields. The third selling point for Russian winters is their healthy side.Your cheeks are flushed with vigour and freshness, velocity and thrills. Meanwhile, in the heat, there

is idleness, lethargy and torpor. Mount Ivan near Perm, for example, can compete with the most advanced aqua park in its variety of sports and activities — and all with minimum investment expenses. The main material

necessary, snow, is already there by the ton. Russian winters lay outside politics, on the one hand; but, on the other hand, it fought on Russia’s side against the French and in the Second World War. This

makes it a very acceptable patriotic brand that can also be worked in with other“distinctly Russian” concepts. What’s Russian vodka for? It warms you up. Where do you jump after sweating it out in the Russian bathhouses? Straight into a snowdrift. You get the idea: Russian snow, blushing Russian cheeks, Russian sledging, Russian forests, Russian winter games. Snowy winters could be for Russia what the Mediterranean is for Turkey or what classical ruins are for Italy — a bright and attractive concept that projects a unique niche in world tourism. Russia has to learn how to sell snow: it has a lot more than just oil and gas. At Lake Baikal in Siberia, local bigwigs moan about the tourist season being so short – just July and August. Meanwhile, the different nature reserves in the area would be much more interesting to visit during the four months of winter. This is where Russia is ahead of its competitors.

phobe Viktor Orbán, is now on better terms with Moscow than with Brussels (his government is more interested in Russia’s gas than its ideology). In a way, it’s reminiscent of the Middle Ages, when Orthodox Russia’s relations with individual European states could be better or worse, depending on realpolitik, but its relations with the Vatican were invariably frozen and full of ideological distrust. Today, the EU obviously aims to be the new Holy Roman Empire, taking on the role of moral arbiter and central authority. This is something that both Russia and Britain have always found hard to accept, since the times of Henry VIII and Ivan the Terrible. So how would Russia react to Britain leaving the EU altogether? Interestingly, when England’s separation from Catholicism became total under Queen Elizabeth I, Ivan the Terrible immediately developed a liking for her, and even proposed marriage. He was one of the very few people in Russia at the time who knew something about England and its relations with the rest of Europe. Similarly, the vast majority of Russians today take little or no interest in their country’s relations with the EU (let alone Britain’s). But the Russian elite is watching, and taking notice. Dmitry Babich is a political analyst for theVoice of Russia radio station.

With its wide open spaces and diverse natural environment, even the Finns can’t keep in front of Russia. Russian science could even pick up a few tips from winter. There are huge domestic markets for energy-efficient building technology, as well as textile technology. Warm clothing from Russia – not valenki felt boots! (Although they might be in there, too, if only as souvenirs). No, the real opening is for contemporary hi-tech and attractive winter clothing. Overall, no other Russian concept, Russian brand or Russian project would be capable of succeeding as well as “Russian Winter.” All the rest would be left on the drawing board. On the way back, humanity can stop in Perm for the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art or the opera. It can stop over in St Petersburg, get stuck in Moscow traffic jams, or head for the Buddhist temples of Ulan-Ude. Originally published in Vzglyad

Marat Guelman, a former political analyst, is a director of Guelman’s Contemporary Art Gallery.

OPINION

Finance reform is key for Russia’s G20 presidency Alexander Yakovenko DIPLOMAT

he first meeting of G20 finance ministers and Central Bank governors under Russia’s G20 presidency, held in Moscow on February 15-16, tackled a wide range of pressing issues, including the global economic outlook, implementation of the Framework Agreement for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth, international financial architecture and regulation reform. It also discussed urgent topics proposed by Russia: investment financing, government borrowing and public debt management. The volatility of the currency markets, national tax base erosion and profit shifting by multinational companies were also mentioned in the communiqué. Continuing global economic uncertainty calls for responsible and consistent joint efforts. The time when crises were local and isolated is past, and it is no longer possible for any country to face these challenges alone. Russia’s presidency aims to encourage global governance institutions to closer co-ordinate economic policy, and to create effective instruments that eliminate global imbalances to stimulate growth around the world. It was the G20 that coordinated economic anticrisis measures, introduced tough restrictions on protectionism, gave a new impetus to trade talks, drafted new financial regulation rules and began talks on reforming international financial institutions. The G20 also focused efforts on sustainable development and promoting green growth.The challenge is whether the G20 will be just as effective in pulling the global economy out of stagnation and steer it toward steady and sustainable growth. Russia has proposed that the G20 focuses on its primary goals of achieving balanced growth and creating jobs by encouraging investment, increasing transparency and making regulation more effective. Russia is proposing to hold joint finance and labour ministers’ meetings, with the aim of improving labour markets worldwide. Investment is closely linked to another of our financial priorities: managing sovereign debt, which, especially in the developed economies, makes investors uneasy and stirs up a vicious circle of debt and economic crises. Only by clearly and transparently managing medium-term fiscal deficits and sovereign debt can countries win back the confidence of investors. Investment, transparency and effective regulation are central to our financial agenda. Russia is committed to implementing agreements on

creating a fairer and more risk-resistant financial system, to reviewing the implementation of G20 commitments and taking a fresh look at where we need to redouble our efforts. By the St Petersburg G20 Summit on September 5-6, ministerial meetings in April and July will have addressed various financial issues, including national medium-term fiscal strategies; long-term investment financing; IMF reform review; the “too big to fail” problem of financial institutions; derivatives markets reform; shadow banking; credit rating agencies; financial indices; the OECD’s plans on tax base erosion and profit shifting; and financial inclusion. We believe reform of IMF voting quotas and the global formula are achievable, and that these changes should fully reflect the transformed balance of power in the global economy today, including the increased role and weight of emerging markets and developing economies generally, and to protect the voice and representation of the IMF’s poorest members. The Moscow meeting agreed to develop an integrated approach to voting quotas and the formula reform in time for the St Petersburg summit, so that G20 leaders can set the course towards a new agreement by the end of the year. Russia is also committed to increasing tax transparency, addressing tax base erosion and profit shifting policies by multinational companies. Russia pays special attention to these international challenges as they fully correspond to our own domestic priorities, including the development of national financial markets.We welcome the UK’s active role in pushing for the OECD-led initiative in this area, demonstrating the emerging synergy of our countries’ respective presidencies in the G8 and G20 this year. This year can set a positive trend towards greater economic stabilisation. But if we fail to pursue policy co-ordination and stay on a common positive note, be it currency volatility or other issues, the global economy faces the risk of sliding back into recession. The G20 decision-making process, which allows the world’s largest economies to co-ordinate policy and create an even regulatory field, should not be underestimated.We should all bear in mind, as we focus on delivering on the G20’s promises this year, that the ultimate beneficiaries of these decisions must be our countries’ people, and the world population at large. AlexanderYakovenko is Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom. He was previously Deputy Minister of Foreign AfRead full fairs. Follow opinion at h i m o n rbth.ru/23227 Twitter: @ Amb_Yakovenko

THE SEARCH FOR A CONSERVATIVE THIRD WAY Konstantin von Eggert COMMENTATOR

holocaust is around the corner!”,“Eichmann would have been proud!”, and “Who is next?” scream Russia’s liberal bloggers. State TV, as well as pro-Kremlin and numerous Orthodox websites, send quite a different message: “They are after our children!”,“Gays are Russia’s shame!” and “Nip this danger in the bud!” The bill “for the prevention of homosexual propaganda to minors” sailed through its first reading in Russia’s parliament, but it also exposed tensions that

are unparalleled even by the standards of contemporary Russia (where the government is hardly shy about issuing bans and curtailing civil liberties). The bill has been branded “homophobic”by numerous high-placed Western officials and influential organisations, including the EU’s foreign affairs chief Baroness Ashton, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Human Rights Watch, among others. It would impose fines on those individuals or organisations that engage in homosexual propaganda among minors. The State Duma is pressing on with its adoptionrelated initiatives, while for

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many in Russia’s weakened opposition, gay rights have become the latest rallying cry. On both sides of the political divide, grotesque exaggeration thrives as camou-

Few people here believe that the anti-gay propaganda law will actually be implemented flage for unpleasant truths. The Kremlin has ordered the pliant Duma to adopt the law, which is a world away from the Nazi regime’s persecution of homosexuals. As a piece of legislation, it pur-

sues two aims, the first being to bolster its standing in provincial Russia,Vladimir Putin’s main power base. There, in Perm or Khabarovsk, relaxed metropolitan attitudes to homosexuality are rarely if ever voiced. Its other aim is to distract public opinion away from the one theme that is of real concern to Russia’s ruling elite: the US“Magnitsky Act” and the Kremlin’s response to it – a blanket ban on American citizens adopting Russian children. The bill is formulated in such deliberately vague and general terms that it virtually gives enforcement officials carte blanche to harass gay activists, or anyone they choose, for a range of activ-

ities so broad that it even encompasses reading publicly poems by the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva (who was bisexual) near a school. On the bright side, few people here believe that the law will actually be implemented as it would bring nothing but embarrassment. On the opposition side, the gay rights lobby seized the opportunity to incorporate its demands into the wider opposition narrative of the struggle with the Kremlin. Some Russian opposition leaders say that advocating gay rights, although a noble endeavour in itself, does not help the Kremlin’s opponents gain ground in the provinces, where the attitude to the

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lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement is frosty to say the least. But they are running big risks. The line that gay rights activists are giving to the pub-

Russia lacks any meaningful movement that is conservative in the Western sense lic is very straightforward: anyone who is against gay rights Netherlands-style is a homophobic Kremlin stooge. A radical left-libertarian attitude to societal values is recast as a mainstream slogan.

In these circumstances one thing is very visible: Russia lacks any meaningful movement or party that is conservative in the Western sense of the word. That essentially means pro-democracy, promarket, but also pro-family values and traditional attitudes (such as recognising the importance of faith). Those claiming to be Russian conservatives often turn out to be individuals with a tentative grasp on reality, who demand the restoration of the Soviet Union under absolute monarchy, who despise democracy as“a devilish import from America” and advocate prison sentences for gays. While many Russians oppose these patently

silly laws that discriminate arbitrarily against citizens, not many are quite ready to see the radical redefinition of their values on which the EU seems to insist. Unfortunately there is no voice of reason between unfettered liberal modernisers and those who consider reform and democracy to be synonymous with destroying tradition. Russia badly lacks an equivalent of the US Republican Party, and it is by no means inevitable that one will develop. Originally published by Ria Novosti news agency

Konstantin von Eggert is a commentator for Kommersant-FM radio.

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BOOK REVIEW

INTERVIEW MIKHAIL SHISHKIN

A love affair beyond time and place

A literary journey without compromise

TITLE: THE LIGHT AND THE DARK (QUERCUS) PUBLICATION: MARCH

TACKLING UNIVERSAL THEMES OF DEATH, RESURRECTION AND LOVE,

Do you agree with the view that literature is losing its position in the modern world? Or are we just witnessing a change in the form of its existence? No, I disagree. How many people read books? Let’s face it, a very small percentage. But then the percentage was not high in Pushkin’s time. I think the percentage of humanity for which reading is vital is actually growing. Look, there have never been so many universities in the whole history of mankind. As for literature turning from paper to electronic form, what of it? Incidentally, the rumours about the death of the paper book are exaggerated. I was recently in Japan for the presentation of a translation of one of my novels and what struck me was that

people in the Metro in Tokyo read paper books and not electronic readers. It’s great. Do you think of yourself as a successor to any strand in the Russian literary tradition? To me, the essence of the Russian literary tradition is that literature should not be entertainment but should raise questions to which there is probably no answer. A writer who calculates how to achieve success and trims his writings to somebody’s tastes is a servant. To me, reading and writing are akin to a blood transfusion. I share with my reader the most important things that life visits on me. It is important that the blood groups match. This is not about entertainment or the number of copies sold, but about survival. In Russia, reading has always been a struggle to preserve one’s human dignity. It will continue to be so. Which foreign authors can you identify with and who has influenced you most? Among the English-speaking authors, it is Shakespeare. I remember reading Hamlet surrounded by dictionaries, commentaries and several Russian translations. Comparing translations, of course, is the most interest-

ing thing. There are as many Shakespeares as there are translators. What I have always admired about Shakespeare is the way he can move from the base to the exalted and the sublime. Almost all of the stage productions of Shakespeare I have seen are very good at showing the base but not very good at showing the sublime. I would make an exception for Vladimir Vysotsky as Hamlet in Lyubimov’s production at the Taganka Theatre. To me, he remains the Hamlet for all seasons. I was influenced by Shakespeare in the most direct sense of the word: the plot of the novel The Light and the Dark is built around the phrase “time is out of joint”. The novel begins with this, and my characters try to put time together in their letters.

of literary life? Of course not. To set such goals means to seek to be liked. That is a road leading nowhere. I told myself from the start that there would be no compromises – not with the publishers; not with the readers – to write only for my ideal reader. This approach helps you work. In fact, it is the only approach to work. That is the only way if you want to write a real text. But then you risk being left without a publisher and without your book, just in the company of your ideal reader reflected in the mirror. I ran that risk because, otherwise, all of this would have made no sense to me. When my books started being published in Russia and winning awards, when I got my own reader, I realised that I had done everything right by not making any compromises. When I address audiences in Russia, and I particularly prize meetings in the provinces with real Russian readers, the provincial Russian intelligentsia – teachers, librarians, doctors – each time I am reinforced in my view that these are my ideal readers, the people for whom I am writing.

You publish one novel every five years and have lived a long time abroad, yet you are one of the most popular and best-loved writers in Russia. Each of your novels has won top Russian literary prizes: the Big Book, Russian Booker, and the National Bestseller prize. How important for you is the recognition in Russia? Can one set the goal of winning all of the prizes and remaining in the limelight

Theatre Stratford Boris Godunov is a political play for today

Pushkin and the price of power The influence of Shakespeare and of Russian history loom large in the first professional staging in English of Alexander Pushkin’s classic. PHOEBE TAPLIN SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

The Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is the perfect venue for Boris Godunov. The auditorium was built to resemble a galleried Elizabethan theatre, but the intimate space lends itself to experimental drama. The opening scene shows the new tsar dressed in a suit, wiping his bloody hands on a handkerchief. Godunov, one of many plausible noblemen, stepped into the power vacuum because there were no surviving direct heirs of the Rurikid dynasty, which had ruled Russia for more than seven centuries. Behind Godunov, a cavalcade of figures from Russian history dance and cartwheel out through the audience. Wearing gold embroidered 16th-century robes together with modern leather jackets, the cast transform themselves as the play progresses. The action begins in Godunov’s era and ends in present-day Russia. Grigory, a frustrated, energetic young

monk from Pimen’s monastery, claims to be Prince Dmitry, and meets his match in the sexy and cynical Polish princess, Marina. The charismatic pretender, powerfully played by Gethin Anthony, tries to harness the fickle affections of the “mindless rabble”. Pushkin’s political play is generally only known out-

Pushkin was groundbreaking in his attempts to wrench drama back to its popular origins, away from the genteel stranglehold of court patronage side Russia through rare performances of Mussorgsky’s opera of the same name. Director Michael Boyd said in a recent interview about the Stratford RSC production, which runs until March 30, that it was “extraordinary” that this “masterpiece by the founding father of Russian literature has not previously been professionally performed in English”. Boyd draws parallels between Godunov and plays

such as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Macbeth,which inspired Pushkin. Both playwrights used history as a way of disguising political commentary. The director also made clear that he sees Godunov a s h i g h ly re l e va n t t o contemporary events.“Boris found his way to power – quite like Vladimir Putin – through the secret service… his uncle was head of the oprichniki, the notorious KGB of Ivan the Terrible.” Pushkin was groundbreaking in his attempts to wrench drama back to its popular origins and away from the genteel stranglehold of court patronage. He wrote in a literary essay:“In Shakespeare’s tragedies, if the heroes speak like stable boys, it does not strike us as strange.” With its direct but lyrical language, great acting from two very watchable leads, and a strong ensemble cast, Boyd’s Godunov is a timeless exploration of the price of power. Pushkin’s play may not be perfect but it has plenty Read full to say about review at h u m a n rbth.ru/21351 nature, truth and tyranny.

CURRICULUM VITAE AGE: 52 WORKS: THE TAKING OF IZMAIL, MAIDENHAIR, THE LIGHT AND THE DARK

AWARDS: Mikhail Shishkin is Prepared by arguably Russia’s greatest Svetlana Adjoubei

ELLIE KURTTZ

Great pretender: Gethin Anthony as Grigory in the RSC production of Boris Godunov

GETTY IMAGES/FOTOBANK

SHISHKIN IS ONE OF RUSSIA’S MOST WIDELY READ MODERN WRITERS This year, Mikhail Shishkin will take part in the 4th Slovo Russian Literature Festival in London, to be held on March 5-26, the packed programme of which includes live poetry readings. The organiser of the Slovo Festival is Academia Rossica, a cultural organisation that works across a range of fields, including literature, film, art and music, to promote cultural and intellectual links between Russia and the English-speaking world.

living novelist. His books have earnt him a significant number of literary awards, including the three most prestigious Russian literary prizes: the Big Book prize and the National Bestseller prize for Maidenhair and the Russian Booker prize for The Taking of Izmail.

TITLES IN ENGLISH: Shishkin's most acclaimed novel, Maidenhair, was published in November 2012 in the UK by Open Letter Books, University of Rochester (with a superb translation by Marian Schwartz). His latest, Pismovnik (The Light and The Dark), follows this March.

In his latest novel published in English, The Light and the Dark, Mikhail Shishkin continues his lifelong exploration of love and loss. Sasha and Volodya are lovers separated by war. They communicate through letters in which they share every detail of their lives, their joys and their sorrows. They are also separated by space and time. Sasha lives in the present, while Volodya is a Russian soldier in the early 20th century. The reader experiences the lovers’ time together only through their letters. The missives are written with such emotion and intensity that they paint a rich portrait of the characters, who complement each other. In a surpising twist, even death cannot end their correspondence. Shishkin is not known for action-packed page turners: his novels gradually unfold. But this is a seductively easy read, written in the language of love. We can feel the couple’s longing, as they speak of their “summer romance” in all the terms of endearment the Russian language has to offer, ably translated once again by Andrew Bromfeld. As a bittersweet end approaches, Sasha shares a thought with her Volodya: “Is it true what Plato said? Is it true that love lives in the loving and not the loved?” If we accept Shishkin’s reflection that the intensity of love is not dependent on space or time, but memory and longing, it is easy to agree with such a notion. After finishing the novel, some genuine love for the characters stays with the reader. Balthasar von Weymarn

Literature A bleak but compelling vision of family life

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Parables of despair leavened by love

Sergei Shargunov

Zakhar Prilepin

The demand is not for books about our time, fiction or non-fiction; there is demand for well-written stuff. I am interested in doing something differently from what I know I can write.

Ludmilla Petrushevskaya has left the supernatural behind for her latest collection of stories. But they still read like fairy tales. NORA FITZGERALD SPECIAL TO RUSSIA NOW

No writer captures the mundane horrors of domestic despair quite like Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. Her new collection of short stories, There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself, written between 1972 and 2008, reveals more about Russian family life in the 20th century than any work of non-fiction. Sober and grim, it eschews the supernatural twists and scary magical realism of her previous, acclaimed collection. Yet the stories still read like fairy tales of a sort, small parables set in fetid apartments, soiled beds, dank doorways and kitchens stocked with moonshine, stale bread and sausage. When they end with a shred of hope, or even a numbing of the pain, they can be hard to bear. Yet you keep reading. Surprising expressions of love and acts of loyalty

Grim tales: domestic trauma is the author’s speciality

stand out in relief. “In reality, life doesn’t stop with a wedding, heroic action, or with happy coincidence, as in films, when a certain person misses his boat (Titanic) or, as in this case, when an unmarried woman of 35 decides to keep the child born of a random tryst with a boy of 20.” This first line of Two Deities, one of her gentler and more forgiving stories, criticises authors who tie narratives up in a classic bow. A Happy Ending is almost a tongue-in-cheek reaction

to her disgust for the grand finale. Yet it provides the closest she allows herself to a happy ending: Polina, a long-suffering caretaker, chooses her abusive spouse, compromised by illness, over an ordered loneliness. In Petrushevskaya’s world of bad choices, there is no pure, uncorrupted ending. This is especially true in a world where family members disappear or decline slowly from alcoholism, and the apartment can be seen as a lottery ticket that could end generations of poverty and other troubles. The (sometimes forcibly) emptied apartment can herald a new life or hasten death. The female characters are more nuanced than the male, and they make heroic if absurd efforts to keep the family together, or at least to imagine a family of which they could be the centre. This collection is full of heartbreaking milestones from Petrushevskaya’s life. In a faithful translation by Anna Summers, we bear witness to generations of traumatised families, dispersed and disorderly, but from time to time capable of love.

People are fed up with glamour and pseudo-intellectual drivel. People are bored with cakes and want some rye bread. The readers want 'the raw truth of life'".

Maja Igor Kucherskaya Sakhnovsky

What a wonderful occupation it is to observe how trees, gardens, ships, rivers and people emerge from you, from inside your head. You only have to be careful not to go accidentally crazy in the process.

Real life is far more beautiful than anything we might imagine in our heads. The only thing I permit myself is to take circumstances and characters that are pretty remote from one another and bring them together.

CALENDAR RUSSIAN CULTURAL EVENTS IN LONDON RUSSIAN STATE BALLET OF SIBERIA

EUGENE ONEGIN, ROYAL ACADEMY OPERA

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2, NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE

MARCH 11, 14, 15, 18, ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC

Russia’s ballet returns to the UK with masterpieces performed by the Russian State Ballet & Orchestra of Siberia. On February 28 the comic ballet Coppélia (£16-£36) will be staged and on March 1 and 2 Swan Lake will be shown (£12-£26).

Pushkin’s classic novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, had profound personal resonances for Tchaikovsky. The opera is directed by John Ramster and conducted by the academy’s director of opera, Jane Glover. (£25, concessions £20).

TREASURES OF THE ROYAL COURTS

› www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/

› www.ram.ac.uk/

MARCH 9-JULY 14, VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

SLOVO FESTIVAL IN LONDON

RUSSIAN REVELS COOKING

MARCH 5-26

MARCH 10, ROSSOTRUDNICHESTVO, 37 KENSINGTON HIGH STREET

Academia Rossica welcomes some of the leading names in contemporary Russian literature to London, including Dmitry Bykov, Vera Polozkova, Evgeniy Vodolazkin, Mikhail Shishkin, Lev Danilkin, and Vladimir Sharov. › www.academia-rossica.org

Two Russians who aim to revolutionise the image of Russian food offer a taste of the three iconic Russian cakes: Napoleon (Mille-feuille), Medovnik (honey cake) and Sharlotka (apple sponge cake). › russianrevels.co.uk

The V&A reveals the majesty of royal courts between the times of Henry VIII and Charles II and Ivan the Terrible and the early Romanovs in a major exhibition celebrating 500 years of exchange between Britain and Russia. › www.vam.ac.uk

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Eco-tourism The beautiful and remote Altai Republic is slowly opening up to the outside world

Cinema Ski-hikers tragedy re-examined in Hollywood film

Blood on the snow: a Soviet mystery

Read more travel articles at rbth.ru/travel

The unexplained deaths of nine young people at Dyatlov Pass in the Urals have long intrigued students of paranormal events.

SHUTTERSTOCK/LEGION-MEDIA

JAMES BROOKE VOA NEWS

On a recent trip to the Altai, I was disconnected from my office – and everything else that I could not see with my own eyes. Instead, I could contemplate the silence of cedar forests, the grace of wild horses cantering through alpine meadows, and the beauty of glacier-fed rivers cutting through the republic’s rugged mountains. Lost for centuries in a mountainous cleft between Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia, the Altai features Siberia’s tallest mountain, Mount Belukha. To Buddhist visitors, Belukha’s twin, snowy peaks form the gateway to Shambhala, a mythical “Pure Land” of peace, tranquillity and happiness. With its 4,50 0-metre (14,780ft) high peaks and steep valleys, the Altai has

always been the end of the road. Absorbed by tsarist Russia 250 years ago to define an imperial border with China, Altai’s peoples were largely left alone. To this day, the Altai Republic is one of only a handful of Russia’s 83 regions which has never been penetrated by a railway. The isolation of “Russia’s Tibet”was reduced last year when engineers finished doubling runway capacity at the airport at Gorno-Altaisk, the republic’s capital, which has a population of 60,000. In June, S7 Airlines started direct flights from Moscow. On the ground, workers c o m p l e t e d p av i n g t h e “Chuisky Track,” a 600km (370-mile) road. Now, a smooth ribbon of asphalt, the Chuisky runs from the capital to the international border with Mongolia. The republic’s main paved road threads its way through the rugged Altai-Sayan Mountains. In Turkic and Mongolian languages, Al-tai means Golden Mountain. In mid-September, larch trees

THE MOSCOW NEWS

Irradiated corpses, rotating fireballs in the sky, a cursed Mountain of the Dead, military experiments and a Soviet cover-up. If this sounds like the script of a Hollywood horror movie, it will be from February 28, when Renny Harlin’s film The Dyatlov Pass Incident (named after one of the Soviet Union’s weirdest reallife mysteries) goes on general release in Russia. The story of how nine skihikers perished in the Ural Mountains more than half a century ago has long been the subject of fevered speculation in Russia, where films, documentaries and websites devoted to “Dyatlovmania” abound. But neither Harlin’s film or a book just out detailing a possible connection to the CIA have brought anyone closer to the truth. Soviet investigators cryptically described “an elemental force [the hikers] were in no state to overcome”. According to the official Soviet investigation, in February 1959 nine students from the Ural Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk (today’s Yekaterinburg) failed to return from a ski hike in the northern Urals.The first bodies of the group, led by Igor Dyatlov, a student at the radio technology faculty, were found on February 27 – four weeks after pitching their last camp at Kholat Syakhyl, which translates from the language of the indigenous Mansi people as “Mountain of the Dead”. The hikers’ tent was discovered slashed from the inside with a knife, with most of their belongings still inside. Some bodies showed signs of hypothermia and blunt trauma, while others had broken ribs, a crushed skull and facial injuries. Some hikers were in their underwear, with burns on their hands and feet, and a strange, orange-crimson tan. The first theory, that the

were exploding like bright yellow flares against a dark green backdrop of cedar trees. The Golden Mountains are now one of nine Russian natural sites granted Unesco World Heritage status. The higher elevations are home to the argali sheep, the world’s largest mountain sheep, and Russia’s famous snow leopards. The argali and snow leopards inhabit a high altitude universe that form a massive crescent — south from Altai and eventually east to the Himalayas and Tibet. Both are endangered species. The ethnic Russians and Altai who live here increasingly see their future prosperity linked to upmarket eco-tourism. An Altai cultural renaissance can be seen in mountain villages. At two stops, my travelling party was entertained by throat singers, traditional bards of epic poetry. In programmmes supported by WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund for Nature) and the Citi Founda-

VERA UNDRITZ

Visitors to Russia’s Altai Republic may have found the ultimate luxury: living for a few days without email or mobile phone.

ANNA ARUTUNYAN

ALAMY/LEGION MEDIA

A Siberian Shangri-La

High society: the revival of traditional Altai culture, crafts and throat singing has helped to promote eco-tourism

THE NUMBERS

1.3m 4,500 44pc tourists visited the Altai Republic in 2012 – 12pc more than in 2011

metres is the height of the Altai's tallest mountain, Mount Belukha

tion, villagers are opening their houses to tourists, greeting them with bowls of mare’s milk, offering horseback tours of the mountains, and selling souvenirs crafted from felt matted from the wool of local sheep. At a way station above one of the republic’s 7,000 lakes, we came across a hilltop grove of cedar trees. Flutter-

The top six Russian regions for finding meteorites http://rbth.ru/22965

of the population is made up of Altai and other Turkicspeaking groups

ing in the high mountain sun were thousands of white “good luck” strips of cloth tied to branches. The good fortune was ours: to travel through Russia’s Shangri-La. Originally published in voanews.com

Ja m e s B ro o ke i s t h e Moscow bureau chief for Voice of America.

PRESS PHOTO

Death mountain: the hikers’ tent was slashed from the inside

POPULAR DYATLOV THEORIES

The most straightforward theory is that the hikers were escaping an avalanche, but the evidence from the scene appears inconclusive.

A 2008 conference at the Ural State Technical University, together with the Dyatlov Group Memorial Foundation, decided military testing was to blame. The Federal Security Service responded that all those involved in the case had long since died.

One private investigator, who spoke to former servicemen in the area, said the hikers could have been killed after being mistaken for escaped prisoners from local Gulag prison camps. Or alternatively, that they were killed in a ‘clean-up operation’ after a series of military exercises.

Alexei Rakitin, author of the book Death in the Footsteps, claims that two of the hikers were KGB officers on a mission to uncover a cell of CIA agents. They were to deliver radioactive samples and then take photographs of the Americans, but something went wrong and the CIA agents killed the group, Rakitin says.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

hugely popular with Russians, room to grow into an international resort,” says Grigory Birg, co-director of research at the Investcafe agency. The question is if Sochi

will capitalise long-term. “Given the scale of change Sochi is seeing during the preparations for the Olympics, there are all the necessary prerequisites for Sochi to become a resort that will be up to international standards,”says Ilya Sukharnikov,

senior manager for real estate with Ernst & Young. Another challenge will be visas: Russia and the EU are currently deadlocked on a visa-waiver scheme, which could potentially increase the number of visitors to Sochi if it is ready in time.

State-of-the-art facilities for the Winter Olympics

ITAR-TASS/NATALIA MIKHAILENKO

RUSSIA NOW Online

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Thousands sign up as Games volunteers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

in Sochi for the test events, and at the Olympic Village while the Games are taking place. They will be based at a single Olympic facility and on their days off will be given free tickets to events. A training course will be held in Sochi before the Games to familiarise the successful applicants with the facilities at the Olympic venue: Russian volunteers from the London 2012 Games will be on hand to help out. The Norwegian-Canadian John Servold is supervisor of the RusSki Gorki Jumping Centre, one of the most sophisticated Olympic facilities in Sochi. “It’s a formidable hill complex with breathtaking views, but the events won’t

The meteorite fall in Chelyabinsk shocked the world. Should Russia cooperate with the rest of the world indevicing a system to prevent new collisions from space?

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be easy, because of the warm climate and the weather,” says Mr Servold. “The only piece of advice I have for you is ‘Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.’ The weather will always have the final say.” While most of the volunteers are expected to be students, others will be people with long experience of sports organisation. Lyudmila Cherkasova, a Nordic combined skier who currently works as a cleaner at RusSki Gorki, is a Sochi resident with decades of volunteer experience. “I worked at the 6th USSR S t u d e n t G a m e s ,” M s Cherkasova says. “Thirty years later, I hope that I’ll be able to watch the events and maybe have my picture taken with a champion.”

CORBIS/FOTO SA

Taking the Sochi challenge

Holiday Sun festival shines in London

It’s family fun with blini and Babushki Maslenitsa, the Russian sun festival celebrating the end of winter and start of spring, will be held again in London from March 11-17. ALEXANDRA GUZEVA RUSSIA NOW

London’s Maslenitsa festival has become the biggest Russian cultural event outside Russia. In 2012 more than 100,000 revellers gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the traditional Orthodox shrovetide event. And in the

Russia's 'third capital': A weekend in Kazan Read in RBTH travel section rbth.ru/22939

run-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, this year’s festivities will be even bigger and better. London Mayor Boris Johnson said:“We have a big Russian population here in London, and this fantastic festival gives everyone a chance to join in with a major cultural celebration of that magnificent country.” Celebrations begin on March 11 with a fashion show by Russian designers at the Victoria and Albert

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deaths came after an avalanche, was widely disputed. Various people in the area at the time reported seeing flashing lights in the sky, while post-mortem examinations allegedly revealed small traces of beta radiation, fuelling rumours of military experiments. The mystery deepened after the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev declared the case classified, while the area was declared off limits. In the years since, the conspiracy theories have multiplied. Oleg Kashin, a journ a l i s t w h o w ro t e t h e foreword for a new book about the incident by Alexei Rakitin, Death in the Footsteps, says the legend fills deep national yearnings for myth – and for a new perspective on Soviet history. “How long can you argue about Stalin?” Kashin says. “Dyatlov Pass is still relatively fresh.” In Harlin’s movie, a group of 21st-century American students shoot a documentary about the incident and find history repeating itself. The Die Hard 2 director says: “I was fascinated by this story, which remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern paranormal lore. The facts, the script and the very dramatic setting convinced me that there is a thrilling movie there, just waiting to rivet audiences.” No release dates for the movie in Britain or the United States have yet been announced.

Museum. The focus will be on a collection by the celebrated designer Igor Chapurin. And on Tuesday March 12, Mari Vanna restaurant will present an evening of Russian cuisine. Visit Waterstones bookshop on Piccadilly the following day for a perfect chance to find out more about Russian culture. Actors from Moscow’s Praktika Theatre will present readings from Russian classic and contemporary literature. There are also masterclasses for those of a less literary persuasion: try your hand at traditional Russian crafts at the Rossotrudnichestvo Cultural Centre in Kensington High Street. The biggest event is at Trafalgar Square on Saturday March 16, when the crowd can feast on traditional blini pancakes as they enjoy a wide range of entertainment. The festival concert will feature performers including Buranovskiye Babushki, runners-up in last year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The festival ends on March 17 with Praktika’s Babushki at the Duke of York’s Theatre. The show looks at life in Russian villages of the 20th century through contemporary eyes.

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