‘We’ll Keep Fighting’: Attack on Navalny Aide Volkov Startles, But Doesn’t Deter Russian Exiles in Lithuania

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Thousands of Russian opposition activists fled to Lithuania’s capital following the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, seeking safety from the political crackdown quickly sweeping their home country. That sense of safety was blighted when Leonid Volkov, a close aide of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was attacked near his home with a…

Three-Layer Pancakes From the Mari People

When people think of the Orthodox Christian Maslenitsa (Shrovetide), they almost all think of one food: pancakes (blinis). But pancakes are not a purely Russian culinary achievement, and it’s silly to associate them solely with Orthodox traditions. Pancakes have been around for much longer.  The Mari people (in Russia once called Cheremis) live mainly between…