For everyone who has become addicted to a weekend feast delivered to your door, June 19-21 our friends at the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park are offering a Peruvian dinner. Peruvian cuisine combines local traditions with Spanish, African, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian influences to create fresh, brightly flavored dishes. The set menu for two (or more,…
Moscow’s outdoor restaurant verandas opened to diners Tuesday as the Russian capital continues to gradually reopen following a two-and-a-half-month coronavirus lockdown. While the patios packed with people dining in the sunshine might look like a sign that the coronavirus pandemic is grinding to a halt in Russia, cases have continued to rise in the thousands…
If you’ve ever wanted to put your Russian to the test by listening to one of the world’s most difficult novels in Russian, today is your lucky day. Prominent Russian cultural figures are reading Irish writer James Joyce’s famous novel “Ulysses” in a marathon broadcast Tuesday to help raise money for Russian doctors who are…
Last summer journalist Marina Dmukhovskaya and photographer Georg Wallner took a trip on the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok. For 28 days and almost 10,000 kilometers, they talked to dozens of people in “Seat 47” (Mesto 47) riding next to them. When they returned, they turned 38 conversations into first-person stories. Stolbi nature sanctuary is…
When I think about Russian pantry staples, my mind automatically pivots to images of hearty grains such as buckwheat or hardy root vegetables like beets. But a crucial staple throughout Russia’s lengthy history has always been fish. Russians became creative experts in finding ways to preserve fish, as anyone who has enjoyed a lavish zakuska…
When an older man became ill and was quarantined, volunteers brought food and medicine, but no one could care for his two dogs. So, for a month, a distant relative became one of Russia’s growing ranks of animal volunteers. Volunteer organizations to aid animals have existed in Russia for a long time, but this year…
This weekend our friends and neighbors at the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park are offering a Thai set, a magical mix of spicy, sweet, sour, coco and creamy flavors to take you away from Moscow and set you down on a Thai beach — in your kitchen, that is. The set menu includes: Som Tam (traditional green…
Channel One devoted Sunday evening to airing director Alexei Balabanov’s movies “Brat” and “Brat 2” (“Brother” and “Brother 2”) on the twentieth anniversary of the second film’s release. The home audience across the country was, however, puzzled by new footage showing unrest across the United States in place of the final film credits. While the famous”Nautilus Pompilius” song…
Last summer journalist Marina Dmukhovskaya and photographer Georg Wallner took a trip on the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Vladivostok. For 28 days and almost 10,000 kilometers, they talked to dozens of people in “Seat 47” (Mesto 47) riding next to them. When they returned, they turned 38 conversations into first-person stories. Here is one of…
June 6 is the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, Russia’s “everything” – the person who captured Russian language in prose and poetry and gave life to the literature and national sense of self for centuries to come. So June 6 is celebrated as Russian Language Day, too. What better way to celebrate the language than with…
Photographer Jason Guilbeau, who was born in Niort, France and now lives in Strasbourg, is known for his landscapes of Switzerland, Germany and Eastern Europe, in particular the relationship between form and landscape. In “Soviet Signs and Street Relics” he has taken Google Street View images of the sculptural signs so familiar to anyone who…
This weekend, June 6-8, the annual Red Square Book Fair is going to be held, albeit in more modest dimensions and with a lot of hurdles to keep people safe. Because quarantine is not officially over, it can be attended by book lovers and readers older than seven and younger than 65, who have registered…
This weekend you can pretend it’s summer by ordering in a Mexican meal from the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park. A big variety of meaty and meatless dishes for two (or many more) is 3,500 rubles, which includes free delivery within the Third Ring Road and Horchata Blanca (a traditional Mexican rice drink). For the “do-it-yourself”…
In 2012 the Moscow City Government issued a rule, calcified into law in 2019, which caused a certain amount of buzz amongst the creative classes. The rule was a stern reminder to “respected Muscovites and guests of the capital” that roasting meat on the city’s residential balconies was neither allowed nor encouraged. That it came around the…
“Sacred Talisman” Online Theatrical Premiere The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center joined with Teatr Predmeta (Object Theater) to produce an online performance of “Sacred Talisman” in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. The play is about a little boy who survives the horror of war by hiding under his bed and…
This weekend, May 29-31, our friends and neighbors at the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park are offering an Indian feast for their delivery dinner. Prepared by their executive chef Ashwani Vyas, who knows something about Indian cuisine — he grew up on it! — the meal for two actually feeds at least a family of four!…
The Russian Youth Architecture Biennale is the only competition for young architects in the world. First held in 2017 and now on its second run, the Biennale gives young architects a chance to reimagine the urban environment of Russia and to merge the old with the new. This year after the first cut, 30 finalists from…
Every year on May 25, Russia’s high school seniors close out the last day of classes with the ringing of the “Last Bell.” In addition to the nationwide ringing of the “Last Bell,” the soon-to-be graduates typically celebrate the day by dancing, wearing traditional school uniforms, giving and receiving flowers and hugging their classmates goodbye.…
Oscar-nominated Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky has announced a new television series based on the real-life story of a group of LGBT activists who visited the Soviet Union on a mistaken invitation. The comedic series will portray the Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW) activists’ 1978 trip to Moscow after a high-ranking Soviet official mistook their gay liberation…
For my generation of American Slavists, born in the 1940s, Joseph Brodsky’s appearance on our shores in 1972 was as startling as Nabokov’s. There was no hint of aristocratism or nostalgia for a lost Russia, of course, only this huge poetic gift, attested to by legendary Russian poets, and that stupendously idiotic court trial, at…
Muslims across Russia on Sunday celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a feast marking the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan. Authorities in Moscow and Russia’s Muslim-majority regions have canceled prayer gatherings and ordered mosques to remain closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Take a look at how the celebrations included social distancing and…
Today would have been the 80th birthday of Joseph Brodsky, who was born in Leningrad and died in New York at the age of 55 in 1996. He is buried on the island of San Michele in Venice. Although the memorial museum where he and his family lived in “a room and a half” in…
This weekend, why not go to the theater and see works by some of Russia’s most innovative and celebrated directors?. For 24 hours starting at 9 p.m. in Moscow on Saturday (2 p.m. in New York and 7 p.m.in London) you can see “Love and Intrigue (Kill)” by Frederich Schiller, directed by Timofei Kulyabin in…
Yeast has always eluded me. Not in the current sense of “I can’t find any yeast,” a cry heard these days from Montana to Myanmar. My problem is that I have never been able to master yeast. Recipes that begin, “proof the yeast” in my hands end up sagging like a three-day-old birthday balloon.…
This evening, Fri. May 22, the writer Maxim Osipov is giving a reading at Corpus Online. He’ll be reading an essay and two short stories in Russian: “Свента”, “Добрые люди” and “Фантазия”. Maxim Osipov is a doctor living in Tarusa and the author of five collections of short stories in Russian published by Corpus. His…
“Four million people were dispossessed. Two and a half million kulaks [rich peasants] were sent into exile…” These grim historical facts from the Stalinist period began the 8-part television series “Zuleikha,” aired by one of Russia’s main channels and watched by a record number of viewers. But even though the series was shown last month,…
The Russian movie theater company Karo plans to open at least six drive-in cinemas across Russia, the RBC broadcaster reported Wednesday. “We plan to open about six drive-in theaters in the near future. We want people to have chance to watch movies on the big screen, so we are now at the final stage [of…
The Russian movie theater company Karo plans to open at least six drive-in cinemas across Russia, the RBC broadcaster reported Wednesday. “We plan to open about six drive-in theaters in the near future. We want people to have chance to watch movies on the big screen, so we are now at the final stage [of…
Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park is continuing its weekend gastronomic world tour with a stop in Singapore. This weekend’s set menu is Singaporean street food, but you don’t have to go outside to get it. It will be delivered to your apartment May 22-24. The set includes Popiah (something like spring rolls) with chicken, beef and…
If there is a good side to this pandemic, it’s charitable efforts: the generosity of performers, arts figures and organizers who give their time to raise funds for the neediest, and the generosity of people at home who tap into their bank accounts to support these projects. Today from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Moscow…
The life of a St. Petersburg five star hotel, beloved to readers from a blog by the general manager and owner, is coming out online on Okko multimedia service on Tuesday. The series, titled “Diary of a Hotelier #Helvetia” is loosely based on Yunis Teimurhanly’s bestselling collection of short stories “Do Not Disturb. The Diary…
If you are interested in Russian and Soviet history — or architecture, or culture — you will surely be very interested in this film. “I Am The Hall” tells the story of the Hall of Columns in the House of Unions, from its first life as a ball and meeting room for the Moscow Assembly…
Night in the (Online) Museum One of Moscow’s hands-down, favorite yearly events is Night in the Museum, when you get to experience the transgressive thrill of being in a place and time that is usually forbidden, or hearing talks, going on excursions, watching films and theatrical events, and taking master classes in the dark and…
If your household’s lockdown dynamics are anything like mine, eating habits have probably changed dramatically over the past seven weeks. An informal straw poll of my cyber chums from around the world suggests that almost everyone has abandoned conventional mealtimes or the traditional components of breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Snacking is on the rise, as…
The legendary Bolshoi Theatre, whose dancers and singers are currently under virus lockdown, hopes to hold its first performances in September, the general director Vladimir Urin told AFP on Friday. Under his “optimistic scenario,” rehearsals will begin in late July, allowing performers enough time to limber up their skills, Urin said. “I very much hope…
Moscow residents were treated to a magnificent sunset after Thursday evening’s springtime rain that could still be enjoyed from one’s window. The golden-pink sky and rainbow brought a much-needed burst of color into our lives — no filter required. And while Muscovites are technically restricted from non-essential trips outside, some people just couldn’t resist the urge…
The decades following the collapse of the U.S.S.R. have been turbulent for Ukraine, as the nation struggles to forge an independent identity in a post-Soviet landscape. Ukraine’s growing desire to shed its legacy of communism intensified in the wake of the 2013 Euromaidan protests and the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and was solidified by the…
Are you are still puzzled by the continuing war of words about the novel “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” by Guzel Yakhina (translated into English as “Zuleikha” by Lisa C.Hayden) and the series based on the novel that aired a few weeks ago? Here is someone to help you understand both the historical facts and the…
The architecture historian Airat Bagautdinov, one of the founders of the fascinating project Moscow From the Eyes of an Engineer, has joined forces with Moskino to produce a seeries of online lectures about architecture in film — specifically, what role architecture has playing in Western and Russian/Soviet films from the very begining to this day. …
Who ordered the Korean set menu from Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park last week? Raise your hands! Ours are up — we thought it was delicious, and it was also a party — a terrific break from cooking morning, noon and night or the usual delivery meals. So, this weekend — May 15-17 — we are…
Most of Russia has been under strict lockdown since March 30 in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. More than six weeks later, President Vladimir Putin has given regional leaders the authority to begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions in their regions starting May 12. Here’s a closer look at how Russians are…
On this day in 1976, a group of Russian dissidents led by a Soviet physicist Yuri Orlov announced the foundation of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Forty four years later, it still exists, the oldest working human rights organization in Russia. Through all these years the group has been monitoring Russia’s implementation of the Helsinki Accords…
For all you Eurovision fans, heartbroken that it’s not going to happen this year, we have the next best thing. In fact, maybe it’s even better. At 5 p.m. Moscow time you can tune into “Eurovision request hour.” Ask for your favorite winning song from any year and you’ll hear it live, played by Steve…
After a historically warm, damp and grey winter, spring has finally arrived in Moscow, bringing a much-needed dose of sunshine and color back into our lives. The only problem? Most of the city’s residents are unable to enjoy the beautiful season due to the coronavirus lockdown. If you’re also stuck at home while the world…
Since all over the world people cannot go out to commemorate the end of the war today, cities, countries and organizations have organized a plethora of events online. Here are five events in Russian cultural life — or from Soviet cultural life — that celebrate, mourn, and commemorate the war years. Roman Vityuk Theater On…
Once when I was comparing Moscow and St. Petersburg in a column for this newspaper, I wrote that the Russian capital is not as easily understood or straightforward as its northern neighbor and needs a bit of explaining so that a visitor can accept it. Victory Day celebrations in Russia also require some explanation. Seventy-five…
This year marks 10 years since the founding of Moscow’s Lumiere Brothers Center of Photography. It’s also the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. To mark both anniversaries, the center, which curates Soviet and Russian 20th-century photography, is sharing photos from its collection that showcase military photography in the U.S.S.R. Here’s…
Expatniki and Muscovites! This is #quarantinecuisine and #quarantineculture tip for you. Our friends and neighbors at the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park have begun to offer a weekend set menu for delivery. Last week it was Indian food. This week it’s Korean. Since the reviews have been raves, we wanted to share. The Korean street food…
Zinaida Korneva’s World War II memories include having to drink from the Volga River after crawling across the steppe on her belly, using a camel to drag a damaged aircraft to a safe place for repair and seeing the face of a German pilot through the window of his shot-down plane seconds before it hit…
The coronavirus pandemic might have brought the film industry to a halt but Andrei Konchalovsky, one of Russia’s most renowned film and theatre directors, is as busy as ever. He wants to make a documentary about daily life under quarantine, exploring the poetic side of the mundane, and he has invited ordinary Russians to work with…
Excerpt from “Devilspel” Danuta Hadassa Danuta Hadassa no longer remembered how many years had gone by since she found herself living out in the sticks; she had been on the road for years and had intended to put an end to her life in a roadside inn. Except for Ephraim Dudak, the father of her…
For the next week Stage Russia has two terrific online productions for what is truly “your viewing pleasure.” The first is a 15-part documentary series about Lilianna Lungina called “Podstrochnik.” The filmmakers decided to transliterate the title, which is not hard to translate but is a word that may not be known to many viewers.…
This week, Moskino is switching gears from feature films to documentaries. Starting this evening, Moskino and the Moscow School of New Film are holding a festival of new documentary film along with a series of lectures, discussions and master classes. The films are mostly from Russia and the U.S., with one joint production from Portugal,…
On Thursday TV Rain (Dozhd) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an 8-hour music and celebrity marathon to raise money to buy PPE (personal protective equipment) for medics treating coronavirus patients and to pay for trips to the regions for medical personnel and social workers. The musical line-up is the who’s who of Russia’s best…
On Tuesday Pushkin House in London announced its short list of nominations for the 2020 Pushkin House Russian Book Prize. The prize has been awarded annually since 2013 to the best book for the general reader about Russia or the Russian-speaking world published in English in the previous calendar year. The books may be translated…
As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…
The Museum of Russian Impression opened in 2015 in the beautifully reconstructed sugar silo at a pre-Revolutionary confectionary company. Since then it has held over a dozen shows designed to explore, rediscover, and better understand impressionism in Russia and other countries, as well as its role as an artistic and conceptual stepping stone to the…
This recipe uses the ultimate Russian pantry staples for a dish that harkens back to a messier, headier, and certainly noisier Moscow. It goes without saying that Moscow is a lot quieter these days — eerily quiet in a way I doubt it’s been since its founding in 1147 by Yury Dolgoruky. I’ve been thinking…
Starting at 4 p.m. on Sat., April 25 until May 9 — Victory Day in Russia — the Russian Ministry of Culture and several other organizations are launching an online marathon to mark the 75 anniversary of the end of the war. On the special site, you can find a tremendous amount of material, much…
One of the greatest pleasures of Moscow pre-lock-down was the enormous, extraordinarily good, and relatively inexpensive ways to learn something new. Lectures, course, educational tours – thousands of ways to understand a complex subject, master a skill, or satisfy a craving to find out how St. Basil’s was built or why people think a painting…