- 2 days ago
{"descriptions":["Yuri Rashkin sits down with writer and YouTuber Elvira Bary for a sharp, unsettling conversation about Russian society, authoritarian power, and the social traps that shape modern Russia. Drawing on her background translating Russian for Western audiences and writing historical fiction, Bary explains why so many people remain stuck inside clan structures, caste-like hierarchies, and what she calls an artificial childhood under Putin’s system.\n\nThe discussion moves from the roots of authoritarianism to the myth of a bloodthirsty nation, the realities of social status in Russia, and why many citizens cannot simply ‘overthrow’ the regime. Bary also shares how these ideas inspired her novel, based on real stories from Russia and Ukraine, and why she chose to write about war, displacement, and the human cost of empire.\n\nThis is political commentary, Russia analysis, and interview-style discussion for viewers interested in Putin, Russian culture, post-Soviet society, Ukraine war context, and the psychology of authoritarian systems. It also works well for listeners seeking Russian politics explained, social hierarchy in Russia, and long-form current affairs conversation.","A wide-ranging interview on Russian politics and social structure, this conversation with Elvira Bary explores why authoritarianism persists, how clan networks shape power, and why many Russians live inside what she describes as an artificial childhood. Yuri Rashkin guides the discussion through the cultural and historical forces behind modern Russia, from the legacy of empire and Soviet rule to the everyday realities of class, obedience, and fear.\n\nBary also talks about translating Russian for Western audiences, challenging stereotypes about Russian nature, and using fiction to tell stories about war, exile, and the people caught between regimes. The episode includes reflections on the Ukraine war, the elite’s private views, and the social conditions that keep ordinary people trapped far from real political choice.\n\nFor fans of interview podcasts, Russia analysis, historical fiction context, Ukraine war commentary, and geopolitical discussion, this episode offers a clear look at authoritarian culture, Russian society, and post-Soviet politics. It is ideal for listeners searching for Russian history explained, Putin analysis, current affairs interview, and long-form political conversation.","Elvira Bary joins Yuri Rashkin for an in-depth political interview about Russia, Putin, and the social psychology of authoritarian rule. The conversation breaks down the clan-based hierarchy of Russian life, the difference between democracy and top-down power, and why Bary believes many citizens are trained to accept a kind of artificial childhood rather than act as independent political adults.\n\nAlong the way, they discuss Russian culture, the myth of national bloodlust, class divisions, military recruitment, regional hardship, and the way war is experienced differently across Russia’s vast territory. Bary also explains how her writing and translation work led her to create a historical novel rooted in real stories from Russia and Ukraine, giving the episode a strong literary and documentary feel.\n\nThis is a thoughtful choice for anyone looking for Russian politics podcast content, Ukraine war analysis, post-Soviet society discussion, authoritarianism explained, and interview-based current affairs. It is especially relevant for searches around Putin, Russian social hierarchy, historical fiction, and long-form commentary on modern Russia."]}
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LearningTranscript
00:00Hello everyone.
00:01Welcome.
00:02You are listening and watching voice from Ukraine and also
00:06Rashkin report in English.
00:07My name is Yuri Rashkin and we are here because it's time to talk
00:13about Ukraine and not only Ukraine, but I want to welcome.
00:16We have already a lot of people jumping in.
00:18That's great.
00:18We have Don Buckler, Joanne Romano, Julie Martinez, Irene Leather,
00:24Petrasi Fife, Jan Frederick Mack, Lee Schwartzrock, Mark Ritchie,
00:32Russ, James Haas, Eagle, Jerry Hayes.
00:36Welcome, everyone.
00:37It's great to see you all here.
00:39So my name is neither Alexander Bolger or Lev Parnas.
00:46Those are my co-hosts on Tuesday and Friday.
00:49And on Thursday, I'm here myself taking out this platform to use
00:56this opportunity to introduce you to some really great people that
00:58you may know already, or maybe you don't.
01:01This time, I am super excited to have a writer join me.
01:08We need some writers, some culture here.
01:10So I'm excited to welcome Elvira Berry to Substack to this
01:15live stream.
01:16Welcome.
01:17Hi.
01:17Hi, everybody.
01:18I'm glad to see you.
01:21I'm also particularly grateful because Elvira is in California.
01:25I am in Wisconsin.
01:26So for me, it's already 10 o'clock in the morning.
01:29Write in the comments what time it is wherever you are and when, whenever
01:33it is you're watching this broadcast, but Elvira is joining us from California
01:37where it is much earlier than it is here.
01:39So that already, you know, is a heroic feat for which I thank you for joining us.
01:47Um, yeah, I'd like to ask you about some of the videos that you have on your channel and
01:53you have a great YouTube channel that people should check out for sure.
01:57There's a lot of resources and what I find particularly, um, wonderful about it is that you do a really
02:04nice and thorough job of explaining to people what Russia is kind of like.
02:09It's kind of hard for Americans to really comprehend Russia because we are not Russia.
02:17We have different history.
02:19We have different standards, different culture, different values.
02:23Um, can you talk a little bit about, uh, the work that you do and what do you find maybe
02:28some of the most surprising things you've found?
02:31Okay. Um, let me introduce myself a little bit. Uh, uh, so I'm, uh, a writer. Uh, my name is
02:39Elvira Barry.
02:40I'm a YouTuber and author of, uh, historical fiction books and, uh, uh, teacher of creative writing.
02:47So, uh, since the war started, uh, I was, uh, frustrated for extended period of time.
02:54About, uh, a couple of years ago, I started translating Russia to, into English and to the West.
03:02And I found out that the things that are, like, obvious for anybody who is watching Russia for years, like
03:11myself, uh, we felt like everybody knows it.
03:14And then I discovered that, no, a lot, a lot of questions, uh, demand, uh, explanations because, as Yulia already
03:25have told, it's different.
03:28And, uh, it's different because we have different geography, different history and different circumstances.
03:34So, uh, what I started to do is just, uh, I took, uh, the common questions, like, do Russians have
03:43a slave mentality, for example?
03:45Because people talk about it. Uh, it's uncomfortable question. It could look, like, not very, like, beautiful.
03:52But people ask themselves, uh, like, why? Why do they always have a czar? Why do they, uh, why, why
04:01they see that, uh, neighbors and neighboring kids are dying in the war, but it seems like they don't care?
04:09Why, why can they attack their closest neighbors who are, look like them, speak the same language, and live in
04:17the same apartments?
04:18Uh, but why can they do that? So, everything, uh, every Y needs a translation.
04:25So, I started recording videos, uh, and explain this, uh, why one by one?
04:31Because Russia is enormous, eleven time zones, and it's culturally different, ethnically different, and every, every city has something to
04:44say.
04:45And that's why I'm here, uh, because, uh, I know, I know my subject, and I know what I'm talking
04:50about, because I spent my life, uh, actually researching Russia, uh, 20th, of 20th century, and 21st century. That's it.
05:01What do you find to be of, uh, most importance for Americans to understand about Russia?
05:07Is it most important to understand that, the details, particulars of slave mentality, or is there something more important, or,
05:15or, what is your view on this?
05:18So, uh, I guess, uh, there are three things that I want to explain, first of all.
05:24So, um, the authoritarian regime is our natural state, state of mind, and state of governance.
05:33Uh, we started with authoritarian regimes, and, uh, it's older than human society, because if we start observing any primate,
05:43like, group, we'll see authoritarian regime there.
05:46They have an alpha male at the very top.
05:50We can go to Los Angeles Zoo and see how chimps behave.
05:55We'll, we'll found the alpha male right away.
05:58It's natural for us.
05:59And, uh, so, uh, when we see a, uh, a class, um, like, summer camp group of kids, or prison,
06:09or army, anywhere where we go, uh, where the, our structure is natural, we tend to build a pyramid.
06:18That's our natural state.
06:19So, democracy takes effort and structure and, um, philosophy behind it, because it's not natural for us, and it takes,
06:30uh, effort to actually build it.
06:33And, uh, so, America had resources for it.
06:37Russia is still on the very, excuse me, primitive, uh, stage of governance.
06:44And, uh, and, and it's natural, and it reproduces itself.
06:48Uh, so, this, this is the first thing.
06:52That, when, when people in America told me that, but, in America, in the United States, we have the same
06:58authoritarian regime.
07:00Guys, no.
07:01No.
07:01It's not like that at all.
07:03Because, uh, we are not punished for, uh, faults.
07:07We are not punished for expression, what we think.
07:10We can choose, and, what is the most important, uh, remove the rulers.
07:17In Russia, everything of that is impossible.
07:20And we have, uh, another very important thing is that we have multiple sources of well-being.
07:29For example, if you are a state employee and you have lost power, does your life end?
07:36No.
07:37You know, you can go to teach the university, you can start a business, you can find ways to actually
07:43start a new life.
07:46But, in Russia, it's impossible.
07:47Because, if you are at the very top, it means that you have a clan and another pyramid behind you,
07:54uh, under you.
07:56And, those people depend on you.
07:58Like, their well-being is what you can, you are a provider of a well-being for thousands and thousands
08:05of people.
08:06And, it creates pressure.
08:07That is why the top, uh, the, uh, the heads of the clans, they can't actually step out.
08:15And, for them, it's very important to have a connection to the president.
08:19So, they support not his ideology, not his divine right, but their own right to live normal life, as they
08:28see it.
08:29And, uh, the beauty of the authoritarian regime is that you don't have an alternative.
08:36You can't go somewhere else.
08:38Like, for example, if, uh, the state, uh, the head of the central bank in Russia loses her job tomorrow,
08:45what would happen to her?
08:46She can't.
08:48She can't go and start a new career in Germany or Israel.
08:52She could be a wealthy pensioner, but for people who are ambitious, that's social death.
08:58They can't do it.
09:00And, every oligarch, every top official in Russia, they are trapped in their, in their structure.
09:07And, uh, in, uh, democracies, it's totally different.
09:11That is why they can't afford to lose elections of the top, or top leader, of the supreme leader.
09:18Because, otherwise, everything will crumble down.
09:21And, uh, the same structure, uh, is in, like, in all the cities, and even, even in schools, even in
09:30the local police office.
09:32It is the same clan structure.
09:35And what it, uh, the easiest way to understand it is to think that, think in terms of mafia.
09:43Because mafia is built the same way.
09:45Like, like, and if you need an illustration, if you guys were, like, raised in the not-so-prosperous neighborhoods,
09:54and went to local school,
09:57remember your middle school.
09:58What had happened in your class?
10:01A queen or a queen?
10:03A cronies?
10:05Outcasts?
10:06The same authoritarian structure.
10:08The, uh, the power was loose, but it was there, because it was, again, natural.
10:13Nobody appointed, uh, some girl or a boy, uh, like, uh, the king of-
10:17Well, and, and quenishment, uh, can be similar in the sense that you're ostracized.
10:22Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
10:23Yeah, you can, and again, it's always a closed environment.
10:27In prison, in school, in army, everywhere, where human beings create a closed environment,
10:33and you can escape easily from there.
10:36People tend to create authoritarian regime unless they have, uh, an exit strategy.
10:44Actually, democracy is an exit strategy for everybody, from the people who are at the very bottom,
10:50and for the people who are at the very top.
10:52And that is why it allows us to develop our culture, our science, our technology.
10:58Because if we notice the thing that, uh, before democracy became strong, our history developed
11:08very, very slowly.
11:10But as soon as, uh, first America, then France, then Europe, we discovered the power of social
11:20mobility, basically, uh, authoritarian, uh, democracy is about social mobility.
11:25Then miracles start to happen.
11:29And we, uh, we, uh, now we have artificial intelligence and satellites just because of that.
11:37Okay, now you said this, so there's three things, and the first one is authoritarianism?
11:43Mm-hmm.
11:44And, and the, yeah, uh, the first, uh, the first, uh, one is, uh, that authoritarianism is the,
11:50what, the most natural thing for, of governance.
11:55The second is, uh, the second is, we are not like America at all.
11:59And, uh, the first thing is, um, that Russians are not bloodthirsty.
12:04They, uh, the, uh, the history of Russian people is the history of, uh, abusive family.
12:13Where the, uh, czar, or the, uh, general secretary, or the, or the president are, like, uh, abusive
12:21father of the, of the family, who is not sometimes responsible, sometimes not.
12:28But, uh, the structure of this huge family is such that he possesses everything, and he, uh,
12:36can punish anybody, and you can escape, unless you run away from the family.
12:43And, and he believes that that is his, God's given right to do whatever he wants.
12:50And he, like, uh, like authoritarian father doesn't ask children how to invest his money,
12:56for example, that is, uh, Putin behaves the same way.
13:00So, it trains, and, uh, if this structure, uh, social structure continues for centuries,
13:08it trains people at the very bottom to put hopes into their leader, because there's no,
13:16no other protector.
13:18And he always tells, like, nobody cares about you but me.
13:21Nobody loves you as much as, as me.
13:25And kids are trained, uh, like, people are in artificial childhood, even if they are in their
13:32sixties or seventies.
13:34And we can see it right away, like, in social media.
13:37Like, what are their arguments for, for, like, for example, uh, for war in Ukraine?
13:44The boss knows better.
13:46He is like a strategist, like a chess master who understands politics.
13:52We don't understand politics.
13:53He knows.
13:54So, the attitude is, uh, like family, authoritarian family.
13:59And again, uh, it's not about justice.
14:02For the, for kids, it's about our family, uh, should, um, retain integrity.
14:11And if our father is defeated, it means that the whole family will be destroyed.
14:18So, if we keep this added mental, mental, like, model, mental structure in mind,
14:24it will explain a lot.
14:26And I really, it sounds, it sounds a lot like a cult, except with, like, an infrastructure.
14:32Um, because, you know.
14:34To the point, to the point, uh, especially, uh, the cult, um, could be a loser.
14:41Uh, it would be, uh, social, Soviet Union is a, a huge cult with all the attributes.
14:49We can see the elders.
14:51We can see the scripture.
14:52We can see the totalitarian attitude to the people who, uh, who wants to, to be governed.
15:00And artificial childhood for the people at the very bottom of the social pyramid.
15:09Oops, I don't hear you.
15:10Yep, uh, it's sad because we now know that, uh, uh, we, we know what a cult is now.
15:16We can have something to compare it to.
15:18That's so sad.
15:19Please continue.
15:20Okay, so the second thing is that Russia is not like America.
15:23What's the third?
15:24The third is, uh, uh, Russian people, uh, are in the state of artificial childhood.
15:30And that's exactly, that's the problem.
15:34We can't, uh, again, they, it's not like they are so oppressed that they can't express their own opinion.
15:41They believe they can't.
15:43It's impossible.
15:44And when Americans ask me like why the, the life became much, much worse.
15:50They, why they just don't remove Putin?
15:55Because if you are six years old, how can you remove your father?
15:59It's, it's impossible.
16:02So, uh, and I, we can, of course, I'm not talking about all the Russians, all Russians.
16:08No, no, of course not.
16:10A lot of very smart, educated people, responsible people, grown up people, a lot of them, but, uh, they, uh,
16:18marginalized or pushed, uh, abroad or it, it, it, it's just dangerous.
16:26For example, if you have like, um, any, any kind of attitudes or opinions that are not like, uh, what
16:34belongs to the state, you can't open your mouth at all.
16:39Because you can get to prison for a like in social media.
16:45And I, I'm not exaggerating that we have cases.
16:49And, uh, what the, oh, I have another thing to mention, uh, that people in the West should understand about
16:57Russia if they want to understand Russia.
17:00Russia is a hierarchical, uh, caste society.
17:04That is very important, uh, concept.
17:07Uh, what we, uh, it's, it's not like in India, but pretty similar, but in Russia, they are not in
17:15the laws.
17:15Then they are not even mentioned in like cultural discussion.
17:20But everybody knows that if you are a son of, uh, a minister, you can, uh, have an accident, kill
17:28a person and get away with it.
17:31But if you are at the lower level, you put a like on social media, you can get into prison.
17:38People with a low status, uh, they are basically nobody.
17:44And who are the soldiers fighting this war?
17:47And why actually they agree to go to war for, for what?
17:51Do they need Donbass?
17:53No.
17:54They need money.
17:55They need money.
17:56And their, uh, their idea is, this is the only way for me as a man to actually improve my
18:02status in, uh, in the eyes of my family.
18:05They know nothing about Ukraine.
18:07They don't care about Ukraine.
18:08And there's no reason for them to be there, except they want to prove that they are capable to provide
18:16for their families.
18:17And since they live in the state of artificial childhood, they don't think in the terms of, uh, justice or,
18:26uh, aggression.
18:28Again, if we compare numbers of, uh, recruits, uh, who came to, to war from, like, big cities with better
18:38education, Europe, like European civilization, uh, bad education, high, a lot of people have, um, traveled the world and they
18:48saw what life is in.
18:49And if we check the, uh, rural areas in, uh, in difficult regions, we see that in some villages, like
18:58almost all men went to, to the war.
19:02Um, I have, I have an illustration for that.
19:07I just talked to my friend who is from Magadan Obelisk, uh, as a region, uh, for Gulag.
19:13And some people just, uh, stay there because, uh, if they got sentenced, like, uh, during studies times, when they
19:22got sentenced for 15 years or 20 years or, like, like, really big sentences, they lost connection with their families
19:28because no internet, no telephone at that time.
19:31Uh, they stayed there.
19:33So they, uh, they created, like, uh, villages in those harsh climates, but still, and they worked at the gold
19:39mines and extraction industries.
19:43So, um, uh, the, those people don't have money to go anywhere.
19:51And, uh, they're, like, mind, uh, they're, like, mind map, what's going on in the world is very limited.
20:00And possibility, there's no possibilities because if you have, uh, for example, if you own a house somewhere in Magadan
20:07Obelisk, it costs nothing.
20:09It's very difficult to sell, so they can move anywhere.
20:13They don't have money to, uh, like, to buy a train ticket.
20:17And when the opportunity came, a lot of them signed the contract because for them, they saw it as a
20:25ticket out, as a, you mean, fighting in Ukraine, fighting in Ukraine was a ticket out for them from Siberia,
20:32from Magadan.
20:33Yeah, yes, exactly, exactly, that's a sad story, but that's how, if we put ourselves in their shoes, like, in
20:42summer, it's 40, uh, degrees, minus 40 degrees, uh, salt, uh, Celsius, and in, in summer, it's plus 40 degrees,
20:51in the winter, it's minus 40 degrees.
20:53It's a very, uh, no agriculture, it's very, very harsh climate, very, no, no infrastructure, uh, very low, uh, density.
21:04So, it's a trap, it's, it's a social trap, and those people ended up there in this region because the
21:10state sent their ancestors, like, two generations ago, they sent them there.
21:15And we have, like, a lot of people who are, uh, found themselves in the same traps.
21:23Um, so, what they do, well, I, I wanted to illustrate there, actually, the, the whole situation.
21:31A friend of mine who actually escaped from this, uh, village told me that her niece, uh, is, uh, was
21:41born in 2003.
21:42So, she's 22 right now.
21:44In her class, only one male student is alive.
21:50All other are dead.
21:52Because they went to war.
21:54And I asked her, like, uh, they were conscripts or, or what?
21:59No, everybody went to army because, uh, army, you, you have to go to army in Russia.
22:05And if you belong to the higher caste, like, middle and higher caste, you don't go to army because you'll
22:10find the way you have resources to, uh, actually, escape it.
22:13But, but, but, uh, military service is compulsory.
22:16And so, everybody has to serve, theoretically.
22:19Yeah, yeah.
22:20They have to.
22:20But, again, in my circle, back in Nizhny Novgorod, again, we were not wealthy at all.
22:25But we were, like, educated, well-connected.
22:28Well, again, like, all connected among ourselves.
22:32None.
22:33I don't, I don't know a single guy who went to the army.
22:36Like, well, I mean, part of the reason I'm an American is because my parents did not want me and
22:40my brother to serve.
22:41And so, when I was 13, they, we, we left.
22:44So, it's another way.
22:46Because, yeah, because otherwise you will find yourself in the, exactly in that structure I described earlier.
22:52And, uh, you will be on the very bottom of the social ladder in the, in this army unit.
22:58And believe me, life would be miserable.
23:02And so, uh, back to this girl from Magadan, what happened to her?
23:08There are no boys to get married.
23:10Because in their village, everybody is gone.
23:15And what happened to this girl?
23:18She got pregnant from a migrant worker.
23:20I decided to keep a child because there's no, any other prospects for her.
23:27It struck, it just struck me.
23:29Because the girl is trapped.
23:32She has a cell phone.
23:34She takes pictures.
23:35She records, like, the little hills around her village.
23:40And, uh, she has access to internet.
23:43But, uh, the only jobs at this, uh, in this village are government jobs, like post office, for example, or
23:50local authorities, or school.
23:52No business, of course.
23:54And all the male population before the war went to somewhere to Mainz.
23:59To mine gold.
24:02And now they are all gone.
24:05It's just, it's just incredible.
24:07And people can talk about that in Russia.
24:09Because if you open your mouth, they will kill you.
24:13Literally, they send you to prison.
24:15And then you'll get tuberculosis.
24:17And this is the end of you.
24:20And that is why everybody keeps silent.
24:22And if we, like, immigrants start talking about that and publish posts about it, we have, like, a horde of
24:32Russian commentators who, again, Facebook is banned in Russia.
24:36But still, people go to, on Facebook, and when they see me posting stories about that, the first thing is,
24:47you are a liar.
24:48It could be so.
24:49So, I live in Voronis, I live in Moscow.
24:52We don't have anything of that.
24:54Yeah.
24:55I wonder why.
24:57You must be hitting a, you know, point there, the painful point there, if you're doing this.
25:04My approach to the comments, as I've always said on my channel, I'm not going to have, you know, Putin
25:10or Trump supporters.
25:11And so, I call it just kind of, like, cleaning up.
25:15You have to sometimes come in and just kind of vacuum up a little bit and get the comments out.
25:18That's part of being in social media.
25:20But everybody has their approach to the bubble.
25:22Some people like to have all the possible comments right there.
25:26I'm not so much.
25:27I think that life is difficult enough, and we have enough people who can think, say in thoughts.
25:33I don't want to delude that with all sorts of people from Voronis who we don't have it over here
25:37or like this.
25:38Whatever, Mr., you know, bot.
25:41Thanks very much for your participation.
25:43They're not bot yet.
25:44They're not bot.
25:44Do you think there's really a man in Voronis who goes, I don't see it like this at all?
25:48No, I see, like, my, like, delusional crowd are elderly women, most of them.
25:57A lot of them, they come, and I can tell that they are real people because I'm in their field
26:04of writing.
26:04Delusional old women.
26:05That delusional old Russian-speaking women.
26:07Yes, that is the category.
26:09There's, like, videos of those that they're, like, delusional old ladies for Putin.
26:13You know, and then they stay there, and then they go, you are saying bad things.
26:17But, yes, it's a, like, it's a strange subgroup of population.
26:23I, again, I totally understand why I don't like these people because I don't like people who prefer to be
26:31stupid.
26:31And this is the preference.
26:33Since they have access to internet, they actually have access to all the information.
26:37And they have five years to figure out what is right, what is wrong in this world.
26:42Just Google.
26:42Just go to Wikipedia, read something.
26:45But, no.
26:46And what I see is that when it was started, those people told themselves, it's not about me.
26:53First, they experienced shock, like everybody else in Russia.
26:56Then they told themselves, like, it's not about me.
27:00It's not my problem.
27:00The boss knows better.
27:02Then they shut their mind off completely of any news about the war.
27:09And when the war came to their country and they started hearing about drones and gas shortages and something like
27:17that,
27:17they actually turned off the TV, watched the news because they have no idea where to get the news in
27:24the first place.
27:25And they started repeating propaganda pieces that they heard, like, recently, yesterday.
27:31And I can tell that those people are not bots because I'm in the field of linguistics, of writing.
27:40And since I taught creative writing for so many years, I know how people write.
27:47And I can tell when it's an artificial phrase or it's a natural one.
27:52And it's very, very difficult to fake it because you can see it's like for a musician.
28:01A musician always hears if it's an AI-generated music or not.
28:10I always find it fascinating with comments sometimes if they're short and they tell you that you're horrible and you
28:18suck and go,
28:19all right, that's interesting.
28:20And if people kind of start expanding on their thoughts and then it becomes very obvious that, you know,
28:27I think I was making a reasonable amount of sense.
28:29But sometimes it's just longer comments where it gets all flushed out.
28:33The madness gets flushed out and then it becomes obvious.
28:36I also like the girl from Magadan.
28:38I think that should be a song, like a girl from Ipanema.
28:42But there's a girl from Magadan.
28:43There's a song in there somewhere.
28:46Elvira, you're also, you're not just a writer.
28:48Aren't you a foreign agent now?
28:51You are the dangerous person to a Russian regime.
28:55Tell us about it.
28:55Yeah, that's a funny, actually, that's a funny story.
28:59So, before the war, I wrote historical novels.
29:05My expertise was in the early Soviet Union.
29:09And I, like, writing human stories in the form of novels as a way to explain the world.
29:16Like, why?
29:17Why the Soviet Union happened in the first place?
29:19What happened to people who tried to escape from the Bolshevik Revolution and went to China?
29:26Because Russia had a huge diaspora in China in the 1920s.
29:31People don't know about that.
29:34And, again, so I wrote about Russian Revolution, about the civil war, about Russian immigrants in different parts of the
29:43world.
29:43Actually, I'm thinking that Russian diaspora traveled eastbound to, like, Shanghai.
29:48And then they ended up, some of them, in California through that pathway.
29:54San Francisco.
29:55Yeah, it's a fascinating story, immigrant stories, because the most likely actually got the best.
30:02They just pulled the best lot ever.
30:05They were allowed to California.
30:07As for those who were better off, they ended up in different parts of the world, including the USSR.
30:14So, when the war started, I was so numb.
30:18And so, I felt like a German in 1939.
30:25When you knew there was something bad approaching, but you never could imagine that it would be so bad.
30:33It would be so horrific, just horrific.
30:38And it took me about two years to actually get back to myself and start writing again,
30:46because I was trying to figure out, like, now what?
30:49What can I do with my life now?
30:51Since I published my books in Moscow, in the most prestigious Moscow publishing houses,
30:56and I had, like, a decent writing career there.
31:00And it was impossible for me to actually start writing.
31:04And then, a year ago, I had a revelation.
31:09I thought that I need to write a novel about the Ukrainian war, as I see it, as I understand
31:16it.
31:16And, again, I had plenty of very interesting sources,
31:20because before the war, I had a big writing school.
31:25And a lot of wealthy people, people from the elites, from the apparatus,
31:33they are aspiring writers.
31:35They want to learn how to write.
31:38They want to write memoirs or novels or whatever.
31:41And they came to me to actually learn the ropes.
31:46So, I have contacts.
31:48And I start interviewing them, asking them,
31:51what do you think?
31:52Like, and we had, like, a lot, a lot of conversations with very different people.
32:00And then I started interviewing people from Ukraine, especially from Kharkiv region.
32:06I just went to my little Telegram channel and asked people, like,
32:11who knows people in Ukraine in this region?
32:16And they said, like, me, me, me, interview me.
32:19And I listened and listened and listened and recorded the human stories.
32:23And I didn't even need to fictionalize it.
32:29I just teach it together.
32:31And one, so I wrote a novel, which is basically every episode is based on true stories.
32:39But the whole story is fictional.
32:41So, it is about a Russian lady, business lady,
32:45who profites from government contracts,
32:51who is almost at the very top of the Russian social pyramid.
32:56And, again, her life task is to send her child to America, of course.
33:03She earns money in Russia from the government and sends her child to Harvard.
33:08And when her daughter gets married to a Ukrainian guy and went to Kiev to help refugees,
33:14again, true story, to help refugees,
33:18for mother, it's a horrific experience.
33:21Because if anybody in Moscow knows where her daughter is,
33:26that's a death sentence.
33:29Basically, she is a traitor and her whole clan will be destroyed.
33:34And she can tell anybody.
33:36And her daughter tells her, like,
33:38Mom, they bombed us.
33:40Mom, we are in the metro right now.
33:42We have ballistics.
33:44And she said, no, no, that's not true.
33:46It's Ukrainian propaganda.
33:49So, mother does not believe her daughter.
33:51And they communicate just via text messages.
33:56And then, daughter stops answering.
33:58And so, for the mother,
34:00she can't find what happened to her daughter.
34:03And that is the whole, like, subject of my novel.
34:06And the only person she can actually ask questions,
34:10like, what's going on,
34:12is an American engineer
34:15who was back in the Soviet Union in 1985.
34:18She had an affair with him.
34:20And now he is an engineer building drones in Ukraine.
34:24Again, true story.
34:27So, that is the novel.
34:32And, of course, I couldn't publish it
34:35in Russian publishing house.
34:39And I published it on my personal website,
34:43the modest personal website of a writer.
34:45Two weeks later,
34:47I got messages
34:49in my Telegram channel
34:51and in my email.
34:53You know what?
34:54You are a foreign agent now.
34:56Like, okay.
34:59Somebody actually read this,
35:01decided that
35:03I'm dangerous for them.
35:04And from there on,
35:07my novel became viral
35:08in Russian.
35:10I just,
35:11actually,
35:12I can go
35:13in any time
35:14on the statistics
35:15of my website
35:17and see thousands of people
35:18reading it.
35:19I haven't,
35:20I don't ask for money for that
35:24because, again,
35:25Ukrainians are not in the state
35:27of paying me
35:28and I don't want any money from them.
35:31For me,
35:32it's a tribute
35:32for their courage
35:35recognizing that
35:36they are a nation
35:38and deep respect.
35:41And I believe that
35:42it was very important
35:43for,
35:45like,
35:46general good
35:46that
35:47I'm being Russian
35:50told that
35:51not all Russians
35:53are Putin
35:53and his crowd.
35:56We see you,
35:57we notice you,
35:58we try to help you
35:59as much as we can.
36:00We support you,
36:01like publicly
36:02and
36:05when I have
36:06my novel
36:07published
36:07in English
36:08in November 9th,
36:12I want to
36:13send all the proceedings
36:14to Ukraine
36:15to help Ukrainians
36:16because
36:17somebody has to do it.
36:18Somebody,
36:19if there are people
36:20who want to destroy
36:21this world
36:21and make it worse,
36:22please,
36:23somebody has to
36:24stand up
36:24and fix it
36:25as much
36:26as they can.
36:29So,
36:30that's my goal.
36:31And I want
36:32to explain
36:33to Russians
36:34that
36:35there is
36:36a structure
36:37behind all
36:38what happened.
36:39There is
36:40a consequences
36:42of events,
36:43the chain of events
36:44that brought us
36:46to where we are.
36:48and we can
36:49see,
36:50and I wanted
36:51to show
36:51them
36:52that what's
36:53going on
36:53in the elite
36:54circles,
36:55what do they think?
36:56Nobody supports
36:57war there,
36:57nobody.
36:58There's no
36:59exceptions.
37:00They want,
37:01of course,
37:01they want
37:02the war to end
37:03on their terms,
37:04that's a different
37:05thing,
37:05but they don't
37:06want to continue
37:07the war
37:07and they believe
37:08that it was
37:09the stupidest
37:09idea to start
37:10it in the first
37:11place.
37:12But it's
37:13all private
37:15conversations.
37:15nobody will
37:16talk about
37:16that in
37:17public.
37:18It's too
37:18dangerous.
37:20And again,
37:21I wanted
37:21to show
37:22my Russian
37:23readers
37:24what's going
37:25on in
37:25Ukraine
37:25in Russian
37:26language
37:27so they
37:27could read
37:29it,
37:30see it,
37:30and see
37:30human beings
37:31behind the
37:32front lines.
37:33Not some
37:34hoholes,
37:35not some
37:36Ukrainian
37:37Nazis
37:37from TV,
37:40but just
37:41humans.
37:43You know,
37:43it's weird.
37:44It sounds
37:46actually very
37:47Russian because
37:47it's a very
37:49Russian thing
37:50to be concerned
37:51about a book.
37:52They pay a
37:53huge amount
37:54of value
37:55and importance
37:56to books.
37:57You know,
37:58whether I have
37:58books on my
37:59shelf,
37:59whether I've
38:00written a book
38:00yet or not,
38:01those things
38:02matter in
38:03Russian.
38:03And so the
38:04fact that you're
38:05able to reach
38:05them on the
38:06level that they
38:06understand and
38:07comprehend and
38:08respect,
38:09kudos to you.
38:10We have
38:10Betsy Blombaum
38:12who writes,
38:12how could I get
38:13a copy of
38:14your book?
38:15So it
38:15sounds like
38:15in English
38:16it's not
38:16out yet.
38:17It's available
38:17in Russian.
38:18it will be.
38:19Yeah,
38:20the easiest
38:20way is
38:21to actually
38:23subscribe to
38:24me on
38:26Amazon because
38:26you can do
38:27it as an
38:28offer.
38:29It will be
38:29out on
38:30November 9th.
38:32Vira,
38:32Barry,
38:32just put it
38:33on your
38:33calendar.
38:35Or I
38:36will update
38:37like all
38:38my personal
38:39news will
38:40be on
38:40my Facebook
38:40page or
38:41on my
38:42post on
38:42YouTube
38:43channels.
38:43Like I
38:43have a
38:44big,
38:45relatively big
38:46YouTube
38:46channel,
38:46Elvira
38:47Barry,
38:48and I'll
38:49tell the
38:50whole story
38:50how it
38:51will develop
38:53there.
38:53And I
38:54almost
38:54recorded,
38:56almost finished
38:57recording
38:58audiobook in
38:59English,
38:59which was
38:59such a deep
39:00for me.
39:01I can
39:02speak
39:02English,
39:04but I
39:04make mistakes
39:05and reading
39:06fiction,
39:07oh,
39:08it was
39:08difficult.
39:09We took
39:10so many
39:10takes,
39:11but I
39:13managed to
39:14record it.
39:15And probably
39:16my English
39:16became much,
39:18much better
39:18than it
39:19used to be.
39:20It's a great
39:20practice.
39:21Yeah,
39:22it's a great
39:23practice.
39:24So I
39:25enjoyed it
39:26very much,
39:27but it
39:28was something.
39:30So,
39:31there will
39:32be some
39:32mistakes,
39:33but that's
39:34okay.
39:35Elvira,
39:35what gives
39:36you hope
39:37and what
39:37do you
39:37think is
39:38going to
39:38bring about
39:39an end
39:39of this
39:40war?
39:40Because I'm
39:41being asked
39:42when I give
39:43interviews to
39:43Ukrainian media
39:44about the
39:46peace process
39:47and the
39:48negotiations,
39:49and I
39:50always say,
39:50you know,
39:51it's not
39:51really all
39:52that important
39:52because the
39:53war can
39:53end without
39:53those
39:55meetings.
39:57But from
39:58your perspective,
39:59having a
40:00deep
40:00understanding
40:01of that
40:01Russian
40:02character,
40:03things that
40:03Ukrainians are
40:04doing right
40:04now when
40:05they're trying
40:05to take
40:06out the
40:06oil
40:07refineries
40:08and grow
40:10the misery
40:11of the
40:12Russian economy
40:13and the
40:14Russian
40:14population,
40:15what outcome
40:16will that
40:16lead to
40:17and what
40:19will it
40:19take,
40:20do you
40:20feel,
40:20to bring
40:21this war
40:21to a
40:22close?
40:24I see
40:25it as
40:26a much
40:26bigger
40:27process
40:27of
40:28destroying
40:29of the
40:29last
40:30European
40:30empire.
40:32The
40:33Soviet
40:33Union
40:33would
40:34have
40:35its
40:35civil
40:35war
40:36unless
40:36the
40:36prices
40:37of
40:37oil
40:38were
40:39risen
40:40in the
40:411990s,
40:42at the
40:42very,
40:43very,
40:43very end.
40:44We would
40:45have this
40:47conflict
40:47before.
40:47because
40:48what it
40:49is right
40:50now is
40:50basically
40:51the
40:52authoritarian
40:53rulers
40:54of all
40:55sorts,
40:56from
40:56criminal
40:56world to
40:57the
40:57official
40:58government,
40:59tries to
41:00redistribute
41:02assets
41:02they inherited
41:04from the
41:04Soviet
41:05Union.
41:06And
41:06since
41:06they got
41:07this
41:07oil
41:09renter
41:09from
41:11the
41:12previous
41:13decades,
41:14it
41:15softened
41:15the
41:15process
41:16and
41:17postponed
41:18the
41:19civil
41:20war.
41:20So,
41:21if we
41:23see the
41:24bigger
41:24picture,
41:25we should
41:26have it.
41:26We should
41:27have it
41:27when the
41:28Soviet
41:28Union
41:28collapsed.
41:29And it
41:30was in
41:30the most
41:31poor and
41:32deprived
41:32regions.
41:34But
41:35then oil
41:36money came
41:36and
41:38credits
41:38from the
41:39West
41:39came
41:39and
41:40it
41:40softened
41:41the
41:41blow.
41:42But
41:44when
41:45Putin
41:46started
41:46the
41:46war,
41:49oil
41:49prices
41:50already
41:50went
41:50down.
41:52And
41:52that
41:53is
41:53why
41:53he
41:53couldn't
41:54cushion
41:54the
41:56economic
41:57impacts
41:57on his
41:58own
41:58economy
41:59anymore.
41:59It was
42:00impossible
42:00because
42:01for him
42:02to build
42:03a stronger
42:04support,
42:04he needs
42:05to give
42:06something to
42:07his
42:07bureaucracy.
42:08And
42:09the stream
42:10of income
42:10became
42:12thinner.
42:13and that
42:13is why
42:15he needs
42:16something
42:16to give
42:19to his
42:20supporters,
42:22virtual or
42:23real.
42:24For his
42:24friends,
42:25it's a real
42:25asset.
42:26For, again,
42:27for people,
42:28for babushkas
42:29who are
42:30sitting in front
42:30of the TV,
42:31it's just an
42:32illusion of
42:33greatness.
42:34But again,
42:34in their state,
42:35illusion of
42:35greatness is a
42:36very important
42:37narrative because
42:38it doesn't,
42:39maybe you are
42:39miserable,
42:40maybe you
42:41are nobody,
42:41but at least
42:42you belong to
42:42the great
42:43nation.
42:44It's an
42:45important thing
42:45in their
42:46world because
42:47it supports
42:48them and
42:48boosts their
42:49morale.
42:50And morale
42:52in their
42:52situation is
42:54quite an
42:55asset.
42:56So,
42:57the end
42:59of the
42:59war,
43:01we'll get
43:01it when
43:02the last
43:03European
43:04empire starts
43:05to crumble
43:05down.
43:06That is why
43:07Putin thinks
43:08that his
43:09life mission
43:10is to
43:10gather
43:10Russian
43:11lands
43:11together.
43:12No,
43:13his life
43:13mission is
43:14to
43:14disassemble
43:15it.
43:17Because this
43:18structure is
43:19not economically
43:19sustainable and
43:21it hurts
43:22people and
43:23he creates,
43:24basically,
43:24it's a social
43:25cancer,
43:26what we see
43:27there.
43:28Because some
43:29cells,
43:30like perfectly
43:31normal before,
43:33they start
43:33growing.
43:35It's like
43:35Putin's
43:36bureaucracy and
43:37military machine,
43:38it just like
43:38start growing
43:39and hurting
43:40other social
43:41organs,
43:42neighboring
43:43tissue.
43:44And the
43:45whole
43:47humanity as
43:48an organism
43:49is getting
43:49sick.
43:51And there's
43:53no other
43:53way.
43:54We need to
43:56remove this
43:56tumor.
43:58So,
43:58it sounds
43:59like the
44:00solution is
44:01depriving
44:02Russia of
44:03money so
44:04that it
44:05would collapse
44:06on its own
44:07under the
44:08weight of
44:08all of its
44:09own
44:09problems.
44:11Yes.
44:12Basically,
44:13it is cruel
44:14to Russian
44:15people who
44:16live there and
44:17it has nothing
44:17to do with
44:18the war at
44:19all and
44:19never
44:20contributed,
44:20never
44:21supported it.
44:22But,
44:22unfortunately,
44:24on this big
44:24scale,
44:26human society
44:27behaves like
44:28an organism.
44:30So,
44:31I believe
44:31that what
44:33will happen
44:33next,
44:34the first
44:35will come
44:35financial crisis.
44:37Because how
44:38they manage
44:39Russian budget
44:40and Russian
44:40money is
44:41mind-blowing.
44:44It's like
44:46they already
44:47spend,
44:48I don't
44:48remember exact
44:49numbers,
44:49but about
44:5040%
44:51on the
44:51war
44:52budget.
44:54You can
44:54sustain
44:55the
44:56empire of
44:57this big
44:57with
44:58aging
44:59population,
44:59with so
45:00much social
45:01problems,
45:02with
45:04only 60%
45:05of the
45:06budget.
45:07They already
45:08reduced the
45:09spending on
45:10cancer treatment,
45:12for example,
45:13like 12
45:14times.
45:15The
45:16people who
45:17belong to
45:17the high
45:17caste,
45:18they wouldn't
45:18have any
45:19problem if
45:19they get
45:19cancer,
45:20they'll
45:20just go
45:21to Israel
45:22or Germany
45:22or anywhere
45:23else.
45:24But people
45:25who are
45:26down there,
45:28what should
45:29they do?
45:30If a
45:30single shot
45:32of a
45:33drug could
45:33cost about
45:34$20,000,
45:35they just
45:37go to
45:37the
45:37cemeteries,
45:38straight to
45:39the
45:39cemetery.
45:39So,
45:41after the
45:42financial crisis,
45:43we'll get
45:43the logistics
45:44crisis.
45:45Logistics
45:46crisis is
45:47about a
45:48fuel and
45:50impossibility
45:51to pay
45:52in time.
45:54Because right
45:54now,
45:55the main
45:59logistics
45:59source,
46:00the main
46:02routes are
46:02railroads,
46:04and they
46:05need
46:06electricity,
46:07they need
46:07coal,
46:08and some
46:08of them
46:09need
46:09diesel.
46:11And after
46:12that,
46:13there will
46:14be economic
46:14crisis.
46:17And it
46:18will be
46:18brutal,
46:18unfortunately,
46:19for
46:20Russians.
46:21And I
46:22believe that
46:23the war
46:23will be
46:24stopped
46:24one way
46:25or another
46:26because
46:26Russian
46:27army will
46:28be
46:28exhausted.
46:29It will
46:29be stopped
46:31somewhere
46:33around the
46:34front line.
46:34We don't
46:35know what
46:36Ukrainian army
46:37will be
46:37able to
46:38get back
46:39at that
46:41moment.
46:41But it
46:42will stop
46:43not like
46:43on the
46:44border of
46:441991.
46:45It will
46:46stop
46:46somewhere
46:46in
46:47Danesk region.
46:48And after
46:49that,
46:49Russia
46:49starts
46:50trying to
46:51fix itself.
46:52It will
46:53fail because
46:54fixing needs
46:56ideology and
46:57people and
46:58people left,
46:59those people
46:59who are capable
47:00of actually
47:01fixing.
47:01and the
47:04FSB
47:05won't allow
47:05anyone to
47:07the power
47:08because they
47:09wanted all
47:09the power
47:10to themselves
47:10and all
47:11the resources
47:11to themselves.
47:12But they
47:13are not
47:14managers.
47:14They don't
47:14know how
47:15to rule
47:15the country.
47:16And
47:16unfortunately,
47:17that will
47:19lead to
47:20the huge
47:21social
47:22problems.
47:23And then
47:24I guess
47:25Ukrainian
47:25army will
47:26just enter
47:28their territories
47:28and get it
47:29back.
47:29Not because
47:30they will
47:30fight
47:31Russian army
47:32now.
47:33Because
47:33the Russian
47:34soldiers
47:34won't be
47:35paid and
47:35they just
47:36leave.
47:37So
47:38that's
47:40the image
47:41I keep
47:41in mind.
47:42Of course,
47:42I can't
47:43predict
47:43the future
47:45and there
47:45could be
47:46a lot
47:46of black
47:47swans
47:47as we
47:48say in
47:49Russian.
47:50Black swan
47:51as when
47:52something
47:53unexpected
47:53happens.
47:56And
47:57Putin
47:57may die
47:58tomorrow,
47:59for example.
48:00It will
48:00be a different
48:00scenario.
48:01But if
48:01he
48:02left,
48:03probably
48:04the
48:05basically
48:05it could
48:07be just
48:07two
48:08outcomes.
48:09Or
48:09this
48:09green
48:10picture
48:10I
48:10described
48:10earlier,
48:11or
48:11the
48:12authoritarian
48:12regime
48:13like
48:14North
48:14Korea.
48:15But it
48:15would be
48:15difficult
48:16to build
48:16it.
48:17Because
48:17North
48:18Korea's
48:19regime
48:20was built
48:20from
48:21a very,
48:21very low
48:22base.
48:22People
48:23never
48:23tried
48:23anything
48:24sweeter
48:24than
48:25carrot.
48:25and
48:28they
48:29didn't
48:29have
48:29an
48:29idea
48:30of
48:30a
48:30free
48:30life
48:31and
48:31free
48:31world.
48:32Russians
48:33did,
48:34and they
48:34still
48:35know
48:36where is
48:37better,
48:38that
48:38somewhere
48:39there
48:39is a
48:40better
48:40way
48:41to live.
48:42So
48:43there
48:44would
48:44be
48:44huge
48:45support,
48:46political
48:46support,
48:47and popular
48:47support for
48:48the idea
48:49of the
48:49totalitarian
48:49regime in
48:50Russia.
48:51Especially
48:52among,
48:53and everybody
48:54will be
48:54unhappy when
48:55the war
48:55ends this
48:56way or
48:56another.
48:57The
48:58Z community
49:00will be
49:01unhappy
49:01because
49:02we fought
49:03so much,
49:04we lost
49:04so much,
49:05and what
49:06are the
49:07prices?
49:07There's no
49:08price.
49:08Well,
49:09what is the
49:09reward?
49:10There is
49:10price,
49:11there's no
49:11reward.
49:12Yeah,
49:13we don't
49:13care about
49:13Donbass
49:14region
49:14because
49:15it's
49:16unlivable
49:16now.
49:18Mines
49:18and
49:19fiber
49:20optics
49:20and
49:21everything
49:22is
49:22destroyed
49:23and
49:23people
49:23left.
49:24It
49:24just
49:24ruins.
49:25And
49:26so,
49:27no
49:28price
49:28for
49:28this
49:29part.
49:30People
49:30who
49:31invested
49:32their
49:32money,
49:33their
49:33effort,
49:34their
49:34energy,
49:35mental
49:35energy
49:36into
49:36war,
49:37they
49:37thought
49:37like,
49:38why
49:38couldn't
49:39you
49:39crush
49:39Ukraine?
49:40Why
49:41are you
49:41so
49:41impotent?
49:43And
49:43the
49:44liberal
49:45part
49:45will
49:45say,
49:46like,
49:46we
49:46told you
49:47so
49:47from
49:472014
49:48that
49:49if you
49:50grab
49:50somebody
49:51else's
49:51piece
49:51of
49:51land,
49:52you'll
49:53get
49:53war.
49:54We
49:54wrote about
49:55that,
49:56but nobody
49:57listened
49:57because
49:58some of the
49:59people thought
50:00we can't do
50:00anything
50:01anyways,
50:01and another
50:02part of the
50:03population
50:04thought,
50:04hey,
50:05hooray,
50:05we are now
50:06on the way
50:07to restore
50:07Soviet Union.
50:08hello.
50:11So,
50:12everybody
50:13will be
50:14unhappy,
50:15and when
50:16people
50:16are unhappy
50:16and trapped,
50:17what will
50:18we do?
50:19It's just
50:19a jar
50:20with spiders.
50:22Indeed,
50:23and I think
50:25Ukrainians are
50:25worried that
50:26once the war
50:27is over,
50:27that the
50:28United States
50:28will once
50:29again start
50:30sending
50:30all aid
50:31to Russia
50:32and keep
50:33Russia from
50:34collapsing
50:35under a
50:35weight.
50:35No.
50:36Oh,
50:36no.
50:37You think
50:38it's going
50:38to be
50:38different
50:39this time?
50:39Because
50:39we should
50:42wrap this
50:42up,
50:42but I
50:43should mention
50:43the plague
50:44because it
50:45seems like
50:45there's
50:46black swans
50:47and then
50:47there's
50:47the black
50:48plague.
50:51Is that
50:52something
50:52that's going
50:52to affect
50:53anything,
50:53or do you
50:54think that
50:55based on
50:56all your
50:56experience
50:57and everything
50:57you just
50:58said that
50:58plague will
50:59just have
50:59its way
51:00with Russia
51:00and nothing
51:01will change?
51:03I'm not
51:04100% sure
51:05that there
51:06is plague
51:07because I
51:08watched the
51:09news.
51:09Again,
51:10our socials
51:11are limited,
51:11but from
51:12what I
51:12learned,
51:13it was
51:14kind of
51:15almost
51:15funny,
51:17dark
51:17humor
51:19because
51:19the news
51:20from Russia
51:21right now.
51:21We have
51:22a plague.
51:23Bears are
51:24rummaging
51:27everywhere
51:27from Leningrad
51:29Obelisk to
51:29Siberia.
51:30Bears on
51:31the streets.
51:32Our army
51:33is fighting
51:33somewhere
51:34in the
51:34Parisian
51:35region,
51:36and we
51:37have some
51:37problems
51:37with the
51:38Prussia,
51:39basically
51:40the Baltics.
51:43And
51:46we have
51:47the most
51:48powerful
51:49cast is
51:50Aprechnin.
51:51Aprechnin is
51:52Ivan the Terrible's
51:53security service,
51:54basically.
51:56And some
51:57guy just
51:57listed all
51:58those news
51:59and said
51:59like,
52:00guys,
52:00who
52:01actually
52:02wished for
52:03us to
52:03get back
52:04to the
52:0416th
52:05century.
52:06And the
52:07commentator
52:08said,
52:08you should
52:09not disturb
52:10the relics
52:11because that
52:12was another
52:13news from
52:15Russia that
52:16Putin and
52:17his priests
52:18are parading
52:19Dmitry Donskoy's
52:21relics around
52:22the cities and
52:23the front lines
52:24in hope that it
52:25will help them
52:25to destroy
52:26Ukraine.
52:28And Dmitry
52:28Donskoy is
52:29the prince
52:30who declared
52:32saint.
52:32He's from
52:33medieval times.
52:35And those
52:36are not even
52:36the first relics
52:37that they
52:37lost.
52:40So, yeah,
52:41the list
52:42of Russian
52:42news takes
52:43them back
52:44in time
52:45to, yeah,
52:4516th, 17th
52:46century.
52:47Yeah,
52:4816th century.
52:49With a plague
52:50on the top
52:51of that.
52:53Ladies and
52:54gentlemen,
52:54I want to
52:54thank everyone
52:55who joined
52:56us, and I
52:57want to
52:57especially
52:58thank Elvira
52:59Berry, who
53:00is an
53:01amazing writer,
53:02a great
53:02person, and
53:03you should
53:04check out
53:04her book
53:05in Russian
53:06and then
53:06in English,
53:07and her
53:07videos in
53:08English
53:08are wonderful
53:10and just
53:11deliver very
53:12useful
53:13information
53:13to those
53:15that need
53:15to be
53:15aware,
53:16which is
53:17English
53:17speakers,
53:17because it
53:18seems like
53:18Russian
53:19speakers,
53:19oh, we
53:20know
53:20everything,
53:21but English
53:22speakers
53:22could use
53:23some, you
53:24know,
53:24refresher
53:25course or
53:25education,
53:26and I
53:26recommend
53:26Elvira
53:27Berry.
53:27So, thanks
53:29to everyone
53:29who joined
53:30us on
53:30Voice
53:30from
53:31Ukraine
53:31or on
53:32Rashkin
53:32Report,
53:33and we're
53:34going to
53:34return tomorrow
53:35with Lev
53:36Parnas
53:36and Alexander
53:37Balbir,
53:38so join
53:39us then.
53:40Elvira, thank
53:41you so much
53:42for your
53:42time as
53:42always.
53:43My pleasure.
53:44And,
53:45look at
53:46this, yes,
53:48even a
53:49fossilized
53:49hand of
53:50some
53:51character
53:51from
53:51centuries
53:52ago
53:52is
53:53thrown
53:53on
53:53the
53:53front
53:54line.
53:54Thank you,
53:55says Bridget,
53:56great show,
53:56good guests
53:57and good
53:57questions.
53:58We try.
54:00Take care,
54:00everyone.
54:01Yeah, thank
54:02you.
54:03So,
54:03all that,
54:03I,
54:18to
54:19you
54:19have
54:19a
54:19a
54:19a
54:19a
54:27You