Columnists Love Russia By Daria Chernyshova This time, there will be no provocation, no politics, no general discontent. No, this is just a sweet swan song as this column comes to a happy close

Columnists In stupidity we trust By Daria Chernyshova It’s strange but true, in Russia it is always better to act without a prior plan; our soul seldom follow a predictable path. But when Russians do plan something, the results are usually a big surprise.

Columnists Once not enough By Daria Chernyshova The 10-day New Year vacation from the government is over, and Russia is reluctantly, slowly returning to work. But just because the official holiday calendar says the holidays are over, doesn’t necessarily mean the party has to stop…

Columnists A Russian fairytale By Daria Chernyshova With snow falling outside and brightly-decorated trees on every street corner, I make no apology for taking this opportunity to introduce the star of Novy God, Ded Moroz himself, or perhaps he is really someone else?

Columnists Free to celebrate By Daria Chernyshova Despite the unstoppable march of the financial crisis, Russia will still enjoy a long New Year holiday. Ever since 2004 the country has kicked off each passing year with a 10-day holiday, an epic orgy of indolent relaxation

Columnists When everybody mourns… By Daria Chernyshova Some days it is as if nature itself shares our feelings. The weather seems to be living our lives with us in a strange kind of marriage between the air outside and our moods and emotions

Columnists Hidden homeless By Daria Chernyshova Living in a big city can easily blind us to the many things we take for granted. What was once new becomes commonplace. But visiting another city opens our eyes to a world we failed to notice back home: the world of the homeless

Columnists Let it snow? By Daria Chernyshova Last week, I was driving in the center of the city when I suddenly felt the spirit of New Year. I haven’t had such feelings about winter for a long time – not because I didn’t want it, but because the weather wasn’t wintry enough

Columnists To change or not to change? By Daria Chernyshova ‘A constitution is a system for government... that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity... establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government’

Columnists Ruler, ruler on the wall... By Daria Chernyshova Foreigners often ask me if I think life is good in Russia. My answer is always immediate and positive: ‘Of course it is!’ But there remains the nagging question as to exactly what Russians believe to be “the good life”

Local Substitute holiday By Daria Chernyshova Everybody loves the weekend, unless they are workaholics. For all our good intentions, most of us arrive at work on Monday morning already thinking about how we will spend our next precious days of rest and leisure time

Columnists It’s not my problem! By Daria Chernyshova The financial crisis is now more than just a theory – it’s become a fact of life. But while it is all over the media, with an army of experts to remind us about it everyday, the majority of Russians are paying little attention

Local The Mystery Metro By Daria Chernyshova The Moscow Metro has always been regarded as the most beautiful underground system in the world. Its magnificent marble surfaces, decoration and art fit for a museum truly makes it one of the most incredible things about the city

Columnists Rich in Russia By Daria Chernyshova ‘There are rich and poor in Russia, and no other variants.’ This philosophy nicely summed up Russia in the post-Soviet era as there really was no middle class at that time. Today, the middle class is growing, but it’s so much more fun to talk about the rich

Columnists Soviet streets By Daria Chernyshova Does anybody really need to have a street named after them? Well, that was the honor that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov bestowed upon Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Grozny