The fate of this aircraft was dramatic. Nobody needed him long before the first flight. But sanctions and refusal to cooperate with Russia can give a second life to a unique car, says Hi-Tech Mail.ru.
Universal aircraft
In the late 80s, the Soviet aircraft industry faced the same question as the Russian one now. For regional transportation both within the country and abroad, an inexpensive, fast aircraft with modern on-board equipment was required. The initial analysis showed that there were two possible development options: to create an aircraft from scratch or to unify it in terms of key units with one of the aircraft types that exist and are used domestically.
The development of a 100-seat passenger airliner capable of taking off like the Yak-142 from almost any runway (including regional ones, the quality of which in most cases left much to be desired) was started with great enthusiasm.
Versatility is the keyword of this machine, so in order not to spend a lot of money on the development of the aircraft, which received the Tu-334 index, it was decided to borrow some elements from larger airliners.
To solve several problems at once, the Tu-334 was 60% unified with the Tu-204 passenger airliner. The fuselage of a small hundred-seat aircraft has the same section as the older model, but is half as long, and a significant part of it was made of composite materials, which facilitated the design and had a positive effect not only on fuel efficiency, but also on the rigidity of the wing.
First problems
To say that it was not easy to create such a machine, even with several aircraft factories and donor aircraft nearby, on the basis of which it was possible to design a new board, is to say nothing. The main difficulty crept up from where no one expected. It suddenly turned out that the wing area was too small for a vigorous takeoff and, in theory, could worsen the control of the board. At the same time, they tried to involve the French Aérospatiale (it later became part of the huge state corporation EADS) and the Italian Alenia in the project.
These companies are believed to have helped develop the larger wing. However, in reality, French and Italian engineers helped identify the main problem with the original design – an overweight of about five tons. There were two ways to solve this problem: either lighten the fuselage and power elements and redesign the aircraft, or install a larger wing area to increase lift and improve flight stability. For the sake of saving money and time, it was the second option that was chosen, and already in 1999, a promising passenger airliner took to the skies.
If the Tu-334 was so good, why didn’t it go into production?
In 2003, they presented the appearance of a serial machine, almost ready for production, and by 2005, when the Government gave the go-ahead for the production of the machine, all the solutions necessary for flights were created, tested and implemented.
Despite the fact that the Tu-334 consisted almost entirely of domestic components, Ukraine was to become one of the key participants in the project. The level of integration with the Ukrainian industry was quite high: some elements of hydraulics, electrics, as well as the heart of the machine were the D-436T1 engines of the Zaporozhye Design Bureau. It is believed that partly for this reason, the mass production of the machine began to be gradually abandoned, and after a series of five assembled fuselages, the program was frozen. It was replaced by the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) – a more globalized aircraft, the components for which were made in a number of European countries, as well as in the United States.
In 2019, when the sanctions flywheel was already underway, the Tu-334 project was criticized by the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. But the situation in 2022 can give the Tu-334 a new life, and in the most unexpected way.
Tu-334 vs. Boeing 737 and Airbus A320
The main problem of the Tu-334 is that if we start producing it now in parallel with the “anti-sanction” Tu-204 (the news about the production of which has already appeared), we will have to solve several key problems at once. The first is to modernize, or rather, re-create a complex of flight and navigation equipment. There is some groundwork in this direction, but we still need to grow to the level of unification with Boeing / Airbus on-board systems.
The second problem is the engine. Few people know, but when creating the Tu-334 advance project, it was planned to put two engines located under the wing on the first prototype of the aircraft. Then aviation security experts got involved, saying that this way the Tu-334 would “vacuum” the runway (all the dirt and water would get into the engines), and the layout of the units was changed.
Instead of the Ukrainian D-436s (in theory), the Tu-334 can be suspended under the PD-8, the engine for the new SSJ-New, which is being created in order to maximize import substitution. But you can forget about international flights for now. Not only because of the air space is closed, but also because it will take a long time to certify. In addition, the aircraft will almost certainly have to be redesigned for new engines. Again.
But the aerodynamic design of the Tu-334 has some advantages. For example, with much more modest dimensions, the design of the Tu-334 allows you to neatly fit the aircraft between the outdated Yak-142 and modern liners. The Soviet “business jet” had a little less than 10 tons of jet fuel in its fuel tanks, while the “Superjet” had 12,600 kg.
Tu-334 tanks also contain 10 tons of fuel, which, with the installation of more modern, economical engines and the processing of the flight control system, can increase the flight range by 10-15 percent – up to 3500 km compared to 3100 km, calculated initially. Similar modifications were created at the dawn of aircraft design. The version with an extended fuselage was called the Tu-334-200 and took on board up to 126 passengers, while flying 4 thousand km – 1 thousand km more than the base SSJ-100.
Tu-334 and Tu-204 – the concept of use under sanctions.
Despite the fact that the Tu-334 was created as an exclusively domestic aircraft, it was possible to install foreign engines on it. Some versions were supposed to install Rolls-Royce BR700 – long-certified, but frankly not the most modern engines. According to some reports, the only fully assembled Tu-334 is standing at the aircraft factory in Kazan, which, probably, can become the starting point in the post-sanction period for the development of domestic aviation.
However, the Tu-334 in the modern world has two problems at once. The first is MS-21. The second is SSJ-New. Significant funds have been invested in the development and production of these aircraft, and whether the Tupolevites will have an extra budget for finalizing a new aircraft, when it would be logical to design a new aircraft on the basis of 334, is a big question. But a year ago, no one thought that Airbus/Boeing would refuse to service and repair legally purchased aircraft and, in fact, completely deprive Russian airlines of access to foreign aircraft. Decisive times require decisive measures, and it is possible that the Tu-334 may soon be reborn into a new airliner.
Photo: Tu-334 at the MAKS-2007 air show Wikimedia / Sergey Ryabtsev / GFDL 1.2
A new report based on a survey of over 300 charities across Wales found charities are facing a perfect storm—and it’s one we can’t afford to ignore.
As the world recovers from a devastating pandemic, a series of shocks, including a rise in the cost of goods and services, the impact of high inflation on donations, a challenging fundraising environment and increased demand for services, have hit charities hard.
The survey, conducted by Cranfield Trust, the UK’s leading provider of pro bono management support for charities, reveals that nearly half of charities said lack of long-term, core funding was a barrier to development and 73% said they would benefit from immediate management support. Although pro bono management support is available to charities in Wales, many respondents were unaware of it.
With funding from the Welsh Government steadily decreasing over the last ten years, charities in Wales are estimated to have lost 24% of their total income during 2021—equating to a staggering £620m loss.
Amanda Tincknell, CEO of Cranfield Trust, said, “People all over the UK will be hard hit this year by the rising cost of living and many of them will turn to charities to get the help or advice they need. But charity leaders in Wales are worried about how they will cope managing the increased demand for services, at a time when generating income to deliver their services is tougher than ever and their capacity is stretched to the limit.”
According to the survey, 85% of charity leaders said having time to be both strategic and operational was their major leadership challenge, now and in the next 12 months.
Amanda continued, “Through the survey, charity leaders in Wales told us they are under enormous pressure, and are struggling to find time to think strategically while acting operationally, and they need external support now. We urge charity leaders to reach out for the pro bono management support that is available to them, so they can continue to support the people and communities that rely of their vital services.”
Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Cranfield Trust, on Wednesday 4 May, 2022. For more information subscribe and follow https://pressat.co.uk/
Dr. Econ. Emil Harsev, in front of Bulgarian segabg.com:
Every time we get stuck in a crisis, there is an even more serious crisis, stagnation, recession – call it what you will. There is a real war going on in Europe again, not a thousand kilometers away. Another war is in full swing, economic, we are a warring country in it. Each of us asks the eternal question: what now? The noise of programs, forecasts, demands, protests, ideas, which are more absurd and non-existent, does not stop. They say a change in the state budget; companies and households are forced to reschedule their budgets every day. That is why it seems important to me to take a look at the experience of the absolute crisis champion, Switzerland. This is a country for which war and all kinds of crises have been a craft and a livelihood for centuries. Even a cursory glance at the gross domestic product chart for the last two centuries shows that the confederation became rich in the years of world wars and crises. The explanation is not only the famous Swiss neutrality, it is one of the pillars of the national strategy, but not the only one. Let’s not forget that the Alps are the birthplace of the famous soldiers (German Söldner, from the Latin sal datum, “given salt”), professional soldiers who fought in the early Middle Ages, for which he paid (salt is one of the fixed exchange values of at that time, the emperors also paid their legions with salt, later in gold). For Swiss mercenaries, war is a livelihood. My grandfathers grazed sheep in the native Rhodopes and the Aegean, the Rhodope mechrs and thorn carpenters went abroad to build, and the Swiss sold blood for salt.
War is in their blood and they understand it like no other, without emotions and malice. And that is why the Swiss anti-crisis strategy is not written – on paper and there are spewing the same empty talk with which officials flood Europe and the world. We all know the sermons from the mainstream. And the Swiss doctrine is in the genome and in the soul, it is not a state program, but a personal work, part of the memory and spirit of the nation (the Swiss relies on himself and not on the state – he pays for it and tries to make it cheaper ). That is why it is difficult to explain, but it can be observed and described, and whoever succeeds can learn.
I was confronted with the Swiss economic worldview in the 1980s, when they twice rejected the five-day working week in a referendum and insisted on working six days out of seven. In a TV poll, passers-by were asked why. One replied, “Denn nur durch Arbeit kommen wir zum Zeld!” – “We only make money from work!”
This is the golden economic rule of the Swiss. Concise quintessence of labor theory of value (LVT by Adam Smith and David Ricardo, AWL by Karl Marx). Next is trade and redistribution, to make someone else work for you. We all have what we make together, there is no other source of value outside of work. Beyond work for the Swiss, there are other values that allow him to go unscathed through wars and crises, to win when others fail and go bankrupt. There is no mystery and magic, but extremely earthly things, very simple. My colleague and friend from Basel defended his dissertation, after 2-3 years he headed the corporate banking and got engaged to the daughter of the owner of the bank. Before the marriage he decided to buy a house and asked for a loan from the bank. But the credit committee refused the loan and asked the chief cashier to explain to him how to live on borrowed money.
In banks, the chief cashier is a mythical figure, an honorary traditional position for a respected authority, guardian of values not only in the treasury, but also in the principles of the bank. So the chief cashier told his colleague that in order to get a loan for a house, he had to do two things: increase the required amount with the necessary money to buy along with the house as many cows as the barn collects. And take the application to the next bank. Because the colleague wondered who needed to look for another bank, why buy cows, when his salary as a bank director is a sure guarantee, five times the national average, not counting the premiums.
This is called integrity, the chief cashier explained to him, it is not right for a bank to lend to its own directors. And a man who has money and no cows is insecure. A cow owner must quickly go home, feed them, milk them, milk them and clear the barn when he has finished working at the bank. Such a man does not get drunk in pubs, does not go to foreign women, does not dawn in bars, does not gamble. He learns to look at living beings, to be responsible for them, so he understands how difficult it is to create a real product, real value. So you have to buy cows to keep the bank calm, by giving you a million and up a loan, to buy your own house and yard under the blue sky and the white peaks of the Alps. And when hard times come, the Swiss just works harder. He watches more cows, thinks about what else he can make money from, saves, masters whatever he can, for example, knits sweaters. Or he goes abroad, pretends to be a soldier or a servant; therefore the word for porter in Russian is “shveitzar”, in German e Schweizer. There is no shameful job for the Swiss, he works honestly and hard, but he will make money and survive. In fact, Switzerland is a very poor country, for centuries it has been the poorest and most miserable in Europe. Nothing is born in the alpine rocks, and in order to survive, people have learned to live in a hostile environment of competition: to invent new products, to work as professional mercenaries, but they value their work. And don’t wait for it. Only the world wars in the twentieth century created favorable conditions for the success of the Swiss model. I know that for us, born in rich, fertile and fertile Bulgaria, it is really difficult both to have a true idea of what we have and how we waste, and to see the world through the eyes of people forced to fight and constantly compete for his life. But it’s worth it. Bulgaria can be “Switzerland in the Balkans”. Maybe. We have been far richer than the Swiss for millennia. It is normal (caeteris paribus) to be much richer, unless we are much stupider or lazy.
Large Russian retail chains are negotiating with Kazakhstan to supply certain categories of goods that have become more difficult to enter the Russian market through the usual channels. This was announced at a briefing by Yerkebulan Orazalin, head of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Investment in Almaty, Tengrinews.kz reports.
According to him, such requests are made by the Magnit and Lenta chains. First of all, they are interested in importing foreign goods, for which there may be a shortage in Russia, and Kazakh companies could help with supplies. But, Orazalin warned, the process involves a number of international restrictions. The official also said that more and more Russian companies are interested in moving their business from Russia to Kazakhstan, for example in Alma-Ata. He did not give specific names, as the work goes through the Atameken Chamber of Entrepreneurs, where a special service window has been created for all interested investors.
In connection with the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine, Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions, which, among other things, include logistical restrictions on the border with the European Union. In addition to banning trucks with Russian license plates, international carriers often refuse to unilaterally transport products to Russia.
French authorities have sent Kyiv a total of 100m euros in military aid and are planning new deliveries. The Elysee Palace said in a statement on May 2. “Deliveries of deadly and non-lethal weapons worth 100 million euros – defense equipment, optoelectronic equipment, weapons and ammunition, weapons systems that meet the needs of Ukraine. France will continue to provide additional military capabilities to Ukraine in response to the needs expressed by Ukrainian authorities, and in coordination with our European partners and allies, “the statement said.
The statement did not specify what types of weapons were being delivered to Ukraine, but French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier said he planned to send 155-millimeter Cesar self-propelled artillery to Ukraine. He also spoke about the supply of anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine. At the same time, Macron stressed that France should not cross the “red line, namely not be a party to the conflict.” In addition to weapons, France has sent about 615 tonnes of humanitarian aid worth 100m euros, including medical supplies, tents, hygiene kits and food. The Ukrainian emergency services also received 15 fire trucks and ambulances. The French development agency has announced 300m euros in government-guaranteed loans as part of its financial assistance to Kyiv. As part of efforts to establish responsibility for the crimes committed during the conflict, French authorities have sent a team of forensic scientists and a mobile laboratory to the country. It is reported that “at the request of the Ukrainian authorities, their mission will be extended.” Paris will also provide 500,000 euros to the International Criminal Court, which is involved in the investigation and has seconded two magistrates and ten investigators to support efforts in this area. More than 51,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in France since the conflict began on April 28. The country has prepared 90,000 accommodations and 29,000 people have taken advantage of the offer.
In the town of Izmit (ancient name Nicomedia) in northwestern modern Turkey, local utilities are building a new office building. And they came across a whole cemetery underground. Archaeologists from the University of Marmara, led by Hussein Sami Ozturk, then set to work.
Scientists have excavated 37 graves dating from the II-IV century AD. One burial stands out: this is a stone sarcophagus, on which are well preserved not only the bas-reliefs with images of warriors, but also the inscription on the side panel. According to this inscription, Tziampo, the bodyguard of Emperor Diocletian, is buried in the sarcophagus. The full text in translation looks something like this: “I lived 50 years. I do not allow anyone to be buried in this tomb except my son Sever or my wife. I served nine years as a private in the cavalry, 11 years as a captain and ten years as a protector. If one dares to bury another in this tomb, he will pay 20 folis (a Roman and later a Byzantine bronze coin, which devalued strongly under Diocletian) in the fiscal (the emperor’s personal treasury) and ten in the city treasury. found the remains of two people. Scientists are now determining who is the second buried – the son or wife of Ciampo. What is interesting about the sarcophagus? It must be said that the history of the bodyguards of the first persons of the Roman Republic, and then of the empire, is an extremely complicated question: the sources contradict each other, the findings of archaeologists raise more questions than they answer. Interestingly, the first bodyguards of Roman consuls and generals were not Roman citizens. They were recruited from allied forces. It was believed that in this way they acted as a guarantor of the loyalty of their compatriots. These fighters were later transformed into the Praetorian Guard, whose warriors performed the same functions, and the name comes from the term “praetorium” – so called the location of the general’s tent in the army field camp. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard expanded, and it began to include auxiliary units, officials, translators, heralds, and many others. Octavian Augustus increased the number of Praetorians to nine thousand: nine cohorts per thousand men. Of course, such a number was not needed for bodyguards, but Octavian intended these people to maintain public order in Rome. It should be noted that the Praetorians of that time were recruited by the people of Italy, but not by the citizens of Rome.
It was later decided to take in these elite units not only locals on the Apennine Peninsula. Over time, the Praetorians began to take an active part in the political life of the Eternal City – and with force, which is natural for security. Sometimes they were involved in conspiracies, relying on military support. Sometimes they carried out coups themselves. For example, the emperors Caligula and Commodus were killed by Praetorians involved in conspiracies. And the Praetorian Macrinus personally organized a conspiracy, as a result of which the Emperor Caracalla was killed, and he himself sat on the throne. With such defenders, the emperors were not entirely safe. Therefore, under Emperor Gallienus, who ruled in 253-268, a separate detachment of the emperor’s bodyguards was created – protectors (from the Latin protector – “patron”, “protector”). We know little about this unit, but there is information in the sources about the Ciampo protector. This name is mentioned in connection with a man whom today we would call the adjutant of Emperor Diocletian, who ruled in 284-305. nine years, after which he received the title of “ordinarius” (captain), and after another 11 years he became a protector. The title protector, as is often the case, was obtained in two ways: for military merit or through personal connections or bribes. Because of the latter, the emperors had to “cleanse” the ranks of their close bodyguards from time to time, as they apparently did not want to raise another Praetorian. Apparently, Ciampo became a protector thanks to military merit. The discovery of the sarcophagus was the first time that archaeologists knew the exact name of the burial and had the opportunity to study the remains and burial gifts. Let’s just add that the Praetorian Guard was completely disbanded by Emperor Constantine the Great in 312, after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. In this battle, Constantine was opposed by the Praetorians, who had previously brought the usurper Maxentius to power in Rome. Constantine ordered the destruction of the Praetorian camp as a “permanent nest of riots.”
Photo: The city of Nicamedia was founded by the Bithynian king Nicomedes I in 264 BC. e.
Note: This settlement was built on the site of the ancient city of Olbia. After 74 A.D. e. Nicemedia became the leading settlement of the Roman Bithynian province. In 286 a.d. e. Nicomedia became the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. From 324 AD e. it was the capital of the empire of Constantine. During the reign of Constantine, many Christian churches and various palaces were built in the city. This was the period of the highest flowering of Nicomedia. Nicomedia did not lose its significance even after Constantinople entered the political arena. In 1337, the Turks captured Nicomedia and rebuilt the city in their own way. The city was renamed Izmit.
Since the start of the war, dozens of people have publicly refused to consider themselves children of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). One of them, the screenwriter and producer Ivan Filipov, tells how his almost forty-year life in the Church ended. We cannot judge the real number of people who left the ROC or even Orthodoxy, but it is a fact that the position of the ROC in these critical times for Russia, Ukraine and the whole world has created a problem for the conscience of thousands of believers.
I have been going to church since I was a child. When I was born, my mother and older sister had already been baptized and for some time went to a popular parish in Moscow. I remember that my father was baptized later – as a child I was strictly forbidden to tell about it to outsiders or to mention it in any way outside the family circle. Although it was the later, freer decade of the 1980s, people could be arrested for their faith, and Dad was a non-partisan, despite working at a research institute affiliated with the Communist Party Central Committee. Anyway, it’s been more than thirty years, and I still remember everything.
I remember being ridiculed in the yard for being a “believer in God” (they stopped after 1991), and once in the swimming pool my swimming coach took off my cross. I remember this episode especially well, because the cross was not on a chain that could be easily broken, but on a string – it was terribly painful.
To be completely honest, as a child I was terribly annoyed by “going to church every Sunday,” by “fasting days,” and by fasting in general. On summer Sundays at the villa — and at least we had a black-and-white TV there — I wanted to watch the Muppet Show instead of going to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra with my mother. And when I was in Moscow on Saturday night and Sunday morning, I wanted to go about my business or sleep instead of going to work. But no one wanted my opinion.
Nevertheless, I well remember the feeling that reigned in the churches in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was amazing. While the Church was either banned or in terrible conditions, I remember how differently the priests spoke, how the parishioners burned. But who knows, maybe now I’m idealizing my childhood memories. And yet.
All the time until my admission to Moscow State University, my life was closely connected with the Russian Orthodox Church. I went to church almost every Sunday, confessed and partook of communion. I studied in Sunday school, sang in the church choir, studied in the Orthodox high school. I can still speak Church Slavonic, and if you wake me up in the middle of the night and put me in a crowd, I will probably be able to sing the whole Liturgy from beginning to end.
But my relationship with the Church, sorry for the pun, has never been smooth. For some reason it didn’t go well. What I heard from the pulpit did not exactly match what I saw with my own eyes. A highly respected priest (now a bishop), who required his parishioners to confess first for themselves and then for their friends, confessed me. He wanted us to inform, that’s it. In high school, I was embarrassed when my physics teacher told me he dreamed of bombing all the Buddhist monasteries. It did not seem to me that this was very Orthodox. Or the chemistry teacher, who told us in class that the Antichrist would appear through genetic engineering, and a week later explained that he would come with a flying saucer. When I timidly asked if it was a plate or genetic engineering, she was offended for some reason.
Maybe the story of my relationship with the ROC could have ended when I came of age, but somewhere along the way I found faith. My own, very personal and very important to me. I did not find her when I went to church or in sermons, but she kept me in the Church for many years. Journalist Olesya Gerasimenko came up with, in my opinion, a very appropriate phrase for these situations. Speaking about the current state of the country, she added: “And as an end to my misfortune, I love Russia very much.” In my case, the comma sounds different: I sincerely believe in God, and that faith is very important to me.
I was not the only one who felt a dissonance between what was written in the Gospel and what I saw with my own eyes in church life. But church institutions have always come up with some excuse to explain not only the lack of change, but also the fundamental impossibility of change. For years we lived in Russia, where corruption pervaded all state institutions and every attempt to change something was met with the words “but this is Russia, this has always been the case” and other meaningless and familiar mantras. The same method of complacency is practiced by the Orthodox.
Why do priests, bishops, and finally the patriarch say one thing and do another? Why do they officially call “greed” a sin, and with all their lives show that their only goal is wealth? Why are priests disenfranchised and completely dependent on bishops? Why do they serve the political interests of the state? Why don’t they speak openly against injustice?
My mother always answered these questions of mine, quoting a famous priest: “The church is a place where Christ is crucified every day.” The priests – many of whom I asked the same questions – replied that there was no need to ask questions, it was not my job, I had to be humble. And it’s not just my personal story; this is how the whole Russian Orthodox Church is organized from top to bottom. If they are “crucified every day,” it is an inevitable process, so we reconcile and live as we have lived. Without changing anything.
However, it is better not to get answers to your questions than to come across another tirade by a provincial preacher about the “sins of the West” and, of course, gay parades. An Orthodox priest can, in principle, reduce any conversation to gay parades.
Even in his sermon on the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Patr. Kiril managed to mention the gay parades. He said that the cowardly West demanded that Donbass conduct them, but since Donbass did not agree, we will defend it. In fact, this is my favorite example. Since I was young, I have had many friends among gays, lesbians and gay activists. I want to say that this has never been a topic of conversation. In any case, none of them – and it’s about dozens of people and several decades – talk about gay parades as much as Orthodox priests. I think that in all the time I have spent in these companies, I have heard something about gay parades twice, about the fact that one of my acquaintances accidentally came across a pride in Berlin or Tel Aviv.
This state of affairs suits (or did it suit?) Most of the Orthodox people I know – my friends, relatives, acquaintances. You say to yourself: there is an earthly Church, which is an institution created by people, which is governed by people and contains human vices – after all, as you know, man is a sinner; and there is a Church “as the body of Christ,” a metaphysical Church which performs the sacraments and which is not vicious because it is not connected with men. And when you understand that, you move on. Ignore the shortcomings as much as possible, but believe that there is grace in the Church that allows it to perform the sacraments.
Such moral equilibrium requires, frankly, considerable human effort. I know this from my own experience. In the first place, the problems start with the priests. These problems are two and are closely related.
The first. As soon as an ordinary person accepts dignity, he begins to act as if a higher truth has been revealed to him, which is known only to him. At the same time – and this is the second difficulty – in the vast majority of cases this person knows very little about the world around him. I know many such examples when people I have known since childhood, who were weak students, idiots and even sadists, became priests and were immediately filled with a sense of their own infallibility. It is absolutely impossible to talk to them, let alone argue, because they are unable to assume that they may not be right.
I spent seven years of my career as a journalist, and for the next fourteen years I worked in Russian television and Russian cinema. Believe me, I have met many narcissistic people, stars who are infinitely confident. None of them, in their worst moments, can be compared to Orthodox priests. What a dogma of infallibility of the pope (eternal thorn in the Orthodox world) – try to build a discussion with any priest, much less with a bishop. This is impossible and unbearable. I’ve been trying to do this for decades, and from a few dozen priests I know well, it was as many as two.
And here you are regularly communicating with people who know very little, have never been anywhere, have never seen anything, with very few exceptions have never read or seen anything, do not know foreign languages, etc., but are absolutely sure they are right. It’s hard. But you hold on because you believe.
Most people I know who have left the Church have done so at a relatively young age, but still adults. The problem is that the Orthodox world is like a greenhouse. A closed airtight world in which you are always told from childhood how you should think and that the world outside this airtight greenhouse is “evil”. Then you go out and it turns out that you were lied to. And literally at every turn. It was at this moment of awareness that many of the people I grew up with left the Church.
When you ask why the Church is silent when lawlessness is happening around it, the answer is always the same: “The Church is out of politics.” This is such a desperate lie that I really don’t understand how people still don’t bother to say it out loud. Of course, the Church is part of political life only when it comes to “right” politics. This has always been clearly seen in the sermons and public speeches of various priests. And I don’t even mean the famous pillars of “atomic Orthodoxy” like the late Dmitry Smirnov, but ordinary priests who invariably continue from the pulpits the eternal story of “God’s chosen Russian people” and “sinful West.”
For as long as I can remember, this endless chatter has not stopped, and I remember all my arguments on this subject. Among my relatives was a famous priest – a very good man, but an impenetrable idiot who always argued with me about politics and history. I remember all these conversations: in 1999, for example, he predicted the impending collapse of the dollar. And recently, while reading the military news, I remembered one of his appearances on Radio Radonezh, dedicated to the “nobility of the Russian soldier,” which, of course, contrasted with the “brutal cruelty” of the American soldier.
So no. The ROC has been part of the state propaganda machine at all times and in everything, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, but always as an integral part. It is true, of course, that priests, bishops, and parishioners refuse to think of themselves in such categories.
I have a favorite example of such a church dichotomy. After the scandal that took place in Russia during the premiere in Cannes of the film “Leviathan” by Andrei Zvyagintsev, I and Alexander Efimovich Rodnyansky, for whom I worked for many years, decided to try to understand the reaction of the church leadership to the film . Maybe to understand how to work with the film and in general to understand exactly what we need to be prepared for. Together with Fr. Andrei Kuraev, whom I asked for help, we went to a bishop in the north – to show the film and talk.
The stern bishop watched the film and told us sternly that it was a heinous slander against Russian life, an example of monstrous Russophobia. Of course, there is no such corruption in Russia, much less such horrible alcoholism, and everything shown in Leviathan is a lie. And then the bishop took us to lunch and, sitting at the table, began to complain.
He complained that there were problems with the completion of the cathedral in his hometown: the iconostasis had to be completed. He found a local company that could do it for a million and a half rubles, and a sponsor who was willing to give him the money, but the patriarchate has banned orders from local people and requires them to be ordered only through Sofrino, which wants twenty and five million… And then the bishop began to complain that there were villages in the diocese where his priests could not go without a police escort because all the inhabitants had delirium and immediately started shooting at every stranger with a weapon…
Many times I mentally returned to this conversation, trying to figure out how this was possible. As in condemning the film Leviathan, so in his own words about drunkenness and corruption, this man was completely sincere. How is that possible? I don’t know, but this is the way the ROC has lived for decades.
Were there any dissidents? Of course there was! Many of us who know them have publicly expressed their disagreement. For example, they called for mercy on the Pussy Riot girls, questioned corruption, prison torture, police violence and the authorities. But they were always a minority. People with my convictions saw these priests as a lifeline – if there is one in the Church, say, Fr. Alexei Uminski, so I will stay, so not everything is dead. As long as there is at least one righteous man, I will not let the city perish. While there is Fr. Andrei Kuraev, who speaks and writes boldly, exposing vices, we can tolerate the existence of Fr. Andrei Tkachov, who preaches hatred.
This is a very important question, a matter of principle. I have closed my eyes to the vices in the Church, because I believe that God is in it. Let the Church be terrible, let it be cruel and indifferent, but God also speaks to us through such a church.
Then Fr. Andrei Kuraev was expelled. I remember very well what I wrote on Facebook the other day: the miners took a canary with them to the mine – it detected the presence of methane. If the canary in the cage stays alive, you can work, and if it is dead, you have to run. I think Fr. Andrew plays the role of such a canary in the Church. He helped the ROC not to lose its human face completely. But he was expelled.
I did not leave the Church immediately. I think I stopped going to church after another brutal crackdown on protests. The discrepancy between what was said from the pulpit and what was hidden became too great. It is impossible to talk about love and compassion, about sacrifice and willingness to die for your neighbor from people who are silent when they see violence and injustice.
And then came February 24th.
I was sure that someone would speak. I had no doubt about Patr. Cyril – it would be strange to expect Christian behavior from him, but I had faith in the priests I knew personally. I knew them as worthy and good people. I was wrong. I read the letter from the priests who had publicly spoken out against the war, and found no name of an acquaintance of mine in it. Honestly, it was a shock to me. A real shock.
Today we are discussing many public figures who speak for or against the war and those who are silent. Actors, musicians, bloggers – people who influence millions of citizens, are responsible to society, they must state their position, to announce it, not to remain silent. At the same time, however, an actor, say, has the right to remain silent. After all, he did not promise to be a master of words, but has another profession. However, the priest does not have such a right. The priest is a shepherd, and if the shepherd is silent, he is like salt that has lost its power.
Another context is needed here. When I was studying at an Orthodox school, a NATO military operation began in Yugoslavia. And every day we began with a prayer for our Serbian brothers, who “suffer at the hands of the Basurmans (infidels).” This was spoken of in the churches; the whole Orthodox community talked about it incessantly – very publicly and loudly. And now the Russian army has entered Ukraine, killing and bombing churches (sometimes churches belonging to the ROC). And all the priests I know who so loudly defended the Serbs against NATO are silent… And not only silent – the patriarch, the bishops and a number of priests loudly and publicly support the war…
For a long time I had the feeling in the Church that God had not abandoned her. This no longer holds me back, because I do not believe that God has remained in the ROC. It seems to me that on February 24, He left and closed the door tightly behind Him. And since that’s the case, I’m leaving too.
When I leave, I don’t think about Patr. Cyril or for the bishops, but for the priests I know personally and who kept silent. Some say they speak out against the war in their Sunday sermons, which is probably not a bad thing, but it certainly doesn’t buy public silence.
These people found an opportunity to speak out against the gay parades or the “Leviathan” slanderous slander. They did it publicly and loudly. Therefore, there must be such an opportunity to speak out against the terrible bloody war. Although, frankly, I don’t believe that’s going to happen. Because I remember very well all the tales about “the special Russian history”, “the special Russian spirit”, “the special Russian piety”. I know all too well about the generous donations and the apartments donated by important officials of the presidential administration.
The war that Russia has been waging with Ukraine for two months is in the name and at the expense of all the priests who have remained silent (or supported or sanctified the equipment that went to war). On behalf of Fr. Vladimir and Fr. Ivan, Fr. Alexander and Fr. Philip, Fr. Valentine and Fr. Michael. “Russian peace,” as Putin and his generals understand it, is impossible without the Russian Church. It is no coincidence that the army received its giant, ugly temple, and it is no coincidence that the patriarch blessed the military for the “special operation” in Ukraine. All this is not accidental, but logical. For thirty years, they built new churches, revived monasteries, and engaged in missionary work to make possible Bucha, Gostomel, Irpen, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.
The verses from the song “Russian Christ” (2017) turned out to be surprisingly prophetic:
Spread the good news far:
cold as ice, the heart torn out
clothed in gold, doomed to our world
the Russian Christ is coming!
The Codex Gigas is the largest illuminated manuscript of the Middle Ages. In addition to religious texts, encyclopedic, medical knowledge, and color illustrations, this book contains an image of the devil on a full page, hence the second name of the manuscript. The Codex Gigas is also known as the Devil’s Bible because of its legend. The codex was written between 1204 and 1230 in Latin in a Carolingian minischool, a type of writing popular in the Middle Ages. Scholars believe that the manuscript was created by a representative of the Benedictine Order. The book is 92 cm high, 50 cm wide, 22 cm thick and weighs 74.8 kg. It was originally written on 320 sheets of parchment, believed to have been made from the skins of 160 donkeys. Over time, 10 pages of the Code have disappeared.
In a 2008 National Geographic documentary on Codex Gigas, experts suggested that the book was written by one man. It took about 5 years to write the pages alone, and another 20 years to decorate the pages with silver, gold ornaments and bright miniatures.
“First, the author had to arrange each page and only then start writing the letters,” say the experts in the film. “He probably wrote about 100 lines of text in one day.”
The content
Most of the pages of the code are devoted to religious texts, historical treatises, medical and encyclopedic knowledge. For example, there are the Old and New Testaments, the books of the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus Flavius ”Jewish Antiquities” and “Jewish War”, the encyclopedia of the scholar Isidore of Seville “Etymology”, widespread in the Middle Ages, medical treatises of Hippocrates, there are even descriptions of the ritual exorcism and astronomical calendar.
Historians point out that the Code probably reflected all the knowledge of the world and nature that the Benedictine Order had at the time the book was written. Particular attention is drawn to the location on one side of the Kingdom of Heaven, and on the other – Satan. Apparently in this way the author wanted to show the contrast between the images of Good and Evil. The legend
Legend has it that at the beginning of the 13th century in one of the monasteries on the territory of modern Bohemia lived a monk-scribe who once broke his monastic vows. As a result, the brothers decided to punish him for this act by building it in the walls of the monastery. The monk did not want to die and to avoid punishment, he promised to create a book for one night, which would include all the knowledge gained by mankind and glorify the monastery. While working on the book, the monk realized that he could not do it alone and needed help. He prayed fervently, but not to God, but to the fallen angel Lucifer, asking him to help him write the Code in exchange for his soul. The devil finished the manuscript and as a token of gratitude for the help the monk drew it on one of the pages of the book. Although the devil kept his promise, the author portrayed him in a divided language – this image is used in religious texts to denote a dishonest, deceitful person.
Painted with red horns and two tongues, with an ermine cloak, this creature stares blankly. He is depicted between two towers. It is worth noting that only members of the royal family wore ermine, so this detail defines the devil as the “prince of darkness”. Right next to the illustration of the devil there is an image of paradise, represented by many rows of buildings, which are also located between two towers. What makes the kingdom of heaven alarming is the fact that there are no signs of life there. Without explanation, the author painted a paradise completely devoid of life. These two pages ominously portrayed good and evil side by side. These illustrations are also the only full-page drawings in Codex Gigas.
Another legend haunts the Codex Gigas – it is known as the “Curse of the Devil’s Bible”. In 1477, the Benedictine monastery in Bohemia, known as the source of the medieval manuscript, experienced financial difficulties. Therefore, the monks had no choice but to sell their most valuable property – Codex Gigas. At that time the manuscript belonged to the Benedictine monastery in Brzhevnov. Shortly afterwards, the monastery in Bohemia fell under the devastation of the Hussite revolution.
A brief history of the Code
Scholars studying the Codex and other historical documents have been able to trace the “life path” of the manuscript.
Brief history:
From 1204 to 1230 – during this period the Code was created, the hermit monk Herman worked on it in the Benedictine monastery, which was located in the Czech town of Podlazice.
1295 – The Benedictine monastery in Podlazice pledges the code of the neighboring monastery in Siedlec, which later sells the book to the Brzevnov monastery in Prague.
1594 – The codex falls into the hands of German King Rudolf II, who places the book in his castle in Prague.
1648 – The Swedes plunder Prague. The manuscript ends with Queen Christina of Sweden, who keeps the manuscript in her library at the Three Crowns wooden castle.
1697 – Fire in the castle “Three Crowns”. Nearly 18,000 books and 5,700 manuscripts were burned in the fire. The code survives because the servants manage to throw it out the window. The cover of the book was seriously damaged when it fell.
1768 – The codex is deposited in the new residence of the Swedish monarchs – the Royal Palace in Stockholm.
1819 – The codex is restored: the binding is replaced.
1878 – The codex is moved to a new library building in Humlegarden Park.
2007 – The manuscript was sent to Prague and temporarily exhibited at the National Library.
2018 – The Codex becomes a permanent exhibition at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, where it is available to the general public.
If you want to get acquainted with Codex Gigas, you can view the book on the official website of the library. The manuscript is fully digitized.
Isidore, O. S. & Josephus, F. (1200) Devil’s Bible. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1230] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667604/.
Spain has reopened to tourists – its beaches are already receiving the first wave of Europeans and Britons who have “seized” their favorite resorts. For the Russians, we recall, getting to the Iberian Peninsula is problematic – only with the help of connecting flights and transfers. At the same time, the joy of tourists vacationing in Spain is overshadowed by gigantic fines that can follow not only the “balconing” once invented by British vacationers, but also more innocent entertainment. In general, for almost everything. And the fines are serious – they reach up to 3 thousand euros.
Here are some examples of the most severe penalties:
• The aforementioned 3,000 euros are at risk for tourists to pay for a relatively innocent activity – namely, barbecuing on the beach without permission. In some places, for example, in Grenada, for frying sausages, you can “fly in” for a huge fine. In any case, tourists are advised to ask if it is possible to have a barbecue here.
• A little cheaper – but also sensitive to the wallet – a night’s sleep on the beach can cost, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s “wild” camping with tents, or, as the publication puts it, rest “after a long drunken night.” Sleeping on the beach in Valencia can cost you a fine of 1,500 euros.
• Blows on the wallets of tourists also agitate to observe public decency. Tourists are warned that there is an opportunity to sunbathe in what the mother gave birth in Spain – but only on special beaches, including Playa la Tejita and Playa de la Pelada in Tenerife. But those who decide to undress on a non-nudist beach will most likely deserve a fine of up to 750 euros.
• By the way, walking the streets in a “beach” form is also not recommended – tourists face a fine of 300 euros for walking through the streets of the city in swimming trunks or a bikini.
• And, finally, ecology. Tourists are strongly discouraged from washing with soap and shampoo in beach showers. This harms marine life and could lighten the wallet by as much as 750 euros. Smoking on some beaches, by the way, is also prohibited – this applies to beaches in almost all popular resorts – in Galicia, Murcia, Catalonia, Andalusia, Asturias, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. True, the fine is relatively moderate – only 30 euros.
Despite problems with access to Europe, more than a dozen European countries have canceled testing rules and vaccination status requirements for Russian tourists. On May 2, Switzerland joined them. The country has lifted all coronavirus restrictions. This means that travelers can visit the popular country without vaccinations and medical certificates. The corresponding decree was issued by the Swiss government.
Back in April, the Swiss Secretariat of State announced the authorities’ decision to lift entry rules for all travelers. And starting May 2, tourists will only have to comply with basic border measures. “The current entry restrictions will be lifted from May 2. From that date, the normal rules for entering Switzerland will apply,” the agency said earlier in April. This means that absolutely all travelers, including Russians, whether arriving in Switzerland from an EU or non-EU country, can now enter the country without the need to present a valid certificate of vaccination, recovery or tests.
Tourists arriving in Switzerland now are required to follow other entry requirements, such as holding a valid passport or visa, if such a requirement is applicable. It is believed that the Swiss authorities have decided to lift entry rules to make it easier for tourists to visit the country during the peak summer season. In addition, the decision also followed the improvement of the covid situation.
According to WHO data, only 1,747 new cases of coronavirus infection have been registered in Switzerland over the past seven days. In addition, the vaccination rate in the country remains high. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health revealed that as of April 19, a total of more than 15.6 million doses of the anti-COVID vaccine had been administered in the country. Of the total number of vaccinated individuals, 69.1% underwent primary vaccination, and another 42.8% received revaccination.
In addition to lifting entry rules, Switzerland has also already lifted all remaining restrictions from 1 April. Since last month, travelers and Swiss people have been able to visit various public places and events without the need to wear a face mask and observe social distancing measures.
Note that Greece also canceled all its entry rules. Greek authorities have said that as of May 1, all travelers, regardless of their country of origin, are allowed entry without restrictions. This means that Greece no longer requires travelers to present a valid certificate of vaccination, recovery or tests upon arrival.
With the exception of Switzerland and Greece, 11 other countries have also already lifted their restrictions and allowed entry without restrictions to all incoming travelers. These are the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.
