Some Sights and Sounds of Russia
Some initial impressions from my first days in Russia, 2025
The News Room At the RT Studio in Moscow. Don Courter, an American born journalist living in Russia gave me a tour.
A Mural in the Moscow Metro Station, named after the Belarusan Soviet Socialist Republic, when Belarus was a formal member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. On the left are workers, scientists of all types, and on the right, the military. Belarus lost about 25% of its population due to Nazi aggression in WWII.
The Mural symbolizes the different kinds of people in the Soviet society, all working together to build a better society. WWII was a tragic obstacle to that, yet in the end the Soviet people endured and won.
A movie was made about it, called Come and See. It shows what war is really all about. You can find it on Youtube. And it will make you think twice about another war which the US has been behind….Korea, Vietname, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yugoslavia, and more recently, Ukraine and the Israeli genocide against Palestinians.
Up until now, the United States has been fortunate. No real wars on its soil since the Civil War.
One of many awards given to RT. Nowadays, RT is not welcome is blocked in the US and Europe, generally speaking. They can’t honor historical truth much less the fundamental principal of democracy, free speech. Courter, my American host told me that the network editors allow him uncensored say in what he says on air.
My Host, and Intrepid Reporter and Journalist at RT, Donald Courter
The Pavilion for Kyrghistan, which was one of the Soviet Socialist Republics, now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, still associated with the Russian Federation
After the Victory Day parade in Moscow, people came to this Dacha, country house, outside Moscow. It was built by a Soviet era military aviation specialist. According to his grandson, who now owns it, Soviet era rocketry was highly advanced, including initial designs for hypersonic weapons, which travel at velocities well over 5000 miles per hour, and are impossible to intercept.
Anyway, this song, sung by two professional singers who came to the party to perform for fun, comes from a 1980’s Soviet era science fiction movie. It’s about young girl and her police officer friend, who has come to catch a couple of space pirates. The song talks about always helping a friend, and for working towards a better future. Yet, a few years later, the Soviet Union collapsed due to pressure from outside and internal sabotage by future oligarchs,
But just listen to the spirit with which they sing. It’s very touching to me.
These are just a few of the impressions of my first few days. I will post more as time permits. I have one more day in Moscow, and then move on to the City on the mighty Volga River, formerly known as Stalingrad. More on that soon.