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 I was working on my blog today. 

As always, when I write in English I look for some info from Russia, often from Tomsk.

One of the news upset me very much.

Two residents of the Tomsk region were arrested on suspicion of transferring money to the Ukrainian military.

A criminal case has been opened under the article on treason, the press service of the regional FSB reported on Wednesday.


The officials don’t give the names and any details, or how they were caught. 

On the basis of the investigation materials, criminal cases were initiated under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “High treason”. The sanction under it provides for a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.


To clarify, I was upset because they were caught. However, they can be simply innocent, and the case was falsified. 



Recently a friend of mine mentioned that her friend “Russian wife” travels back and forth from the US to Russia to see her sick mother. We were talking that in general it’s possible. I can’t send a letter, postcard, or package to my Russian relatives but I can still travel there.

The question is do I want it or how safe is it?



On February 20, FSB officers detained a 33-year-old US and Russian citizen in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of treason. Again, no name was provided. But Mediazona reporters think that this was Ksenia Karelina. Mediazona also said that Ksenia got American citizenship in 2021 and married to an American in 2023. 

According to the human rights project “First Department”, Karelina was accused of transferring $51.8 from her account in an American bank to the account of the Razom for Ukraine Ukrainian fund on February 24, 2022.


Well, I was transferring money to Razom for Ukraine too, not so much though. 

But how did  FSB  learn that info, did Ksenia really transfer that amount of money,  and what is the human rights project “First Department” to begin with?


The First Department is a Russian human rights project specializing in closed-door trials and the protection of defendants in criminal cases of treason, espionage and extremism, as well as ensuring freedom of access to information from state archives. The “First Department” was created on December 20, 2021. I found that on Wikipedia. 

I guess the “First department” tries to help people. I am not sure if it’s really possible in Russia now. 


-On April 10, Rostov region, the FSB detained a student for collecting information about the deployment of the Russian armed forces.

-On March 1, Moscow, 2 people were arrested on suspicion of treason, details were not reported, the trial is being held behind closed doors.

-On February 6, a resident of the Kamchatka Territory was arrested for cooperating with the Ukrainian security service.


And the last case is fascinating, I really don’t know what to believe.


Russian online resource Lenta.ru posted:

A Ukrainian born Russian citizen was fighting on the Ukrainian side, and was captured by Russians,- I understand that part. 

On April 4, 2024, the court sentenced him to 12 years in prison for disclosing (collecting) classified information for German intelligence.

He was an employee of a defense plant and was going to transfer secret information about the facility of the Russian Defense Ministry to a foreign intelligence service. Omich (a person who lives in Omsk Town) planned to move with his family to Germany. He was detained in June 2023.


I just cannot figure out the timeline. In the article they said:

In 2016 he became a Russian citizen.

In 2018 moved to Ukraine.

During the military operation he was captured.

When did he start working on the Omsk defense Plant? And became a German spy? 

Does it sound real? Does it make sense to you?



According to Currenttime.tv,

In 2023, at least 148 people became involved in criminal cases in Russia: 98 – under the article on treason, 31 cases on espionage, 19 cases on secret cooperation with foreigners, at least 88 such cases were submitted to the courts, and 50 of them have already been convicted, Siberia.Reality* calculated. This is a historical record for the level of repression by the FSB. Human rights activists believe that the real number of cases may be much higher, and the increase in the rate of persecution will continue in 2024.


Going back to the beginning of my post, do I want to go to Russia? I want my relatives to visit me. That raises the next question, when is it going to be possible?


The main resource of my post  was https://www.currenttime.tv/ 

Google says “Current Time TV is an independent international news and analytics network designed to connect Russian speakers around the world”. 


*Siberia.Reality is another website that promises truthful information.



https://www.currenttime.tv/a/rekord-po-delam-o-gosizmene-i-shpionazhe/32762549.html



https://www.riatomsk.ru/article/20240417/dvoe-tomichej-zaderzhani-po-podozreniyu-v-donatah-vsu/

https://iz.ru/1658781/2024-03-01/v-moskve-arestovali-dvukh-podozrevaemykh-v-gosizmene


https://www.currenttime.tv/

https://lenta.ru/news/2024/04/17/fsb-obvinila-v-gosizmene-poluchivshego-grazhdanstvo-rossii-ukraintsa/

 

Sparrows mate, the neighbor’s  magnolia trees and our  Japanese cherry tree blossom .

Crackle enjoys the sun, my husband is working.

I listen to the book and smile. One of the main characters has absolutely no sense of taste, just like me on the second day of my vacation. The husband drew attention to the colors of clothes I was wearing: black socks, sneakers and a baseball cap, faded denim shorts, a blue T-shirt and a beige vest.

I think my shovel doesn't care. I'm digging up the soil in the vegetable patch. I dug the ground for tomatoes yesterday. There's a video here.



Yes, we've finally run out of rain.

Dubai was unlucky. “Izvestia” reports that due to heavy rains, the international airport in Dubai was flooded. The runway literally turned into a river. Departures from Dubai Airport, which temporarily does not accept flights and does not work for aircraft production, will resume only on April 18. This was reported by an “Izvestia” journalist on April 17. I did not find the journalist's last name, the link to the article will be at the bottom, as usual.

“Izvestia” is a Russian online newspaper (as I understand it), which leaves some imprint on the topics of the articles.


I agree that it is important for tourists to know when the rains will end in Dubai.


What about the central part of Russia?


The water level in the Tobol River is rising, people are being evacuated. The emergency regime in the Kurgan region was introduced on April 8. Currently, the water level in the Tobol River near the Kurgan has risen by 54 cm and reached 919 cm. This was announced on April 17 by the press service of the city administration.


And if you follow this link, you will see a photo from the Tomsk region.

Our river, which is not the largest and usually calm, has also overflowed. Actually, flooding of several villages occurs every year. But this year, the ice drift in the city caused the rising of the water level in downtown.

The dam at the communal bridge was washed away ( I would call it partly). But all the same, the situation in the Tomsk region is better than in Kurgan.

Unfortunately, I can't please you with the video of the ice drift on Tom. But there is a link


Recourses:

https://www.riatomsk.ru/article/20240411/tomj-zatopila-ulici-v-sele-vershinino-v-tomskom-rajone/


https://www.riatomsk.ru/article/20240417/shtormovoe-preduprezhdenie-iz-za-pavodka-objyavleno-v-tomske-do-21-aprelya/

https://iz.ru/1683717/2024-04-17/uroven-vody-v-reke-tobol-v-kurgane-dostig-919-sm

https://iz.ru/1683591/2024-04-17/stala-izvestna-data-vozobnovleniia-vyletov-iz-aeroporta-dubaia

 Saturday in New Bedford was sunny, cloudy, overcast, cloudy, rainy mixed with snow and sunny again. 



Is the weather weird or just different because of climate change?

It seems like some things don’t change.


Every year, in spring, floods begin in many regions of Russia. Because of the melting snow, streets and entire villages go under water.


The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia has already reported on 34 regions in which high water has been recorded.


The Orenburg region suffered the most due to floods. The mayor of Orenburg, Sergey Salmin, demanded that residents immediately leave their homes in the flood zone. Otherwise he is going to evacuate them forcibly. 


In the Altai Territory, high water flooded the village of Solnechny. To draw the attention of the authorities to the problem, the head of the village bathed in flooded water in the middle of the village.

 

I have to republish a post about Altai here pretty soon.


In the Samara region, 9 districts of the region went under water. 456 people were evacuated from flooded houses, but not everyone decides to leave their homes: people are afraid of looters.

Due to floods, forest dwellers found themselves on the streets of cities. In St. Petersburg, a beaver came out to people because of the floods.


In the Moscow region, the village of "Little Scotland" has turned into a small Venice due to floods: local residents are forced to escape from flooded cottages by boat.


In the Novosibirsk region, country houses and some roads (if I am not mistaken about 83 of them) went under water.



The water level in the Tobol River (much to the west of Tomsk) near the city of Kurgan may exceed 9 meters.


In Tomsk, the Tom River is still frozen. 

The opening of the river in Tomsk is expected on April 12-18. 

According to experts, the ice on the river is up to 25% thinner than normal, but the risk of flooding in parts of Tomsk and neighboring villages remains due to landscape features. 

Before the Communal Bridge, the river has a fast current, below it flows through flatland. Several villages are flooded with meltwater every year.



I will post all the links to the article. I know you can’t read Russian, just look at photos.


I found a website with webcams in Tomsk. the link is here River  


https://pogoda.vtomske.ru/tomsk/webcams/29    river



 I'm starting to continue...to take collagen and turmeric. I kill two birds with one stone: I take dietary supplements and drink water (try to swallow these huge capsules without a lot of water).



Why? I met the year 2023 with knee pain. Arthritis. All year I did various leg exercises and not only, sometimes I took pills, sometimes I used pain relief lotion and pain relief patches. The pain was dulled, but it did not go away completely. 

A friend recommended collagen.

You know what collagen* is …?


I found and purchased collagen capsules on Amazon. I took it.  My nails strengthened, my hair grew, but my knee continued to hurt. 

Then I heard from colleagues about turmeric (Google says it is very useful). I followed the well-trodden path: Amazon, capsules, take in.

In autumn, when the humid weather ended, the knee stopped hurting. What helped? Riddle. 


A few months ago, I bought collagen and turmeric again. 

Spring is just around the corner, although it doesn’t feel like it. But I want to be ready, meaning looking and feeling good. 


Today I decided to “start to continue” something else - reading Carnegie's “How to stop worrying and start living”. Fortunately, I bought the book on book sale and it is always at home, always available. Frankly, I may need it almost anytime. 


Well, I worry too much about everything. 

For example, during breakfast, I saw that the Hawthorn street intersection near my house was blocked. I usually drive down this street when I need  to get to work by 12pm. In the morning, it was blocked and I started to worry: how long will it last, which way I should go to work, will they be gone by the time my husband gets back home, and etc.

Then I pulled myself together, got distracted with other home chores. And calmed down. 

When I left the house the intersection was free and happily I took it. But, ready for this? the very next one was blocked, LOL. I think these utility people moved throughout the street fixing something each block. I had to make a loop around as other drivers did and got to work on time and almost my usual way.


Quotes from the book:

“Our life is what our thoughts make it” - Marcus Aurelius

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself” - Ralph Waldo Emerson


*Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. Its fiber-like structure is used to make connective tissue. Like the name implies, this type of tissue connects other issues and is a major component of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and cartilage.

 We took off in Daniel's truck in the morning. 

My lipstick fell between my seat and the door. My husband asked, "What's that?" I replied, “it's my lipstick, you see, sometimes I remember that I'm a woman”.

Daniel laughed, he said he needs to memorize that quote. 

And I need to remember it too, so that I can write it in my blog.





Sunday March 17th was rich in events. 


First we did our taxes. If you live in the United States, you know how important this is.

Another event was the New Bedford Half Marathon. 

So, we had to figure out our route to H & R Block in Fairhaven and back through the blocked streets. 

In Russia, there were presidential elections and the last day of Maslenitsa (sort of pagan holiday).

If you watch the news, Russian officials have announced that 77% of the population came to vote and 88% of them voted for Putin. 

My sister said she and some people she talked to also voted for him. 

On official TV they say only about Putin’s victory. 

Unofficial, alternative journalists show long lines of people who came @ 12 p.m. to protest during the voting. Some brave people tried to spoil election ballots. 

But none of this mattered, since the election results were ordered by the Purin government. Everyone knows that. You can see it in the news.


The event you didn’t see on the American news was the last day of Maslenitsa.


According to archeologists, Maslenitsa may be the oldest surviving Slavic holiday. The word “Maslenista” means “Butter Week”, from “maslo” meaning butter.

            In Slavic mythology, Maslenitsa is a sun-festival, personified by the ancient god Volos, and a celebration of the imminent end of the winter. In the Christian tradition, Maslenitsa is the last week before the onset of Great Lent.

           During Maslenitsa, it is the last week when eggs, milk, cheese and other dairy products are permitted. then Lent begins,  which I do not observe.

Traditional Maslenitsa activities include parading in fine clothes with masks and costumes, visiting friends and relatives while enjoying rich foods, taking sleigh rides, attending plays put on by troupes of traveling actors, playing winter games, and participating in rituals marking the end of winter.




          During Soviet times, Maslenitsa, like other religious holidays, was not celebrated officially. It was, however, widely observed in families without its religious significance. Maslenitsa was an opportunity to prepare blini with all sorts of fillings and coverings and to eat and share them with friends. After the start of perestroika, the outdoor celebrations were simplified for modern times. As many Russians have returned to practicing Christianity, the tradition is still being revived.

            Many countries with a significant number of Russian immigrants consider Maslenitsa a suitable occasion to celebrate Russian culture, although the celebrations are usually reduced to one day and may not coincide with the date of the religious celebrations.

I personally celebrate it by baking blini. This year I made them only once. 

Last day of Maslenitsa, Sunday, is called “Forgiveness Sunday”. Relatives and friends ask each other for forgiveness, followed by the response, “God will forgive you”.  At the culmination of the celebration, people gather to burn the straw doll of Maslenitsa in a bonfire. Left-over blini may also be thrown into the fire. The ashes are then buried in the snow to “fertilize the crops”.

During our meeting with an accountant, I managed to send a few “forgive me” messages to my relatives and friends. 

I spent the rest of Sunday peacefully doing household chores and chatting with Daniel. But it’s a different story.

I like spending time with my husband, especially because we don't have much of it. 

On Wednesday evenings he tells me “see you Friday”. On Thursday mornings he gives me a “have a good day”- kiss. On Thursday evening I give him a “good-night”-kiss.







We had a good time together on Friday evening.

After he came home from work we had a glass of wine and talked. 

What I like about my marriage to Daniel is that we can talk about a lot of things. 



On Friday evening, while talking, he showed me a video from Pinterest. I was watching it and started to cry. 


Here is a link to a YouTube video. You rather watch it. Hopefully, you’re not going to cry.



When I managed to speak again, I told him about the memories that brought tears. 


I remembered a time in my previous life when I didn't respect myself. And not because I did something wrong. I’ve just never been good enough for my ex-husband and his family. I felt that I was worthless.

Daniel listened to me and said that he always admired my eagerness to learn, my eagerness to try, my eagerness not to give up and try again, my eagerness to be the best version of myself.

And after all the compliments he added, “How come I'm a husband of a woman like you”. 

Wow, that was very pleasant to hear!


Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't gone on a first date with my ex-husband.

Nobody knows, of course.

Well, psychologists say, “Don't cry over spilled milk”. Meaning, as far as I understand, don't get stuck in the past. However, you must learn your lesson. 

I think I have learned mine. 


I still remember my past, and can cry with self-pity. But I moved on. I didn't expect where it would bring me though. At least I know the difference between a good and a bad relationship (for me). 





Once I was talking to someone about my marriage to Daniel. I explained why we get along - we have the same goal, and the goal is to make me happy.


Hearing this, Daniel laughed, but it was his own words.







https://rainingdogsandblogs.blogspot.com/2023/04/from%20siberian%20woman%20to%20myself.html


https://rainingdogsandblogs.blogspot.com/2023/04/My%20ugly%20duckling%20story.html

 


Very soon, literally tomorrow, all men in Russia will congratulate their wives, daughters, mothers, and colleagues on International Women's Day. They will buy flowers, sweets and what they have enough money for… also they will try to pay attention to their women and do some housework for/instead of them. Only one day a year! Social networks will be full of pictures of women with flowers.


Since after the October revolution of 1917, this holiday has been celebrated mainly in socialist countries. The Chinese Communists have celebrated it since 1922, and the Spanish Communists from 1936. The Republic of China (founded on October 1, 1949) proclaimed that Chinese women work half of a day on March 8th.

History

I have to admit that initially this holiday appeared not as a day of honoring the “fair sex”, but as a day of revolutionary women.

On March 8, 1857 women working at clothing and textile factories in New York, USA, took part in a protest. They fought against inhumane working conditions and low wages.  Two years later, again in March, these women formed their first trade Union to try to defend themselves and enforce some basic rights in the workplace.

On 8 March 1908, 15,000 women held a demonstration in the city of New York, demanding shorter working days, better conditions of payment, rights to participate in elections and the elimination of child labor.  In May, the Socialist party of America declared the last Sunday of February the National Women’s day.

According to the Socialist party of America statement, the first-ever National Women’s day was celebrated in the United States on February 28, 1909. Women continued to celebrate this holiday on the last Sunday of this month until 1913.

In Europe, the first International Women’s day was held on March 19, 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland. The date was chosen for a reason: on this day in 1848, the King of Prussia, facing the threat of an armed uprising, made a promise to carry out reforms, including the introduction of voting rights for women.

But in 1912 this day was celebrated not on March 19, but on May 12. In 1913 Germany celebrated that day on March 12th;  Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands – on March 9th, France – on March 2nd.

In Russia

In Russia, the first celebration of International Women’s day took place on the last Sunday of February 1913.

In 1917, the Petrograd Bolsheviks used the celebration of International Women’s day to organize rallies and gatherings against the war, the high cost and the plight of female workers. Rallies held on February 23, 1917 (March 8, Gregorian calendar) marked the beginning of the February revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of the Monarchy.

In 1921 the 2nd Communist Women’s Conference decided to celebrate International Women’s day on 8 March in memory of women’s participation in the Petrograd demonstration on 23 February (8 March) 1917. 

Since 1966, the International Women’s day in Russia has become a non-working day and even got its own festive ritual. On this day, the state reported to the society on the implementation of the state policy towards women, and women-the foremost of production were awarded with prizes. The goal was to turn the Soviet people away from religious holidays: Maslenitsa which fell at about the same time.

The modern celebration of Women’s day no longer has the goal of affirming equality, but is considered the day of spring, female beauty, tenderness, spiritual wisdom and attention to all women on Earth, regardless of their age and position in society.


My sister's flowers