Just hours after posting my regular weekly status report on Russia’s political hostages today, I was saddened to read of yet another U.S. citizen being held for alleged criminal violations. And this case presents a different twist, as the prisoner has now been forcibly admitted to a Russian psychiatric hospital.

In a country where criminal charges are frequently concocted out of thin air for political purposes, it is difficult — and sometimes impossible — to separate fact from fiction. But here is what is known about Joseph Tater.

He was arrested in August of 2024 following a confrontation in an upscale Moscow hotel (unnamed). He allegedly became abusive and “behaved aggressively” when asked to see his documents. He was refused accommodation at the hotel, and police were called; he later is said to have grabbed the arm of a police officer, which constitutes assault. [Associated Press, April 6, 2025.]

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, at a court hearing in September, Tater claimed to have come to Russia seeking political asylum because he was being persecuted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was scheduled to stand trial on April 14th of this year on charges of assaulting a police officer, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. [Id.]

The tale gets a big murky here. A Moscow court has ordered Tater admitted “non-voluntarily” to a psychiatric hospital on the basis of a medical evaluation on March 15th, when doctors described him as displaying signs of “tension, impulsivity, persecutory delusions, and lack of self-awareness regarding his condition.” [Id.]

Yet TASS had previously reported that he had been released from pretrial detention at the end of March. The two reports are obviously contradictory, and it is unclear when the court’s decision was actually rendered, or whether he ever was released at all.

In any event, Tater is reportedly now living in the hell of a Russian psychiatric ward — a common practice in Soviet times that, according to human rights groups, is being increasingly employed by Vladimir Putin’s regime. His defense attorney has appealed his hospitalization on the grounds that it is an attempt to “isolate the defendant from society.”
[Id.]

*. *. *

The main question, to my mind, is not whether Joseph Tater did or did not lay hands on a police officer, which would be a legitimate criminal charge to be sorted out in the April 14th hearing; but why he was given a psychiatric evaluation in the first place. Was he indeed showing signs of “tension, impulsivity, persecutory delusions, and lack of self-awareness regarding his condition”? And if so, were these signs truly abnormal, or merely the result of being held incommunicado in a Russian prison . . . a situation that might drive any normal person to behave irrationally?

Or is this just another case of political persecution, merely using an alternative means of holding him prisoner for a longer period of time? And if so, why not simply wait another eight days and find him guilty of the original assault charge?

This is an odd case, and one in which the subject may actually be “guilty” of behaving as accused. But if so, and if he does indeed exhibit clear symptoms of psychiatric abnormality, it then becomes a question of whether he is being properly treated.

Having already been declared mentally unstable (for lack of a more scientific diagnosis), should he not immediately be returned to the United States for treatment? Or will the Russian courts still try him on the assault charge, slap some convenient label on him such as “paranoid schizophrenic,” and lock him away indefinitely in a place designed to drive him completely insane?

*. *. *

Joseph Tater is in a desperate situation, more complicated than the others we have been following. Rest assured, I will be searching for updates.

In the meantime, another name is added to the list.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/6/25

Last week I reported on the conviction and sentencing of 12 members of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion who have been tried — by a Russian military court — not as prisoners of war, but as terrorists, and given prison sentences ranging from 13 to 23 years.

There has been no further news as to the whereabouts of these men, and I still do not have their names. To me, they are “The Azov 12,” and they remain — tragically, along with all of the others — on our hostage list.

*. *. *

So we continue to keep our vigil for all of those unjustly held hostages known to us in Vladimir Putin’s GULAG of penal colonies:

The Azov 12
David Barnes
Ales Bialiatski (in Belarus)
Gordon Black
Andrei Chapiuk (in Belarus)
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Ksenia Karelina
Ihar Karney (in Belarus)
Vadim Kobzev
Uladzimir Labkovich (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Aleksei Liptser
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Nika Novak
Marfa Rabkova (in Belarus)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Valiantsin Stafanovic (in Belarus)
Siarhei Tsikhanouski (in Belarus)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)
Yuras Zyankovich (in Belarus)

*. *. *

And — like a broken record — I again offer this plea to Donald Trump in the White House . . . though I assume it will likely continue to fall on deaf ears, as it has thus far:

“Amidst all of the hubbub of your new administration, it is imperative that these innocent men and women not be forgotten. Negotiations for their safe release have been underway for some time. President Joe Biden succeeded in bringing home 16 innocent people on August 1st of last year, and you have added two others to that list. But you should be trying to do even more. Whatever else you do, this should be high on your list of priorities. The people you promised to represent are counting on you.

“Perhaps this would be an appropriate time to remind you also of the oath you swore on January 20th:

“‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

“I’m sure there’s a copy of that Constitution lying around the White House. If not, you can Google it. This is what it looks like, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/6/25

Back in the day — those prehistoric times before Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson made that beautiful movie whose title became a meme — I had a wish list, much like those of everyone I knew. I wanted to travel, to see the world; to take flying lessons; to parachute from a plane (not while piloting it); and to do a stand-up routine at New York’s famous Comedy Club.

I also wanted to find a cure for cancer and discover a means to bring about eternal world peace. But at that point I knew I had ventured outside the realm of realistic ambitions, so I limited myself to the fun stuff.

With the exception of travel to some amazing places, none of those wishes came true . . . flying lessons were too expensive; I couldn’t quite master the “tuck-and-roll” part of parachuting; and I finally had to admit to myself that I seem to be the only one who really thinks I’m funny.

But that’s no reason to give up wishing, and hoping, and striving . . . just for different things. So what if I’ll never climb Annapurna? So what if I’ll never be able to buzz the White House in my very own Cessna Skyhawk? Just look at the things I have done:

— I’ve already outsmarted the life-expectancy tables by six years;

— I’ve climbed a mountain (a small one) in Czechoslovakia;

— I’ve lived abroad, twice;

— Seen more countries (about 15) than most of my friends;

— Survived living in Moscow during the “Great Mafia Wars” of the early ‘90s, where I had my very own KGB minder;

— Learned another language;

— Passed out in a five-star restaurant;

— Raised two children (no mean feat);

— Attended both the Bolshoi and the Kirov Theaters;

— Hand-fed an apple to a horse named Nagano in Montreal;

— Flown in a World War II biplane where I was seated in front of the pilot, so that it felt as though I was in control;

— And more . . . including a few things better left unsaid.

Still, reminiscences will only keep a person happy for so long; we all need things to look forward to. So . . . taking into consideration my present circumstances, I’ve made a new bucket list, which I would like to share with you:

First: I would like to live long enough to accomplish at least three of the other items on this list. That’s important, because once you’ve reached my age, you begin to see the wisdom in eating dessert first.

Second: I still plan to read at least one more volume of the Great Books (leather-bound, gold-embossed) that I bought over 50 years ago in a moment of great optimism and total madness. I have already read Doctor Zhivago and The Brothers Karamazov; I’d like to tackle some Shakespeare next. We’ll see.

Third: I would like to bake one more cheesecake. My recipe came from my mother, who in turn got it from a New York friend of hers eons ago. Everyone who has eaten it has declared it the best cheesecake ever. The only thing stopping me from creating another one is mobility. And height. It’s hard to maneuver around a kitchen and manipulate a mixer, bowls, measuring utensils, a spatula, and all the various ingredients when you’re (a) unable to move about without your rollator, and (b) too freakin’ short to reach the big mixer on the countertop.

Fourth: I want a mani-pedi. I’ve never had either, because I never considered them necessary. But now is the time for a little frivolity, don’t you think?

Fifth: I’d like to go skinny-dipping. Always wanted to, just never had the nerve. Of course, in my present condition, it would be best if I were to do this alone, with no one to witness. I really should have done it when I was much, much younger and still reasonably good-looking.

Sixth: I really don’t like New York . . . it’s the only city, of all the cities I’ve lived in or visited, that evokes an otherwise dormant sense of paranoia. But I have always wanted to attend the Metropolitan Opera on opening night, in full regalia. I’ve probably seen “Moonstruck” once too often, but that’s the image I have.

Seventh: Like most people, I’d love to win the lottery. I don’t want hundreds of millions of dollars . . . it would be more of a burden than a blessing. Just a few million so that I could share it with the people I love, and spend my remaining years not worrying whether my Social Security check will be in the bank again this month. Of course, in order to accomplish this, I’d actually have to buy lottery tickets, so my goal is to do that.

Eighth: I would like to be able to publish my book.

Ninth: I wish I could get rid of this life-long compulsion of correcting everyone else’s grammar. I know it’s annoying; but I was brought up and educated in an age when “he and I” — not “me and him” — went to the movies. It’s like fingernails on a blackboard.

Tenth: And finally — in a segue from a bucket list to a Cinderella-style wish list — I would really love to place an advance order for my next life (assuming there is to be one). I would ask to be taller, have perfect teeth, be able to sing on-key, and be sufficiently well-coordinated to be able to play tennis.

And I would really, really, REALLY like to be reborn into a world of peace and harmony.

But that’s probably asking way too much.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/5/25

As a blogger with an admittedly limited readership, I am always delighted when my offerings are read by people from faraway lands. I have counted more than 50 countries so far, including some of the smaller ones such as New Zealand, Malta, and Norfolk Island, as well as the much larger Canada, China, and Russia.

But recently I have begun searching my viewer reports for signs of life from two places I had never heard of before this week, when Donald Trump declared them sufficiently vital to the U.S. economy and the balance of trade to slap tariffs on them: a few hundred square miles of glaciers and volcanic peaks known as Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

Legally a territory of Australia, the islands are so remote and so barren that they are uninhabited by humans, aside from the occasional visit by a research expedition.

Vegetation on the inhospitable surfaces consists primarily of mosses and lichens, providing no sustenance for land animals. There is, however, an abundance of seabirds, penguins and seals.

And those are the readers I am now waiting to hear from. If they are subject to tariffs, then I have to assume they are also intelligent enough to be creative, to conduct business, to read, and to use the internet. So come on, all you happy denizens of Heard and McDonald Islands . . . check me out, and let me know how the tariffs are affecting life down there in the Antarctic, so I can write about it and make your home the next big tourist attraction.

Who knows? You might even become an Amazon distribution center, or the site of SpaceX’s next failed launch . . . the possibilities are limitless.

But it also occurs to me that you might have been added to the tariff list by mistake, like that reporter on the Signal call about the Houthis. Stuff like that just sort of happens in Washington, you know. No big deal.

So, on second thought, perhaps we should all just leave you in peace, happy in your ignorance of the ways of man.

You have no idea how well off you are!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/5/25

Much to my regret, I’ve never actually been in France, other than a quick stopover at Charles de Gaulle Airport en route from Washington to Moscow back in the 1990s. (And by the way — apropos of absolutely nothing — the dinner on Air France was the best airline food I’ve ever had.)

But my point is, I have no personal experience of the country; yet I find myself thinking today that I could happily live there, if only because of the ruling of the judge who, in entering a verdict against presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen for embezzlement of EU funds, said that her actions had amounted to a “serious and lasting attack on the rules of democratic life in Europe, but especially in France.” [Todd Symons, CNN, April 4, 2025.]

Then the court sentenced her to a four-year prison term (with two years suspended, the remainder to be served under house arrest), plus a fine of $108,000, and — and this is the best part — blocked her from running for office for five years.

Absolutely proportional to her crime, not “cruel and unusual” by any means, but stern enough to make it quite clear — to Mme. Le Pen and to anyone else contemplating similar actions — that such criminal behavior will not be tolerated.

But who jumped right in to defend her, calling the court’s ruling a “Witch Hunt,” and writing on his own Truth Social account (in all caps, no less): “FREE MARINE LE PEN”?

Anyone care to guess?

Why, it was our very own felon-in-chief, Donald Trump, of course. And why wouldn’t he? After all, this ruling could set a precedent . . . or at least an example . . . for the rest of the world.

So, instead of just keeping his mouth shut for once, he decided to throw his support behind the leader of the far-right National Rally party founded by her own father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, calling the ruling a purely political decision and claiming the “rule of law [had been] completely violated.” [Id.}

Wait . . . what? The rule of law has been violated by upholding the law? That sounds, in all frankness, pretty damned stupid to me . . . even considering the source.

Still, he went on to elaborate:

“I don’t know Marine Le Pen . . .” — and yet he feels qualified to offer a supposedly reasoned opinion! — “ . . . but do appreciate how hard she worked for so many years. She suffered losses, but kept on going, and now, just before what would be a Big Victory, they get her on a minor charge that she probably knew nothing about. Sounds like a ‘bookkeeping’ error to me. It is all so bad for France, and the Great French People, no matter what side they are on.” [Id.]

Now, where have we heard those excuses before?

Sorry about all of this, Great People of France . . . you’re stuck with a judicial system that insists on punishing its convicted criminals — and keeping them out of high office — regardless of their political affiliation.

What is this world coming to?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/5/25

In a stunning move reminiscent of the way things are more commonly done in the Kremlin, Donald Trump has unilaterally swept aside three years of U.S. sanctions against Russia designed to force an end to the war in Ukraine, and issued an invitation — and a special visa — to Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s Presidential Envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation and head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

After a few days of hints from the White House that Dmitriev might be coming, followed by ambiguous statements from the Kremlin that nothing had actually been decided, we learned yesterday that he was already here.

Dmitriev told reporters on Thursday that he had met earlier in the day with members of the Trump administration, though he did not say specifically with whom he had spoken. What he did offer was this:

“I think [with] the Trump administration, we are now in [a] realm of thinking about what is possible, what can really work, and how we can find a long-term solution. Without doubt, we note a positive dynamic in our relations.” [RFE/RL, April 4, 2025.]

And then came that big Russian “but” . . .

“Of course, there are disagreements on various points, but there is a process, there is a dialogue, which in our understanding will help to overcome these disagreements. A series of meetings will still be needed for us to resolve all our differences. But the main thing we see a positive, creative attitude.” [Id.]

And he added on Telegram that restoring dialogue “is a difficult and gradual process. But each meeting, each frank conversation allows us to move forward.” [Id.]

So, once again — as the war drags on and more Ukrainian civilians are killed — we are left knowing nothing: not the people involved in the meeting, a general idea of what was discussed, or what next steps might be under consideration. He did say, though, that the unnamed members of the Trump administration conducted themselves “with great respect, ask a lot of questions, find compromises,” and that he “invited colleagues from the United States to visit Russia.” [Id.]

How nice! Ukrainian President Zelensky gets humiliation; Russia’s envoy gets great respect and compromises. Zelensky gets shown the door; Dmitriev invites us for a reciprocal play date on their turf.

We are now being referred to as “colleagues” from the United States. What’s next . . . “comrades”?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/4/25

So here we are — an entire world filled with people desperately trying to remain relatively sane while our brains process the daily reports of wars, earthquakes, tariffs, inflation, starvation, the coming hurricane season, and whether or not Taylor Swift really said she’s moving to Canada — and some genius comes up with the solution to all of the world’s problems: More babies.

Actually, it’s more than just one “genius” — it’s an entire fringe group, almost completely from the political right, who call themselves “Pronatalists.” And they’re telling us . . . typically for any extremist group . . . that what is right for them is right for everyone. They’re all about large families, so that’s what the rest of us should be doing as well.

Procreate, procreate, procreate.

Just pop those little humans out, year after year after year, whether or not you can afford to support them, or have room to house them, or are blessed with the patience to deal with them as they reach their teens and begin telling you what a shitty parent you’ve been all these years because you didn’t pay enough individual attention to each of the 12 little darlings.

And no, this is not the product of one of my weird dreams during those occasional moments of REM sleep. As evidence, meet the Collinses . . . whose picture, unfortunately, looks to me suspiciously like an AI creation, but who are apparently quite real. (No offense intended . . . but don’t you see it too?)

Anyway, when interviewed in their 18th-century cottage somewhere in Pennsylvania, mom Simone was conservatively dressed in a black pilgrim pinafore with a wide collar. The interviewer said that, at 8:30 a.m., Simone looked a little tired from running several businesses, juggling four small children, and being pregnant with a fifth. That, at least, is completely understandable.

Asked if she and her husband Malcolm planned to continue having children after this next one, Simone said:

“At least seven, and as many as I can physically carry — 12 would be even more brilliant.” [Stephanie Hegarty, BBC, April 1, 2025.]

Well, I don’t know about you, dear reader, but that doesn’t sound particularly brilliant to me. Simone and Malcolm are already 37 ad 38 years of age, and theoretically, they could be grandparents before their youngest children are out of elementary school.

Ah, but there is method to their madness . . . because they have offered themselves up as models for pronatalism, opening their home to interviews and photo shoots so that they might better spread the gospel according to the Collinses.

They believe that falling birth rates are a big problem for society, and that larger families are the solution. However, they do not go about this randomly. They have claimed that they “have used special technology, during the IVF process, to screen their embryos for traits such as intelligence.” In 2023, they told an undercover reporter — yes, an undercover reporter! — that “The studies let us know what our genetic predilection for IQ is. We will never choose a child who is less privileged in IQ than either of us.” [Id.]

At this point, I hear you screaming: “No, wait! This is some kind of insane April Fool’s joke . . . isn’t it??!!!”

Because that’s exactly what I thought. But no . . . dad Malcolm Collins went on to explain to the BBC reporter:

“The easiest way to [spread the word about pronatalism] was to turn ourselves into a meme . . . If we take a reasonable approach to things and say things are nuanced, nobody engages. And then we go and say something outrageous and offensive and everyone’s into it.” [Id.]

So maybe the IVF technology thing was made up . . . which is a great relief, because it was beginning to sound like something out of a Nazi horror movie — you know . . . selective breeding, and all that.

*. *. *

And now, for comic effect, let’s bring the U.S. government into it — or, at least, certain members of the administration: those at the very top of the food chain.

The Collinses are encouraged by Elon Musk — said to have fathered 12 or 14 children of his own by a variety of baby mamas — having called fertility decline “the biggest danger civilisation faces, by far.” (Right . . . definitely bigger than global warming, or nuclear holocaust.) He is reported to have donated $10 million to the Population Wellbeing Initiative in Texas, which conducts research into fertility, parenting, and the future of population growth. [Id.]

Well, I certainly hope he used his own money for that, and not the salaries of all the people who have just been fired from their government jobs.

*. *. *

And that guy with no first name — JD Vance — also told people at an anti-abortion rally in January that “I want more babies in the United States of America.” [Id.] (It’s not clear to me, from this one short comment, whether he meant children of his own, or other people’s. But no matter.)

Then, of course, he helped to put some of those prospective parents out of work as well.

*. *. *

There’s also the new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who boasts of having so many children (nine, at last count) that he sometimes loses count of them:

“If you look at what’s good for country and society, it’s to reproduce, to have kids. That shows that you’re healthy, you’re strong, and you’re patriotic.” [Casey Tolan, CNN, March 30, 2025.]

Otherwise, I presume, you’re an un-American weakling and need to be culled from the general population.

*. *. *

But let’s not forget Donald Trump’s contribution to the cause: an executive order signed on February 18th, improving access for IVF that recognized “the importance of family formation and that our nation’s public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children.” [BBC, op.cit.]

Fine. Just don’t — whatever you do — try to have those kids vaccinated later.

*. *. *

Lest you think this Pronatalism movement is entirely about familial love and the warmth of a large family environment, be assured there is a political side to it as well. The Collinses, who describe themselves as former liberals who became disillusioned with progressive (i.e., “woke”) politics, consider themselves to be pragmatic and anti-bureaucratic:

“We are a coalition of people who are incredibly different in our philosophies, our theological beliefs, our family structures. But the one thing we agree on is that our core enemy is the urban monoculture; the leftist unifying culture.” [Id.]

Well, okay, then . . . I have a suggestion for the Collinses: Rather than continue suffering the “wokeness” of our “leftist, unifying, urban monoculture” (whatever that means), I know where you can get a really nice piece of farmland, at an unbelievably reasonable price, with neighbors who share your vision, in a place that is actively working to grow its population.

Just get in touch with the (formerly Canadian) Feenstra family in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia; they’ll help you through the immigration process.

*. *. *

At this point, I really don’t know what else to say, other than:

Please let this be another weird dream!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/4/25

P.S. Because of the length of this article — not to mention the golden opportunity for a bit more wit and sarcasm — I am cutting it off here, and will be continuing with a second episode, tentatively to be titled, “Permission To Copulate … Not Merely Granted, But Actively Encouraged.” Stay tuned.

It wasn’t enough that they poisoned him, imprisoned him when he refused to die, and finally managed to end his life in a Siberian penal colony on February 16, 2024.

Or that they forced his family and colleagues to flee the country in order to avoid a similar fate.

Nor was it enough that they physically attacked a former member of his team, Leonid Volkov, in front of his home-in-exile in Lithuania just a year ago on March 12, 2024, beating him with a hammer and spraying tear gas in his eyes.

Now they — “they” being Vladimir Putin’s FSB goon squad — have gone after Volkov’s father: 69-year-old mathematics professor Mikhail Volkov.

In February, Professor Volkov was dismissed from his position at the Ural Federal University without explanation. And today (Moscow time), his home in Ekaterinburg, Russia, was searched — allegedly as part of an investigation into the financing of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which has been classified by the Russian government since 2021 as an extremist organization. Claiming that the elder Volkov had contributed to the FBK, they confiscated electronic devices from his home, and he was detained for interrogation.

Though he was later released, he has been ordered not to leave the city, as a criminal case has officially been filed against him. [Merhat Sharipzhan, RFE/RL, April 3, 2025.]

Leonid Volkov has said that his father’s treatment is “revenge for the work I have been doing, am doing, and do not intend to stop.” [Id.]

The FBK, of course, was the organization founded by Aleksei Navalny to investigate corruption within the Russian political hierarchy . . . and they found plenty of it. By designating it as an extremist organization, the Russian government ensured that its activities were banned, and that anyone contributing or connected to it — including journalists who merely covered Navalny’s court hearings — could face criminal charges. [Id.]

Since Navalny’s unexplained death a little over a year ago, members of his team — including his wife — have continued their work in exile. But Putin’s revenge knows no bounds; he continues to pursue the families of opposition leaders who have fled the country but left relatives behind.

*. *. *

In 2021, the father of another Navalny associate, Ivan Zhdanov, was convicted of a false charge of “corruption.”

The elder Zhdanov was given a suspended three-year sentence in December of 2021, but was then charged with alleged parole violation and sent to a penal colony in Archangelsk to serve out the sentence, despite the fact that the matter had not yet been finally adjudicated.

He was released from prison in November of 2023 . . . one of the lucky ones.

It is obvious that the crusade against all oppositionists — real or perceived — rages ever onward in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. And that it extends to the families and associates — and the families of associates — of those who threaten Putin’s absolute autocracy.

Even after death.

*. *. *

Mikhail Volkov, to my knowledge, is not yet in prison, though he is living under the shadow of criminal charges and travel restriction. And so I will not yet add him to our list of Putin’s political hostages. But based on the history of every other similar case, it can reasonably be expected that his will follow the predictable trajectory of detention, trial, conviction, sentencing, imprisonment, appeal, denial of appeal . . . followed by endless years of trying to survive in Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell.

I hope I don’t have to begin a sub-list of Hostages-in-Waiting.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/3/25

They used to be the Feenstras of Saskatchewan, Canada, until they emigrated to Russia a little over a year ago.

They are Arend and Anneesa Feenstra and eight of their nine children (the eldest chose to remain behind): a conservative Christian family seeking to escape the “wokeness” of the West in exchange for the religious freedom and greater opportunities they believe to be available in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

I’ve been following them on social media and writing about them since their arrival in Russia was first made public, at a time when they encountered serious bureaucratic difficulties and weren’t sure they’d done the right thing. But they quickly recanted the complaints they had initially aired on YouTube, and over the course of a year, the roadblocks have miraculously disappeared. They are now well on their way to establishing the flourishing agribusiness they’ve always dreamed of, on 280 acres of choice farmland in Nizhny Novgorod.

But — as those who have been tracking their journey with me already know — there are many questions that are not answered in their videos, particularly as to their sudden popularity, access to a variety of social media, ever-present camera crews, ability to travel, relatively easy acquisition of building supplies and farming equipment, and — most puzzling of all — whether they’re really as happy as they appear to be with their new life, or if they’re just really adept at smiling on cue.

And now, thanks to the folks at The Christian Science Monitor (CSM), I have answers to a few of the questions . . . but far from all of them.

In the interview with CSM, Arend Feenstra said that they believe their traditional, Christian family values are respected in Russia, and that the government promotes policies that favor private family farms, whereas:

“In Canada, rural people tend to be self-sufficient. Here they’re more collective. People seemingly have very little, but they’re more willing to give. Russians don’t necessarily go to church, but they hold to traditional values.” He admits that there is still a language barrier, but that they have nevertheless “made some good friends already.” [Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 2025.]

That’s three “but”s in a row. But no place is perfect . . . right?

Arend also pointed out that it was becoming too difficult to make a living as a farmer in Canada due to rising costs and too many middlemen between the farm and the grocery store taking their share of the profits. [Id.]

When the family recently were granted their three-year temporary residency status in a well-publicized, formal ceremony in the government offices at Nizhny Novgorod, Arend spoke of the OKA Agency that had been of such invaluable help to them in working through the bureaucratic red tape associated with the process.

Thanks to CSM, we now know that OKA was created at Nizhny Novgorod in response to a decree signed by Vladimir Putin last September, easing conditions for people from “unfriendly” Western countries to emigrate to Russia. Now, it is only necessary for them to declare, supposedly in their own words, that they have “shared values” with Russia in order to obtain this status . . . even waiving the previous requirement for some measure of Russian language proficiency.

This declaration was apparently no problem for the Feenstras, who say they agree with Putin that — according to the CSM article — “society should be built around conservative, declaratively religious principles that don’t permit what Mr. Putin’s decree called ‘destructive neoliberal ideological attitudes’ of Western nations.” [Id.]

So now we know how their residency status was fast-tracked . . . though it’s still not clear to me whether their initial, very public complaints about their treatment on arrival might have influenced the changes. Or, for that matter, whether those early, unhappy YouTube videos might actually have been the impetus that launched the family’s secondary career as social media propagandists for the Russian government.

In any event, some 12 foreign families have now moved into the Nizhny Novgorod region, and OKA says they have received hundreds more inquiries. The agency is now working with a local university to develop Russian-language immersion courses specially tailored for Westerners. As Jacob Pinnecke, head of OKA, says:

“You really should speak Russian. There are lots of good jobs available, but most local companies are not set up to deal with people who can’t speak the language.” [Id.]

So first you invite the people, and only much later does it occur to you that they need language lessons. That’s like building a city in the middle of nowhere without first considering the need for roads and utilities.

*. *. *

Another question in my mind has long been about ownership of the Feenstras’ 280-acre property, since foreigners are not legally permitted to own land in Russia. And the answer that CSM obtained from Arend Feenstra really bothers me. He said that he has established a company with a Russian partner whom he says he “trusts to buy the farm.” Refusing to disclose the price he paid, he did say that “in Canada land prices have gone crazy. Russia is a vast country, with lots of good, cheap land available. And they’ve got a government that wants farmers to prosper.” [Id.]

This is when a whole new bunch of questions sprang up. Who is this partner? How did they meet? Surely, someone had to facilitate the whole transaction — quite probably through OKA. How can Arend be sure he can trust this partner? They must have signed documents; but Arend doesn’t speak or read Russian so how does he know what he signed? Can he trust the English translation?

And, most unsettling: What’s to stop the government from waiting until the farm is up and running, and suddenly deciding to nationalize it?

Absolutely nothing.

*. *. *

The CSM article went on to discuss the Russian immigration policy in general . . . and that was when those little nerve endings at the back of my neck began to tingle, and not in a good way. Because the member of the Duma (lower house of Parliament) behind the campaign is one Maria Butina.

A member of Putin’s United Russia party, she engineered a quick entry into politics beginning in late 2019 upon her return home from the United States . . . where she had just served 14 or 15 months of an 18-month prison sentence, having pled guilty to felony charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian state under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 951.

Though maintaining that she was not a spy, she had attempted to infiltrate conservative U.S. groups, including the National Rifle Association, as part of an effort to promote Russian interests in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that she had attempted to persuade the Trump campaign to establish a secret back-channel communication line with Russia. [Id.]

(There’s a great deal more information on Butina available online, and it is a tale worth reading.)

And this is the woman who says that, in heading an organization called “Welcome to Russia,” she is promoting people-to-people contacts through tourism and immigration. There have allegedly been about 3,500 immigrants arriving from “unfriendly countries” in the past two years, the largest groups being from Germany, Great Britain and North America. Butina says they pay their own way there, with no subsidies from the Russian government. [Id.]

“It’s mostly families who come, with three or more kids,” she states. “It’s not asylum we’re offering. People get visas with a note saying it’s based on a presidential decree. It’s not political, it’s humanitarian. If it doesn’t work out, if they don’t like it here, they can leave.” [Id.]

Well, of course, they can . . . with nothing but the clothes on their backs. As for that land they never really owned in the first place, the buildings, the crops, the animals . . . well, they can’t very well take any of those with them, can they?

*. *. *

Now are you beginning to understand my ongoing skepticism and concern for this family? While I continue to hope that everything works out well for them, I can’t help worrying about those eight lovely kids, and what their futures will look like.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/3/25

While that crowd in the White House continues to disgrace themselves — and all the rest of us Americans — by alienating every friend we’ve ever had, I’d like to go out on a limb and say a huge “thank you” to some of those very same friends for doing your best to stick by us. There are too many to name here: all of the NATO and EU countries, of course, plus so many others on every continent throughout the world . . . including the penguins in Antarctica.

For today, though, I’d like to concentrate on our British friends, to whom we owe so much: granting our independence after that little skirmish about 250 years ago; sending us Harry and Meghan, fish-and-chips, the Beatles; and something called Spotted Dick, which we can buy in a can (or “tin,” to you) over here but I’ve never been able to bring myself to try, for reasons better left unsaid.

*. *. *

On a more serious note, I remember as clearly as though it was yesterday, when our country had just been devastated by the 9-11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. My cousin had driven from her home in Rhode Island to D.C. to meet up with her daughter, who was flying back after having spent a student summer in Spain. She had managed to get onto one of the few flights coming into Dulles International Airport, arriving in the evening; and the entire Washington metropolitan area being on high alert, I told my cousin I wouldn’t let her go to the airport alone . . . as though I was going to be great protection for anyone. Still, I knew my way around the region, and she didn’t.

So off we went, and found ourselves in an eerily empty arrivals terminal . . . one that was normally crowded with people from all over the globe. We had arrived early, and were wandering aimlessly through the building when we spotted a group of about a dozen young men in military uniforms that were clearly not American.

Never having been known as the shy type, I approached them and asked where they were from. One young man said they had just arrived from England as part of a larger support group, to help their American friends in our time of need.

I wanted to cry. They were so earnest, so eager to be of help . . . something we Americans really aren’t used to; we’re normally the ones out there offering aid to others because we’ve been so damned lucky for so long.

All I could do was shake the young man’s hand, and — not knowing what else to say — I recall blurting out, “Thank you, and welcome back to the Colonies.”

So again . . . thanks for that, Great Britain.

*. *. *

But what brought on this uncharacteristic gush of sentimentality was actually the first really great belly laugh I’ve enjoyed in a long time — in fact, several of them.

I had started off yesterday afternoon, as I usually do, reading the news and thinking about subjects for my daily blog offerings. And what I saw were stories about Hungary inviting Benjamin Netanyahu to visit despite the ICC warrant against him; Bosnian leader Milorad Dodik defying a similar ICC warrant to visit Vladimir Putin in Moscow; apparent conflicts of interest involving, not only Elon Musk, but also national security advisor Mike Waltz and his wife; continued devastating attacks by Russia on Ukraine; the White House trying to sweep the “SignalGate” fuck-up under the carpet; China launching its biggest military “drills” ever around Taiwan as a warning; Germany warning Russia about this, Trump warning Putin about that, Putin warning everyone about everything . . .

Well, you get the picture. By the time I’d gone through all of that, I was thoroughly depressed. Worse, I didn’t know which story to attack first. And then I realized I didn’t want to write about any of them. It was too debilitating.

I needed cheering up. And since there was no one else at home at the time, I had to do it myself. So here’s where you British came into the picture.

Because a dear friend had given me the best Christmas gift ever in December: a year’s subscription to BritBox TV.

I have long been a fan of British mysteries and the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) nuances of British humor. Need I even mention Downton Abbey, Midsomer Murders, or anything by Agatha Christie? And for the past three months, I’ve been hooked on such delights as Lewis, Shetland, and the newer Ludwig.

But yesterday I went searching for something really light, and I landed on a multi-season comedy show called Would I Lie to You? . . . featuring, among others, my newly-discovered favorite actor/comedian from Ludwig, David Mitchell. So I decided to watch an episode, and by the time the day was over, I had intermittently (pausing for a meal and a couple of calls of nature) gone through an entire season and started on a second one . . . by which time, my stomach hurt so badly from laughing, I had to stop.

The three regulars, and their four weekly guests, are among the cleverest, wittiest, quickest-thinking people I’ve ever come across. And I can’t get enough of them.

So for this, too, I thank you, Great Britain. Your programming may not literally have saved my life . . . but you absolutely did pull me out of my funk.

The only problem is whether I can now drag myself away from the telly long enough to do anything else. If you don’t hear from me for a while, I’ll be curled up with a pint of Haagen-Dazs and my BritBox.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/2/25