Michael Idov

The original sin of the new Russia—placing stability over democracy—had been committed, invisibly paving the way for Putin

But you see, when you start writing out the details of everyday Russian life, the absurdity just overwhelms you. At some point, you give up. Your characters start flying around, they sprout fangs and tails. Because that’s the only way to stay true to the material.

people like Minaev were deemed nerukopozhatnyi—a great synthetic word that means, literally, “unshakehandswithable.”