Russian Navy Research Articles

Russian Modernism in the Memories of the Survivors: The Duvakin Interviews, 1967–1974 By Slav N.Gratchev, MargaritaMarinova, IrinaEvdokimova. Translated by Slav N. Gratchev and Margarita Marinova. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021, xii + 234 pp. $80.00. ISBN 978‐1‐4874‐2725‐9

Russian Modernism in the Memories of the Survivors: The Duvakin Interviews, 1967–1974 By Slav N.Gratchev, MargaritaMarinova, IrinaEvdokimova. Translated by Slav N. Gratchev and Margarita Marinova. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021, xii + 234 pp. $80.00. ISBN 978‐1‐4874‐2725‐9

Konstantinos Oikonomos and Russian Philorthodox relief during the Greek war for independence (1821–1829)

Abstract After the Archipelago expeditions of the Russian Navy in 1769–1774 and 1805–1807, thousands of Greeks fled the Ottoman Empire and resettled in the province of Novorossiia (southern Russia). Among the migrants were prominent merchants who strongly supported the Philiki Etaireia (Friendly Society) and the cause for Greek independence. Although Tsar Alexander I could not openly support the insurrection that broke out in 1821, Russia provided invaluable material assistance to the Greek refugees, who arrived in Russian cities such as Odessa and Kishinev. Special committees under Russian officials distributed funds gathered from private donations and public sources all over Russia. The famous Greek cleric Konstantinos Oikonomos also arrived in Odessa with his family. His speech at the funeral of Patriarch Gregory V (whose relics were buried in Odessa) helped solidify the image of the patriarch as an ethno-martyr. Oikonomos served as a mediator and advisor to the Ober-procurator of the Russian Holy Synod, Alexander Golitsyn, who was responsible for gathering information about Greek clergymen among the refugees. Oikonomos also played an important role in distributing donations for the families of the Greeks displaced after the massacre on Chios in 1822. The documents from Russian archives presented in this essay demonstrate the network of Oikonomos and the pivotal role that he played between the Russian high officials and Greek intellectuals, the Greek merchants, and his poorer compatriots. This chapter features an annex with the unpublished correspondence of Oikonomos as evidence for one of the largest humanitarian actions of the nineteenth century.

Участие пароходов Соловецкого монастыря в обороне Русского Севера в 1914–1917 годах

The history of the Solovetsky Monastery is full of bright events, which are covered in detail in historiography. However, the participation of the monastery in the First World War practically did not attract the attention of researchers. The monastery, being far from the fighting on the front line, found itself in the thick of events unfolding in the Arctic Ocean. Caravans of foreign ships with military cargo went to Arkhangelsk, and the German command sought to disrupt these transportations. Since the Russian Navy in the Russian North were limited to the small vessel Bakan, the mobilization of steamships of private owners began, one of which was the Solovetsky Monastery. As a result, the attracted merchant ships managed to form the Arctic Ocean Flotilla. The Solovetsky ships Vera, Solovetsky and Mikhail Archangel and their crew were not prepared to solve military problems, but they carried out a dangerous and routine service, without which the functioning of sea lanes in such a difficult time would have been impossible. The ship Vera played a special role in the organization of convoys, as it became the flagship of the Minesweepers party of the White Sea. This article is devoted to the fate of this vessel, as well as the contribution of the monastery to the defense of the Russian North.

Ensuring social guarantees for Russian Navy military personnel as a priority direction of the national maritime policy in the field of staffing

This article defines the institutional framework for providing social guarantees to servicemen of the Russian Navy. General scientific methods of information analysis and synthesis were used. The sources of information were: the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the annual Bulletin of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation «Social development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation», as well as documents of a doctrinal nature in the field of naval activities — the Naval Doctrine of Russia 2022. It is shown that it is the Department of Social Guarantees of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, along with other branches of the armed Forces, that today is the institutional basis and guarantee of social security for servicemen of the Russian Navy. Implements the state social policy in the field of naval activities, and, also, conducts extensive information about the opportunities of a social nature enshrined in the current legislation of the Russian Federation and the results of its activities.

The Black Sea Russian Navy Is Not an Overnight Creation – A Brief History of the Black Sea Russian Navy

"The maritime power of a state is not built overnight. That is the result of a long process based on articulated strategies, the needs of a state to defend and promote its maritime interests, and it depends on the economic power as well as the maritime ambition. In this regard, it must be said that the Russian Federation Black Sea Fleet has not appeared from nowhere. It has had a step-by-step strategy with relevant presence and military actions having significant strategic influences in the region. As part of this endeavour, a presentation will be made on the emergence, evolution, and modernisation of the Black Sea Fleet, in relation to the geopolitical realities and regional interests of the Russian Federation. Thus, the purpose of this approach is to identify the principles that underpin the promotion of a maritime strategy in the Black Sea region, in relation to the peculiarities of a semi-enclosed sea, and how they influence the development of the fleet. The novelty is determined by some important lessons learned. One of the main tasks of naval strategy in peacetime is to obtain sufficient space for the operations of one’s naval forces and aircraft in times of war, so the size, configuration, and strategic position of the coast in a Narrow Sea do matter. Having this relevant example, we can highlight some characteristics of the centuries-old strategy for the development of Russian maritime power (especially that of the Black Sea) and its projection capacity in the World Ocean. From these conclusions, the Black Sea littoral states, members of NATO, can extract some lessons to be capitalised on. As a result of this analysis, we can underline the fact that, throughout history, the states involved could learn to win more through war than through peace."

Personnel policy of the Russian Navy and issues of social security

The relevance of the problem of this article lies in determining the current content of the issues of the personnel policy of the Russian Navy and its most important components such as social security, social security of military personnel and their families. The profession of a military sailor today is associated with many restrictions, the need to be constantly ready to take up combat duty, especially in the situation of the Russian Federation conducting a special operation in Ukraine. The requirements for professional training and personal qualities of the military personnel of the Navy are increasing in the most serious way. The solution of the goals and objectives of naval activity today is impossible without a quality personnel policy, the provision of social guarantees and social protection. The article defines the goals and objectives of the study. Official documents of the level of presidential decrees, scientific articles of a theoretical and methodological nature, and specialists — practitioners of the Russian Navy were used as an empirical and information base for the study. It is shown that the modern state policy in the field of maritime activities for the period up to 2030 is determined by a number of state documents of a legal, doctrinal, strategic and planning nature. At the highest political level — the presidential Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 20, 2017 N 327, the content of the social security sphere of the Navy is determined and a number of social guarantees are fixed for military personnel and their families, civilian personnel of the Navy and federal security service agencies. The author made conclusions and recommendations.

Part 1 – Odesa

Part 1 – Odesa Ilya Kaminsky (bio), Evgeny Golubovsky (bio), Elena Andreichikova (bio), Oleg Suslov (bio), Sergei Glavatskii (bio), Maria Sternenko (bio), Oleg Vladimirsky (bio), Dora Dukova (bio), Semyon Abramovich (bio), Eugene Demenok (bio), Anastasia Zinevich (bio), Victoriya Koritnyanskaya (bio), Viktor Korobko (bio), Ella Leus (bio), Marina Linda (bio), Anna Streminskaya (bio), and Lyudmila Sharga (bio) Translated by Yohanca Delgado, Katie Farris, Ilya Kaminsky, Marina Palenyy, NS, Stacey Streshinsky, and Paul S. Ukrainets Introduction: As the World Watches On by Ilya Kaminsky Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 38] Click for larger view View full resolution For the first two months of war, I can't locate my uncle in Odesa. Uncle Valerii, who is over eighty, and usually very active on social media, is nowhere to be found. I call, email, try to reach him via other relatives. Silence. Other relatives are leaving the city. Many friends are already in the West. I keep emailing my uncle. No word. To fill up the silence, I stay in touch with other writers in the city, try to fundraise, to support their activities in the wartime. Although the Russian navy is aiming its guns at the city, and the air-raid sirens are wailing nonstop, Odesa is far luckier than Mariupol or Kharkiv or nearby Mykolaiv. Still, the terror of anticipating the invasion is evident in every email I daily receive from friends in the city. I keep asking about my uncle. No word. Meanwhile, friends write about their daily life: crossing the border to help family in neighboring Moldova. Volunteering for refugees in other countries. Setting up a poetry reading in the wartime city. Trying to have drinks during the air raid. Finally, an email from my uncle Valerii: two months ago he had fallen sick with Covid and has spent these months in a hospital. "I have chosen a wrong time to get sick," he says, and I can almost see his smile as he attempts to joke during an air raid, thousands of miles away. Covid has messed up his immune system and his inner organs, he's too weak to cross the border, too weak to talk on the phone or to type regular emails. Waiting to hear from him, I keep in touch with a dozen other writers, I ask questions, and in response their words paint a picture of a city in wartime, a chorus that sings to the tune of air-raid sirens. These aren't photographs of dead bodies on the road or bombed-out buildings or destroyed tanks. This is a music of terror one hears while waiting for the invasion of the streets where one lives. There are silences inside this music that won't let me be—it keeps haunting me as I read these texts. I share this so it will haunt you as well. Why? Because it is happening right now, in the twenty-first century, in the modern city, as the world watches on. And so I received these pieces during the past two months, many of them hopeful, many of them praying that the war will bypass Odesa, writing their deepest wishes that warplanes won't drop bombs on Odesa streets. As the world watches on. And the week that I am writing this, Russian warplanes circle Odesa, and Valerii emails me that only a block from his apartment, in the Tairovo area of the city, a bomb explodes, killing multiple people, including an infant, and injuring many others. As the world watches on. [End Page 39] EVGENY GOLUBOVSKY Today, April 3, a new chapter of this war began in Odesa. For nearly forty days we have been telling the world that all is calm in Odesa. We convinced others, and ourselves, that the enemy wouldn't dare destroy the beauty of this European city, acclaimed for its poets and writers. Once again we were romantics, while our enemies are pragmatists. At five a.m. on the 3rd of April, I am awoken by explosions. Loud ones. Meaning they're close. Missiles destroying my city. To the Russians, missiles destroy "infrastructure." The city clings to us: we have to protect it like a child...

Possibilities of methods for assessing the severity of occupational stress and determining its role in the formation of individual cardiovascular risk in military personnel of the Navy

The relevance of cardiovascular diseases among the military personnel of the Russian Navy is reflected, as well as the role of occupational stressful load in the formation of cardiovascular risk.
 The results of a single-stage study were demonstrated, which included 86 men aged 2340 years, in the course of the study they were divided into two groups corresponding to different professional loads. The profile of behavioral factors associated with cardiovascular risk (anthropometric indicators, adherence to smoking, amount of alcohol consumed, food preference), as well as morphological and functional indicators of the system, was studied in servicemen exposed to and not exposed to factors caused by staying in deep-sea technical means, blood circulation. The effectiveness of stress testing was assessed, which included the Reeder self-assessment scale for psychosocial stress, the hospital scale for anxiety and depression, a work stress questionnaire, and a differential assessment of the state of reduced performance.
 It was revealed that the profile of cardiovascular risk in servicemen of both groups is low, however, there is a significant difference in a number of indicators (the amount of adipose tissue detected by bioimpedansometry, total cholesterol level, an increase in heart rate during psycho-mental test, values of vascular age and the scale of relative cardiovascular risk The most informative technique, which made it possible to identify significant differences between the study groups, is the questionnaire of work stress Ch. Spielberg 1989, adapted by A.B. Leonova and S.B. Velichkovskaya, 2000. It has been determined that the severity of occupational stress factors on the formation of cardiovascular risk in servicemen exposed to factors caused by their stay in deep-sea technical equipment is lower than among servicemen in the control group, which is expressed in lower values of additional methods for assessing stressful impact, as well as in the absence of significant associations between the indicators characterizing the occupational stress-generating load and the indicators of the circulatory system.
 The importance of the formation of stress resistance is reflected, achieved by high requirements of professional selection, regular training of professional skills, as well as the creation of a favorable professional environment.

Instrumental Determination of the Earth\u2019s South Magnetic Pole Position During the Round-the-World Antarctic Expedition on Board the Russian Navy ORV Admiral Vladimirsky

—The round-the-world Antarctic expedition of the Russian Navy that took place from December 2019 to June 2020 on board the Russian Navy oceanographic research vessel (ORV) Admiral Vladimirsky was supported by the Russian Geographical Society and was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica and the 250th birthday anniversary of Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern. One of the expedition’s main objectives was to instrumentally determine the position of the South Magnetic Pole (SMP) whose latest location had been measured more than twenty years before. Planning of magnetometric research, its monitoring and processing of obtained data were carried out by members of the Chair of Geophysical Methods of the Earth’s Crust Study of the MSU Department of Geology and the Fedorov Institute of Applied Geophysics. Based on a set of instrumental determinations (modular proton-precession differential magnetometers, vector three-component flux-gate magnetometers, the ship compass), the SMP position was measured to a precision of ±5 km. Proceeding from the 1980 and 2000 instrumental SMP determinations, it is proven that over the past 40 years, the SMP has been shifting at a consistent velocity in the same direction.

Об основных задачах государственной политики Российской Федерации в области военно-морской деятельности в сфере внешней политики

The relevance of the topic of this study to the tasks of the Navy of the Russian Federation in the implementation of Russia's foreign policy activities. The tasks of the Russian navy are defined in political, doctrinal, strategic and legal documents. The purpose of the study is to analyze the state of implementation of the tasks of visits and business calls of the Russian Navy, demonstration of strength and combat work in the conditions of a special operation in Ukraine. The objectives of the study were: analysis of information and open access data on the number of visits and business calls of the Russian Navy for the period from 2018 to 2022; content analysis of certain provisions of docu-ments of a political, doctrinal, strategic and legal nature that determine the modern vector of development of maritime activities in Russia until 2030; analysis of the research of modern Russian scientists - naval specialists, civilian political scientists on the problems of the tasks of the Russian navy in the foreign policy of the state, etc.; formulating con-clusions about the directions of transformation of the tasks of the Russian Navy in the foreign policy sphere, taking into account the conduct of a special operation in Ukraine. Methodology. The study used general scientific research methods - analysis and synthesis of information, in-cluding the methods of political analysis and political forecasting. The political and legal approach to the study is applied. The facts of the political reality of the end of February – the beginning of March 2022 are taken into account. Results. The authors substantiate the transformation of the tasks of the Russian navy in the implementation of the foreign policy direction of its activities. Conclusions. The assessment of the current military-political mechanisms in solving the tasks of the Navy of the Russian Federation in the foreign policy activities of Russia is given.

Polar Explorer F. A. Matisen (in Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of His Birth)

This article for the first time offers the detailed biographical materials concerning Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen (1872–1921), polar explorer and naval officer, member of the 1899 Russian-Swedish Spitsbergen grade-measurement expedition on the “Bakan” ship and the Imperial Academy of Sciences’ Russian Polar expedition on the “Zarya” schooner (1900–1903), head of the river expeditions to the mouth of the river Lena that were organized by A. V. Kolchak’s Omsk Government (1919) and by the Soviet Government (1920), and the first commander (1908–1910) of the “Taymyr” icebreaking steamer of the Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition. The article also describes Matisen’s service on the Russian Navy’s combat ships. It is based on the materials from the Russian State Naval Archive, Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Russian State Archive of Economics. The article is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Matisen’s birth.

Features of the formation of a collection of models of the screw ships of the second half of the 19th century on the basis of the recreated Maritime Museum with the participation of Grand Duke Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich Romanov

In this article, the author considers the issue related to the restoration of the collection of ship models of the Maritime Museum. He understood that within the framework of this article it is impossible to display all the processes of recreating the collection of models of ships of the second half of the 19th century, and did not set himself the task of describing the work of fleet managers and ship modelers. He set himself a more modest task: to describe the features of the formation of the collection. The author emphasizes that the models included in the collection were made at that time in the Model Chamber in St Petersburg and the Model Workshop of the St Petersburg port. Indicates that both precious wood species and simple and metal were used in their manufacture. The author emphasizes that the Grand Duke Admiral General Konstantin Nikolayevich took an active part in promoting museum exhibitions to the world level. Analyzing the content of the documents, the author concludes that the lost collection of models had to be replenished, and thus restore the missing event series in the history of the Russian Navy. And also that during the reconstruction of the Maritime Museum, objects which were received from different places, were attributed. The article also explains the peculiarities of the formation of the collection of the newly recreated Maritime Museum and the fact that the models made by the masters of the second half of the 19th century are unique today. The author recalls that the reopening of the newly recreated Maritime Museum took place on August 27, 1867, and Lieutenant Nikolai Mikhailovich Baranov was appointed its director on December 31, 1866.

Дневник капитан-лейтенанта Е. И. Алексеева, веденный во время плавания отряда адмирала А. Б. Асланбегова по Тихому океану в 1881 г

This archival publication presents extracts from journals kept by the Russian navy officer Evgeny Ivanovich Alekseev (1843–1917). After several decades of active sea service, Vice Admiral Alekseev was appointed viceroy of the Russian Far East, and in this capacity he bears his share of responsibility for provoking the infamous Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The publication covers the period 1881–1897, when Alekseev commanded ships and whole squadrons, primarily in the Pacific, and traveled across the United States. Despite the laconic and businesslike character of the journals, they register the process of "nationalizing" the imperial subject and the country, as well as the role of the navy in this process.

Medical Geography and Civil Society in the Russian Empire

In the intellectual construction of empires in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, one of the principal building blocks was medical geography. A discipline located at the boundary of medicine, ethnography, sociology, and geography, medical geography devoted itself to understanding the social and environmental factors that neo-Hippocratic medicine thought determined public health. Thanks to A History of Medicine and Medical Geography in the Russian Empire, co-written by a team of researchers under the direction of E. Vishlenkova and A. Renner, there exists for the first time a study of the role played by medical geography in the development of the Russian Empire. The book begins by discussing what it calls the infrastructure of Russian medico-geographic research: the top-level medical agencies, the system of Baltic maritime quarantines, the training and career paths of physicians, and the development of medical associations. Then it examines the findings of medico-geographic researchers, discussing the climate theories of early modern European medical thinkers and the development in Russia of the three principal forms of medico-geographic writing — statistics, mapmaking, and narrative “medico-topographical descriptions”. The final section offers a series of casestudies from spaces as diverse as Lithuania, the Kazakh steppe, the Arctic shipping route, and global voyages of the vessels of the imperial Russian navy. Systematically placing Russia in the comparative framework of European empires and alternating in its perspective between St Petersburg and distant frontiers, the book explores how medical geography and its practitioners connected Russia with Europe and helped simultaneously to form the imperial state, the Russian nation, and a nascent civil society.

On the way to autonomous navigation

The national aspects of readiness and the tasks of introducing autonomous (unmanned) navigation in the near future are considered. The purpose of the study - identification of economic benefits and risks, problem areas of implementation of autonomous navigation technologies. The economic benefit is based on a reduction in the costs of paying the crew of the ship, living on board it, reducing losses from accidents. If the question what? has already been answered - the installation of autonomous navigation systems is available for naval vessels today, then the question why? has not yet been resolved. If the main benefit is expected from a reduction in crew, then a noticeable reduction in crew is possible only for newly built and relatively modern vessels with an auto- mation level of at least AUT2, the share of which under the flag of the Russian Navy is about 15%. At the same time, the modernization of existing inland navigation vessels into autonomous vessels is now available for less than 2% of the river transport fleet (vessels with an automation level of A1), which suggests that autonomous inland water transport only has to be built. The risks also include the slow pace of construction of new ships, as well as retraining and further employment with a massive reduction in the crew of ships. Foreign and domestic experience of the initial stage of autonomous navigation implementation is considered.

Russian Policy in the Mediterranean: Historical Continuity and International Context

The article considers the main directions of the Russian Federations foreign policy in the Mediterranean region in the period from 2015 to autumn 2021. The authors present a historical analysis of Russias military presence in the Mediterranean Sea since its first deployment in the 18th century and separately during the Cold War, since the key strategic goals and operational-tactical tasks facing the 5th Soviet Navy operational squadron in those years, as a whole, remained unchanged. Only their scale was adjusted. Three key aspects that determine the need for Russias presence in the Mediterranean are researched. These are the military, political and economic (raw) components that form the determinant of Russian foreign policy in the region. The expansion of the military activity of NATO countries - in particular, the United States, Great Britain and France - in the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, especially since the beginning of the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011, requires an asymmetric response from Russia in the context of protecting its national interests. As far as geopolitics is concerned, Russias return of at least partial of those Soviet influence in the region also contributes to strengthening our countrys international positions. Finally, Russias presence in a part of the world, which is a natural logistics hub in the context of both world trade and energy supplies, conceptually complements the military-political agenda. The authors use the methods of historical and political analysis and practical systematization in order to formulate the main hypothesis of the study and come to scientific and theoretical conclusions. The main hypothesis is that the expansion of Russias military, political and economic presence in the Mediterranean will be intensified as the countrys economic potential grows. The authors suggest the following order as tools for implementing the strategy: speeding up efforts to ensure the permanent military presence of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean, deepening bilateral ties with Syria and conducting a pragmatic economic policy towards Turkey, which claims to be an important actor in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East as a whole.

Military clergy reorganization in the Paul’s I of Russia military reform

The article examines an important historical stage in the development of military clergy. During this period, effective systems of military administration, training and recruitment and social protection of its members were established. In the process of the Emperor Paul's reform the military clergy acquired the features of a political institution. This was manifested in the active intervention of the state in the managerial system of the clergy. And the head of the military priests becomes the ober-priest of the Russian army and navy. A system of candidates selection for the positions of military priests has been built. A specialized educational institution was established for recruiting military clergy from the children of military clergy - the Army Seminary. After leaving the military department, martial ober-priests are provided with places in urban parishes, and martial priests are appointed to the rural churches of the dioceses from which they came to serve. A pension was introduced for the military clergy who were unable to continue serving because of age or illness. The military clergy were extracted from the subordination of the Holy Synod. And in the person of the ober-priest it was subordinated to the highest political leadership. As a result, the organization of the military clergy, which was optimal from the point of view of military-political management and effective use, was integrated into the military organization of the state. But this came into conflict with the canonical church norms and the position of the holy synod. After the tragic death of emperor Paul, this organization was largely dismantled.

Occupational stress as a risk factor and pathogenetic basis for the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in naval specialists

The relevance of cardiovascular diseases among the military personnel of the Russian Navy is reflected, as well as the role of occupational stressful load in the formation of a cardiovascular pathology. A single-stage study was carried out, which included 86 men aged 2340 years, during the study were divided into two groups corresponding to the different occupational load. The profile of behavioral factors associated with the cardiovascular risk (anthropometric indicators, adherence to smoking, amount of alcohol consumed, food preference), as well as morphological and functional indicators of the system, was studied in servicemen exposed to and not exposed to factors caused by staying in the deep-sea technical means. blood circulation. The effectiveness of stress testing was assessed, which included the Reeder self-assessment scale for psychosocial stress, the hospital scale for anxiety and depression, a work stress questionnaire, and a differential assessment of the state of a reduced performance. It was revealed that the profile of cardiovascular risk in servicemen of both groups is low, however, there is a significant difference in the number of indicators (the amount of adipose tissue detected by bioimpedansometry, total cholesterol level, an increase in heart rate during the psychomental test, values of vascular age and scale of relative cardiovascular risk. The most informative method, which made it possible to identify significant differences between the studied groups, is the questionnaire of the work stress by C. Spielberg 1989, adapted by A.B. Leonova and S.B. Velichkovskaya, 2000. It was determined that the severity of the impact of occupational stress factors in the servicemen exposed to factors caused by their stay in the deep-sea technical means is lower than in servicemen in the control group, while the associations of indicators characterizing the circulatory system with the occupational stress factors are higher in the control group, which indicates the importance of the formation of stress resistance, achieved by a high requirements of the professional selection, regular training of professional skills, as well as the creation of a favorable professional climates.

Hartley , Janet M. The Volga: A History of Russia's Greatest River (review)

REVIEWS 761 assembled on the orders of the Empress Elizabeth in the 1740s and published in the 1860s. The second section is headed ‘Texts and Translations’, though in some respects the chapters here also touch on magic and, in particular, belief. Sergei Bogatyrev meticulously deconstructs the sources on the ‘legend of the golden belt’, an apparently scandalous episode at the wedding of Vasilii II. It may have originated as just a drunken row, but it was subsequently interpreted and elaborated into a political polemic. Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov considers how the story of the toll-booths that the soul has to negotiate on its attempted ascent to heaven, derived from a vision in the tenth-century Byzantine Life of Basil the Younger, was adapted in the eighteenth century and later, with particular focus on the treatment of the toll-booth that assessed ‘magic’. Boris Uspenskij makes an intriguing case for the notion that some polite diplomatic rhetoric by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1658 was interpreted (and reported) by a Muscovite envoy as an actual pledge of subservience to the tsar. Thethirdsectionismorewordilyheaded‘Travel,TechnologyandExploration’. Here liminality knows almost no limits, as we are reminded of how much of the globe we can traverse while remaining safely within the realm of Russian Studies. Anthony Cross surveys the British in Crimea between 1774 and 1856. Elena Smilianskaia and Julia Leikin investigate a tour of Lord Effingham to the Aegean with the Russian navy in 1770. James Gibson writes on the ‘Amur question’, Alexey Postnikov chronicles an episode in the imaginary and then empirical cartography of the Arctic regions, Denis B. Shaw follows Russian expeditions to Siberia, while Simon Dixon analyses a mission to Jerusalem in 1859, which, he argues, helped shift the balance of prestige from Britain towards Russia. The horizons of Will Ryan’s interests have indeed been wide — a fact underlined by the helpful inclusion of a bibliography of his publications across nearly six decades. Clare College, Cambridge Simon Franklin Hartley, Janet M. The Volga: A History of Russia’s Greatest River. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT and London, 2021. xix + 379 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Timeline. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £25.00. In her bid to win the musical contest in Volga-Volga (1938), the ravishing yet pure Strelka played by Liubov´ Orlova composes a paean to the ‘broad, deep, strong’ and ‘all-national’ river in which she evokes the Cossack rebels of yesteryear, warns any present-day enemies who might be listening to keep their distance and, just for good measure, slips in a reference to Stalingrad. Not SEER, 99, 4, OCTOBER 2021 762 surprisingly, after a few misadventures, the song enchants the people, and the self-effacing Strelka wins the Olympiad. Vasilii Lebedev-Kumach, the real-life songwriter, had a somewhat more checkered career, becoming embroiled in a plagiarism scandal a couple of years after the release of the film, though in this case, it’s hard to imagine what he could have stolen. His ‘Song of the Volga’ is so trite there’s almost nothing proprietary about it. By the 1930s, the river was such an obvious national icon that all a savvy Stalinist versifier had to do was offer a shout-out to the great leader and a dash of Socialist Realist cheeriness. The rest, in a sense, was already built in. Janet M. Hartley’s rich overview of the history of the river addresses the mythologies surrounding the Volga but the real strength of the book lies in its sweeping coverage of the nuts-and-bolts. Starting from the age of Khazaria, Bolgar and Kievan Rus’ and running to the present, Hartley patiently chronicles the ebb and flow of political, social and economic change up and down the river. The last line of the book, ‘Without the Volga, there would be no Russia’ (p. 316), quoted from a recent Russian TV production, aptly captures the gist of the work, which is that Volga history is Russian history. Virtually everything of importance affecting the country’s development has a connection to the river, and Hartley relates virtually all of it here. This approach leads to a certain information overload as we move relentlessly from one fact...

Стратегическая концепция развития системы морской космической разведки и целеуказания

The relevance of the task of improving the system of marine space reconnaissance and target guidance (ICRC), which involves conducting reconnaissance, processing target designation data and issuing them for the use of naval missile weapons (RV), is closely related to the effectiveness of the combat use (BP) of high-precision weapons (WCO) of sea-based (MB) and BRAV. The development of the system and the creation of new ICRC systems for ships of the Russian Navy are aimed primarily at ensuring the combat use of missile weapons (RO).