Russia was the birthplace of artists like Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich and Vasili Vereshchagin. Now it's time to see what great Russian artists are living in your household.

Lisa Finneran, mother of twins adopted from Arkhangelsk and the driving force behind the philanthropic effort ArkAngels, has announced a Russian adoption art contest to benefit the children still living in Russia's orphanages. I've told you about ArkAngels... more

Today, according to my trusty Google Calendar alert, is Unity Day in Russia. Hmmm. I'm reasonably conversant in Russian holidays by this point, but Unity Day had me stumped. And so I invite you to follow me into a bit of research into Russia's newest holiday. Well, sort of.

Unity Day was only celebrated for the first time two years ago, but it is ostensibly based on something that happened nearly 400 years ago. Two Moscovites, Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, led an uprising that chased out Polish and Lithuanian troops who had invaded the city. Russians call this... more

Russia's December 2 parliamentary election leads the news this week. Election officials certified 11 parties to vie for the elections while sharply limiting the number of foreign observers to watch the polling. There may not be much to watch: Most political analysts expect the United Russia list to win the bulk of the seats in the State Duma, which is the lower house of Russia's legislature. President Vladimir Putin announced on... more

When you think about the words "dance" and "Russia", chances are your mind draws up two images: The Nutcracker or the Moiseyev Dance Company. If it is the latter, then today is a day of mourning. Igor Moiseyev, the Bolshoi-trained dancer who turned humble Russian folk dances into an art form, died yesterday in Moscow at age 101.

Media reports say that Moiseyev had been in failing health for some time. His last public appearance was last year in Moscow for his 100th birthday.

According to an obituary in Russia... more

Leading the Russian cultural calendar this month: something for the kids. It's "The Stone Flower", a puppet show that is being described as "an original Russian tale". It certainly sounds that way. The story line involves a young prince who must fend off danger and a scheming uncle to find a stone flower if he is to become the tsar. The show is at Children's Fairyland in Oakland, Calif. at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on November 3 and 4.

On the other side of the country, a cabaret performance that deconstructs the Kurt Weill/Ira... more

Want something fun to do this morning if your agency is among the 46 that have not yet gotten accreditation to handle adoptions in Russia? Call Martin Renkiewicz and ask him why his agency is holding things up. No, this is not an overseas call. Mr. Renkiewicz's agency is right down in Washington, D.C.

Yes, you read that right. It looks as if the fault for the slow pace of accreditations lies not with Moscow, or with late post-placement reports, but with an obscure American bureaucracy that goes by the name of the U.S.... more

So, as I told you in part one of this post, the U.S. National Central Bureau of Interpol has stopped processing background checks on U.S. adoption agencies. Russia's Ministry of Justice needs this information to complete the accreditation of these agencies, so that they, in turn may complete the adoption of thousands of children now in Russian orphanages.

Now what?

One agency awaiting re-accreditation told me that the MoJ indicated that it would allow agencies to... more

Those of us who have been to Russia already know the drill. Your driver is taking you to the orphanage where the most stressful day of your life awaits, when the car is pulled over by the highway police. Oh, what now, you think. What piece of paperwork have I forgotten to bring?

But the stop has nothing to do with you and everything with what a group of Russian citizens are now saying is wrong with the nation's police force. The road cops are yanking your driver's car off the road purely and simply to extract a little cash. It happened to me once on each of the three trips... more

Jimmy Carter may be envious: One week after Russian President Vladimir Putin took complaints about inflation on a televised town hall-style show, Russia's top food companies agreed to a government plan to freeze prices. The store tab for bread, eggs, vegetable oil and sugar will be frozen through the end of January, along with the price of some cheese and milk products .The Kremlin called the producers' agreement voluntary, but some economists criticized the move as a return to Soviet policies. Then again, price freezes weren't... more

Where is it? Smolensk Oblast, or region, is located on the western-most edge of the European side of Russia. It is bordered by Belarus to the west and the oblasts of Pskov, Tver and Moscow to the north. Kaluga oblast is to the east and Bryansk oblast is on its southeastern border. Smolensk is in the Moscow time zone .

What's the biggest city?... more