Staff Articles

I. Карина Шалькивська: << Can We Separate Art from Politics in a Time of War?>>

II. Матвей Розенталь: <<Off the Grid: A Step Towards Energy Independence>>

III. Джед Бурк: <<My experiences with Vladimir Mayakovsky, and reading literature in one’s target language>>

IV. Лорен Бреннан: <<A Vocal Critic: IC3PEAK>>

V. Aлдрин Яшко: << Temporary Retreat: The History and Role of the Dacha>>

VI. Джулия Норсуорси-Эдгилл <<MPSA Reflection>>

VII. Сэмми Дженнингс: << Мои любимые исполнители среди русских поп-певиц >>

VIII. Стивен Далил: <<Год преподавания>>

VX. Кэйлин Купер: <<A Glimpse into the Folklore of Chechnya>>

Can We Separate Art from Politics in a Time of War?

Карина Шалькивска

This past Gazeta issue, we received a number of movie reviews on the film Anora, which was screened at the student-run Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (REES) Film Series events this spring. On March 2, 2025, Anora won five Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. But I am not here to review the movie. Instead, I want to shed light on how this spotlight and award-winning film is not only succumbing to Russian soft-power ambitions but is also politically insensitive. Although it is noteworthy to acknowledge that the movie has merit, it is indisputable that the film proves to be tone deaf as Russia continues to perpetrate heinous crimes against humanity on Ukrainians. Perhaps most concerning is that Borisov’s Oscar nomination serves as a symbol of cultural normalization in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression (Sauer, 2025). While countless Russian film and theater actors have bravely spoken out against President Vladimir Putin and left the country after the full-scale war, Yura Borisov, one of the main Russian actors in the film, has taken a different path. Both Borisov and his Russian co-star Mark Eydelshteyn have decided to remain silent about the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Borisov has participated in contentious Kremlin-funded films since starting his film career in Russian-centric patriotic narrative movies. One such movie was Kalashnikov, which was filmed in the illegally annexed territory of Crimea by Russia (Sauer, 2025). And just a few years before, he starred in a movie, T-34, that celebrated a Soviet tank model in a Kremlin-sponsored movie (Nechepurenko, 2025). Borisov and Eydelshteyn have managed to play both sides, maintaining their careers in Russia without openly condemning the war, while avoiding being labeled in the West as Russian assets (Nechepurenko, 2025). Going from Olympic bans to an Oscar nomination was a dramatic shift and an aid to Russia’s propaganda machine.

It is important to note that Russia weaponizes everything– from sports, education, art, and even the movie industry– the Russian state has long used cultural platforms as tools to project its influence and reshape its image abroad. In this context, Anora’s international praise, especially without critical engagement with its lead actors’ silence or ties to Kremlin-narratives, allows Russia to normalize its presence on the global stage, using art as a shield against criticism. As institutions continue to reward films and figures detached from the political realities they are entangled in, this raises a question: what does it mean to separate art from politics in a time of war, and who benefits from that separation? Unlike past critical films, Anora offered no direct critique of Russia, making its success feel like a soft-power victory (Idov, 2025). For Russian propagandists, the film’s appearance at the Oscars was portrayed as a triumph of Russian culture as pro-Kremlin commentator Sergei Markov declared, “Russian culture can’t be canceled. Russia itself can’t be canceled.” (Sauer, 2025). The danger here lies not in the film’s cinematic merit, but in how these events can be weaponized. As Ukrainian artists and civilians continue to suffer under the devastation of war waged by Russia, the international spotlight on Anora risks erasing the reality. It also raises broader questions about complicity, responsibility, and the role of the global film industry in shaping political narratives, whether intentionally or not. As viewers, we must be aware of what kinds of stories are elevated and at what cost.

Idov, M. (2025, February 27). I Loved ‘Anora,’ but I Still Hope It Loses at the Oscars. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/opinion/anora-oscars-russian-propaganda.html?searchResultPosition=1

Nechepurenko, I. (2025, February 27). He Was a Star for the Kremlin. Now He Could Be One at the Oscars. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/movies/yura-borisov-oscars-anora.html?searchResultPosition=1

Sauer, P. (2025, March 3). Russian state propagandists overjoyed at Anora’s Oscar triumph. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/03/anora-oscar-triumph-russian-state-propagandists-overjoyed

Off the Grid: A Step Towards Energy Independence

Матвей Розенталь

In a significant move, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have disconnected from Russia’s power grid, marking a major milestone in their ongoing quest for energy independence. This decision is not merely a technical adjustment; it is a symbolic and strategic break from decades of energy dependence on a neighbor whose political and military actions have become increasingly erratic and aggressive. The disconnection, which was completed in early 2025, represents a crucial pivot toward European energy security, self-sufficiency, and resilience in the face of ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.

For many years, the Baltic states have been subjects of Russian energy policy. These countries, while part of the European Union and NATO, were geographically and energy-wise tethered to Russia through a shared power grid that often left them vulnerable to Russia’s influence. This situation created an uncomfortable paradox: while the Baltics were politically aligned with Central and Western Europe, their energy infrastructure remained tied to an authoritarian regime that increasingly demonstrated its willingness to use energy as a tool of political leverage.

The decision to disconnect is, in many ways, a reflection of the Baltic nations' broader efforts to assert their sovereignty and distance themselves from Russia’s shadow. The move was accelerated after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which starkly illustrated how Russia’s use of energy supplies could be weaponized for political gain. The energy crises that followed, in which Moscow cut off natural gas supplies to Europe, served as a wake-up call for many in the European Union. In particular, the Baltic states felt the weight of Russia’s dominance most acutely.

In the context of European energy, this disconnection represents not just a physical severing of electrical ties but also a reassertion of the Baltic countries’ commitment to the European Union’s Green Deal and the overarching goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. By transitioning to an independent power grid, the Baltics are now in a position to diversify their energy sources—ranging from renewable energy such as wind and solar to greater integration with the European grid. This move lays the foundation for a more robust, resilient, and sustainable energy future.

However, this decision has not been without its challenges. The Baltic states are still in the process of fully integrating their power grids into the broader European system, a task that requires significant investments in infrastructure and coordination with neighboring countries. While challenges remain, this break from Russia is a critical moment in the Baltic states' history—one that reflects their unwavering commitment to European values and their determination to shape their own future in an increasingly uncertain world.

Works Cited

Reuters. “Baltic States Switch to European Power Grid, Ending Russia Ties.” CNN, 9 Feb. 2025, amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/09/europe/baltic-states-leave-russia-power-grid. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

“The Baltic Countries Switch off Electricity Reliance on Russia as They Connect to the European Grid.” European Commission - European Commission,2025, ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ac_25_465.

My experiences with Vladimir Mayakovsky, and reading literature in one’s target language

Джед Бурк

Like many of my fellow Russian-language students at William & Mary, part of what drew me to studying Russian in the first place was the wealth of literature written in the language. Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pasternak, Bulgakov, and others are all names that make quite a strong impression in the world of literature, and I was excited to eventually study and analyze such works as they were written. While I definitely have a long way to go before I fully understand all that Russian literature has to offer, I am excited to share some of what I learned through my brief experience with my first-ever Russian writer - Vladimir Mayakovsky.

I picked up my first (and only) Mayakovsky work at a bookstore in Vilnius, Lithuania while I was studying abroad there in the summer of 2023. My reasoning for picking Mayakovsky over the many other more famous authors on display was simple - my Russian professor told me a few days previously that I had a very similar writing style to him in one of our in-class exercises. I bought a collection of selected poems, his primary medium, and tried to understand them as best as I could.

I learned pretty early on that Mayakovsky was a pioneer of the Russian Futurist style during the years of the Russian Revolution, celebrating the forward-thinking nature of the Bolsheviks and rejecting the confines of traditional linguistic structures. While it was certainly confusing to read such abstract work when I wasn’t completely fluent in Russian, it also led me to wonder about how I was comprehending these works compared to a native speaker. Mayakovsky’s neologisms, or inventions of new words to express existing concepts in different ways, particularly intrigued me. For example, Mayakovsky invents two new words in the opening lines of his famous poem Облако В Штанах (A Cloud in Trousers): “выжиревший” and “изъиздеваюсь”. Both terms use common Russian prefixes, with выжиревший expressing that something has been over(вы)-fattened (inf. verb жиреть), and изъиздеваюсь emphasizing that the speaker is mocking or making fun of something (inf. verb издевать) to completion or destruction (prefix из) (Vasilova, 645). I had never heard either verb before reading the poem, but I do think that researching this prose and learning how these new words were formed helped to deepen my understanding of the nuances of Russian prefixed verbs. My position as a Russian learner rather than a native speaker is certainly unique in my reading of futurist literature, because I lack that ingrained understanding of the language's structure that these authors actively deconstruct.

Similarly, another of Mayakovsky’s oft-quoted phrases in Soviet-era propaganda extolls that “Ленин-жил, Ленин-жив, Ленин-будет жить!” While I’m sure that Mayakovsky himself wasn’t expecting that these words would one day help an American college student understand how past adverbial participles were formed in the Russian language, this is what happened. Overall, I think that Mayakovsky’s wordplay helped me to understand the Russian language a bit more ontologically, through the way that he played with the language’s structure and expressed new ideas through existing conventions.

While I still have a long way to go before I can completely understand all of the Mayakovsky poems left in the collection, I do consider it to be a pretty valuable part of my Russian-learning experience. I would encourage my fellow Russian learners to not be afraid of similarly abstract literature or media if you’re looking for study material, perhaps it will help you understand the language a bit differently than a textbook would.

Works Cited:

Vasilova, Leysan, Zubayda Biktagirova, Natalya Deputatova, and Olimjon Kasimov. “ANALYSIS OF NEOLOGISMS IN THE PROLOGUE TO THE POEM OF V. MAYAKOVSKY ‘CLOUD IN TROUSERS.’” Herald NAMSCA (National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts) vol. 11, no. 3, 2018, pp 644–47.

A Vocal Critic: IC3PEAK

Лорен Бреннан

As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia continues, restrictions on anti-war speech within Russia have increased. Russian citizens are told not to participate in protests or speak out against the “special military operation,” and often comply out of fear. Some still bravely speak out via blank signs, donations, or even music.

There is a long historical legacy of using art as a means of protest within Russia and the former Soviet Union. Some of the best examples come from the use of “Sots Art”, which aimed to fight against the state-mandated style of Socialist Realism. Works such as My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love were created to express dissent to the Soviet artistic regulations. Other examples include the infamous Pussy Riot group, which opposed many of Vladimir Putin’s actions and stances.

A contemporary critic of both the war and the Putin regime is an electronic pop duo named “IC3PEAK.” Having gone viral in early 2020 with their hit song “TRRST,” the duo has become famous globally. In “TRRST” the duo (made up of Anastasia Kreslina and Nikolay Kostilev) specifically talks about the beginning of a new war and the actions that will inevitably taken against activists. The duo also mentions how they have already been put on the “black list,” saying “Mama they say I’m a terrorist…I did nothing wrong, but I got on a black list.” This statement was a reaction to how the Russian government had already began treating them for their political stances and outspoken dissent. In fact, IC3PEAK was detained and interrogated by Russian authorities before the full-scale invasion even began.

Nowadays, IC3PEAK has left Russia due to the war, but recently released a new project titled “Coming Home,” focusing on their journey since fleeing Russia. Their most recent music video, “Где мой дом?” clearly shows the impact of the war from the Ukrainian perspective, showing fighter planes overhead, fathers leaving for war, and people trapped in their communities. While exiled from Russia, the duo is still making an impact by highlighting what is occurring in the war.

Temporary Retreat: The History and Role of the Dacha

Aлдрин Яшко

The dacha holds a deep-set place in Russian culture. For generations, families have used these residences as retreats from the hectic stresses of urban life. This article explores the history, nature, and current controversies around these summer homes.

The word ‘dacha (дача),’ originates from the verb ‘dat (дать),’ which means ‘to give’ (Button). In the 16th century, the tsar began to reward certain elites with land, thus lending the phenomenon of the dacha its name. By the 20th century, many well-to-do Russian families had their own rural residence. But the true explosion in dacha ownership came after the Bolshevik revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union. Faced with crippling production restrictions and price controls, Soviet citizens sought to purchase small plots away from the eyes of the authorities where they could grow their own food. Thus, dachas became more akin to temporary living structures with tiny farms attached (Button).

Today, even after the fall of the Soviet Union, dacha life still revolves strongly around gardening, although it is now more for therapeutic reasons than out of necessity (Holley, Kim). Russian families will often visit their dacha residences in the summer and partake in activities such as swimming, fishing, and mushroom hunting. (Nefedova and Treivish 381). The classic rural dacha is characterized by simplicity, and is traditionally constructed of processed logs with a high peaked roof (“Dachaland”). Sometimes they will have no electricity and few other amenities; however, this simplistic nature is valued by residents who seek to take a break from modern life (Kim).

However, dachas can vary in style and scope, especially when it comes to different socio-economic classes. The ‘New Russians,’ who found wealth during the intensive privatization of the 90s, have constructed larger and much more lavish dachas that bear little resemblance to their rustic predecessors (Holley). Known as ‘mega-dachas,’ these compounds will often feature extra additions such as guard towers, terraces, and swimming pools (Holley, Button). Vladimir Putin’s summer residence at Lake Valdai consists of a four-story mansion as well as stables, a golf course, a spa complex, a casino, and other amenities (Fillimonov). In 2024 it was also outfitted with air defense systems, as Putin is increasingly concerned about drone attacks by Ukrainian forces (Kottasová).

Dachas can hold multiple means. Historically, they have served as places of both hard work and relaxation. They may symbolize simplicity or showcase excess. Ultimately, the dacha functions as an environment to which one retreats from the urban world into nature, for however long.

Works cited:

Button, Rachel. “The Story behind Dachas, Russia’s Storybook Country Cottages.” Matador Network, 20 May 2020, matadornetwork.com/read/story-behind-russian-dachas/.

“Dachaland: The Russian Dacha.” The Architectural Review, 24 July 2020, www.architectural-review.com/buildings/dachaland-the-russian-dacha.

Filimonov, Alexander. “Putin’s Favorite Dacha: Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation Investigates the Russian President’s ‘Most Secret’ Official Residence.” Meduza, meduza.io/en/feature/2021/04/15/putin-s-favorite-dacha.

Holley, David. “A Cottage Industry of Wealth.” Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2005, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-20-fg-dacha20-story.html.

Kim, Lucian. “The Dacha Is Russia’s Summer Cure for Urban Life.” NPR, 6 Aug. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/08/06/1020691361/the-dacha-is-russias-summer-cure-for-urban-life.

Kottasová, Ivana. “Putin’s Summer Residence Gets New Air Defenses as Ukraine Steps up Drone Attacks.” CNN, 19 July 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/europe/putin-summer-residence-fortification/index.html.

Nefedova, Tatiana G., and Andrey I. Treivish. “Dacha as a Social and Economic Phenomenon and its Role in Rural Development in Russia.” Russian Journal of Economics, vol. 9, no. 4, 20 Dec. 2023, pp. 371–385, https://doi.org/10.32609/j.ruje.9.112818.

MPSA Reflection

Джулия Норсуорси-Эдгилл

During the first weekend of April, several REES seniors and I traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to present our research project, Democracy in Motion. This research is based on interviews with Russian and Belarusian migrants in the South Caucasus country of Georgia. For the past two summers, William & Mary students have traveled to Georgia with Professor Dan Maliniak from the Government department. While working with partnered NGOs, we were able to meet several dissidents who left Russia and Belarus following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This research was created to capture the experiences of these migrants through oral history.

All of the migrants that we interviewed would count as political dissidents, seeing that they all chose to leave due to their disagreement with their governments’ participation in the ongoing assault on Ukraine. The progressive sentiments held by these migrants were also why they were willing to partake in interviews. They were also active participants in classes targeted at assimilation. Though most of the migrants were unsure about their future plans, they were attending classes to learn more about their new host country, Georgia. Through Georgian language and history classes, these migrants were able to develop their own understanding of the country and its people.

The oral history archive created by the Democracy in Motion team serves as a resource for students and scholars. As the Russo-Ukrainian War continues, these migrants remain in Eurasian countries or return home. As scholarly literature develops around this topic, the lived experiences of our pool of candidates contribute to this research.

Мои любимые исполнители среди русских поп-певиц.

Сэмми Дженнингс

Когда я только начинала изучать русский язык, я начала слушать русскую музыку. Я хотела познакомиться с культурой через музыку. Я слушала таких певиц, как Натали, Блестящие, Катя Лель, и Зиверт. У всех них есть песни, которые я слушала много раз. Мои любимые песни - это “Долетай”, “О Боже, какой мужчина”, “Восточные сказки”, и “Зелёные волны”. Позже я открыла для себя новую певицу, которая стала моей самой любимой певицей. Большинство этих песен были написаны много лет назад, но они все ещё популярны сегодня. Возможно, вы слышали” Мой мармеладный (Я не права)” от Кати Лель. Эта песня стала популярной на ТикТоке год назад!

Мою любимую российскую певицу зовут Анастасия Сотникова. Я узнала о ней три года назад. Я не могу найти много информации о певице. Но, я знаю, что она родилась в России и сейчас тоже живет там. Она поет в жанре инди-поп. В её песнях много эмоций и историй любви. Мне очень нравится её голос и музыкальный стиль. Я рекомендую послушать все эти песни, если вам нравятся женские голоса и поп-музыка. Я написала несколько своих любимых писем ниже. Надеюсь, что вы полюбите эти песни так же сильно, как и я!

Слушайте здесь: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_9FV69hIY&list=OLAK5uy_lDAP7Zg2NN7IsUAy1V-ow4M7BpuS0jnM4

Слушайте здесь: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ZIpwlmdVE

Слушайте здесь: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz165H0L4Ho

Слушайте здесь: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRCZPkb-08

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsXJ7KApMU8

Год преподавания

Стивен Далил

Каждые выходные я встречаюсь с украинским парнем по имени Влад. Мы видимся по видеосвязи. Последний год мы регулярно встречались. Платформа под названием «EngIN» познакомила меня с ним. Это группа, которая набирает волонтеров для обучения украинских студентов английскому языку. В прошлом году я узнал о группе «EngIN» когда искал возможность поработать волонтером. Я нашел «EngIN» на сайте «GivePulse». Я подал заявления в «EngIN» и вскоре после этого персонал провел со мной интервью. Во время моего интервью мне задавали вопросы о себе и о том, почему я хотел стать волонтером в этой программе. Интервью было нетрудным и вскоре после этого программа познакомила меня с Владом. Наша первая встреча состоялась в апреле прошлого года. Влад тихий и застенчивый человек поэтому на нашей первой встрече мы разговаривали очень официально. Однако, по мере того как мы продолжали встречаться, он все больше раскрывался. После нескольких встреч мы стали много и дружелюбно говорить по-английски. На этих занятиях я всегда преподавал Владу план занятий из «EngIN». Без этих планов я бы не знала, что делать. За время преподавания английского языка я проник большим уважением к Белле Феликсовне. Я провожу занятия с Владом только раз в неделю, я не знаю, как она преподает студентам каждый день! На наших встречах мы говорили о психическом здоровье, долголетии , нашей культуре, нашей жизни, физических упражнениях и многом другом . Я надеюсь, что оказал положительное влияние на жизнь Влада, поговорив с ним на английском. К сожалению, мои встречи с Владом скоро закончатся. Волонтерам EngIN нельзя встречаться со студентами больше года. Скоро у Влада будет новый преподаватель. Хотя это скоро закончится, я рад, что встретил Влада и что мы смогли многому научиться друг у друга, пока Влад разбирался с войной в Украине. Как я говорю Владу каждую неделю, до следующего раза!

A Glimpse into the Folklore of Chechnya

Кейлин Купер

For as long as I have had an interest in East European/Eurasian studies, my fascination has centered on the cross sections of Islamic, Turkic, Persian, and Caucasian cultures with Soviet influence within Russia and other post-Soviet nations. Naturally, these interests have led me to the regions of Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia. As such, last semester, I embarked on an extensive research project centering on the Chechen invasion of Dagestan and, in the process, got the opportunity to do a deep dive into the rich culture of Chechnya. Folklore holds countless unexpected keys to cultural understanding, thus I would like to take the opportunity to relay some Chechen folklore tales as well as motifs in said folklore. Of course, attempting to fully analyze Chechen folktales, let alone the culture they represent, would require far more work and space. As stated by Sebastian Smith in Allah’s Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, “How to pin down the North Caucasus? You can’t. You change worlds and centuries in an hour. In a single day you met patriarchs and brigands, swaggering mafiosi and shepherd boys; there are faces from ancient Greek pottery and strains of music from Turkey. None of it can or should be pinned down. The North Caucasus is a hall of a thousand distorting mirrors, each showing a different reflection, and people have long forgotten which are straight, which crooked” (Berman 2008). Nonetheless, as I always find with the study of folklore, it is just as entertaining as it is enlightening.

As is the case with folklore across the world, centuries of oral history have molded and refined these stories. Thus, they should be taken as allegory, myth, cultural-artistic outputs, and celebrations of certain figures, religious and otherwise, but not necessarily as concrete history. Furthermore, the Stalinist purges during WW2 and the Chechen Wars of the 90s led to immense destruction of Chechen historical resources, exacerbating the already cloudy Chechen history which has been marred over the centuries by continuous ethnic conflict. However, dedicated Chechen historians and authors have succeeded in preserving Chechen history and folklore to some degree (Berman 2008). Abound in Chechen folklore is a cult of hospitality around the concept of receiving visitors, the animism and mythology of pre-Sunni times, patriarchal social structures, life revolving around the village and clan structures (taip), the alteration of time/space, and shamans/spiritual guides who perform functions such as divination and dream interpretation (Berman 2008).

It is also important to note that there are many parallels and common motifs amongst Chechen folklore and other cultures of the Caucasus. This includes “the narratives associated with patrons of beasts and forest mythical beings; in the names of mythological characters; motifs of fighting demonic mythological creatures; secret signs associated with a character's appearance; mythological names of toponyms; and the cosmogonic character of the dragon mythologem in Chechen folklore,” in terms of Chechen folkloric similarities to Georgian folklore alone (Mamisimedishvili 2022, 125). The heroic epic, one of the most pervasive folklore forms of Chechnya, can be divided into three primary categories: “tales about giants (Cyclopes, giants with two eyes and giants - the founders of clans), works about national heroes and legends - legends not related to the Nart epic, but having a heroic-epic typology,” with “Nart epic” referring to epics of the North Caucasus (Андрей Быстрый 2018). Perhaps most revealing of the heroic values that are still prized in Chechen culture today are the heroic songs (illi) of Chechen folklore as opposed to the ritual, lyrical, and labor songs of Chechnya (Андрей Быстрый 2018). In these heroic songs, strong friendship, courage, respect for women, patriotism, moral purity, and modesty are all traits of the protagonist (Андрей Быстрый 2018).

I will now summarize one longer-form tale and embed multiple shorter ones translated to English, followed by the past and present anthems of the Republic of Chechnya, which you will find encapsulate the aforementioned themes/values to varying degrees.

The first tale, Timour, begins with a sickly old man who ordered his first two sons to retrieve a cure for his illness. The first son returned home with red snow, and the second with white grass, under the logic that these wonders would act as cures. Disappointed, the father sent his third son out and forbade him from picking anything up along the way. However, despite his horse’s warnings to heed his father, the son picked up a golden feather and golden ball of thread on his way. After having been directed to the most hospitable host in the land, the prince, the son began to pray with his hosts when his feather fell out of his pocket. The prince proclaimed that he would die if the bird to which the feather belonged was not found, so, with the advice of his horse, the son set out and found a monster “arising from the heavens,” which happened to be the very bird he was looking for. Under the horse’s advice, the son told the bird that he was Timour’s son and pounced on the bird as it performed its prayers, coaxing it to return to the prince with him. Later, the same happened with the son’s ball of thread, to which the prince proclaimed that he would die if he was not brought the girl who spun the yarn. Once again, by his horse’s advice, the son revealed his relation to Timour to the girl whom he set out to find and after grabbing her and subduing her, she revealed that she gave an oath to marry he who took her away from the tower that she inhabited. They went through more tribulations for the sake of the prince, and finally the son returned home with the girl, his horse, his golden bird, and the sea mares that he collected in these further tribulations. They returned home as “his father was fighting off death with his bare hands” and by the advice of the bird, the son rubbed a golden feather on his father who immediately became younger than his son. The son then gave the girl to his father and the story ended with a wedding and the son gaining the immense approval of his father. In Timour, clan relations, familial importance, selflessness, and hospitality are emphasized over a backdrop of mythical creatures, noble promises, and miracles (Azni 2022).

The following tales were curated for their diversity of form (song and prose) and diversity of theme that I find give tastes of pre-Sunni Chechen mythology, display Chechen cultural values that pervade to the present, and include aforementioned motifs.

King Pyron (Azni 2022)

People say that the king Pyron created the heavens and the earth. It takes a lot of time to climb to the heavens. So much, that if you drive a three year old donkey to heaven, it will die of old age on his return.

How Sarmak was deceived (Azni 2022)

A father does not wish bad things to his son.
One father had three sons. Before his death, the father gave his sons an advice:
— “There are three roads leading from our region. Never walk on the old road.”
Then the father died.
Time passed, and one day the eldest of the sons turned out to be on this road. "I'll see where this road leads," he decided. Sarmak met him and asked:
— “What are you doing, Kant? Where are you going?”
— “I wander just like that. Our father, before his death, told us not to walk along this road. I
I decided to check out why he said that," the son replied.
— “You didn't believe your father, you violated his will! So I'll tell you what's here: if you don't sing a song better than me, don't expect mercy from me! Can you sing a song?” Sarmak asked. When the boy said he couldn't sing, Sarmak ate him.
One day the second brother decided to go along the old road. And Sarmak asked him:
— “Can you sing a song?”
When the young man replied that he couldn’t, Sarmak ate him too.
The third, the youngest brother, went to look for the missing brothers. He also went along the forbidden road and met Sarmak, who set a condition:
— “If you do not surpass me in singing songs or in telling fairy tales, then do not expect mercy from me.”
"All right, I'll tell you a fairy tale," said the younger brother, "but on condition that we don't interrupt each other until the fairy tale is over. But if one of the two of us intervenes, he loses. If I win, you will return my brothers to me.”
Sarmak agreed, and the younger brother began to tell:
"Last year I was herding a herd of horses on the icy sea. When they were full of green grass, they had to be watered. I began to chop the nine-inch thick ice with an axe, but nothing came of it. Then I set fire to the ax handle to melt the ice. The axe handle that caught fire made a hole in the ice, the axe fell into the sea, but the axe handle remained. I looked around to find something to get water into, but there was nothing suitable around. I tore off my skull, filled it with water and watered the horses.
In the evening, when it got colder, I drove the horses to the sky to spend the night on the clouds. After a while, I feel there is no skull on my head.
"Oh, what is this?” I thought. I ran back to the icy sea and I saw a quail has built a nest in my skull and is sitting in it. I grabbed a quail, put on a skull box, sat on a quail and flew to the herd of my horses in the clouds. I killed a quail, built a fire, made seven hundred spits, and when the quail meat was roasted on the spits, oil poured from one spit, as if from a stream. You smelled this smell of oil, Sarmak, and put your muzzle under the jet of oil."
"Where have I been?" Where was I?” Sarmak jumped up, forgetting about their agreement. — "Wah-wah-wah!'' — the younger brother roared with laughter. You've lost, you've lost! You violated our agreement, give me my brothers!

The wise younger brother returned his two elders and often reproached them: — “This happens to those who go against the will of their father!”
The brothers never walked the old road again.

The legend of the Sea Stallion (Azni 2022)

In the olden days, in the lands of the Nakhcho (Chechens) where great dark forests grew and where the Nakhtsho lived in peace, there were three brothers: Borz-Kant, Kuir-Kant, and Lom-Kant.

The elder brother, Borz-Kant, owned a herd of cows; the second, Kuir-Kant, owned a herd of goats, and Lom-Kant a herd of horses.
The elder brother had good cows: large and powerful, with strong horns. A dagger thrust into their milk remained upright, and did not fall over. The second brother owned fine goats: Their meat was as white as sugar, their milk soft as honey, their fleece was like a soft down on the cheeks of beautiful girls... But the horses of the youngest brother, Lom-Kant, were the best: Lion-horses! Falcon-horses!

People from distant lands came to find horses. The khans and the sultans promised gold and precious stones for these horses, but for nothing in the world would Lom-Kant part with any of his mares. He preserved this marvelous stock, and treasured the purity of their blood.

Every Spring, Lom-Kant secretly took his mares into the thickets of the forest which lies behind the Khankala Gorge. Lom-Kant rode a fiery steed and led the entire herd quickly, like an arrow. He led them through the lands of distant Ichkeria, to the blue Sea in the East, where a marvelous stallion with a golden mane emerged from the waters once a year.

One day, Lom-Kant faced a difficult choice: Either he must take his herd to the Sea in the East, or kidnap his beloved K’khok’kha, whose father refused him her hand in marriage. Lom-Kant’s brothers agreed to help him by taking care of his herd, and bringing it to the shores of the Sea, but – jealous of their younger brother’s happiness – they decided to kill the sea-horse.

With bows aimed and ready, Lom-Kant’s brothers waited for the horse with the golden mane to emerge from the sea and come closer to the herd. When the horse, rising from the sea floor, lit up the darkness like a crescent moon rising over the sea, the brothers fired a shot of blue balls from their bows. The wounded horse reared up and threw itself into the sea which boiled with fury. The entire herd of Lom-Kant’s mares plunged into the sea, following the horse with the golden mane. Having heard of what had happened to his herd of horses, Lom-Kant decided not to part with them, and threw himself into the sea.

People say that at the very spot where the Hordune-Din was wounded stands a great rock of the same name; in spring, one can hear the neighing of the horses and the cries of their master rise up from the bottom of the sea.

Let's sing about Turpal Nokhcho (Legendary Ancestor of the Chechens) ! (Azni 2022)

Reluctantly approaching old age,
Reluctantly moving away from youth.
Would you all like us to, good fellows,
sing you our ancient song about Turpal Nokhcho? How sparks fall from bulat,

So we scattered from Turpal Nokhcho!

We were born that night,
When the she-wolf gave birth to whelps,
Our names were given to us that morning,
When the leopard roared;
This is how we came from the forefather Turpal Nokhcho!

When there are no clouds in the sky, then it does not rain. So it is with us: when there are no thoughts on the heart, Then the eyes do not cry...
If you do not rely on God with your soul,

Then in any case you will not have time.

We will not lose the glory of the name of our father Turpal Nokhcho!

Finally, considering Kadyrov’s current pro-Russian government, of great importance is the current Chechen national anthem compared to the anthem of 1991-2000 during the years of Chechen separatism:

Modern (Vozdingov, Kadyrov, and Biksultanov 2004):

No matter you may burn with fire of injustice,

Chechnya, you didn’t fall, stood up to live.

Lightning of Caucasia, cradle of liberty,

Proud people guarded the honor of your land.

Concord among your peoples is a priceless wealth!

There is no mother, but you, to caress the people of Chechnya.

Extolling you, we beg to bless

Our life and our death in Motherland’s hearth!

Our ancestors’ souls come down to the top of Bashlam.

Wave of the Argun speaks the native tongue.

The perfect gift, you have given us life!

The Shatlak’s song gave us strength!

Let love of work and valor, respect of people

Be pleasant news for you!

Being on guard of liberty, having found a happy way,

Live for us, worthy Chechnya! (6)

Anthem of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1991-2000): Death or Freedom (Berman 2008):

We were born at night when the she-wolf whelped,
In the morning, to lion’s deafening roar, they named us
There is no God except Allah

In eagles’ nests our mothers nursed us,
To tame wild bulls our fathers taught us.
There is no God except Allah

Our mothers raised us to dedicate ourselves to our Nation and our Homeland,
And if our nation needs us we’re ready to fight the oppressive hand.
There is no God except Allah

We grew up free as eagles, princes of the mountains.
There is no threshold from which we will shy away.
There is no God except Allah

Sooner will cliffs of granite begin to melt like molten lead,
Than any one of us shall lose our honour in life’s struggles.
There is no God except Allah

Sooner shall the Earth be swallowed up by the broiling sun,
Than we emerge from a trial in life without our honour!
There is no God except Allah

Never to bow our heads to anyone, we give our sacred pledge,
To die or to live in freedom is our fate.
There is no God except Allah

Our sisters heal our brothers’ bloody wounds with their songs,
Lovers’ eyes will supply the strength of arms.
There is no God except Allah

If hunger weaken us, we’ll gnaw on the roots of trees,
And if thirst debilitates us, we’ll drink the dew from the grass.
There is no God except Allah

For we were born at night when the she-wolf whelped.
We pledge our lives to God, Nation and Vainakh homeland.
There is no God except Allah

An entire separate analysis could be written on a comparison between the two anthems but, as one can observe, there is a definitive wildness and rebellious spirit in the anthem of the separatist years. Indeed, it sounds like a wartime anthem because it was a wartime anthem, with far more religious undercurrents. The modern anthem, with only vague references to Chechnya’s strong people and historical precedent of striving for liberty, is far less inflammatory. This makes sense in the context of how politically unacceptable it is to even indirectly reference the yoke of Russian oppression. There is also a much weaker nationalist flavor to the modern anthem than you would expect. Islam is a fundamental aspect of Chechen life, but Allah and the wild native lands of Chechnya are unmentioned in favor of unity and the protection of Caucasia as a whole in the modern version. Chechnya has a far richer past and culture than I could even scratch the surface of in this article, but I hope that these brief glimpses into Chechnya’s brave and tumultuous history may spark an interest, and encourage readers to become more familiar with one of Russia’s most prominent ethnic groups. Russia is not a monolith, but a patchwork tapestry of cultures.

Works Cited:

Berman, Michael. 2008. “The Shamanic Themes in Chechen Folktales.” 12 Back Chapman

Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-4438-0011-2-sample.pdf.

Mamisimedishvili, Khvtiso. 2022. “Mythological Parallels in Georgian and Chechen Legends.”

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Actual Issues of Linguistics,

Linguodidactics and Intercultural Communication, 119–27.

https://doi.org/10.5220/0011608200003577.

Андрей Быстрый 2018. “Folklore of the Chechen Republic.” Фольклор Чеченской

республики | Музыкальное издательство “Звук-М.” December 12, 2018.

https://zvuk-m.com/en/folklor-chechenskoj-respubliki.html.

Azni, Malkh. “Chechen Legends.” Chechen Legends and Tales, 2022.

Vozdingov, Mahash, Hoz-Ahmed Kadyrov , and Umar Biksultanov. 2004. “Chechnya –

Nationalanthems.info.” Nationalanthems.info. 2004.

https://nationalanthems.info/che.htm.