Теракт в Париже / The Terror Attack in Paris

Russian language practice from the contemporary Russian media - mourners at Moscow's French embassy

Audio content: Moscow residents expressing their reactions to the November 2015 terrorist attack in Paris.
Visual content: The French embassy; the informal memorial created by Moscow residents.

Video at tvrain.ru
14 November 2015

As I promised in the last entry, here are some Russian reactions to the mid-November terrorist attacks in Paris. Just as we saw in the previous video, a common Russian response to public tragedy is to bring flowers to a meaningful site. Here the informal memorial has been set up in front of the French embassy. Some particularly interesting comments–both fatalistic and resolute–come at the end, so those are the moments I have transcribed below.


 

0:00-0:25

Мужчина: Скажи всё-таки, почему вы сегодня сюда пришли?
Молодой человек: Чтобы выразить соболезнования гражданам Франции. Это большая утрата для нас. Мы солидарны с ними.
Журналист: У вас был кто-то там, знакомые?
Мужчина: Нет.

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Авиакатастрофа в Египте / The Plane Crash in Egypt

In light of recent events it seems appropriate to bypass other potentially interesting topics and devote a few posts to the recent terror-related tragedies. This post presents material on the crash of the Russian plane in Egypt. An upcoming post will showcase an excellent video I found of Russians responding to the attacks in Paris. (Use the tool in the sidebar to subscribe if you would like to be notified about new posts.) The current post contains two videos. Scroll down to view the second one.

On October 31 a plane operated by the Russian charter airliner Kogalymavia / Когалымавиа (operating under the brand name Metrojet) crashed in the Sinai peninsula. The plane had just departed the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh for St. Petersburg. All 224 people on board died. Most were Russian tourists returning home from vacations. As of today the cause of the crash has not been officially established, but several figures involved in the multinational investigation have said it seems likely that a bomb exploded on board. The terror group ISIS (Russian “Исламское государство” or “ИГИЛ”) claimed responsibility for the crash soon after it occurred.


 

VIDEO 1 (above)

Audio content: Russians voicing sorrow and condolences; Patriarch Kirill leading a mourning service; Orthodox liturgical music
Visual content: Memorial sites in St. Petersburg with piles of flowers and candles; an Orthodox church service, church interiors, parishioners taking part in the service

Video from Первый канал

The opening images in this video are from the St. Petersburg airport Pulkovo. In Russia it is common to bring flowers, especially carnations, to a memorial site. Later in the video you will see shots of Orthodox memorial services in St. Petersburg and in Moscow at the resident church of the Muscovian and all-Russian Patriarch Kirill. Note the distinctive tall thin golden candles that are commonly lit in Orthodox churches, the heavily decorated walls and icon screen, and the head scarves worn by most women inside Orthodox churches.

Transcript

0:25-1:00

Мужчина: Это такая трагедия для Петербурга, и, я считаю, в целом, для всего города и для нас, мы не безразличные люди и специально приехали.

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Хозяйка киевского магазина о Евромайдане / A Kievan store owner reacts to the “Euromaidan”

хозяйка киевского магазина

Audio content: A Kievan shopkeeper describes how her store was burned down and wishes for an end to the violence associated with the Euromaidan.
Visual content: Images of the aftermath of the Euromaidan violence, a woman, later a masked member of the “Berkut” special police

Video from Дождь
19 февраля 2014

This post dips into my archives to present some compelling content from the early days of the unrest in Ukraine. The woman interviewed here is the owner of a store in central Kiev that was burned down during the clashes between pro-Russian and pro-European factions in early 2014. Although the ensuing civil war became centered in eastern Ukraine, the events all began in November 2013 on the “Independence Square / Майдан Незалежности” in central Kiev. There protestors demonstrated against the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to suspend preparations for a closer association with the European Union. Special government security forces known as the “Berkut” were sent to restore order, leading to violent clashes and the loss of about 100 lives. One particularly bloody clash occurred on February 18 when the police unsuccessfully tried to dislodge the protesters from their positions. This video was filmed a day after that battle and just a few days before President Yanukovich fled the country, setting the stage for the ongoing conflict between the pro-European leadership in Kiev and the pro-Russian population in the eastern provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk. Russia also took advantage of the unrest to annex Crimea about a month after this interview was filmed. The second part of the video features a member of the “Berkut” security force.


 

0:00-3:30

Ведущая: Как живёт мирное население в условиях войны, гражданской войны? Киев ведь мирный город, вообще-то. Вот как, например: знакомьтесь с Ларисой Гейтман-Гедунец [?], хозяйка магазина на улице Грушевского в Киеве—то есть, она была хозяйкой этого магазина—его сожгли. Послушайте, что она рассказывает.

Anchor: How does the peaceful population live amid the conditions of war, civil war? After all, Kiev is a peaceful city, in general. This is how, for example: meet Larisa Geitman-Gedunets, the owner of a store on Grushevsky Street in Kiev. That is, she was the owner of that store—it was burnt down. Listen to what she says.

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