Apropos of Lermontov

As you may have realised while reading A Hero of our Time, most of the action in the first section takes place in the now heavily contested borders of “independent” (at least according to Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela) South Ossetia.  With winter coming on, and most of the mountainous passes becoming impassable, it looked as though [...]

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Heroin and AIDS in Russia

Heroin abuse in russia, and as a result AIDS, have shown a closesly linked and rapid rise in Russia in recent years. There does seem to be some very backwards policies which are not helping the problem, such as a lack of methodone substitution programs or needle exchange programs (both of which are common practice [...]

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