🇷🇺 Today Russia begins Maslenitsa celebrations
Maslenitsa is an ancient Slavic holiday with numerous customs that have survived through the centuries to the present day. It is celebrated during the week leading up to Great Lent. In 2025, Maslenitsa celebrations will begin on February 24 and continue until March 2.
Maslenitsa is a joyful farewell to winter, illuminated by the happy anticipation of the warm weather and the spring renewal of nature. The main attributes of the holiday traditionally include — the Maslenitsa effigy, games, sleigh rides, festivities, and of course, blini — round, golden, and hot. In the past, blini held ritual significance as they symbolized the sun, which grew brighter and extended the days.
🇷🇺 Today Russia begins Maslenitsa celebrations
Maslenitsa is an ancient Slavic holiday with numerous customs that have survived through the centuries to the present day. It is celebrated during the week leading up to Great Lent. In 2025, Maslenitsa celebrations will begin on February 24 and continue until March 2.
Maslenitsa is a joyful farewell to winter, illuminated by the happy anticipation of the warm weather and the spring renewal of nature. The main attributes of the holiday traditionally include — the Maslenitsa effigy, games, sleigh rides, festivities, and of course, blini — round, golden, and hot. In the past, blini held ritual significance as they symbolized the sun, which grew brighter and extended the days.
Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has grown from a simple messaging app to a broadcast network. Its user base isn’t as vast as WhatsApp’s, and its broadcast platform is a fraction the size of Twitter, but it’s nonetheless showing its use. While Telegram has been embroiled in controversy for much of its life, it has become a vital source of communication during the invasion of Ukraine. But, if all of this is new to you, let us explain, dear friends, what on Earth a Telegram is meant to be, and why you should, or should not, need to care. Individual messages can be fully encrypted. But the user has to turn on that function. It's not automatic, as it is on Signal and WhatsApp. Telegram was co-founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, the brothers who had previously created VKontakte. VK is Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, a social network used for public and private messaging, audio and video sharing as well as online gaming. In January, SimpleWeb reported that VK was Russia’s fourth most-visited website, after Yandex, YouTube and Google’s Russian-language homepage. In 2016, Forbes’ Michael Solomon described Pavel Durov (pictured, below) as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.” Pavel Durov, a billionaire who embraces an all-black wardrobe and is often compared to the character Neo from "the Matrix," funds Telegram through his personal wealth and debt financing. And despite being one of the world's most popular tech companies, Telegram reportedly has only about 30 employees who defer to Durov for most major decisions about the platform. "Your messages about the movement of the enemy through the official chatbot … bring new trophies every day," the government agency tweeted.
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