Victory Day in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Last Wednesday, 9th May, was Victory Day in Russia, and a national public holiday. Although grey and overcast, the weather in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was warm and it didn’t rain, so I decided to wander up to the war memorial in the afternoon and take some pictures.
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After the war memorial, I decided to take a walk through nearby Gagarin Park, which as the photos show was pretty busy with Russians enjoying their day off. One would have been forgiven for thinking the local governor had issued every resident of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with a bottle of beer and ordered them into the park for the day.
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The beer kiosks were doing a roaring trade…
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…as were the open-air cafes selling shashlik.
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The day passed, as does every day, under the watchful eye of Vladimir Putin.
Impressive photography.
Comment by Russophile.com — May 12, 2007 @ 4:57 am
Looks like all had fun time. Great pictures.
Comment by Red October — May 12, 2007 @ 8:02 am
Brilliant identification of the difference between American and Russian patriotism. And evil dwarf pic – mr Putin – looks very much appropriate to the scenery. Great pix. The boy particularly.
One cannot argue sometimes these total outs in small not-yet-civilized towns seem a bit miserable for an alien eye. Although nice to observe that since official celebrations of the days of communism, nowadays Vday celebrations somehow shifted to the domain of family/friends gatherings. I know for sure it still means a lot to us russians. Although it’s the reason to be proud of ourselves – it still hurts.
Comment by iragerman — May 12, 2007 @ 9:41 am
Great pictures of life in Sakhalin, but still no leaves on the trees?
Comment by varske — May 12, 2007 @ 3:17 pm
I found your website through a Google-search when looking for some way to actually see and read the original Sakhalin-II PSA between SEIC and the Russian government.
At the moment I’m writing a research paper for a Law course of my university and it would be very helpful if i could gain insight in the PSA.
I want to ask you: do you know by any chance where i can read this PSA online?
Many thanks in advance.
Comment by Lennart — May 13, 2007 @ 2:18 am
Lennart,
The PSA contract between SEIC and the Russian government is almost certainly not in the public domain. I’m pretty sure it won’t be on the internet, nor lying around in too many offices.
Comment by Tim Newman — May 13, 2007 @ 5:48 am
thnx anyways!
Comment by Lennart — May 13, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Tim, these are great photos. What kind of camera do you use?
Comment by Lindsay — May 14, 2007 @ 5:04 am
Lindsay,
Thanks! I use a Sony DSC-R1, which has been a tremendous buy. I’ll probably upgrade to a Canon DSLR this year, but I’ll still be using the Sony a lot. I’m even tempted to buy a spare, in case this one breaks after the model is discontinued.
Comment by Tim Newman — May 14, 2007 @ 8:52 am
[...] Belatedly, a link to Tim Newman’s photos of May 9 celebrations at the other end of Russia, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Also, Apricotflan.com’s notes on the celebration in St. Petersburg. And, Flickr user Leonid V. Kroujkov’s photos from the celebration in Moscow. Share This [...]
Pingback by Global Voices Online » Russia: May 9 in St. Pete, Moscow and on Sakhalin — May 15, 2007 @ 2:12 am
your blogs taking off . . more frequent posts, lots of photos and more comments . .
keep it up
Comment by JJ — May 15, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
Sakhalin island belongs to China upstreamed to ancient,but she was stolen by Russian in 1860 according to Treaty Peking.Chinese must regain her one day!
Comment by Russia-driver — May 16, 2007 @ 8:01 am
I was born on Sakhalin island and did not visit for over 10 years and I was thrilled to see some pictures. THANK YOU!
Comment by Elena — July 11, 2007 @ 10:42 am