No 2, 2025
Publishing Date: 2025-07-25
HISTORY
In summer 1831 the climate in the Northern Hemisphere cooled by an average of about 1 degree Celsius, coinciding with reports of gloomy, harsh weather and the sun changing to different colours. Scientists knew that a massive eruption caused this strange event, but the exact culprit of this cataclysm remained unknown for a long time. The 1831 eruption of the Zavaritski Volcano was one of several 19th century eruptions associated with the final phase of the so-called Little Ice Age (1800 to 1850), according to the volcanologists. This Age was not a true Ice – the last true ice age ended 10,000 years ago – but it marked the coldest period in the past 500 years. In this article the author explains the Zavaritski Volcano eruption and the geological time frame in which it occurred. It is also describes how the volcano was found almost 200 years after the eruption. The 183 eruption into perspective with today’s climate crisis and the one humanity will experience within the next hundred years.
The Mamunids are the second dynasty that ruled Khorezm from 995 to 1017. The territory of the Mamunids state mainly covered the territory of the historical and cultural region of Khorezm, which had developed in ancient times in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya on the left and right banks of the mighty Central Asian river. The Mamunids dynasty left a bright mark in the history of civilization. The Mamunids era was a period of economic prosperity and the rise of trade relations between Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The article reflects the economic sphere of Khorezm under the rule of the state of the Khorezmshahs of the Mamunids.
The article analyses how women recorded their thoughts and feelings in diaries, what themes and motives prevail in their records. The author examines the differences in the experiences and reactions of women from different cultures and peoples to political changes. Studying women’s diaries helps to take a fresh look at the revolution, to see it through the eyes of the participants who remain in the shadow of the big story. These sources allow us to assess the contribution of women to the all-Russian historical process, their influence on the course of events and the formation of public opinion. Special attention is paid to the differences in the perception of the revolution by women belonging to different cultures and ethnic groups living in the country. The study of women’s diaries allows us to expand our understanding of the revolution, to see it from a female perspective. The analysis of these personal testimonies makes it possible to assess the contribution of women and their influence on shaping public opinion. A comparative analysis allows us to identify common and special features in their reaction to the political changes of the state.
The article examines the United States’ assessment of the preparation, conclusion and consequences of the Soviet-German treaty of August 23, 1939. The reaction of the American leadership to the rapprochement of the Soviet and German regimes in the summer of 1939, the impact of this on international relations, the development of the Polish crisis and the beginning of World War II are analysed. In addition, attention is paid to the reaction of the American press to these processes. Conclusions were drawn about the mainly confrontational assessments of the actions of the USSR in the summer of 1939, as aimed at deepening the European conflict.
The author of the paper analyses the brigade contract as a tool of the economic experiment in the USSR in 1984 aimed at stimulating labour productivity in the context of the systemic crisis of the planned economy. Based on documentary sources and statistics, it is shown that the introduction of collective forms of labour organization contributed to an increase in the efficiency of industrial production as well as differentiation between managers and workers. The reform faced institutional barriers: resistance from the administration, a weak regulatory framework, and limited motivation from labour collectives. The author emphasizes that the experience of 1984 demonstrates the contradictory consequences of attempts to modernize the Soviet economic model combining short-term achievements with worsening social tensions. The work actualizes the discussion about the “missed chances” of Soviet management and the importance of historical experience for modern research on alternative forms of labour organization.
The paper presents the assessments given by the leaders and ordinary employees of the Russian counterintelligence in Chechnya in 1994-1996. Using the memoirs by S.V. Stepashin and E.V. Savostyanov as well as some FSB Special Forces officers, the article analyses the activities of the Russian special services in the fight against separatism in the Chechen Republic at that time, from helping opposition forces in the summer of 1994 to participating in the defence of Grozny from militants in August 1996. The conclusion is made about the predominance of the heroic narrative in these sources.
Kuritsyn A.I. The black Hundreds movement study in Russian historical science in the 1990-2000s
The paper examines the Russian historiography of the Black Hundred movement at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Particular importance is given to key studies that determined its development during the period under review. The author emphasises close attention of Russian researchers to a number of problems including regional characteristics of extreme right-wing parties and organizations, their numbers and composition, and internal contradictions.
POLITOLOGY and LAW
Pham Minh Son. On the organizational apparatus reform of Vietnam’s political system
In recent years administrative reform in Vietnam has achieved many outstanding results, becoming an important driving force for socio-economic development. These achievements have not only contributed to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the state administrative apparatus at both central and local levels, but also helped to strengthen Vietnam’s position and its international competitiveness. The paper proposes the essential criteria for the process of reforming the state apparatus and identifies key tasks that need to be carried out in the upcoming period.
The paper analyses the state and evaluates the effectiveness of the Komi Republic civil society institutions functioning. The paper critically examines the information presented in the reports of the Komi Republic Public Chamber. Problematic aspects in the work of the regional civil society institutions that hinder the full implementation of civil society functions in the republic are identified and systematized. The author comes to the conclusion that there are a number of problems in the activities of regional civil society institutions, in particular, the third sector. These problems are not mentioned in analytical documents, such as the Reports of the Public Chamber of the Komi Republic. This prevents the authorities from objectively assessing the activities of public institutions.
Ibraimova E.S. Problems of order proceedings in civil proceedings
The paper examines the main provisions concerning the order procedure in civil proceedings. The author examines the significance and goals of order proceedings in the modern judicial system. The meaning and purposes of the order procedure in the modern judicial system are examined. The essence of the judicial act issued for this type of proceedings is considered, and also is studied its definition enshrined in law. The position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is studied. Some current problems existing in this area, their analysis and ways to solve them are proposed. The problems include the insufficient regulation of this type of proceedings by law, the waste of time on correcting errors and typos in the court order, failure to meet the deadlines for sending a copy of the order to the debtor and for the debtor to submit objections, improper notification of the parties, the debtor being aware of the initiation of the order proceedings only after the court order has been issued against him, etc. A conclusion has been made about the most important solution to the problems existing in this area, improving the legislation of the Russian Federation in terms of order proceedings, since some aspects of the topic under consideration are not regulated by law, certain problems arise in practice and some provisions in the civil procedural legislation are completely absent.
THEOLOGY
Pulkin M.V. Naked supernatural beings: from mythology to the Christian faith
The paper discusses the specific features of naked supernatural creatures. It was revealed that characters of this kind are presented in mythology of the peoples on all continents. To prove their existence believers can find an extremely wide range of typical interpretations in their minds. The most ancient naked creatures are often associated with war, heroism, courage, and self-sacrifice. Most often these creatures to one degree or another choose a water element to the place of their habitat, which largely rationally explains their need to be naked. Christianized images of supernatural creatures have gained dualistic significance. On the one hand in front of random viewers the devil appears naked, ugly or extremely seductive. On the other hand nudity is comprehended as a symbol of otherworldly, absolute devotion to God, manifests itself in incorporeal images of angels.
Yusov I.E. The Pokrov’s theme in Russian science: preliminary results
The paper analyses a set of problems related to the existence of the Pokrov Mother of God’s theme in the Ancient Russian history and the history of Russia in Modern period. The author describes the diverse cultural and artistic parallels as well as characterizes the stages of studying this problem in Russian science. Special attention is paid to the formation of the canon liturgical text.
Khroul V. Addressing COVID-19 “Ex catedra”: how religions in Russia and Belarus faced the pandemics
The paper examines the strategies employed by religious institutions in Russia and Belarus during the on-going pandemic, analysing their arguments in official discourse and interactions with the governments. The results of the research indicate that, despite the stark contrast in governmental strategies for combating the pandemic (Russia’s approach being markedly stringent, while Belarus’ has been markedly lenient) shows how religions have called for compliance with government directives and have opposed conspiracy theories and dissident anti-vaccination activist movements. Minority religions also followed this approach. The necessity to conduct services online has provided a significant stimulus for the utilization of new digital technologies in predominantly conservative religious practices in both countries. The study revealed that the official documents under examination exhibited a clear predominance of theological elements over rational scientific elements in their argumentation. This finding highlights the inherent difficulties in the mediatisation of the Russian Orthodox Church narrative for the general public, which were already apparent but have become more pronounced during the pandemic.
PHILOLOGY
This article presents a comparative analysis of rainbow symbolism in the paremiological fund of the Russian and Chuvash languages. The rainbow is considered as an iconic natural phenomenon representing transcendental, ethical and sacred meanings. The research is carried out in line with cognitive semantics and lingua-culturology using ethno-linguistic data. It has been established that in both linguistic cultures, the rainbow acts as a sign of a boundary between worlds, a sign of divine warning as well as an axiological marker of conditions necessary to achieve harmony. Despite independent formation of the rainbow image, there are typological coincidences in mythological interpretations and cognitive schemes.
The article studies the speech portrait and analyses the communication strategies of Olga Buzova in various media formats. In the context of global digitalization and mediatisation of all spheres of social life, there is a need for comprehensive study of speech behaviour of public figures who have significant impact on mass audiences. The phenomenon of media personality acquires special significance in this context, since public figures become not only translators of communicative models but also active participants in formation of new speech practices which influence linguistic and cultural processes in society. Modern media discourse is characterised by fundamentally new forms of communication, integration of verbal and non-verbal components, mixture of institutional and personal aspects. This requires the development of comprehensive methodological approaches to its study.
The paper examines the language of literary works of detective writer Agatha Christie, paying special attention to some interesting words, concepts and expressions found in her works. The article reveals the relationship between Miss Jane Marple’s anecdote about a frog and a clock from the novel “The Body in the Library” and the English term of the 17th century, clarifies individual details of the past of expressions a “flea in the ear”, “the thumb mark of St. Peter”, “hundreds and thousands”, “poison dissolved in sugar”, “breakfast with the Borgias”, “spinach and gammon”, “secret adversary”, “finest Italian hand”, “Hastings”, “unofficial wife”. A connection is found between the story of hundreds and thousands and the way the victim was poisoned in the story “The Tuesday Night Club”. Intrigued by the name of the pie, “Delicious Death”, from the novel “A murder is announced”, the author of the paper comes to the conclusion that it could have been borrowed from Handel’s opera “Acis and Galatea”.
PHILOSOPHY
Gerashchenko I.G. V.S. Solovyov’s theory of all-singularity and the problem of modern globalism
V.S. Solovyov’s philosophical concept is based on his theory of universalism. From the position of Christian universalism the philosopher solves the problem of the correlation between the national-state and the universal, which is a distinctive globalist approach. At present, there are still active debates about the correlation between the national and the universal, the multipolar world and the unified one. V.S. Solovyov’s position turns out to be very relevant when addressing the issue of spiritual unity of people. The paper shows the continuity of the universalism theory and German classical idealism and at the same time the originality of the Russian thinker’s position.
The article examines the function of the mask in Boris Pasternak’s poetry as a semiotic construct combining protective and expressive roles. In Pasternak’s works the mask does not conceal but reveals the true self becoming a form of existential honesty amid historical crisis. The analysis explores the connection between masking, corporeality, illness and the political context of the 1920s. Pasternak’s mask is interpreted as a strategy of resistance to discourses through irony and theatricality. The study shows how the poet redefines traditional notions of the mask, making it a central element of his poetics.