This cheerful Russian childrens' book about the lands of the former Soviet Union has this informative box:

This cheerful Russian childrens' book about the lands of the former Soviet Union has this informative box:

How did Auntie Gelya become a refugee?

Because of the most horrible reason -- war. In war, it's not just soldiers who die, but peaceful civilians too, from hunger, disease, bullets and shells.

Right now there's a war in Ukraine, so Auntie Gelya lives with us. Auntie Gelya is an involuntary refugee. But we hope that the war ends soon and that we will be able to just visit one another as before.

There were several such "How did Auntie/Uncle XXX become a refugee?" boxes for other lands.

Two men are standing in a long, long vodka line prompted by the limited supply.

Two men are standing in a long, long vodka line prompted by the limited supply. One asks the other to keep his place in line, because he wants to go over the Kremlin to punch Gorbachev in the face for his anti-alcohol policy. He comes back many hours later and his friend asks him if he had indeed punched Gorbachev. “No,” the man answered despondently. “The line at the Kremlin was even longer.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/world/europe/mikhail-gorbachev-interview-vladimir-putin.html