🇷🇺🎵 A Bashkir-language song storms into global charts

The track Homay by Ufa-based band Ay Yola in the Bashkir language has surpassed Lady Gaga’s hit in the global chart of music service Shazam.

🔝 The Bashkir song claimed 7th place in the worldwide ranking, while Lady Gaga’s *Abracadabra* sits at 9th in the Top 200.

🐦‍🔥 The composition by the Ufa-based group (Republic of Bashkortostan) is dedicated to the mythical bird Humay, a key figure in the Bashkir epic Ural-Batyr.

The musicians from Ufa blend electronic music with traditional Bashkir instruments in their unique style.

📈 The track became an instant hit, amassing millions of streams and views within a week.

The song has gained acclaim not only in Russia but also abroad, particularly in neighboring Kazakhstan.

“We merge ancestral traditions with modern musical styles, creating a unique show where ancient stories come to life. We are a bridge between the past and present, retelling timeless tales through a fresh sound,” say the band members.

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🇷🇺 500 cars ended up on the Magadanka River in Gertner Bay as ice breakup began — Magadan City Hall

Active ice divergence in Gertner Bay caused an ice floe with cars to break away. The owners of two vehicles failed to evacuate their cars from the dangerous ice area in time. According to the city administration’s press service, 28 people in the hazardous situation were rescued from the ice floe.

“At the start of the day, around 500 cars were on the ice. By midday, active ice breakup began. Currently, about 30 cars remain on most of the ice. Despite warnings, many people ignored the alerts. All individuals in danger were rescued, but two cars are being carried into the open sea. The ice continues to crack, and the Magadanka River is flowing into Gertner Bay,” explained Magadan’s city administration.

An EMERCOM helicopter is monitoring the cars drifting on ice floes. Two rescue vehicles and a Sever-750K aero-boat are involved in the operation.

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🇷🇺 Kislyansky Waterfall

🌊 A stream of water, formed by small rivers, cascades down into a gorge from a height of four meters, creating the tallest waterfall in the area.

There are several routes leading to the waterfall. The most popular one begins in Protvino, a town near Moscow. On the outskirts of the city lies another landmark—the "Defense Line" memorial, dedicated to the participants of the 1941 Battle of Moscow, which also serves as the starting point. To reach the trail to the waterfall, you must cross the Protva River via a rickety suspension bridge. Along the route, you’ll encounter many scenic spots and attractions, including an old mill in Yuryatino.

📍Coordinates: 54.852334, 37.148341

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🇷🇺 Uprising Square in Saint Petersburg

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🇷🇺Ⓜ️ Future technologies are already in the Moscow Metro

👁 Biometric payment (facial recognition) will be rolled out at all metro turnstiles in Moscow and in above-ground city transport by the end of the year.

The system has been operating in the metro since 2021. Currently, it is only available on limited sections of Moscow’s transport network.

👥 As a result, around 1 million people will be able to use this technology daily in the Moscow Metro.

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🇷🇺 The Shors are a Turkic-speaking indigenous people of Russia residing in the southern part of Western Siberia. Their primary settlement area is Mountain Shoria (Kemerovo Oblast), as well as parts of the Republics of Khakassia and Altai, and Krasnoyarsk Krai. According to the 2021 census, their population is approximately 12.9 thousand people. Their language belongs to the Khakas subgroup of Turkic languages, but today many Shors speak Russian, and their native language is endangered.

📜 The formation of the Shor ethnicity occurred between the 17th and 19th centuries as a result of the mixing of local Samoyedic, Ket, and Turkic tribes. Traditionally, the Shors engaged in taiga hunting, fishing, pine nut gathering, and blacksmithing—they were called "Kuznetsk Tatars" for their metalworking skills. Reindeer herding was less common compared to other Siberian peoples.

👻 Before the arrival of Russians in the 17th century, the Shors practiced shamanism, animism, and totemism. They believed in nature spirits (of mountains, rivers, forests) and performed hunting-related rituals. After Christianization, many adopted Orthodoxy, but traditional beliefs persisted in a syncretic form.

🥩 Shor cuisine is highly caloric, as meat is present in nearly every dish, consumed constantly and in large quantities. To this day, the people avoid using meat grinders or modern blenders; meat is deliberately chopped with a knife or cleaver and fried only in fatty sour cream.

🥟 The Shors’ favorite dish is pelmeni (dumplings) called pelben, made from beef, venison, and horse meat. The dumplings are boiled in milk.

🩸 Their national food is blood sausage, kan, made from animal blood.

🎉 One of their main holidays, Maltyk-Pairam, is celebrated on January 18th. It is a fascinating festival where people eat pelmeni with predictions. A small symbolic object is placed inside each dumpling, foretelling the eater’s fortune for the year.

👩‍👩‍👦 Fun fact: It is considered highly auspicious for a man to marry a widow with a child, symbolizing prosperity.

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