Aleksandar Mitic
The brutal murder of two Serb young men and the wounding of two others on 27 August in southern Kosovo has highlighted the lack of progress in decentralizing the province, a process seen by Kosovo Serbs as key for their survival in the Albanian-dominated province.
Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Russia
One past unites us, and we must be worthy of the selfless exploits of our fathers and grandfathers in the years of the war. We must not forget what the cost of our Great Victory was, and that we won it fighting shoulder to shoulder, so that our children and grandchildren lived in peace and friendship.
Svetlana Khorkina
Rating: 10|Votes: 3
The heroic achievement of the navigator Albanov who crossed the distance of approximately 420 km, walking on drifting ice to Franz-Josef land, added a glorious page to the history of Russian polar research. This journey had a great scientific significance, and the story itself was well covered in specialized and popular scientific literature of the Soviet period. A famous Russian writer Veniamin Kaverin created the character of navigator Klimov in his novel «Two Captains» with Albanov as his prototype. However the heroic exploits of the navigator is not only the result of his personal courage, but also another evidence of St. Nicholas’ help to «those at sea and travelling».
Hegumen Josaf (Peretiatko)
Rating: 10|Votes: 1
Igumen Josaf (Peretiatko), a monk of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Kiev, spent seven months in the military conflict region in Iraq. In January 2005 Father Josaf took part in the 13th International Project of Christmas Educational Readings in Moscow and courteously agreed to meet our correspondent.
According to INTERFAX Agency, 407 people have been killed in Moscow in the past several years as a result of terrorist acts. The tragedy in Beslan took away between 338 and 450 lives, including children’s, casualties in Northern Osetia total 1221 people. Not to mention the number of lives wrecked by the tragedies , tears shed and hopes lost. One cannot measure all the pain in the souls of those who have lost their family and friends forever. Witnessing the events and meeting the participants we often hear: ‘Why?’ or ‘What did my nine-year-old do to deserve it? Why did I have to collect her body in pieces after the explosion of the metro car? I have never been interested in dirty political games, black market or oil wars. I love my job. I worshipped my wife and daughter who I have lost…Why?’