Saturday, July 24, 2010

Those Sentimental Russians

Remember the ten Russian intelligence agents the United States deported a couple weeks ago? Now we know what happened to them after they arrived back home.

According to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency, they were forced to sing songs with Vladimir Putin:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he had met with Russian spies deported from the United States following Russia-U.S. spy scandal and sang patriotic songs with them.

"I met with them," Putin said, answering the journalists' questions whether he met with 10 Russian spies deported from the United States after Russian-U.S. spy scandal.

Ten people were arrested by U.S. law enforcement on June 29 on suspicion of being part of an espionage ring.

After the spy swap deal they were deported from the United States.

Putin, as a former KGB officer, said he had talked for life with the spies.

The premier said they sang songs accompanied by the live music. Among the others, they sang a famous patriotic Russian song "What Motherland starts from".

Commenting on the spies' future, Putin said "they will work".

"I am sure they will work in the decent places, I am sure they will have interesting and bright life," Putin said.


Of course, I had to find out about that song. You can download it here, at a site that describes it as a song about a homesick Soviet secret agent in Germany during World War II.

Here's a video:



And here is a - rough - Google language tools translation of the lyrics:

Getting started Motherland?
With pictures in your primer,
With a good and faithful friends,
Living in a neighboring yard,

Maybe it begins
With the songs that we sang mother
With that in any trials
We have no one to take away.

Getting started Homeland ...
With cherished the bench at the gate,
From the very birches that in the field
By bending the wind is rising.

Maybe it begins
With spring zapevki starling
And this dirt road,
Makes no end in sight.

Getting started Homeland ...
With the burning windows in the distance,
With the old paternal ,
What's where - that in the closet, we found Budyenny helmets

Maybe it begins
With a knock of wheels,
And with the oath, which in his youth
Do it in your heart brought.

Getting started Homeland ...


I have a tear in my eye right now, and I'm wondering whether I have any vodka in the house.

5 comments:

The Snake's Mommy said...

Vodka is not going to solve your problems. Do you have caviar on ice?
I'm baffled by how these folks actually knew the words if they weren't prepped by aides beforehand. Thank you for sharing the spectacular video and the lyrics.

Anonymous said...

"they were forced to sing songs with..."

rofl

May I ask who forced you to write bullshit? ^.^

TSB said...

Anonymous,

You have to read between the lines when dealing with these Russian secret police types. Anyway, have you seen Putin? Does he strike you as anybody's drinking buddy? I know I wouldn't willingly sing weepy movie theme songs with him.

By the way, it turns out the song I linked to is from a 1968 movie - The Sword and the Shield - and, according to Putin's autobiography, it was seeing that movie as a teenager that inspired him to become a Chekist. (See: http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/14/reviews/000514.14gwertzt.html) He probably sings it in the shower, or hums it when feeling nostalgic for the good old days of purging Trotskyists or whatever.

To answer your question, nobody forces me to write anything, or to not write anything. Here in America we have freedom of speech, UNLIKE in Putin's Russia.

Who purged you of a sense of humor?

Ando said...

Maybe Anonymous is posting from Russia...he or she would probably not like watching Salt.

TSB said...

Ando,

I hadn't thought of that, but you might be right. I checked and found that I did have a visitor from Russia yesterday, so maybe.

I'll have to catch Salt.