Merry Orthodox Christmas!

January 6, 2009. Tonight as the first star appears in the sky, Ukrainian families will gather to celebrate Christmas Eve. The Christmas Eve Supper is steeped in tradition and features a humble and reverent 12-dish meal in honour of the twelve apostles spreading food for the soul throughout the world. The dishes contain no meat or dairy products to show respect for the animals that shared their place of shelter and were present for the birth of Christ.

The Christmas Eve Supper begins with the oldest member of the family offering guests a piece of bread dipped in honey as a sign of plenty and family unity. The supper continues with courses introduced one by one starting with kutya, which is cooked wheat sweetened with honey and dressed with poppy seeds symbolizing prosperity, peace and good health, and concluding with dessert featuring "uzvar" - a compote of stewed fruit. Ukrainian Christmas carols ("koliadky") are a part of the rich Ukrainian oral tradition and through them one can trace the Ukrainian historical experience to antiquity.
Khrystos rodyvsia! (Christ is born!) "Slavite Yoho!" (Let Us Glorify Him!) - Merry Christmas!

http://www.ucc.ca/index.htm

Vägen till Poltava - slaget vid Lesnaja 1708

Pavel Konovaltjuk och Einar Lyth är två militärhistoriker som efter sju års forskning har skrivit boken "Vägen till Poltava - slaget vid Lesnaja 1708". "Vägen till Poltava" är resultatet av en källkritisk forskning av högsta klass. Författarna har också utnyttjat tidigare outforskat material, ock slutsaster och analyser är nyanserade och innehåller inga övertolkningar. Boken är illustrerad med samtida bildmateriel tillsammans med nya teckningar av Alf Lannerbäck och kartor av Samuel Svärd.

Nerikes Allehanda 5 Jan 2010

Two portraits of the Swedish King Charles XII

The first Poltava Battle Museum was officially opened on June 26th 1909. After the Revolution of 1917, the Poltava Battle Museum, as so many other historical sights, was left unattended. As a result, thieves broke into the museum several times and stole items from the exhibits. To prevent further looting, in 1921 all of the remaining exhibits were transferred to the city’s Regional Museum and the Poltava Battle Museum was closed. After World War II the Council of Ministers of the USSR resolved to resurrect the Poltava Battle Museum. In 1950 the second Poltava Battle Museum was opened in a late 19th century building that had been used as a hospital for disabled veterans of Russian-Turkish war. On the picture you can see Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko standing before the ugliest portrait of the Swedish King Charles XII ever painted. This portrait was transferred to Poltava regional museum from looted first museum of the Battle of Poltava. A few years ago SMB has donated a high quality copy of the Charles XII’s portrait from Gripsholm Art Gallery to the museum.
Learn more about Poltava Batlle Museum at

http://www.battle.poltava.ua/svensk/museum.htm

Soviet fighter MiG-3 in second life

The Aviarestoration company of Novosibirsk has reconstructed a MiG-3 from parts of many recovered wreckages; the work was commissioned by the Russian firm Rusavia. That MiG-3 was found near Kandalaksha, Murmansk region in 2000. It kept safe a center-section, a chassis and some metallic fragments of tail. The second MiG-3, whose parts are used in reconstruction, was found in Loukhi region, Karelia in 2001. Morover, there are parts of four airplanes, which were found in various times. Most of equipment is original, including the engine Mikulin AM-38 that is under recovering too; this is not the original AM-35A engine of MiG-3, but it is extremely similar in shape and size, and its installation on a MiG-3 was already experienced in 1941. The airframe has about 40% of its original parts. A new book has been published by "Rusavia" in 2003: "MiG-3 Fighter" by A. Medved, D. Khazanov, M. Maslov. (ISBN 5-900078-24-8). Basically, the book (see photo) is dedicated to combat usage of the aircraft and contains a lot of beautiful photos; it has a part dedicated to this restoration work too. At the photo above you can see MiG-3 on MAKS 2007 International Aviation and Space Salon.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1. It replaced the MiG-1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941. On 22 June 1941, at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, some 981 were in service with the Soviet Air Force, Anti-Air Defense, and Naval Aviation. The MiG-3 had been designed for high-altitude combat. It was also pressed into service as a fighter-bomber during the autumn of 1941, but it was unsuited for this role.
General characteristics
· Crew: One
· Length: 8.25 m
· Wingspan: 10.20 m
· Height: 3.30 m
· Loaded weight: 3,355 kg (7,415 lb)
· Powerplant: 1× Mikulin AM-35A liquid-cooled V-12, 993 kW
Performance
· Maximum speed: 640 km/h
· Combat range: 820 km
· Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,400 ft)
Armament
· 1 × 12.7 mm UBS machine gun
· 2 × 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns.
· 2 × 100 kg bombs

An English flintlock blunderbuss in Poltava Battle museum.

The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle, and used with shot. The blunderbuss is an early form of shotgun adapted to military and defensive use.
The blunderbuss was an early form of shotgun, and served in similar roles. While various ancient accounts often list the blunderbuss as being loaded with various scrap iron or rocks, this would result in damage to the bore of the gun; it was typically loaded with a number of lead balls smaller than the bore diameter. Barrels could be made of steel or brass. The muzzle was flared not to increase the spread of the shot, but rather to funnel powder and shot into the weapon, making it easier to reload on horseback or on a moving carriage. The flared muzzle is the defining feature of the blunderbuss, differentiating it from large caliber carbines; the distinction between the blunderbuss and the musketoon is less distinct, as musketoons were also used with shot, and some had flared barrels. Blunderbusses were typically very short, with barrels under two feet (60 cm) in length, at a time when a typical musket barrel was over three feet (90 cm) long. The blunderbuss was typically issued to troops such as cavalry, who needed a lightweight, easily handled firearm. An English flintlock blunderbuss shown in the picture is preserving in Poltava Battle museum.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko: Demarcation of border with Russia to start in 2010

December 31 2009 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko said in his final press conference in 2009 that the demarcation of the land and sea border with Russia may start in 2010, UNIAN reports. In particular, Ukrainian proposals on border demarcation will be positively accepted by the Russians, and the commission may get down to demarcate the Kerch Strait, once a knotty issue, allowing Russia unimpeded access to the waterway. Ukraine FM officials confirmed. In a related move, the Belarus parliament will soon ratify an agreement with Ukraine on border demarcation, Poroshenko reminded.

Gazprom: Ukraine contract to avert New Year gas war

MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom does not expect a New Year gas war with Ukraine after signing a 10-year contract to regulate supplies, the company's chief spokesman said on Thursday.
"We have signed, in our opinion, a good contract with Naftogaz Ukraine. Therefore we can mark this New Year at home," Sergei Kupriyanov (Gazprom spokesman) said during a live broadcast on Ekho Moskvy radio station. Kupriyanov said the risk of fines on Ukraine for low gas consumption in 2010 were close to zero. He also said Gazprom had suspended lawsuits against Ukraine's state firm Naftogaz in a Stockholm court related to the January 2009 gas crisis.