The Media Mirror – Weekend's Russian press review

Apart from the issue of the Russian aviation industry in connection with the MAKS air show taking place these days near Moscow, Russian newspapers discuss the topic of topless presidents and ‘perfect bitches’.

As usual, ITOGI magazine announces its picture of the week. It is the one shot by a Novosti news agency photographer. The unique photograph of the ‘Fishing President’, bare to the waist, has been in every newspaper. IZVESTIA NEDELIA weekly shows that topless presidents do appear occasionally on magazine pages, for example, two Presidents of the United States – one past and one future – appeared in beach attire.

The MAKS 2007 air show is the cover story of PROFILE this week, or, rather, the Russian aviation industry is. The publication says the industry was barely alive several years ago. It had a variety of new aircraft designs ranging from good to genius-inspired, but had no means to go beyond experimental units. The magazine writes the consolidation of the industry into the United Aircraft-building Corporation could be the remedy. That’s what is happening now. Of the importance and the possible outcome of this work PROFILE Editor-In-Chief Mikhail Leontiev says in his column:

“It depends on us alone what we will see today at the air show: the future of our aviation industry, or its past”.

The daily VREMYA NOVOSTEI publishes an interview with the Russian member of the Troyka on Kosovo, Ambassador Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko. He says the media has misrepresented the ideas expressed by his colleague, EU Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger:

“His emphasis was not on the idea of dividing Kosovo, but on the fact that the Troyka is going to accept any decision acceptable for the two sides of the conflict.”

OGONYOK magazine has an article by successful novelist, essayist, TV and radio host Dmitry Bykov. He writes of the Great War of the Genders, a conflict on a sharp rise here in Russia. Young stunningly beautiful or simply charming female TV hosts and actresses publish books under titles like ‘How to teach yourself to be a perfect bitch’, and the books become bestsellers.

Women start acting accordingly – at least in Moscow. It seems, Mr Bykov writes, that a whole generation of Russian females maintains relationships with men only in pursuit of big money and opportunities to humiliate them. He asks is there a brave man in this country that would take the challenge and teach his fellows how to tame that ‘perfect bitch’? No, he answers his own questions. A Russian man is too much of a gentleman to do that.