28th September 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
My latest trip in the North West Federal District of Russia took me to Solovetsky Island, or Solovky Island, which is located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea. The main Solovetsky Island is part of an archipelago of six islands. This is a beautiful, remote, some say spiritual place, with a rich history […]
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16th September 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
31 August 2016 marked the 75th anniversary of the first of what would become known as the Arctic Convoys, which delivered essential supplies to the Soviet Union during World War Two. The first convoy, codenamed ‘Dervish’, left Liverpool on 12 August 1941 and finally arrived in Arkhangelsk in north west Russia on 31 August. ‘Dervish’ […]
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18th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Russia celebrated Victory Day on 9 May. Commemorative events took place across the country. In St Petersburg, I joined the Governor and thousands of St Petersburg residents to lay flowers at Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, where half a million of the victims of the Leningrad Siege are buried. The following day I was in Murmansk, another […]
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4th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
My latest regional visit took me outside of the North West Federal District to the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a 2.5 hour flight from St Petersburg. I had always wanted to visit Rostov-on-Don, a city that is twinned with my home city of Glasgow in Scotland. I was delighted therefore when I was asked […]
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14th April 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
My latest regional visit in the North West Federal District of Russia took me to the city of Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia. Petrozavodsk is 430 km north of St Petersburg. There is a good train connection between the cities. The Republic of Karelia is a beautiful part of Russia, full of forests, lakes […]
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30th March 2016
Introduction by Keith Allan, HM Consul General St Petersburg I was delighted to invite Arkady Gutnikov, Director of the St Petersburg Institute of Law, to share his impressions of a study visit to the UK by a group of Russian lawyers, organised by a newly established London-based charity, Citizens’ Watch International. In this blog, Arkady […]
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2nd March 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Russia has many great educational institutions and the North West Federal District is home to a number of these. I was fortunate enough to visit two in St Petersburg and one in Kaliningrad in the past few weeks. All three were impressive and keen to develop links with the UK. I was struck by the […]
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4th February 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was delighted to accompany the new British Ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, to an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Anglo-Russian Hospital in St Petersburg on 30 January. The fascinating story of the hospital is another fine example of the importance of people to people contacts between British and Russian people during the […]
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25th January 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was delighted to host our annual Burns Supper at the consulate in St Petersburg on 23 January. It was a truly international evening with guests from Russia, the USA, Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand joining us to celebrate the birthday of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns. We enjoyed eating haggis, Scottish dancing and […]
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23rd December 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Russian Polar Convoy Club of St Petersburg celebrated its 20th anniversary on 19 December. We were delighted that five British veterans of the Arctic Convoys, all in their 90s, travelled from the UK and US (two emigrated after WWII) to participate in anniversary events. A packed three day programme included wreath laying at Piskariovskoye […]
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