{"id":12989,"date":"2026-01-04T12:36:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=12989"},"modified":"2026-01-04T12:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T12:36:39","slug":"faithful-ruslan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/01\/04\/faithful-ruslan\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udcda Faithful Ruslan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='e-content'><span hidden class=\"__iawmlf-post-loop-links\" data-iawmlf-links=\"[{&quot;id&quot;:123,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/mhpbooks.com\\\/books\\\/faithful-ruslan&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20231120031641\\\/https:\\\/\\\/mhpbooks.com\\\/books\\\/faithful-ruslan\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-03 18:58:24&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-06 21:14:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-10 00:24:13&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-14 18:43:26&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-19 22:04:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22 22:06:54&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-26 00:53:42&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-01 23:22:36&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-05 04:09:59&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-08 09:54:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-14 09:12:16&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 12:56:32&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-20 13:48:57&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-23 18:51:01&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-26 23:36:10&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 12:14:51&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-05 18:14:38&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-12 17:21:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-19 00:10:28&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-25 21:48:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-29 13:59:26&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-03 12:53:27&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-06 14:44:14&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-10 07:17:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-13 20:42:21&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-17 10:02:02&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-20 23:41:17&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-24 01:53:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-28 06:29:00&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-02 20:29:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-06 11:16:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-11 09:02:19&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:403},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 15:48:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 15:48:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:124,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Michael_Glenny&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20251112081239\\\/https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Michael_Glenny&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-03 18:58:25&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-06 21:14:55&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-11 11:08:03&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-15 16:19:38&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-19 22:04:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22 22:06:54&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-26 00:53:42&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-01 23:22:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-06 02:14:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-09 19:46:53&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-15 17:20:21&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-18 19:51:47&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-22 13:58:12&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 03:32:22&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02 09:37:45&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-05 18:14:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-14 12:15:31&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-27 08:18:01&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-04 13:36:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-08 10:50:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-13 20:42:20&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-21 15:03:13&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-25 08:42:08&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:429},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-02 20:29:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-06 11:16:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-13 18:31:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-13 18:31:56&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]\"><\/span>\n<p>Finished reading <em><a href=\"https:\/\/mhpbooks.com\/books\/faithful-ruslan\" title=\"Melville House: Faithful Ruslan by Georgi Vladimov\">Faithful Ruslan<\/a><\/em> by Georgi Vladimov. Published in 1975 in West Germany, it is the story of the closure of a Soviet prison camp in the late 1950s, told from the perspective of one of the camp\u2019s guard dogs. The foreword to the first English edition, written by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Michael_Glenny\" title=\"Wikipedia: Michael Glenny\">Michael Glenny<\/a>, gives just the right amount of context. I went back and re-read the foreword after finishing the book in order to understand the events and characters a little better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of World War II, Stalin imprisoned all returning Soviet prisoners of war as well as civilians who had been deported to work in Germany during the war. Most hadn\u2019t committed any crimes. In the year after the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in 1956, \u201can estimated eight million prisoners were released from the camps, and about six million who had perished there were \u2018posthumously rehabilitated.\u2019\u201d The camps were brutal; Glenny says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Soviet prison regulations stated that at temperatures below \u221240 \u00b0C prisoners could not be made to do outdoor work, but this rule was not always observed by prison-camp commandants.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the book doesn\u2019t focus much on the experience of the prisoners beyond the picture you create in your mind through the eyes of the dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>The closure of the camp is confusing to Ruslan and his colleagues, animals who had spent their whole lives in the service of the Soviet guards. The story follows his life after the camp lets the dogs go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s an excellent novella and you really feel that you are inside Ruslan\u2019s head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1100\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage.png\" class=\"wp-image-12988\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage.png 1100w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DraggedImage-700x393.png 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/01\/04\/faithful-ruslan\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to \ud83d\udcda Faithful Ruslan\"><div class='e-content p-summary'>Finished reading Faithful Ruslan by Georgi Vladimov. Published in 1975 in West Germany, it is the story of the closure of a Soviet prison camp in the late 1950s, told from the perspective of one of the camp\u2019s guard dogs. The foreword to the first English edition, written by Michael Glenny, gives just the right [&hellip;]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-books","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10503,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/10\/29\/weeknotes-243-berlin\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":0},"title":"Weeknotes #243 \u2014 Berlin","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"29 October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This week\u2019s umlaut forecast: SIGNIFICANT. A really busy week, which culminated in a trip to Berlin with my two brothers and my dad as our gift to him in celebration of his 70th birthday. After last year\u2019s big family holiday, we figured that the best present would be to spend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-29-10-2023-19-10.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-29-10-2023-19-10.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-29-10-2023-19-10.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Image-29-10-2023-19-10.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7493,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/07\/11\/7493\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":1},"title":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading A Russian\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"11 July 2021","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck. A small, interesting snapshot of parts of the Soviet Union a couple of years after the end of World War II. I'm not sure how valuable this trip was to a broader understanding in the west, but it's a worthwhile piece.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Snippets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10598,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/12\/11\/10598\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":2},"title":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading Blitzed: Drugs\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"11 December 2023","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler. This book doesn\u2019t mess around with any preamble, but dives straight into its subject matter. The first half of the book covers the increasing and then widespread use of drugs across Germany in the lead-up to World War II.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Snippets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1ADDD922-E65E-4D63-8EFA-EC729384C9A6.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1ADDD922-E65E-4D63-8EFA-EC729384C9A6.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1ADDD922-E65E-4D63-8EFA-EC729384C9A6.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1ADDD922-E65E-4D63-8EFA-EC729384C9A6.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1ADDD922-E65E-4D63-8EFA-EC729384C9A6.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9930,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/02\/16\/9930\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":3},"title":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading The Pianist\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"16 February 2023","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83d\udcda Finished reading The Pianist by W\u0142adys\u0142aw Szpilman. An incredible memoir of a Jewish man who somehow survives years in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War 2. I saw the film years ago; his encounter with Wilm Hosenfeld, a merciful German soldier who keeps him alive through his kindness, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Snippets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11045,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/09\/how-civil-wars-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":4},"title":"\ud83d\udcda How Civil Wars Start","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"9 August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Finished reading How Civil Wars Start by Barbara F. Walter. I picked this up from Heather Burns\u2019 2023 \u2018get ready for the coming US election\u2019 reading list. The title is perfect, as the book is literally a narrative that explains the research into the conditions that can typically lead to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"From the Center for Systemic Peace\u2019s Polity Project","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Image-06-08-2024-07-30.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12983,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/12\/30\/weeknotes-357-we-whitchurch-you-a-merry-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":12989,"position":5},"title":"Weeknotes #357 \u2014 We Whitchurch You a Merry Christmas","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"30 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As it always does, Christmas week came and went so quickly. We started it with everyone in the house under the weather in one form or another, recovering from either illness or injury. I was feeling a profound tiredness in my bones. I definitely need the next two weeks off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Whitchurch Clock Tower","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DraggedImage-8-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12990,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989\/revisions\/12990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}