The Moscow Synodal Choir Revived After 90 Years

Aleksei Puzakov, Honoured Artist of Russia, Director of the newly revived Moscow Synodal Choir

The Moscow Synodal Choir was revived with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Russias, Honoured Artist of Russia Aleksei Puzakov, the director of the new choir, told Interfax-Religion on Monday. “Work to revive the once world-famous Moscow Synodal Choir began in the spring of 2009 with the appointment of Archbishop Hilarion as rector of the parish of the Mother of God, ‘the Joy of All Who Sorrow’”, Maestro Puzakov said. In the 1980s, Maestro Puzakov led the left choir of All Who Sorrow parish, working under the direction of the famous conductor Nikolai Matveyev. Maestro Matveyev was at the forefront of reviving the traditions of the Moscow school of church music after the loosening of the persecution of the Church; he began this revival in 1948 at the newly reopened church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow on Bolshaya Ordynka. Over the years, the choir of the church of All Who Sorrow carried out recording and issued LPs of Russian sacred music under the direction of Maestro Matveyev, which, according to Mr Puzakov, “preached the faith and were a breath of fresh air”. However, after the death of Maestro Matveyev in 1993, many of the traditions laid down by him were broken, the musical library of the choir was lost, and the chorus was much reduced, becoming just a commonplace ensemble of chamber singers.

The Moscow Synodal Choir, one of the oldest professional choruses in Russia, was founded in 1721. The basis of the Synodal choir was the collection of clerics who served as the Patriarchal choir, which emerged in the late 16^th century. Initially, the singers in the Patriarchal choir were exclusively drawn from the ranks of male clerics. Until the middle of 17^th century, singing was monophonic, and, later, the choir began to perform polyphonic scores, so, therefore, boy sopranos and contraltos joined the ensemble. With the abolition of the patriarchate in 1700, the choir became known as the “Cathedral” (соборными) choir and were attached to the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. Following the establishment of the Holy Synod in 1721, they were transferred to its authority and became known as the Moscow Synodal Choir. During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the Patriarchal choir and, later, the Synodal Choir, in terms of skill and performance was accounted as a “Muscovite” parallel to the sovereign’s chorus of clerical singers, renamed by Tsar Pyotr the Imperial Chapel Choir, which moved to St Petersburg.

Here is an example of Maestro Puzakov at the podium directing a performance of the Christmas Oratorio of Hilarion Alfeyev. The bass soloist is Yevgeni Nesterenko.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the repertoire of the choir expanded substantially through the addition of secular compositions and arrangements of Russian folk songs. Many Moscow-based composers specially composed pieces for the Synodal Choir. At one time, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky took a meaningful participation in the life of the choir. After the restoration of the patriarchate in Russia in 1917, the choir maintained its identity as the Synodal Choir, which had already become a historical name. However, after Easter in 1919, the Kremlin cathedrals were closed, the Synodal School was abolished, and the chorus ceased to exist.

Maestro Puzakov revived the traditions of Maestro Matveyev in the choir of All Who Sorrow church. He remained as director of this ensemble when he set up the choir of St Nicholas Church at the Tretyakov Gallery in 1994, as well as taking on director’s responsibilities at the church of St. Nicholas of the Three Hills in Novo Vagankovo. This brought together the creative efforts of 80 musicians. The members of the choir divide for simultaneous participation in the worship of these churches and they meet together for regular rehearsals, especially for solemn worship and concert performances.

This Sunday, the feastday of St Peter of Moscow, after a service at the Assumption Cathedral, where the combined choirs sang the responses, Patriarch Kirill blessed the revival of the historic name of the Moscow Synodal Choir based on the collective organisation headed by Maestro Puzakov. The aim of the choir will be to maintain and develop the best traditions of liturgical church music in Moscow’s cathedrals, and to promote its art amongst the broadest segments of society through work with children and youth, cooperation with government agencies, musical education, concerts, festivals, and competitions for various age groups. Its first major project is to participate in concerts with the Great Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev, to give concerts of Russian sacred music in Moscow, Istanbul, and Rome, which is intended to stress the continuity of the Christian culture of the Third Rome with that of the First.

6 January 2010

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=33628

On The Eve of Christmas, a Mob from the “Patriarchate of Kiev” Tried To Seize a Church in the Western Ukraine

Archbishop Sergei Gensitsky of Ternopol and Kremenets (1951- ), the ruling bishop of Musorovtsy. Pray that God preserve him in the face of schismatical and Uniate attacks.

______________________________

On the very eve of Christmas, for the third time, supporters of the self-proclaimed “Patriarchate of Kiev” attempted to seize Protection church in the village of Musorovtsy in Ternopol oblast. “On 3 January, a provocation occurred. A ‘priest’ of the ‘Patriarchate of Kiev’, Svyatoslav Shvets, led a mob of young nationalist thugs”, the press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC/MP) told our Interfax-Religion correspondent on Tuesday. At the end of liturgy, about 100 youths began to beat on the doors of the church with a hammer and chisel in the presence of the police and representatives of the village council. They broke open the bolt and lock on the door, but weren’t able to enter the church. The intruders tried to enter through a side door using an axe and a five-metre-long (@16 feet) wooden plank. “They beat the priest, servers, and parishioners defending the church with the plank, benches, and boards. However, the defenders beat back the attackers and miraculously protected the church”, our source told us. During the storming of the church, the marauders smashed in the windows, and they threw metal objects, wooden boards with nails, firecrackers, smoke bombs, burning rags, and the like into the building. “They also threw in homemade Molotov Cocktails and the young toughs threatened to destroy the church if they wouldn’t give up”, the UOC/MP spokesman added.

Then, an ambulance arrived, it took away the wounded parishioners, and one of the defenders of the church is still in the oblast intensive care unit. “After this bloody confrontation, the ‘priest’ of the ‘Patriarchate of Kiev’ rewarded the hooligans with bundles of money and congratulated them for their Christmas assault on the church and wished them more ‘great successes’”, our interlocutor noted. To put this situation to rights, Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan of Kiev and all the Ukraine wrote a letter of protest to President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Timoshenko. In mid-November, supporters of the so-called “Patriarchate of Kiev” made their first attempt to seize the church in the village of Musorovtsy. Two weeks later, they made a second foray, then, according to Archbishop Sergei Gensitsky of Ternopol and Kremenets, the head of the village council personally smashed the lock on the entrance door of the church with a hammer, allowing thugs to attack believers and letting partisans of the “Patriarchate of Kiev” sneak into the church. However, the two previous attempts to capture the church, just like the present one, were failures.

5 January 2010

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=33627

Editor’s Note:

Stories such as this show us that those such as Jonas Paffhausen, Chad Hatfield, Vassa Larina, Andrei Psaryov, and Hilarion Alfeyev are quislings of the worst sort. The schismatics, sectarians, and Uniates are encouraged by the disunity in our ranks. When, for instance, Vassa Larin defends Robert Taft, she condoned the beating of Fr Mikhail Shuvar by a Uniate mob. After all, the papists are our friends! The Fathers of the Holy Mountain are only fit subjects for laughter (the sound of the giggles of the SVS audience at the prompting of Mr Taft still rings in my ears)! We’re poor ignorant peasants just waiting for enlightenment from our Western betters! Excuse me whilst I hurl to clear the foul taste in my mouth. Whenever you defend the papist pretensions, a Uniate or schismatical mob attacks another one of our Orthodox brethren. If we’d kept our ranks united, perhaps, a brave defender of the Church wouldn’t be lying in the Ternopol Oblast ICU. If this brave person dies, their blood is on the hands of the temporisers. That’s what bloviating about a “religion of fear” leads to. Someone gets hurt… hurt so badly that they are in the ICU. Have they no shame? Are they not mortified at the results of their actions? I fear that they feel nothing save anger at those of us who dare to question their notional constructs. Don’t hold your breath waiting for them to show a scrap of human feeling… it’s not healthy.

BMD

 

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg Urges People to Fight Against the Evil Corrupting Society

Archbishop Vikenty Morar of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturie (1953- )

Archbishop Vikenty Morar of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturie published his Christmas message through his diocesan newspaper. In it, he urged Christians to fight the evil corrupting our society both through their words and through their actions. Vladyki Vikenty wrote that the celebration of Christmas fills every believing heart with joy. In his opinion, in our time, we must be clearly aware of what St John Maksimovich said in the twentieth century, “However, do not easily abandon power to the Prince of this World, who exerts all his strength to ensnare the sons of men. He sows tares everywhere to drown out Christ’s wheat, in order to excite pious hearts to sin, especially those who humble themselves, indeed, to persecute all those who bear the name of Christ. The struggle between the celestial forces inflicted on the earth by the darkness of temporal worldly power, by spirits of wickedness in high places, which began in Bethlehem, continues without interruption and with increasing force. It happens everywhere, in every place. It divides humanity, it divides those who were formerly close to one another, it happens inside each one of us, until good or evil finally triumphs”.

According to Archbishop Vikenty, “We can see the struggle against the world of Our Lord and Saviour with our own eyes”. In recent years, the days preceding Christmas became secular holidays. In Vladyki Vikenty’s opinion, this fact provides a good opportunity to prepare for the holiday by attending church services. He observes that some people do so. His message noted, “Simultaneously, we see that the New Year’s holiday has become an intensified period of demonic temptation for us and our neighbours, because the enemy of the human race wants to wipe out our efforts in previous weeks of fasting. He tries to dampen our joyous celebration of the coming into the world of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For some of our compatriots, these days have become days of idleness, drunkenness, and debauchery, giving rise to crimes and tragedies. Not surprisingly, our homeland cannot overcome economic disorganisation and societal unrest, for the sin of our afflictions separates us from God”.

Archbishop Vikenty wrote that every Christian should set an example by living the commandments of God, by performing deeds of charity, as well as “to resist anything that harms the spiritual nature of man in both word and deed, to fight the evil that corrupts our society from within and from without”. However, if a person wants to build up their spiritual strength, according to Vladyki Vikenty, they should attend the services.

5 January 2010

Alla Tuchkova

ANN News

http://www.annews.ru/news/detail.php?ID=205544

Dakar 2010 Off-Road Rally Roundup… 8 January 2010

Vladimir Chagin (1970- ), Russian ace racing trucker, team-leader of the KAMAZ-Master Team. He is a five-time winner of the Dakar Rally. Shall he repeat his performance this year? Or, shall last year’s winner, his teammate Firdaus Kabirov, take the gold? Only time shall tell us. This is clear… don’t mess with the bear and don’t mess with the best.

The Russian KAMAZ-Master Team, eightfold champions of the Dakar Rally, the most prestigious off-road race in the world, is ready for new victories. On 1 January, the Dakar 2010 Off-Road Rally shall kick off, and, for the second consecutive year, it will have a South American venue. The contestant’s vehicles shall have to overcome about 9,030 kilometres (5,611 miles) of desert and off-road tracks in Argentina and Chile and the organisers of the rally told the drivers not to rest on their laurels. In contrast to the route last year, the track this year is set more in the desert and mountains. For several years in a row, no one has been able to surpass the lads from KAMAZ. No matter what tactics they use or how much they soup up their vehicles, nobody beats the guys from the banks of the Kama River. Indeed, even when the rally moved from Africa to South America, where conditions are tougher, the KAMAZ lot was still in the lead at the end of the show. This leads us to ask whether there is a secret recipe for building a team that wins year after year.

Semyon Yakubov, the captain of the KAMAZ team, said, “All our team members start out with only one thought… that is, we’re going to win, and we’ll all do whatever it takes to do that. It’s never easy to deal with problems that crop up on the road, especially in the desert and in the mountains. Then, on top of that, you have to watch out for your rivals. There’s some tough competition out there, so, it looks like it’s going to be a tense race. Do we have any tricks up our sleeve? It’s a difficult route with many twists and turns, but what we’ll have to pull out of the hat is anyone’s guess. No matter how much you prepare for the Dakar, each one is different from the rest as different situations arise. That makes each race unique. So, when problems come up, everybody on the team pitches in to solve it. It all depends on the progress of the race. But, our guys have a lot of experience, so, I think that we’ll cope with any difficulty that arises. They’ll do what it takes; trust me on that. We’ve never had a Dakar where there were no serious problems”.

This time, three of our crews will start in Buenos Aires. Navigator Aidar Belyaev and mechanic Andrei Mokeyev are riding with the current champ in the truck category, Firdaus Kabirov. Another Dakar winner, Vladimir Chagin, is the driver for the second crew. However, the greatest burden, technical support, is on the shoulders of Ilgizar Mardeyev’s crew. This time, the Dakar is a tough challenge. The rally will open the jubilee celebrations marking the 200^th anniversary of the independence of Argentina and Chile. Very likely, the current race will be the last Dakar run in Latin America.

Coach Yakubov said, “Despite the interesting off-road course in South America and the wonderful hospitality of the local residents, the racers miss Africa and hope that we’ll be able to be there again next year. There’s every reason to believe that the Dakar will return to Africa. There are early reports that work is in progress, although there hasn’t been an official announcement yet. We really hope that the next race will be back in Africa. Is that good or bad? Well, we’ll go to America or Africa, whatever. We’ll even go to Australia; it’s all the same to us… that’s not a bad idea, either”.

The trucks of the KAMAZ-Master Team are now in Buenos Aires waiting for the starter’s flag. Their route was long and difficult, last month they went by freighter from the French port of Le Havre on the Atlantic. Today, in Argentina, they are waiting for their crews, for a 1 January start towards a new victory.

For the second year in a row, the Dakar Rally will take place in the open spaces of Argentina and Chile. It begins today in Buenos Aires. The cavalcade of contestants will circle the 67-metre-high (201 feet) obelisk in the centre of the city, a symbol of the Argentine capital. Competitors came from more than 50 countries to face the 9,030-kilometre (5,611 mile) course, of which about 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) comprise high-speed sections. On 17 January, the racers are due back in Buenos Aires for the finish. Russia’s KAMAZ-Master Team, eight-time victors in the contest, shall be amongst the contenders. Traditionally, it sends three crews, which, this year, includes such well-known Russian drivers as Firdaus Kabirov (the winner of the last Dakar), Vladimir Chagin, and Ilgizar Mardeyev. In 2008, terrorist threats cancelled the race in Africa was cancelled. However, organisers do not rule out a return to the Dark Continent, if the opportunity presents itself.

President Dmitri Medvedev (1965- ) gives an official farewell to the KAMAZ-Master Team in the Kremlin in Moscow before their departure for the 2010 Dakar Rally.

On Saturday, 2 January, the KAMAZ-Master Team was in the lead after the completion of the first stage of the Dakar 2010 Rally. Vladimir Chagin, five-time winner of the Rally, led at the end of the first high-speed special stage length of 251 kilometres (156 miles) with a time of 2 hours 35 minutes 47 seconds. Aleš Loprajs of the Czech Republic from the Tatra team took second place. Russian drivers Firdaus Kabirov and Ilgizar Mardeyev took third and fourth places, respectively.

In other rally news, an accident caused the death of at least one person and injured five others. The incident occurred on Saturday, 2 January, during the high-speed special stage on the route of the first phase near the Argentine settlement of Alpa Corral. German contestant Mirko Schultis’ off-road vehicle overshot a turn, went off the road, and crashed into a crowd of spectators who were standing in an unauthorised location. A spectator, 28-year-old Argentinean Natalia Sonia Gallardo, died. Schultis stated that he was dropping out of the competition. An Argentine court decided to close the case and not indict the German driver. The prosecutor for Rio Cuarto, Walter Guzman, said that he would not bring an action against the driver because the deceased woman was in an area closed to spectators. “This race requires special driving skills, unexpected situations can occur, and the woman was in an area closed to spectators, so, no one could predict that something of this sort could happen”, Sr Guzman said.

Russia strengthened its lead at the Dakar 2010 Rally. Following the completion of the second stage, crews of the KAMAZ-Master Team occupy the first two places in the truck category. First to charge across the finish line of the 355 kilometre (211 mile) high-speed section was the crew of five-time Dakar winner Vladimir Chagin. His time was 4 hours 35 minutes 7 seconds, being some three minutes ahead of his teammate, the winner of the 2009 Dakar, Firdaus Kabirov. In third was Brazilian Andre de Acevedo of the Tatra team, lagging them by about 15 minutes. The other Russian crew, led by Ilgizar Mardeyev, was in fourth. Although his truck has the duty of technical assistance to the other two Russian entrants, as he carries the team’s spare parts, in fact, his vehicle is in no way inferior to the main contenders for victory.

Ilgizar Mardeyev of the KAMAZ-Master Team

The captain of the KAMAZ team, Semyon Yakubov, said, “There is a fundamental difference in our Russian manner of building a team that is brilliant and as it should be. Our team has three drivers, equal in ability, in exactly the same sort of vehicle; we’re all the same. When we’re abroad, one crew primarily goes for the victory, the other, if it’s there, assists the first, and, if there’s a third, it carries all the spares. In case of any problems, the primary crew loses its opportunity to gain the prize. Moreover, we don’t have any ‘ringers’ on our Russian team, we only have our ordinary factory team drivers. We’re always training young talent, we choose the best of the young guys, we train them, paying great attention to their physical fitness. In addition, the technical training of our Russian crews differs from the methods used abroad. All of our crewmembers are graduates of good technical schools. We believe that anyone who sits behind the steering wheel must have a complete knowledge of motor vehicles. Everyone has to have the ability to repair our trucks, even in the darkness of night”.

Of course, any race has its risks and its incidents. This year, the organisers of the Dakar Rally proposed a very difficult route, for a large part of the course runs through one of the most arid areas on the planet, the Atacama Desert. In addition to the high sand dunes, the crews must overcome some very difficult sections. For example, in the second stage, the vehicles had to struggle to stay on a very slippery slope. It was narrow, mountain slopes were on every angle, and the turns were so sharp that the drivers had to turn the steering wheel almost in a complete circle, our Russian crews told us. Unfortunately, the complicated route is not only spectacular, but it is dangerous, as well. Because of accidents and breakdowns, several crews weren’t able to go the full distance. Russian crews have won in the truck category of the Dakar in six of the last seven rallies. Today, they are rushing to what seems yet another victory.

In the truck category, the Russian KAMAZ-Master Team is still in the lead at the Dakar 2010 Rally. On Monday, Vlad Chagin won the third stage of the race, making it a present for his 40^th birthday (Vladimir Chagin was born on 5 January 1970). A five-time winner of the Dakar, this was his 50^th victory in a stage during the race. On 4 January, he was the first in the 182-kilometre (113-mile) high-speed section in Argentina, ahead of his teammate Firdaus Kabirov by almost 12 minutes. After three stages, they occupy the first two places on the podium. Another Russian crew, headed by Ilgizar Mardeyev, is in fourth place.

According to Vlad Chagin, the shortest of all the 14 stages of the race was extremely difficult, for the winding mountain road was very dusty in some areas, and the heat was so extreme that the engine temperature reached 95 degrees C (203 degrees F), so, he had to stop to cool it down before he could proceed. In general, Russian racers win convincing victories at the rally due to the nature of the crews’ training. Vladimir Chagin said, with great emphasis, “We have a factory team with factory drivers. We don’t have a lot of crewmen; we’re a chosen few. We pick promising kids and we give them the proper training. We don’t have any ‘ringers’, everybody is trained by the factory. This allows you to instil in your people the proper attitude, and to give them the many other qualities that an athlete needs when he competes, especially in serious events. That’s what we put first”.

On Tuesday, during the fourth stage, in the middle of the route, the drivers crossed the border between Argentina and Chile. Then, the route shall pass through the Cordilleras, where the height of the mountains in some places is higher than 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) above sea level, and the descent on the Chilean side will lead them into the Atacama Desert.

At the start of the rally on 1 January, about 600 contestants from more than 50 countries driving motorcycles, ATVs, cars, and trucks began the course. After three stages, 16 crews have already withdrawn from the race due to equipment breakdowns, one of them being one of the most serious rivals of the Russians, the Czech Aleš Loprajs of the Tatra team.

At the end of the fourth stage of the Dakar 2010 Rally, all three crews of the KAMAZ-Master Team are in the top places in the truck category. On Wednesday, Erik Khairullin, a spokesman for the team, told ITAR-TASS, “Vladimir Chagin led the first of our crews to cross the finish line during the fourth stage, which ran from Fiambala to Copiapo for a total length of 629 kilometres (391 miles). In second was Firdaus Kabirov, behind Chagin by 7 minutes 44 seconds. The crew of Ilgizar Mardeyev was in third, 11 minutes 50 seconds behind”.

The racers had to struggle more as the path wore on. Brazilian driver de Acevedo of the Tatra team broke down on the road, so, he ended up losing third place. Now, the Dutch Zhinafy team is nipping at the heels of the Russians, as the Tatra team has suffered several equipment failures and had to drop out. In the overall results of the first four stages, the crew of Marcel Van Vliet is in third place. He lost to Chagin by 2 hours 24 minutes 33 seconds. Mardeyev’s crew had a point penalty for an infraction; he lost 60 minutes as a result and only made up some of it after a hard slog. In the overall standings, he now stands fourth, 2 hours 59 minutes 3 seconds after the leader.

Firdaus Kabirov (1961- ), winner of the 2009 Dakar Rally

Firdaus Kabirov said, “The fourth stage was much easier than the preceding one. We climbed very high, for in the first 20 kilometres (13 miles) we ascended to a height of up to 3,000 metres (9,843 feet). The Andes is one of the highest mountain ranges on Earth, reaching 6,960 metres (22,835 feet), it’s not easy driving there. Sometimes, it takes your breath away. You could go faster, but it’s risky. After the mountains, we crossed treacherous sand dunes three times, where it’s easy to roll over. At the top of a dune in a dust storm, we nearly crashed into a Volkswagen; we had to swerve to avoid him”.

The Russian KAMAZ-Master Team continues its triumphant march in the Dakar 2010 Rally. Vladimir Chagin won the first four stages. Firdaus Kabirov, his colleague and the driver of the second crew, was the best in the fifth stage of the competition. Thus, thanks to the success of the KAMAZ team, the overall lead in the rally belongs to Russia. Under the leadership of Firdaus Kabirov, the KAMAZ-Master Team completed the fifth stage in Chile on the route between Copiaco and Antofagasta, showing the best time, 5 hours 48 minutes 50 seconds. This was the first stage victory in the current Dakar for last year’s overall winner, and his 30th stage victory in the event. In third place, was the Frenchman Joseph Adua for Iveco, Ilgizar Mardeyev for KAMAZ finished fourth. Amongst passenger cars, too, there was a new leader, Mark Miller of Volkswagen. In the motorcycle category, the leader, Cyril Despres dropped to second, yielding to Chilean Francisco Lopez.

Although organisers promised a difficult course, for the Russian team, it didn’t prove problematic. However, to say how events will develop further is impossible. The next, and sixth, stage of the race is set for 7 January on the route Antofagasta-Icece, with a total length of 598 kilometres (372 miles), with 418 kilometres (260 miles) of high-speed roads.

On Thursday evening, at the end of the sixth stage of the race, in the truck category, Russian KAMAZ crews took the first three places. Vladimir Chagin showed the best time; Firdaus Kabirov and Ilgizar Mardeyev took second and third positions. In the overall standings, Chagin strengthened his advantage ahead of Kabirov at 38 minutes. This was five-time overall winner Chagin’s 52nd stage victory in the race. In the ATV rankings, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who drives for Volkswagen, was in the lead. In the motorcycle standings, the Spaniard Marc Coma was the top dog.

According to KAMAZ-Mater Team captain Semyon Yakubov, “Compared with last year, our trucks are almost identical in design. Nevertheless, we did make some technical modifications, and off-road running is a good way to test the durability of the vehicles. For example, the bumper on the trucks now consists of three parts connected by rubber shock absorbers. This is a very significant innovation, especially for our mechanics, as they have to adjust the bumper every evening. Well, there are a lot of little things like that. Certainly, what we learn under such extreme conditions serves as a basis for new developments in the Russian automobile industry. Moreover, the all-wheel drive KAMAZ vehicle is produced specifically for operation in extreme conditions”.

The next stage of the rally begins on 8 January. In the first segment, the drivers have to overcome small sand dunes, then, they will face the main test of the day, about three kilometres (@2 miles) of salt marsh, which require the crews to be alert and significantly reduces their speed. Most of the drivers are eager to get on the rapid and open gravel road towards the rest stop in Antofagasta. There they will rest until Sunday.

Here are some videos of the KAMAZ team:

http://rus.ruvr.ru/vesti/2010/01/03/video_3403464.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/vesti/2010/01/04/video_3406292.html

http://rutube.ru/tracks/333012.html?v=3cf10a9fa70910689a0e8b226dd2c7ad

http://rutube.ru/tracks/834065.html?v=d1f734147ab447f4ac26e67e15cc2340

28 December 2009 to 8 January 2010

Svetlana Andreyeva

Lada Korotun

Natalia Kovalenko

Jelena Kovačić

Olga Syrova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2009/12/28/3313921.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/01/3388296.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/03/3400784.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/03/3400894.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/04/3409231.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/05/3421514.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/06/3437128.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/06/3444462.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/07/3452639.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/07/3454912.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/08/3456930.html

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/01/08/3459959.html