Tag Archives: Eastern Europe

Now You Can Own A Sasha Ivanic Jacket

The origin story of the quintessential “Slav” outfit…

A True Story Goes to Hollywood

Here is another fine article via friends at kommandostore.com- you can find your size and place your order here. In 1995, pilot Scott O’Grady was flying his F-16 on a mission during the Bosnian war, when his aircraft was destroyed by an SA-6 Missile.

SA-6/ 2K12 SAM surface to air missile launcher.

He survived by successfully ejecting from the aircraft, but was forced to spend nearly a week evading local military forces before he could be rescued by US Marines.

He wasn’t approached to consult on the making of Behind Enemy Lines, nor was he paid for the rights to his story. As one could imagine, lawsuits ensued and “Behind Enemy Lines” would later be presented as the story of a different person in a very similar set of circumstances…

Behind Enemy Lines, 2001

This action flick featured Owen Wilson playing Chris Burnett, a pilot who gets shot down over Bosnia on a reconnaissance mission. He ejects, but that’s only where his problems begin.

The lieutenant spends the rest of the film evading an extremely dangerous lone-wolf sharpshooter and the rest of the Bosnian-Serb military.

Almost immediately upon release, the movie was a cult-hit among firearms & military enthusiasts in the US. The main antagonist, Sasha Ivanic was in many ways the focal point of this obsession.

Sasha’s iconic track jacket became an “it item” among collectors, but it was nowhere to be found…

Stealing The Show

Ultimately the film’s legacy hasn’t been kind to its hero. Sasha Ivanic is such cool villain that despite having almost no lines, he completely steals the show.

Vladmir Mashkov, the actor playing Sasha, left such a lasting impression on audiences that he shaped Eastern European villains and anti-heros for years to come.

The protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko Bellic, was based almost entirely on Sasha — Rockstar Games even intended to cast him for the role. GTA IV would go on to be one of the most celebrated video games in history, firmly cementing post-USSR “Slav” culture in the minds of millions.

Finding The Fit

Like many white whales we’ve chased, it all started with blurry photos circulating on obscure forums and social media pages. But try as we might, the search for the Sasha jacket always came up dry.

So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We went frame by frame through the original movie, painstakingly made our own artwork and mockups, and designed our track jacket from the ground up.

Why Sarajevo?

The 1984 Olympics in context

The Boycott Games

The Olympic games during the Cold War were notorious for boycotts organized by dozens of countries up through the 1980s.

Melbourne ’56, Tokyo ’64, Canada ’76, and particularly the Moscow Olympics in 1980 were all mired in international politics.

But in 1984, for the winter Olympics in Yugoslavia, there was a distinct (and welcome) lack of boycotts.

As a result the Sarajevo games had highest rate of participation of any Olympics during the Cold War. Unfortunately this moment of hope and unity was short-lived.

Civil war would divide Yugoslavia less than a decade later.

The Siege of Sarajevo

The siege of Sarajevo featured prominently in the opening chapters of the Bosnian war, and the brand-new Olympic facilities were caught in the crossfire.

As the battle intensified, Bosnian-Serbs famously dug in on the Bobsled/Luge track and used it as an artillery stronghold. To this day, you can still see firing ports drilled into the concrete.

The former olympic village was never redeveloped, and remains in ruins to this day…

…Just A Theory?

By late 2001, the Former-Soviet-Bloc countries were still in disarray, and ‘War On Terror’ was in full-swing.

In this post 9/11 world, films about the horrors of the Vietnam war, or the spy games of the Cold War just didn’t resonate. So, the way action movie antagonists were written had to evolve…

Real-world unknowns and fears drive how we write stories; whether it’s a humanitarian crisis inspiring movies about invading aliens from outer space, or zombies representing our fears around epidemics & disease.

Villains like Sasha Ivanic embodied this new era of guerilla tactics and hazy or mysterious motivations. Much like the terrorist groups feared by the public, there was no telling what they’d do next, or why.

Sasha’s Jacket begged some unknowns: Could Sasha have been an Olympian at Sarajevo? What was he really fighting for, or for whom? We never found out, but it’s part of what makes him so frightening and believable.

Sasha’s Legacy

Going on to inspire Anti Heros like Nico Bellic in GTA would be one thing, but he was certainly part of a larger trend of iconic Eastern European villains.

The Ivan Dragos of cinema were slowly replaced with the Vladimir Makarovs of video games, and with the re-opening of closed wounds constantly in Eastern Europe, Sasha’s morally grey character archetype continues to have a lasting relevance.

Sure, the boys in the Adidas track jackets were always there, but it was Sasha who made it the standard issue uniform.

Anti Arnaques Is First Website Created To Fight Russian Romance Scams


There are nowadays millions of single men, and among those, many dream of meeting a woman from Eastern Europe. Indeed, these women are known to be extremely attractive, faithful, and ready to do anything to come to live in Europe. Many dating and marriage agencies have been created to cater for this niche, specializing in so-called international marriages.

Unfortunately, many scams are hidden among these agencies. The websites use the faces of superb young women as bait. Once the vulnerable bachelor is hooked by some carefully worded emails, he is asked for money to cover the cost of a plane ticket as well as the visa fee. The sums involved can go up to 1,500 or 2,000 €, depending on the naivety of the man, and there is generally no way to fight it legally.

Anti Arnaques, the First community dedicated to fight Eastern Europe romance scams

That’s why Anti-Arnaques was created, in order to provide a reliable verification platform to any man who has doubts about the sincerity of the person he is speaking to. It includes:

  • A unique identity verification system in 2 steps: the Express Background Verification, through the four major Russian social networks, and the Official Background Verification, through the public and private databases of Russian and Ukrainian citizens that are reserved to the official authorities.
  • A black list containing names and pictures of women known to have practiced scams.
  • Practical advice to identify risk scenarios.
  • A forum to exchange ideas on potential risky encounter situations.

Testimony of a scam victim

“Hello, I am Rui, I live in Portugal and I was a victim of a scheme. Nastya or Anastasiya Vorozhnina, living at Lomonosova 97-64, 428000 Novopokrovskoe Russia, deceived me. By mere chance, I only lost 200 €, as well as 24 photos. This scheme lasted about 5 months, but I always resisted to send the full amount of money she requested, which was around 800 € to start with.

I hope to my testimony will help someone, and prevent him to fall into such scheme. These women can be very sweet at the beginning: only after 2 or 3 months she started to ask money. She was an authentic professional, who already appears in your list with other names: if I had knew Antiarnaques.org back then, I would not have wasted so much time.”

Rui, 48 years old, scammed by A.V. 

The website Antiarnaques.org (which means Antiscams in French) allows anyone who wants to date a Russian, Ukrainian or Slav women to check the identity of a specific woman. Antiarnaques.org also offers the possibility to check the reliability of any marriage agency, and to consult the black list of Russian women known for fraud.


About Dimitri Berezniakov, the creator of Anti Arnaques

Dimitri Berezniakov launched UKReine.com in 1998: it was the first dating site specializing in international marriages between men from France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, and Ukrainian women.

This allowed him have a ringside seat to witness the rise of Russian romance scams: he used to receive emails from men victims of these scams almost daily. Because of the magnitude of the problem, he decided to create Anti Arnaques in 2010, in order to offer a reliable solution to individuals wishing to verify the identity of Russian and Ukrainian women.

Supplemental- Top Social Networks in Russia.

Anti Arnaques, le premier site francophone de lutte contre les escroqueries sur le marché de la rencontre russe

Le site Antiarnaques.org permet à tout individu souhaitant trouver l’amour auprès d’une femme russe, ukrainienne ou slave de vérifier l’identité d’une femme spécifique. Antiarnaques.org offre également la possibilité de vérifier le sérieux de l’agence matrimoniale choisie, et de consulter la liste noire de femmes russes connues pour escroquerie.

La rencontre de femmes russes, ukrainiennes et slaves : un marché florissant mais présentant de nombreux risques

On compte aujourd’hui dans l’Hexagone de 16 millions à 18 millions de célibataires, divorcés et veufs, ce qui représente un marché attractif et porteur (CIDJ.com). Et ce nombre ne cesse d’augmenter : le nombre de seniors et de divorcés étant en hausse, de plus en plus d’individus se retrouvent à chercher l’âme sœur.

Parmi ces millions de célibataires, de nombreux hommes rêvent de rencontrer une femme originaire d’Europe de l’Est. En effet, on leur promet des femmes fidèles au physique extrêmement attractif, prêtes à tout pour venir vivre en France. Une multitude d’agences matrimoniales s’est ainsi positionnée sur ce créneau, en se spécialisant dans les rencontres dites internationales.

Malheureusement, de nombreuses arnaques se cachent parmi ces agences. Les sites utilisent les visages de superbes jeunes femmes comme appât. Une fois le célibataire vulnérable hameçonné par quelques emails soigneusement rédigés, on lui demande de l’argent pour couvrir le montant d’un billet d’avion ainsi que les frais de visa. Les sommes en jeu peuvent monter jusqu’à 1 500 ou 2 000 € selon la naïveté de l’interlocuteur, et il n’existe en général aucun recours devant la justice.

Anti Arnaques, première communauté francophone luttant contre les arnaques sentimentales d’Europe de l’Est

C’est pour cela qu’a été créé Anti Arnaques, dont l’objectif est de fournir une plateforme de vérification fiable à tout homme ayant des doutes sur la sincérité de son interlocutrice. On y trouve ainsi :

  • Un système de vérification d’identité unique en deux temps : la Vérification Express, via des 4 principaux réseaux sociaux russes, et la Vérification Officielle, via les bases de données publiques et fermées des citoyennes russes et ukrainiennes qui sont réservées aux organismes officiels.
  • Une liste noire répertoriant les noms comme les visages des femmes connues pour avoir pratiquées des escroqueries.
  • Une liste noire des agences matrimoniales internationales connues pour pratiquer des escroqueries.
  • Des conseils pratiques et concrets pour identifier les scénarios à risque.
  • Un forum d’entraide pour échanger sur des situations de rencontres potentiellement à risques.

Ils ont été victimes d’arnaques et témoignent

« 
Tout a commencé par un mail, et des conversations dans lesquelles on parlait de tout et de rien. Je lui ai proposé de venir en France pour son anniversaire, et la cascade d’ennuis a débuté : pas d’argent pour payer le passeport, pas d’argent pour payer le visa…J’ai donc payé tous les frais. Une fois à l’aéroport, elle s’est soi-disant faiteî arrêter, on lui a interdit de quitter le pays à cause du crédit de son appartement. J’ai eu moult preuves de sa bonne foi, j’ai cru en elle, je me suis senti responsable, je me suis investi à fond. J’ai donné beaucoup beaucoup d’argent, et aujourd’hui j’ai tout perdu.
Je souhaite simplement que d’autres ne répètent pas les mêmes erreurs : je l’ai donc signalé sur Anti Arnaques, s’il vous plaît allez-voir, et faites attention !
 »

Joël, 43 ans, arnaqué par E. T.

J’ai commencé une relation par email avec Anastasiya, elle m’a complétement séduit en quelques semaines. Elle était extrêmement douce au début, puis a commencé à réclamer de l’argent. Par chance, j’ai flairé quelque chose de louche et ne lui ai envoyé que 200 €. J’ai ensuite réalisé qu’elle était présente sur la liste noire d’Anti Arnaques ! »
J’espère empêcher un autre homme de tomber dans le même piège !
 »

Pierre, 48 ans, arnaqué par A. V.


A propos de Dimitri Berezniakov, le créateur du site Anti Arnaques

Dimitri Berezniakov a lancé UKReine.com en 1998 : il s’agissait alors du premier site de rencontres spécialisé dans les mariages internationaux entre des hommes originaires de France, de Belgique, de Suisse et du Canada, et des femmes ukrainiennes.

Cela lui a permis d’être aux premières loges pour assister à l’essor des arnaques sentimentales en provenance d’Europe de l’Est : il reçoit alors des emails provenant d’hommes victimes de ces escroqueries quasi-quotidiennement. Face à l’ampleur du problème, il décide de créer Anti Arnaques en 2010, afin d’offrir une solution fiable aux individus souhaitant vérifier l’identité de leurs interlocutrices.

Dance Healing Immigrant Victims Of War Prejudice And Sexual Exploitation

Study after study has shown that arts education nurtures students’ creativity and problem-solving skills, competencies that are critical for success in a 21st Century world, but how does dance and movement facilitate healing and transform at-risk youth?

14 year old DTC dancing participants Richard Rutherford Danny Guerrero
14 year old DTC dancing participants Richard Rutherford Danny Guerrero

New York’s Battery Dance launched its Dancing to Connect programs in 2006. Since that time, the program has spread to 6 continents, 50 countries, 100 cities, and 1,000 schools. A powerful new documentary by Wilderness Films follows six dancers from the dance company from India to Eastern Europe to the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East as they support vulnerable youth helping them to express themselves through movement. The film focuses on the struggles, frustrations, resilience and ultimate transformation of the students and their dance teachers.

Producer Cornelia Ravenal says that as a trauma survivor she understood the power of art to “heal and transform.” Ravenal along with husband partner Mikael Södersten collaborated with Battery Dance Founder Jonathan Hollander to create the documentary because she believed this was a story that had to be told. As global populations continue to grow, migration and increasing social and cultural diversity are reshaping classrooms worldwide. Solutions for integrating and uniting peoples from diverse cultural backgrounds are now sought by schools and communities all over the globe. Hollander believes that “no divide has been too great for the art of dance, the primacy of movement, the common humanity, and expression, to span.”

Read the Full Article

Battery Dance performs on the world’s stages, teaches, presents, and advocates for the field of dance. The Company is dedicated to the pursuit of artistic excellence and the availability of the Arts to everyone. Battery Dance has produced over 100 original dance works choreographed by its founder and artistic director Jonathan Hollander, in collaboration with a diverse array of composers and designers, and its cast of outstanding dancers.

CMRubinWorld launched in 2010 to explore what kind of education would prepare students to succeed in a rapidly changing globalized world. Its award-winning series, The Global Search for Education, is a celebrated trailblazer in the renaissance of the 21st century, and occupies a special place in the pulse of key issues facing every nation and the collective future of all children. It connects today’s top thought leaders with a diverse global audience of parents, students and educators. Its highly readable platform allows for discourse concerning our highest ideals and the sustainable solutions we must engineer to achieve them. C. M. Rubin has produced over 700 interviews and articles discussing an expansive array of topics under a singular vision: when it comes to the world of children, there is always more work to be done. For the Silo, David Wine.