Hold My Vodka

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[hodlmyvodka]

Russia’s Health Ministry will treat depression with electric current.

Under new rules, treatment may include extremely high-frequency acupuncture currents, electroconvulsive therapy, and electrical brain stimulation.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russia has lowered its beer foam standards.

Under a new national standard approved by Rosstandart, the minimum beer foam head has been cut from 30 mm to 15 mm — about 1.2 inches to 0.6 inches.

Foam stability was also reduced from 3 minutes to 1 minute.

Fun fact: for years, beer under 10% ABV in Russia was treated more like a regular food product than alcohol. Only in the 2010s did beer get stricter alcohol-style regulation.

[hodlmyvodka]

Gen Z Russians have started renting storage units because rent and mortgage prices in Moscow are insane.

A 108-square-foot unit near downtown Moscow costs just 17,000 rubles — about $218 a month, while smaller boxes for clothes and other belongings cost around 3,000 rubles — about $39.

Meanwhile, rent for a one-bedroom apartment starts at 70,000 rubles — about $900 a month.

[hodlmyvodka]

An ad for a Russian military contract has appeared on VK using Navalny’s face.

According to the AI-generated image, Navalny supposedly signed a contract with the Defense Ministry, destroyed a Leopard tank, and bought himself an apartment in Kaliningrad after one year of service.

Alexei Navalny was Russia’s best-known opposition leader and one of Vladimir Putin’s main critics. He died in a Russian Arctic prison colony in February 2024.

[hodlmyvodka]

Text on the meme:

“Dad, where is our gas?”

Context:

This is a remix of an old Russian meme that originally said “Dad, where is our child support?” — a joke about an absent father.

Now, after recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and fuel shortages, the punchline has been changed to “Dad, where is our gas?”

Basically, the meme shifted from family drama to Russia’s gasoline crisis.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russian women have started mass-reselling used breast implants.

Demand for silicone breast implants has fallen. Implants that cost 180,000 rubles are being sold after removal for just 30,000 rubles.

Reasons vary: childbirth, pain, dissatisfaction with the result, or wanting to recover part of the surgery cost.

Doctors warn that used implants should not be reused, as it can be dangerous to health.

[hodlmyvodka]

A cliff in Karelia is slowly being covered with 1,000 carved rabbits — one man’s strange, stubborn, and surprisingly beautiful art project in the forest.

A man in Karelia is slowly carving 1,000 hares into a cliff — mostly through his own money, labor, and stubborn belief in the project. About

[hodlmyvodka]

Three African soccer players were reportedly invited to Russia to play for FC Ural — but ended up being sent to the war in Ukraine.

In 2025, 19-year-old Cameroonian player Stevis Astrid Mevungu Mbe, his brother, and a friend received an offer from a supposed agent to join the Russian club. Not knowing Russian, they signed documents and flew to Moscow.

But after landing, they were taken not to a training facility, but to a military recruitment office.

It turned out the papers they had signed were actually one-year military contracts. They were allegedly told they could return to soccer after serving.

Stevis ended up as an assault soldier and was wounded three times. His friend was killed, and his brother was captured. After his contract ended in May, the surviving Cameroonian settled in Yekaterinburg, where he now coaches teenagers.

[hodlmyvodka]

Orthodox solar panel: When you pray for light, but the utility company says no.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russian lawmakers want to slow down online games the same way they slowed Telegram.

The State Duma’s family and children committee says Roskomnadzor and the Digital Ministry could use their experience with other platforms to limit how long children spend continuously on screens.

Lawmakers say gaming and social media controls are needed to protect kids.

Earlier, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin claimed online games and in-game chats are an effective tool for recruiting teenagers into sabotage.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russia wants to build a nuclear power plant on the Moon by 2036, according to a draft Roscosmos decree.

After 2036, the state space corporation plans to launch nuclear-powered spacecraft into outer space.

[hodlmyvodka]

A Russian woman won 29 million rubles — about $390,000 — in the lottery thanks to a spider, without even getting off the couch or guessing a single number.

On the day of the win, a black spider crawled onto the hand of the senior woman from Russia’s Rostov region. A black spider is considered a sign of coming wealth.

She immediately bought an “All or Nothing” lottery ticket — and became a millionaire.

[hodlmyvodka]

Officials in Perm reported that they had cleared snow — at the end of June.

They simply waited for summer until the snow melted on its own. Residents had complained about the snowbanks back on January 19, but the response came only five months later.

As proof, officials sent photos taken in summer.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russian tourists have found a genius way to get around Sochi for free with a personal driver.

They are mass-booking showings for houses and apartments near the beach, so real estate agents drive them to the area. Then the tourists simply walk away and go sunbathe, realtors complain.

Over a week, tourists can save more than 10,000 rubles — about $134 — on taxis this way. The scheme has been around for a second year, but this summer it has become widespread.

[hodlmyvodka]

Chevrons of Wehrmacht units will be placed on the floor of the Park Pobedy metro station lobby in St. Petersburg so passengers can walk over them, Governor Beglov said.

The station flooring will be made from melted-down armor from German military vehicles found at World War II battle sites near Leningrad.

[hodlmyvodka]

Russians have started mass-searching online for how to siphon gasoline.

In just three months, the number of such searches jumped tenfold — from 4,000 to 44,000 per week.

Because of gas station limits, people on social media are discussing a new workaround: fill up the car, drive away, pour the fuel into a gas can, then return to the station again.

[hodlmyvodka]

A domestic violence ban would discourage Russians from getting married, a State Duma lawmaker said.

According to Nina Ostanina, head of the Duma Committee on Family Protection, “guys will be afraid” of impulsive police reports from women and may refuse marriage — or fall under the childfree ideology, which is banned in Russia.

She argued that such a law could push men away from marriage and having children.