Архив по теме: «Война»

When the Apocalypse Takes a Day Off

If you have read the first three novellas The Iranian Diary (Isfahan, Shiraz, Fordo), you know Yuri Melnikov as a master of psychological noir. He virtuoso-immersed us in the world of the Iranian atomic program, where love is measured in half-lives and family reunions take place in the crosshairs of intelligence services. It was prose of the highest caliber: smart, tragic, and hopelessly serious. But the concluding novella of the tetralogy, Operation “Stray Dog”, executes an unexpected pirouette

Культура - 01.01.2026, 14:41 - Теги: Война, Кино, Литература, Наука, Образование, Политика, Религия, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Epilogue

Alavi, sitting in the deep armchair of a private business jet flying across the Pacific toward Boston, was not sleeping. He swirled a glass of stolen 1985 French cognac in his fingers and looked into the black window, which reflected his own face—old and tired. He wasn’t thinking about the missile. Or the saved world. He was thinking about whether he would recognize Zeynab tomorrow or not. After all, they say that children who outplay their parents in the art of survival have their eye color change. They become the color of ash

Культура - 31.12.2025, 12:54 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 12

“Keep it,” Amirkhan squeezed her fingers. “Put it in the pocket where you keep your biggest secrets. The world has gone mad, Zahra-jan. Today Africa, tomorrow Antarctica. But good falafel… good falafel is always hard currency. And, as Alavi used to say… it’s better to have a backup airfield than to be a hero posthumously.” Zahra looked at him. Then at the card. And she smiled—that same smile that, thirty years ago in Isfahan, had made him lose his head

Культура - 31.12.2025, 8:17 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 11

The camp of the PMC “Steppe Wolves” resembled the set of “Mad Max” if it had been filmed in Zhytomyr. The tents were covered with camouflage netting woven from local vines. On the roof of the commander’s Jeep, a Toyota Hilux (with a machine gun in the bed), stood a Starlink dish; socks were drying next to it. In the center of the camp, an antelope leg, shot an hour ago, was roasting over a fire made from ammo crates

Культура - 30.12.2025, 16:57 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 10

The atmosphere in “The Tank”—as the Joint Chiefs affectionately called this bunker, although in terms of oxygen levels it more closely resembled a tin can—was electrified to the limit. On the enormous screens, a red dot representing the North Korean Taepodong-X missile, or whatever those Koreans named it, was executing loop-de-loops over the Pacific Ocean that would have turned any ballistics instructor gray and made any figure skating coach proud

Культура - 30.12.2025, 13:50 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 9

Zeynab quickly but intelligibly (using three-story Farsi profanity and a diagram on a napkin) explained the crux of the problem to Kevin. Kevin nodded, put on a serious face, and opened Google Maps. “So, North Korea…” he mumbled, dragging his finger across the screen. “That’s somewhere near Australia, right? Where the kangaroos are?” Zeynab closed her eyes. She realized science was powerless. She needed an “Adult”

Культура - 30.12.2025, 8:23 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 8

The helicopter shook like an old Paykan on a mountain road. Takeshi-san, the pilot in the Hawaiian shirt with a kamikaze headband, held the cyclic with one hand and tried to open a jar of pickled ginger with an army knife with the other. “Turbulence, Alavi-san!” he yelled over the roar of the rotors and the Japanese pop blaring from the speakers. “The crabs are nervous! The ginger won’t open! Bad feng shui!”

Культура - 29.12.2025, 17:49 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 7

It was Takeshi-san. A legend of the East Asian shadow world. A man who in the 90s transported used right-hand drive Toyotas to Vladivostok, in the 2000s smuggled Iranian oil past sanctions via Malaysia, and now delivered Japanese porn and crabs to the North Korean elite. Alavi knew him from his days in SAVAK. Takeshi was the only Japanese man who could drink vodka with Russians, haggle with Persians, and lie to Koreans simultaneously, all while quoting Basho haikus

Культура - 29.12.2025, 12:04 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 6

In the “Atrium”—as the generals lovingly called the main control room with a screen the size of a football field—it smelled of expensive Arabica, furniture polish, and the cheap deodorant of the night shift. Duty Colonel General Ivashov (call sign “Concrete,” earned for his impenetrable facial expression) sat in a leather chair, melancholically chewing a cabbage pirozhok bought at the General Staff buffet

Культура - 29.12.2025, 7:07 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

Operation “Stray Dog”. Chapter 5

The Assembly Hall smelled of expensive jasmine tea, lacquered wood, and a quiet, polite, yet deadly panic. A colossal digital map of the world spanned one entire wall. On it, China was vast, bright red, and pulsating; Taiwan was also red (though with light cross-hatching indicating “pending return”); and Russia was shaded in a pleasant beige color, referred to in secret party documents as “Zone of Prospective Resource Development” and colloquially as “Our Northern Warehouse”

Культура - 28.12.2025, 16:11 - Теги: Война, Литература, Политика, Сарказм, Технологии

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