Defending Mother Russia

With all eyes on this evening's closing ceremony of the very successful Winter Olympics in Sochi, one might easily miss another Russian festivity today. For 23 February is a public holiday in Russia and families across the country take time to give a little extra attention to their menfolk. For our friend Alexey, who lives with his wife and two children in Smolensk, the Russian variant of Father's Day means that he spends much of the day with his male friends doing whatever Russian men do in garages.