August is here.

First, I saw a reprint of last year's survey in Kommersant Vlast magazine: "What do you expect from this August?" I decided not to read the responses because I still remember very well myself how bad that month turned out to be. And how it spilled into September.

Today, a small military submarine sank somewhere near Kamchatka. Seven people are on board, 200 meters or so down below, with enough air to last them from two to four days (update: one day).

In Crimea yesterday - and, of course, Crimea isn't Russia but Ukraine, even though many people think otherwise, but in the month of August anything goes in this part of the world - yes, in Crimea yesterday there was a blackout, from Gurzuf to Sudak, and an unspecified amount of shit (update: 500 cubic meters) has poured out into the sea along the coast. August is the most crowded month in Crimea, and the place becomes unbearable even when there is electricity and the sea is relatively clean. Now, however, tourists are advised against going into the water for at least two days. Two of my Kyiv friends are on vacation in Crimea now, first in Sudak, and then they were going to spend some time at an archaeological camp in Chufut-Kale, an ancient Karaite settlement, so I hope they are there by now, unaffected by the blackout and its consequences.