Hello, comrades! My name is Sergei. I was born in the USSR in 1971. Since 1999 I have lived in the USA. Ushanka Show channel was created to share stories as well as my own memories of everyday life in the USSR. My book about arriving in America in 1995 is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B08DJ7RNTC My site: www.sputnikoff.com/ Please contact me at sergeisputnikoff@gmail.com if you would like to purchase a signed copy of “American Diaries” You can support this project here: www.patreon.com/sputnikoff with monthly donations Support for this channel via PAYPAL: paypal.me/ushankashow Ushanka Show merchandise: teespring.com/stores/ushanka-show-shop If you are curious to try some of the Soviet-era candy and other foodstuffs, please use the link below. www.russiantable.com/imported-russian-chocolate-mishka-kosolapy__146-14.html?tracking=5a6933a9095f9 My FB: facebook.com/sergey.sputnikoff Twitter: twitter.com/ushankashow Instagram: instagram.com/ushanka_show/ Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/The_Ushanka_Show/

"I had to do it. I was forced.." to kiss the cute Russian girl.. Yeah right..

Next time my wife gets pissed at me for something I'm gonna tell her that my action was Polish tradition and that I was forced.

Roses are red So is the state Let us be comrades Because you are great.

Phil is still around at 83. Vladimir Posner is also still around at 84. I became familiar with Posner from listening to his nightly commentary on the Radio Moscow North American Service on shortwave in the 1960's. He was a very smooth and engaging personality, and much different than the usual stolid Radio Moscow presenter. My assumption always was that he was a KGB agent, and, with his native English speaking ability and casual delivery, was able to spread Soviet disinformation so smoothly you almost didn't realize it. I don't think he's ever admitted he was in the KGB, but he has admitted his role as a Soviet apologist. He must have been considered an exceptionally reliable Soviet agent to be able to travel between the West and East so freely. He was even able to engage in some mild criticism of the Soviet government in ways that wouldn't have been tolerated from any other public figure. I quite enjoyed listening to him on my shortwave radio, but I also never forgot his real role as part of the Soviet media.

Russian lady on TV: There is no sex in the Soviet Union Me (before Sergei explains this): How are there so many Russian people then?

I became interested in Soviet Union at a very early age growing up in the US. When I was 8 years old I was given an old map of Far Eastern Russia. I dreamt of places like Vladivostok, Kamchatka and Sakhalin Island and always wondered what it was like there and how were the people that lived there. I’m 60 years old and never lost my like and wonder of Soviet Union. Thanks for all your video’s.

When I was stationed in Germany with the US Army two of my buddies and I dated 3 Russian sisters. I had to act as translator trying to understand their German....but we soon found out they had a couple of brothers that were in the Russian mob so we decided it was best to move on.

First ones to space, first ones to meme, damn, they were on a roll

Phil Donahue is still alive, and was fired for opposing the 2003 Iraq War, it's a shame, he was great on TV.

“My parents met on the dance floor in a park in Kiev.” That’s boss.

B CCCP CEKCA HET. I love it. Don't even need a Cyrillic keyboard.

Greetings from Romania. What I can say is that sex was a taboo subject in comunist Romania, but many people still did it more discreetly. The only problem was that if guys knocked up women from one night stands they had to marry them after. My father had many friends who had that faith. I also like to mention the fact that abortion here was illegal and condoms were nowhere to be found for sale. They were banned in a way but if you knew the right people you could have got them from the black market. This is from what my father told me. P.S. I love your show, keep op the good work. Спасибо вам за вашу работу!

loved this

My great grandfather and my grandfather would often manage to get Soviet TV in Iceland and radio when it was cloudy. My grandfather told me that when disasters would happen or a leader died the TV and Radio would have some static image and classical music for several days. I always found that so weird.

My sister married a Polish man. His parents grew up in Polish people republic. They met each other when they were doing their military service which was mandatory like many places. Also interesting they said they had to learn Russian in the army in Poland, which they said was normal in all countries allied with Soviet Union. We are from Mexico, the mix in culture is always funny.

In US we were and still are told that the church is the reason young women keep their virginity. I find it curious that in the 'atheist' USSR, the rules regarding virginity at the time of marriage were about the same. Thanks Sergei!

Thank you for this Sergei, I liked your honesty.

Funny story about my great parents it happened before great patriotic war. My great father wrote love letter to my great mother and he waited like two days and was so nervous and he took the bus and went to another town with all his belongings to live with her but she was surprised of his visit and confused and he ask if she got the letter from him and she said no and awkwardly he start explaining situation and moment after post worker came and delivered the letter and she read it before him And after that they stayed together) he survived ww2 went from Moscow to Berlin and after 5 years they reunited. Can you imagine if they making movies about such real story’s about values of ancestors not the vanilla BS like today...

Phil is still around. A true conservative. Hasn't been on tv much since he retired.

Liked it! Thanks for sharing your own stories serguei!

All the pictures ...so well done ..i love your stories. ❤❤❤❤❤

I was a todler during the famous telemost episode :) I only remeber my grandfahter and father laughting for hours afterwards :D

The goats and the airplane: get done flying mission, milk goats, make dinner!

Your choice of art is outstanding! It is so funny, it takes me back to another time

Honestly, this sounds way better than how we do it in the US right now.

There is a KZfaq video that our public television station got a hold of some Soviet TV signals. Going over the types of programs they had a game show that asked why Soviet fighter pilots always carried a frying pan with them. They never showed the answer. So comrade, why do Soviet pilots carry frying pans with them in planes?

You’d be surprised. This idea about checking out eligible guys and girls at other peoples wedding still continues in place of in the subcontinent like India Pakistan Bangladesh etc.

thank you Sergei, we love your show but today's, what amazing illustrations!!!!!!!! never saw anything like it in two years in Moscow, many thanks

Really enjoying your perspective. I'm just a couple years older than you so getting this from the perspective of a contemporary is very enlightening. So much was different, sure, but so much was so familiar as well.

Ukranian girls are so hot until they suddenly are not.

Thank you Ushanka!!!

Never been there, don't know anyone who was but I enjoy your channel. I watch it every day for the knowledge surrounding it.

Отличная история! Спасибо Cергей!

Cool. Say, if you haven't done already, make some videos on different Soviet foods and drinks.

Bill Clinton tried to use same goofy story................... "that's not sex". ;-) @22:10

It's possible that Donahue did this from Boston. The first one that I found in 85 was from Seattle. But ordinarily Donahue was in Chicago I think. And I'm from Boston. I can't think of any famous TV talk show host from Boston. We had Tom bergeron on our local talk show but he ended up doing dancing with the Stars. In Boston he did a show called People Are Talking. But that's not how he became famous, like Donahue and Oprah and those people like Jerry Springer who had people throwing chairs at each other. Some people got people angry at each other, some people tried to get people to be uplifted I guess, I don't know what Donahue did really. I didn't watch any of those shows so mostly I just heard about them. And then we had people like Dr Phil who thought they could straighten out the lives of people whose families were messed up. Even though I don't think he had any degrees. But it was mostly common sense. He would just yell at the people though. Sort of scolding them and telling them how to behave. Before that we had talk shows where we had people like Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin and they just had famous people in the afternoon. And they would sit around and talk about stuff. Maybe sort of like the late night shows that I didn't watch either. So I guess that's the history of talk shows but only A brief one. Yes I know it's another tangent. If you hadn't mentioned Boston I wouldn't have thought of it. If there were talk show wars, Boston really didn't enter a contestant into them. Not that I'm aware. And I'm going to try to watch more of this.

Vladimir Pozner was a commentator on Radio Moscow for years. He was born in Paris, and holds U.S., French and Russian citizenship.

17:11 well I just found my new text msg alert

I love the Soviet art from this episode! Is there a specific name for this style I can search? Or an artist name?

My impression of the USSR is that it started off really bad, and it slowly evolved into a decent place to live, not great, but alright.

Aways love the vids

memes have been a concept for pretty much as long as people have been living in groups. there were memes in ancient rome and egypt and so on. also is that jim carey from ace ventura on that chicks leg?

I saw this way back when. Donahue is still kicking. I remember thinking Pozner was very impressive. Thanks for reminding me when I became a Russophile.

This is the best ever tutorial on dating i have ever heard in my life (and i am your generation). I wrote this comment before i even got to the end of the video and its get even better. " If i can get free milk, why would i buy the whole cow ?", hahaha. I agree a eligible woman must know how to cook. Those who don't know or don't like, are a no no.

That StanCo lathe operator @4:19 is a fascinating insight into the Soviet manufacturing sector.

Thank you

Actually the American lady from Boston was asking "...commercials have a lot to do with sex in our country. Do you have commercials like that on television?". The Russian lady from Leningrad actually said was "that there was no sex on television." kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Zrxdebabus7cip8.html BTW condoms were listed as a “mechanical-rubber product №2”.

I really enjoy the posters you use in your videos. My Russian isn’t good enough to read the text in the posters fast enough, so could you put a “balloon” with the English translation, or maybe what’s the subtext behind the slogan. Many thanks for your interesting videos.

my parents first met in Viljandi on stairs in front of their house when they were like 4-7 yo and they are still married happyly

Did your parents meet on the dance floor at Gidropark, by any chance? It's still there, great atmosphere, great nostalgia for the old folks!

I'm not sure that this will work these days, but a real test of a couple's compatabiity over time as a couple was...taking care of a young child/baby for "longer than an hour and a day." Youths who are the eldest and have experience taking care of younger siblings would have an edge here. I have read some movie synopses which drop a baby on a dating couple with comedic results, but what does a bachelor know?

Were your parents, you or anyone you knew closely ever in trouble with the KGB? If so, could you make a video about it?

Hearing about your grandparents meeting was pretty cool. Weddings in Soviet Union are good to hear about too.

Phil Donahue was one of our best, most open minded, TV talk show hosts. In fact, because he was against so much that the Establishment was for (like war for profit, and other mean things) and he talked about it, his talk show was cancelled.

22:20. - So the doctor said, “ what are you doing tonight?”

The Phil Donahue show with soviet teens is on youtube 👍 I watched it in the 1980s and just watched it last week...both times I thought "we're very much alike"

Hello. Where did you get all those posters or cartoons? Is there a website you can download from?

Sergej! What are you doing with that girl! You are married! (answers with a thick voice) You stupid woman, it is a Russian tradition, i HAD to do it, i was FORCED ( alo alo theme on balalaika intensifies)

The show when the lady says "we don't have sex" is lost in translation: commies turned the word "sex" to mean "smut". The lady simply says "we aren't into smut".

Cow farm. Where they built the cow house? I think the words you're looking for are "cattle ranch" and "cattle shed". At least they took the sickle part of the hammer and sickle seriously back then. Nowadays, I doubt anyone who sports a hammer and sickle has ever spent any time in a factory or a farm.

Ladies...I have a car!

I have also read that as part of rehabilitation programs for recently released prisoners that sometimes Soviet officials would have arranged marriages for prisoners to help them reintegrate into society.

Nice video. But the pictures are so weird lol

11.15 Is that an image of Battersea power station in London?

"Hey dad, did you ever have sex before you got married"? (in presence of mum). Noooo. This must rank up there with "I really like you, I respect you, and I promise I won't come in your mouth".

Can you make a video about the draft? What was life like in mandatory Soviet military service

in soviet russia date takes you out.

It’s crazy how much American schools alienate Russians to the point people like me are watching your videos on how Soviet citizens did regular things throughout life haha.

That’s a sweet story of how your parents met.

The bride has a maid of honor (unless she's married, then she is matron of honor). We are Greek Catholic and we had witnesses.

Love your channel, it's SovieTTT Union though, not SovieT'S Union

when hammer meets sickle.

Now a day we only get friend zoned.

It sounds like your parents met the way that my parents did. My mother told me cuz my father didn't talk to us really. There was like a dancehall and my mother was on a date with some guy and my father was on a date with some other girl. And they danced with each other. And then I guess they dated for a really short time and got engaged and then 6 months later they got married. But they didn't have any kids for 3 years. My father was big on plans. He planned to sell his house when he was 55. He planned that my mother would have a job for 3 years before she retired or before they moved. Something to do with social security. He planned that they would be married for 3 years before they had a kid. But this was starting in 1955. My mother was 24 when she got married. I would think that by 1969, in the US we didn't have that culture of dance halls anymore. Back when my parents went, they still had big bands like Benny Goodman and somebody named Dorsey, Tommy or Jimmy or whoever. They had swing. They did the jitterbug. In the US by 1969 we had rock music and we had gone through various types of rock and roll, The Beatles, the summer of love, Woodstock. That was 69. Those things don't sound like things they would have in the Soviet Union. Even if they added another 10 or 15 years. I don't know how people meet each other these days or even in the interim. My husband and I met at church. And we were married for 8 years and then he left. I would have stayed married forever. He got married two more times and the second one had children but the third one did not. And he kept changing churches. And then he had a stroke and died at 54 and I found out through a Google search. 6 months after he died. Somewhere in the middle there he wanted to come back to me but the things he was saying weren't true. And there was a time when he wanted to come back to me but he was still married to the second wife. It's one of the reasons I moved 1400 miles away. It was a temptation because I still loved him so it was better not to be physically in his vicinity. The second time I was far away and I said we should just email each other. He wasn't married anymore. And I didn't want to be tempted by the sound of his voice. So we emailed for a while and he acted like he loved me but he really didn't. He acted like he was sorry but he really wasn't. It was one of those temptations I could have fallen prey to, But thank God I didn't. He lived in New Hampshire and had a daughter in Massachusetts he couldn't leave. I had just found my brother again after 20 years and I wasn't going to leave him. Especially for someone who had left me before. So in the end that didn't happen again. And it turned out that he wasn't really sorry he was just lonely. And I didn't want to go to his new church or believe his new beliefs, So he said he wouldn't talk to me anymore, and I was not upset by that. And then he found somebody else and married her instead. I haven't gotten to the history of how long your parents were married or if they're both still alive, but my parents were married until my father died. And I didn't get married again because... Actually it was a religious thing. I didn't want to marry anyone till I committed to what I believed. And I haven't committed to that. And it's been 25 years. So I just didn't get married again. I could explain it more but it's really deep and no one cares. Not that you cared about any of these things either. But at least it's logical. And I had forgotten about it, that that was the reason. I think the only change about having been married is that I got used to having someone to talk to. Before that I was alone and it didn't bother me. And then afterwards I just wanted someone to tell things to. So now there's social media and I tell things to people on the internet. I don't want to marry them or anything, but apparently I just want to tell someone. And I guess all my friends already know. :-)

Ivan the Soviet Love Hammer.

I had a good time dating slav girl almost married her

Jeez, damn Pozner is still on TV and only difference is that he's completely bald now and in color.

Your dad clearly had a good poker face. 🤣

I'm quite positive that my father married my mother to get a Moscow residency.

It has to be the KZfaq algorithm. Vladimir Posner. I heard his name before but I never paid attention before yesterday. Someone mentioned Telemost. They called it space bridge or sky bridge. And they mentioned him and John Donahue. I knew it was Phil. He was the Donahue we had. I didn't see that program, but I did see another one. It was like a town hall. Apparently it was called town meeting. People from the US I thought also people from USSR but it wasn't. The thing I remember the most was Ben Stein. He had a voice I can't describe and for weeks afterwards my husband and I would joke about his question and the way he said Mr Gorbachev. It turned out this thing was in 1991 and Yeltsin was also there but I didn't know who he was and didn't pay any attention I guess. I have been able to find the sky bridge on KZfaq it's from 1985 so obviously it's not the one I saw. The other one, town meeting is from 1991, September 7th, it was on ABC with Peter Jennings which honestly makes sense because I always watched ABC and Peter Jennings so probably they would advertise it and I would see that and go oh I want to watch this thing. Because we were curious about Russia. We had had the iron curtain and apparently it was just going away but we were curious about these other people. I guess I was just a little bit behind the curve. Somehow I missed the part where Gorbachev was deposed, retired. I don't know how. Honestly because I was watching the news. I didn't stop till 1995. But then I just stopped like totally. On purpose. Anyway KZfaq and Google know that I was looking for these things and that's why they suggested this video which will have not a lot to do with the topic I was interested in but the broadcast that I was interested in, that they will show me something related to that. Well that last sentence was terrible English but I'm not going to fix it. I should just watch your video and then maybe I can find something about those other topics. They don't seem to, on KZfaq, let you search for a topic within a channel. They should do that. Because it looks like you have 7 years worth of content which is totally awesome but sometimes I'm curious about one thing and I'll just have to scroll. Really though, thank you for all the content. It's a lot!

Did they also date “interracial” in the USSR? For instance we’re marriage between Russian man and Tajik or Uzbek woman common?

That's a hilarious meme

What is the clicking sound we hear on your videos, just curious...

Illl buy one

6:00 pause

I have to admit, I totally fast forwarded through this one just for the pictures.

22 min mark proves these kurvas weren’t loyal even back in the USSR.

"Piece of ass" is proper English, lmao

here i was thinking that people of roman empire did make some memes , fuck now I know memes was much later invention made in russia , more you know ......

Dear Sergei, If you remember, we had talked long back. I am Indian and reside in Austria. I was in Ukraine.

Tell me something about Pioneer club

Let the guy have a piece of Ass 19:16 I died of laughter there! 😁😂

Pozner and Phil Donahue!

I had to do it I was forced. Lol

Perhaps a future program on Ukraine and its history. Maybe even some thoughts on whether Ukraine will be able to escape another round of Russian domination.

Do you have any plans to talk about movies in the USSR?

Hmm I'm Wondering were there any American dating phone lines back in the USSR ? I'm thinking perhaps around the late 80s

I don't buy anything unless I try it on first.

I wish I met my wife at the construction site. I really could use someone handy with a welder from time to time….