Russian bloggers leave for ethnographic expedition to Caucasus

Today at 11:00 a.m. Moscow time the Vorobiovy Gory in the Russian capital saw the start of the ethnographic expedition to Northern and Southern Caucasus and Kazakhstan, organized by the well-known Russian designer and blogger Artemiy Lebedev.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the expedition will last till mid-August; its participants will visit Russian regions of the Caucasus, and Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

As promised by Mr Lebedev in his Internet diary in the course of the expedition its participants will tour around dozens of cities and prepare detailed reports about them.

His idea is partially commercial. The sides of the cars with the expedition crews will bear ads of various sponsoring companies.

Three crews take part in the expedition. The crew named "Kukusik" includes Lebedev himself and blogger Norvezhskiy Lesnoy; the crew named "Tabasko" includes Gennadi Vernikov, head of the company "Vernikov and Partners" and the leader of the Russian "Dodge Rem Club"; Dmitri Karpushin, a pilot, motor traveller, publisher, journalist and head of the St Petersburg-based "Off-Club"; and Vladimir Dmitriev, an expert in the nations of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, scientist-ethnographer, Doctor of History and senior scientific worker at the Russian Ethnographic Museum. The third crew, which has received the title "Kinokruzhok" (Movie Circle), includes Gennady Meder, Seva Kaptur and film directors Vlad Kaptur and Olga Tomenko. One more crew could not take part for technical reasons.