Just across the street from the Kozhukhovskaya (Кожуховская) Metro station is this Halil Market, халяль-маркет. Halil is a Muslim approved way of butchering meat. The animal must be killed quickly without prolonged suffering, all the blood must be drained from the body, the butcher must be Muslim and invoke the name of Allah as the animal is slaughtered. It is a surprise to some that Muslims are allowed to eat Kosher when no Halil products are available.
This part of Moscow is home to hundreds of thousands of Caucasians who are majority Muslim. They are from the Caucasus regions and typically with skin tones that are neither black nor white.
We took this photo not only for the market signs but because of the variety of types and ages of cars from the old purple/plum “Lada” to more recent foreign and domestic cars and vans. The one thing you’ll hardly ever see in Russia is a pickup truck, but you will encounter plenty of sedans and vans. Most vans are commercial of some sort.
Vehicle taxes are based on horsepower and in the case of vans and trucks based both on horsepower and type of use, therefore the average person would seldom drive a pickup while the average business needing a truck would go for something bigger although GM has plans for a 4 person cab pickup they hope to market in Russia.
Where you can find a few pickups: the Caucasus regions such as Chechnya and Dagestan. Pickups are also popular in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan where Islamic fighters use pickups as a cheap way to mount a machine gun and carry a load of fighters across hilly and rocky terrain.
Russia is in violation of their WTO agreement as Russia charges a “recycling” tax on cars imported from other countries.
