The Jolly Company then morphed into the All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters, which was a parody of the Russian church. But these revelers were the government, as well as being the government’s pissed parody. The head of Peter’s secret police Konstantin Romodanovsky was a member. Like Beria, he was a boozer and an enforcer of boozing. Romodanovsky had a tame bear who would offer guests a glass of peppered vodka, and was trained to attack them if they refused.
Source:
Forsyth, Mark. “Russia.” A Short History of Drunkenness. Three Rivers Press, 2017. 206-7. Print.
Further Reading:
This is my favourite headline on phuks, ever.