Freemasonry came to Russia in 1731 when Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England Lord Lowell appointed Captain John Phillips Grand Master of Russia, who subsequently preached among a small circle of ...

To describe the Soviet penal system, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who survived eight years of Gulag incarceration, wrote a massive book titled ‘Archipelago Gulag’ after collecting hundreds of memoirs of ...

Mapping Russian literature Moscow culture russian literature urals literature Mapping novels Multimedia Infographics Nature People Culture Figures Mapping Russian novels Literature [POST]Industrial ...

Getty Images, Russia Beyond It is not the proudest moment in Russian history, but the fact remains that there were a number of Nazi collaborators in the Soviet Union. On July 12, 1942, World War II ...

Drivers in the coldest regions make blankets for their car engines, and some even keep the motor running from autumn until spring! In many Russian regions harsh winters are the norm – people and their ...

Vadim Skryabin/TASS Driving a car in Yakutia, Taymyr or Chukotka is not easy, but ingenious locals in these regions have managed to adapt their vehicles to even the most severe weather. We have ...

Did you know that only 4 km divide Russia and the U.S.? Check out some interesting facts about Russian borders. Officially, Russia borders 18 states, and this is the biggest number of neighboring ...

During the 70 years of the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the number of constituent parts changed, but most of the time there were 15 of them. Here is the list. In the beginning ...

The state took full responsibility for providing its citizens with daytime meals – the food was quick, cheap, and kept the engine running. People ate out in Imperial Russia too, but it was during the ...

All of the uprisings during the 20th century can get confusing, so here’s a short history for those who want to cut straight to the chase. Even for Russian historians, the revolution saga of the early ...

There is no shortage of sporting greats in the Soviet and Russian pantheon, but one world record-breaking finswimmer literally earned his hero’s badge by risking his life twice to save more than 20 ...

We at Russia Beyond cover this extremely fascinating time of history often, so we’ve put together your guide to the Soviet Union with our most noteworthy articles. Probably the first thing you ought ...