As one of Moscow’s most iconic buildings, the hotel - which was built at the beginning of the 20th century - holds many secrets and boasts brilliant examples of art nouveau. The place has also ...

Russians are fans of proverbs and masterfully juggle them in different situations. A foreigner who wants to know Russian as a native and to understand Russians and their “mysterious soul”, needs to ...

Even Queen Elizabeth II has some old pieces of jewelry that once belonged to the Russian royal family. The diamond, emerald and sapphire tiaras of the Romanov dynasty were remarkable for their beauty ...

From the Arctic Circle to Kazakhstan, from the western borders to the Far East — the Gulag system in Stalin's time encompassed the entire USSR. “Gulag” is often used to describe any Soviet prison or ...

Russia sells more wheat than any other country in the world. At the same time, its domestic grain consumption is growing, too. So how did Russia manage to achieve this breakthrough in wheat exports?

These days, the main thoroughfare of the former capital is covered with asphalt, has trolleybus wires instead of tram tracks, and is often locked in traffic jams still. Albeit these days vehicles ...

Russians couldn’t even make proper bricks before they hired Italians to work for them. The Italian engineers were proficient in war and architecture, and for lavish salaries, helped build the ...

This is the architectural complex inside the Kremlin walls, which includes the early 19th-century Palace, the Terem Palace (the Tsars residence in 17 th century), the Palace of Facets (the hall for ...

They are older than the Egyptians or Sumerians. Their women made tattoos resembling the Joker’s smile and their men had enormous beards. At the same time, they are one of the most persecuted people in ...

The expression ‘Potemkin villages’ means anything made for the sole purpose of concealing the truth. The legend goes that during Catherine the Great’s journey to Crimea in 1787, Grigoriy Potemkin, the ...

From chaos and crime to freedom and opportunity - this period in Russian history was sort of a roller coaster ride - one we commonly refer to as the “wild 90s”. Do you remember a time before iPhones ...

Lines were a sign of the times - most goods were in short supply and their rare appearance on shelves in shops sometimes caused actual stampedes. In every Soviet food store one could almost always buy ...